Tips on How to survive the day with cloth diapers

While our baby is growing, the expenses for their needs are increasing too. They may need larger diapers, more food or more milk. Sometimes we’re running out of ways to keep up with the budget without sacrificing anything for our kids.

My baby has been switching diaper brands over the past months because it’s either too expensive or giving some diaper rashes. Although I’m breastfeeding, sometimes I’m running out of budget too because of diapers.

Diaper Usage severity for baby girls?

She pees a lot and my mom always says that the diaper is full that’s why we’re always forced to change her diaper even it was just peed like once or twice. Ma please don’t be mad when you see this but yes it’s not yet full. 🙂 On a daily basis, my baby is using almost 10 diapers on average. I’m not really sure if that’s a lot. But for people who solely work for all the expenses like me, that can be too much.

Cloth diapers I have for my baby?

Tips on How to survive a day with Cloth Diapers for your baby!

Ever since my baby was born, I’ve had this one set of cloth diapers with 6 cloth inserts. When I was still on maternity leave, I’m able to maximize these cloth diapers. I had purchased another cloth diaper with one extra insert from Lazada but it was small and the cloth pad is thin. So now I have a total of 7 cloth inserts and 2 nappies for Mikayla.

I’ve gone back to work now and my husband seems to be so lazy in using this. We can no longer use cheaper diapers for my baby due to diaper rashes. I asked him to maximize the use of cloth diapers so that I can buy better diapers for our baby. Now our baby’s diaper rashes are getting better. We are using these cloth diapers the whole day. We’re only using disposable diapers during bedtime. These cloth diapers are really helping my baby with her rashes. I guess you should try using cloth nappies for your babies too.

The question is how do we manage these 2 cloth diapers and 7 inserts in a day?

This number of cloth diapers wouldn’t be enough if you’ll compare it with almost 10 disposable diapers a day. But there are things that I do to make sure it’ll be enough. Cloth diapers are quite pricey too, it costs about 150 to 300 per set and 100 to 150 PHP for 2 or 3 pcs extra cloth inserts. So we should really manage what we have. Okay, now let’s list down the answers for the question.

1. Do not use the cloth insert pockets

If you have a cloth diaper, I’m sure you have noticed that there are pockets in it. That is where the cloth inserts are supposed to be placed. That is what I do before but after peeing on it, the cloth diaper and inserts will then be wet. If it is wet, then you have to wash and dry it first before being able to reuse it. Not a good idea, right?

So what we do: instead of putting the cloth inserts inside of the pocket, I put it on top of it. By doing it that way, the cloth diaper won’t be wet and you’ll be able to reuse it with a new cloth insert instead.

affordable cloth diapers for your babies — Pads over nappies

2. Wash the cloth diaper inserts as soon as you can

Since we only have 7 cloth inserts, we are washing them almost every after use just so it can dry up before we ran out of it. Now that it is summer, it is easier to dry them up because of the sunny and quite windy weather. Sometimes, we start washing it up if there are three dry cloth inserts left. Most likely the air conditioner is turned on because it’s getting hot these days. So after we wash the cloth diaper, I place it near the back of the AC because it releases some heat, making the cloth inserts dry quickly.

3. Use mild detergent

Unsure of why this is included? I don’t know either, but I feel like it should be included here.

If you’re in the Philippines you may know what Perla is. For those who don’t know what it is, Perla is one of the mildest bar detergents in my country.

Using this bar detergent makes washing cloth diapers easier. It’s easier to rinse. Because it’s mild, it lessens the harmful chemicals that may stick on the cloth diaper if it’s not rinsed thoroughly. Since it is easier to rinse, it can also lessen the use of water which we also pay monthly.

4. Timing is the best policy

Sometimes our baby poops a lot and it’s uncontrollable. I’m sure you don’t want your baby pooping on their cloth diapers. It can be messy, I know.

In our case, Mikayla poops on her cloth diapers for like 2 times a week. But without proper timing, it could have been more than that. Most babies poop almost every day, especially when they are teething.

What we do is we only start using cloth diapers when our baby has pooped already in the morning. But if it’s almost noon already and she hadn’t pooped yet, then we’ll switch her to cloth nappies until we find her feeling uneasy or if she’s farting a few times. You’ll see some signs if your baby is about to poop. From the time you notice these signs, better use disposable diapers for the meantime.

baby mikay enjoying cloth diapers from lazada

It’s cheating on the cloth diaper day challenge though. Haha but if you don’t want to cheat you can bring your baby to a potty trainer, and sit them there(not alone, okay?) unless your baby is like 4 months old or less. You may not be able to assist them in sitting.

5. Don’t be lazy

I thought I have to have a number five on the list. Hahaha.

This is the power of will. If we want to save somehow or if we want our babies not to have a diaper rash, then we have to put some effort. This applies to almost everything. Or should I say everything indeed? As the saying goes… “Good thing happens to those who wait and work hard”.

That’s all folks! Feel free to share your thoughts and techniques in surviving the day with cloth diapers too.

Cloth Diapers you can try from Lazada: