Behind The Butter

Cloth Diapering a Toddler

This is a REALLY late follow up post in the now vintage series of Eat, Live, Run cloth diapering. Hah! What’s really funny is that the three posts I wrote almost four years ago now are still some of the top posts on this site. So..I guess some of you out there hold some sort of interest in cloth diapering. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, a very long time ago I wrote the original post Introduction to Cloth Diapering. This was followed up by Cloth Diapering a Newborn and Cloth Diapering an Infant

I cloth diapered my first son, Grayson, for 15 months. We eventually switched to disposables because of constant rash issues I couldn’t figure out. Grayson has extremely sensitive skin and it just seemed like it was always something. Cloth diapering him was incredibly easy for the first year but after that, things started to unravel. When I had Luke a year later, I didn’t cloth diaper at all. To be honest, I didn’t even think about it. I think I was so overwhelmed at the time with life in general (hello newborn and two year old!) that I just happily took all the disposables and never thought twice. Really, it never crossed my mind. 

However! I have decided I’m going to give cloth diapering another try with baby boy number three due this fall. I decided to do this because, mainly, I’m just so over buying diapers all the time. Heading to Target last minute in the afternoon because I ran out of nighttime diapers is probably one of my least favorite activities. I’m also just trying to reduce our waste in general and because newborn cloth diapers are so freaking adorable!

Since deciding that, I said “well, let’s just go all in now, why don’t we” and when Luke was out of his disposables, I switched him to cloth full time instead of making the usual Target run to buy more. Now, Luke is almost two years old and I am planning on potty training him later this summer. This is the first time I have cloth diapered a big toddler and I wasn’t sure how it would go. But…it’s actually been super easy?! 

I’m using a combination of large birdseye flats and large cotton prefolds on him. Mainly flats and I prefer them! I have always, and will always, purchase all my cloth diapering essentials from Green Mountain Diapers.  They are a very sweet family business with excellent customer service and advice. Flat diapers not only work really well, but they are also the most affordable option. When I decided to cloth diaper Luke full time, I literally only spent about $40 on diapers, which is less than I would have spent on a giant box of disposables from Costco. You can get a dozen flats for $24! And you really only need a little more than a dozen diapers when you have a big kid. They don’t pee and poop every two seconds like a newborn and I wash every two days. 

I airplane fold my flats when they come out of the dryer and stash them in the drawer so they are ready for him and all they need is a snappi or pin. In terms of covers, I have three Thirsties size 2, one Blueberry coverall and one Bummis whisper light size large. My favorite is the Bummis. At night, he wears a Grovia ONE diaper (I only have two of these and only use them at night) with a hemp doubler stuffed in. During naps, he usually wears a snappied prefold with a hemp doubler and a Disana wool cover. I love Disana wool and have been using their sleep sacks on both my kids since practically birth. Luke is still in his little wool sack! 

I do feel like you have to change their diaper more often in cloth, which was something I obviously wasn’t used to since Luke has been in disposables for so long. If I’m going out for the whole morning or something with him, I put a hemp doubler in his diaper and usually change him before heading home. We’ve experienced no rashes so far and after I change a pee soaked diaper, I sprinkle on this baby powder which I ADORE and will be getting stock in when the baby comes! 

Cloth diapering Luke has made me really excited to cloth diaper the new baby in October! There’s just something so sweet about a baby with a poofy cloth bum and I’m looking forward to giving it another go around.

 

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  • Danielle
    May 10, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    I remember that post from those years ago. I am pretty sure it is what introduced me to cloth diapers, as I wasn’t a mother at the time and generally didn’t read baby stuff. Now I am cloth diapering my 3.5 month old and love it! We had some rash issues early on until I fixed my wash routine (and dealt with a milk protein allergy-womp womp) but now we are golden! Glad to be saving disposables from the landfill (I was shocked at how much garbage we made those first few weeks until she fit into one sized covers). The extra laundry has just become routine and there is something meditative about folding diapers. I’ll be sure to re-visit this post when I’m diapering a toddler! P.s. congrats on the pregnancy 🙂 and I love your Instagram account!

  • Cloth Diapering a Toddler – Gym Buddies
    May 10, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    […] post Cloth Diapering a Toddler appeared first on Eat, Live, […]

  • Alicia
    May 12, 2018 at 8:34 pm

    What is your wash routine? That is what gets me. Our cloth diapers start to smell really bad as soon as my daughter pees and it has made me stop using them. I’ve been trying to figure out if I need to wash differently.

    • Danielle
      May 14, 2018 at 3:03 pm

      Check out fluff university website/Facebook page.

  • Elizabeth
    May 15, 2018 at 9:14 am

    Thank you for this post! I have not cloth diapered either of my children (but always thought about it). However, I’m now considering cloth diapers for my 20 month old because she drinks SO MUCH WATER and pees SO MUCH. She doesn’t like walking around with a wet, soggy diaper so she always asks us to change her, we do it almost every hour or two (she also has very sensitive skin and gets rashes easily). She refuses to go on the potty (even though she sees her older sister do it), and I’m not interested in pushing her, although I’m really sick of going through a Jumbo pack of diapers every 3 days or so. So, I’ve been thinking about cloth diapers (even if it’s just to replace some of the disposables we use each day). I guess I’m asking, do you think I’m crazy for contemplating this?

  • Emily I.
    March 4, 2020 at 11:40 pm

    I’ve been cloth diapering for 2.5 years now. Nice to see somebody else use flats! I love how versatile they are. It was pretty stressful for a bit when my daughter turned 2 and all her covers started to leak. The PUL and elastic eventually start to give out and you get leaks. Now, I’ve found wool covers! They have saved my sanity and my cloth diapering! Plus, they’ll last YEARS if you take care of them. They only have to be washed like every 3 weeks, unless they start to smell or get soiled. You can find wool covers all over – some super cute upcycled wool covers on etsy, too. Fantastic night covers.