Cloth Diapering With Twins

Cloth Diapering (with twins!!)

Emmy and Liam six weeks old in their cloth diapers!

First of all and obviously, cloth diapering is not for everyone. Like everything about parenting and child-raising, you have to weigh the pros and cons. As well as what works for your family, not all methods fit every baby, parent, or household.

WHY do we cloth diaper? Environmental reasons as well as to save money. I go back and forth on how much we're accomplishing on both. We're saving room in the landfills but running an extra load of laundry everyday (every time I look this up though it feels right environmentally). Cloth diapers and the supplies are not cheap. However, we've definitely saved a lot having done it with all three babies! I love that I only order diapers every 4-6 weeks (once 8 weeks) for TWINS! We cloth diapered for 18 months with my first and the goal is that long with the twins. We will see though, the more active and outside of the house we get the less I use them because we prefer disposables when we're not at home!

My husband calls cloth diapering worst decision we've ever made and then in the same breath reminded me to order more larger sized cloth diapers!! 

If you already know it’s not for you or don’t want to read about smelly poopy things, you should stop reading right now.

We’ve been fairly fortunate in our cloth diapering process. I seriously doubt how successful we would have been without a cloth diapering service in our area of San Jose, California with our first son. We used Tiny Tots. It was affordable, convenient, and they were incredibly helpful when I had questions. If I was calling to switch diaper sizes, they would check that I was folding our current ones correctly before they had me go up a size. (You can adjust your fold based on baby's size...as they grow for the most secure fit). It was a great way to be able to focus on learning how to take care of a baby and not worry as much about washing diapers!!

If you live in the Bay Area it is worth seeing if they deliver to you and if not, their website is still a great informational resource.

After moving to another town when our son was 6 months old we switched to washing them ourselves. I spoke with some friends who were doing it already and read a few blogs and felt pretty confident about it. It's went well and now with the twins we've really got a system to it. I'm sharing our method and favorite products below.

Our oldest, Max, around 7 months! In my favorite "cow" diaper cover!

**Tiny Toys used prefolds and since that's what we knew, that's what we stuck with! I don't like the idea of stuffing and un-stuffing of the "pocket" style and have read that those, as well as "all-in-ones" are more likely to harbor germs. Again, do your research, there are probably lots more pros and cons for those options that you might like!

Our Supplies

• Prefolds- This is your cloth diaper. My favorite right now are the OsoCozy, they have two sizes as well as bleached/unbleached and organic options. We also have a few cheaper Gerber Brand ones I got at Target, these were the main ones we used with my first son but they are definitely not as thick or absorbent. 
• Diaper Liners- We lay a GroVia Diaper BioLiner over our prefolds ever change! Don't want to dunk diapers in the toilet or use a sprayer? Oh you don't have to. Diaper liners! Solids go in the trash in our home. See our steps below
• Snappy clips- Best invention to cloth diapers ever. I had my aunt show my grandma a video of these when my first was a baby. So she could see that there's no risk of stabbing yourself or the baby with those pins anymore! I think that alone would've kept me from cloth diapering! 
• Diaper covers- My favorite right now are Thirsties brand. They have two size options and both are adjustable! Cute designs and colors.  Get the snap ones! The hook and loop (velcro) get gross in the wash in my opinion! Snaps are just as fast to use and feel cleaner!
• Diaper pail for cloth only with wet bag. We have a Safety First pail right now, we just used a trash can with my first for our cloth. The pail can hold a Munchkin Arm and Hammer odor pod fresheners! Helps with smell. We have two wet bags because we throw our diapers in the wash at night and in the dryer in the morning and this way we always have some in the washing process and a separate wet bag for the diapers we are using during the day. With our first we got away with one wet bag/reusable trash bag!
• Diaper pail for disposables and solids. We still use disposables at night and for outings. We have a Diaper Genie for this and the solids with the Grovia Diaper liner go in there as well. Some families use a wet bag/dry bag on the go and cloth diaper at night as well as when running errands! If it works for you, add those items to your search list!
• Cloth wipes and water spray bottle. - Okay I have these and tried using them..... It's apparently just too much for me. But if it's for you, go for it! I love my Costco wipes too much and am sadly probably canceling out my environmental footprint with them. 

Our Diaper Changing Steps

Putting cloth diaper on:

• Lay the prefold out flat and place GroVia liner on top.
• Fold the diaper. I'm not going to re-invent the wheel here. Watch a video. Practice on a stuffed animal. You'l'l have it down after a few changes. 
• Secure with snappy. Cover with diaper cover. 
• Wash hands. 

Removing cloth diaper:

• Remove cover and snappy clip. Wipe baby. 
• I use our disposable wipes to grab the solids and the diaper line and place in our "trash" bin (our Diaper Genie). 
• I then place the cloth diaper in the wet bag in our Safety First pail. 
• If the snappy and cover are dirty, the cover also goes in the pail and the snappy gets hand washed. However, if not soiled, I reuse until I feel like they need to be cleaned. 
• Put on clean diaper. 
• Wash hands. (I know this seems obvious, but seriously, don't forget to wash your hands tired moms and dads!!)

Our Diaper Washing Steps

• Here is a great resource for washing cloth diapers: http://ecochiclife.net/cloth-diapers/
• I grab the wet bag/washable trash bag and just dump everything out of it into the washer and throw the empty bag in as well. There is no un-stuffing or further need to touch the soiled diapers. 
• We do a hot water soak, wash hot water, cold water rinse, extra rinse, and dry hot in the dryer. 
• We use a mild detergent. We have used either Nellie's or Essante which was gifted to us. I add baking soda, borax, or lavender essential oil occasionally to the wash to help smell and clean the diapers. My babies have had no skin reactions. 
• Here's a great resource for detergents: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/Articles.asp?ID=263
• We wash ours nightly for the twins, with my older son though it was every two days. 

Learning how to take care of a new baby is hard. Even if that "new baby" is not your first. It's still a brand new person to figure out! Cloth diapering can add to your brain overload and there's absolutely nothing wrong with just using disposables!!! Do whatever keeps you sane and having fun with your baby/babies!

Me rocking a cloth diaper, no cover, and stabbing pin in 1986!!! That phone though!