We have been using cloth diapers for nearly 2 years now. I tried to use cloth wipes a few different times but without much success, probably because we were using just baby washcloths that were not super soft. We started using cloth wipes exclusively in the last few months, and I do not see us going back to disposables.
The two main reasons for the switch were 1) with two in diapers we were going through a ton of wipes and 2) the disposable wipes seem to be giving our daughter a rash.
The cloth wipes are WAY better for newborn poop, which is really wet and runny. The wipes absorb more, instead of just pushing it around! A nurse at our pediatrician's office suggested using water and a cloth instead of the alcohol based disposable wipes, and this really helped to keep the rash away too! We keep a spray bottle on the change table and just spray a wipe before using it.
Our cloth wipes are nothing fancy; just some fleece cut into small pieces. We cut ours into two different sizes. The wipes are the pile on the right. And the pile on the left is our liners. We put the liners in our daughter's diapers for two reasons. If she has a poopy diaper, the fleece liner makes it way easier to get the poop off. Also, if we need to use some diaper cream, the fleece acts as a barrier. We just wash the liners with cream in a load separate from our diapers.
You can purchase cloth wipes and liners made out of fleece, but our simple fleece works so well that I don't see any need to buy something fancier.
The liners just lay in the diapers!
If you cloth diaper, cloth wipes are the easy way to go! And if you use disposable diapers, but have issues with rashes, cloth wipes (and diapers!) are a great alternative.
I do the same thing - based on your recommendation we got some fleece to use as liners during diaper-rash times, and decided at that point to try using the fleece as wipes as well. We haven't looked back! I love my cloth wipes!
ReplyDeleteso what do you do with the cloth wipe when there is new born stool on it? My husband and I are talking about doing this whole system but want to get it right from the beginning so we stick with it. Do you put it in a wet bag separate than the diapers? when you say you use the fabric liner for the diaper, the layering is cover, diaper and then liner right or are the diapers all in ones?
ReplyDeleteBreastfed baby's BMs are completely water-soluable, so those wipes go directly into the diaper pail with the rest of our diapers. Once the child is eating solids, the waste gets dumped in the toilet before going into the pail.
ReplyDeleteThe fleece liner is layered in (Flip cover, Flip microfiber liner, fleece liner) but I also use them in the Bum Genius where the microfiber liner is in the pocket inside the diaper and the fleece liner just lays inside the diaper.
I hope that answers your questions!
I love cloth wipes! I started using them when it occurred to me that my grandmother did not have disposable wipes and what did SHE do?!
ReplyDeleteblogged here:
http://thriftathome.blogspot.com/2010/03/old-fashioned-diapers-and-wipes.html
oh, I wanted to say that I did finally make soakers and I wish I had seen your tip for fleece. I made mine out of flannel and that took a lot of layers.
ReplyDelete