Accessories to Consider
It's obvious that you need cloth diapers in order to cloth diaper your little one, but there are some extras that might be worth buying as well. Most of these are optional and many can be DIYed.
Wet Bags
Since disposables are simply thrown away, someone new to cloth might wonder what to do with their dirty cloth when not at home. That's where wet bags come in. They're typically made of PUL making them great for keeping wetness in. Put your wet diaper in the bag, zip it up, and put it in your diaper bag. The stink and wetness stays in, and your bag stays dry. I personally keep all of mine in my purse. Yes, I trust them that much.
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I really like double zippered wet bags because you can keep dry, clean items in one pocket and dirty, wet items in the other without worrying about the wetness seeping through to the clean items.
Wet bags come in several sizes. Travel sized like the top left picture are perfect for storing diapers on the go. Hanging size like top right are great for diapers at home or for longer stays away from home. The final size, clutch seen bottom left, are great for single a couple diapers, wet outfits, and breast pads. |
One amazing things about wet bags is that they have tons of use after your LO is out of diapers. They can be used for swimsuits, lady cloth, and traveling with bathroom items (shampoo, conditioner, body wash) that you wouldn't want to leak. Checked out more uses here.
Diaper Pail Liner
I think the only thing I hated more than using disposable diapers were those stupid diaper genie refills. Ours always tore when trying to get them in or out (operator error I am sure) and I could never seem to remember to buy them. It was already so expensive to buy diapers to throw away and then add having to pay for a fancy plastic bag to throw them away in...come on! When we switched to cloth, washable pail bags made perfect sense. I was happy to take the plunge! I love that I can just throw the pail liner in with the rest of my diaper laundry and then it's good to go.
We could have kept using our diaper genie, but I was more than glad to retire it and have never looked back. Letting cloth diapers breath helps prevent smell (and mold!) so I use my pail liner in a small trash can or stretched over a laundry basket. Under normal circumstances we have no issues with smell. If I am going on 10 days between washes and it's overflowing onto the floor we may have some issues. Don't judge :P
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Learn how to make your own here.
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Liners
Liners are for catching poop and protecting precious diapers from things like a diaper cream that isn't cloth friendly. I use them whenever my little girl has a diaper rash that is beyond the help of coconut oil. Since most diaper creams are repelling and diapers are absorbent, they don't mix well. I use the cream as normal and then lay a fleece liner inside the diaper. A lot of parents use these when they know they are going to be away from home and don't want to have to deal with poop. Using a liner means they can just throw it away or flush it. There are 2 kinds of liners: Disposable and Reusable.
Disposable liners are usually biodegradable made of rayon or similar fiber. They remind me a lot of a dryer sheet but longer and softer. They are often marketed as flushable, but I wouldn't personally trust them in my toilet. I used to use them when during the times my son was known to poop so I could just plop the poop and throw away the liner. They run about $10 for a roll of 200.
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If disposable is not for you, fleece reusable liners are an awesome option. You can buy them from WAHMs or make your own. Even if you're not a sewer, no worries, they are so easy and no sew. Fleece doesn't fray and it's cheap. I made mine out of $2.88 Walmart blankets. Either measure out the size you want them to be or use an insert as a guide. Cut into rectangles and you're done! Fleece liners are
The Anti-June Cleaver does a great how-to guide for making your own fleece liners. Learn more here.
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Diaper Sprayer
Okay, so you *could* dunk and swish, but take it from this reformed dunk and swisher, it's so not worth it. I wish I would have had a sprayer from the very start. I used to dread poopy diapers because my toddlers have never had a ploppable poop a day in their lives and beef stew poo with carrots was not something I would rather not touch.
Diaper sprayers have a hose that attaches to the water supply of the toilet. The pressure can be adjusted and you need to find the sweet spot between splattering all over your bathroom and too weak to do anything but make the poop more wet.
Spray Shield
Diaper sprayers, though a blessing, can be a bit messy. They need to have a lot of pressure to be able to dislodge those yucky peanut butter poops, but that means splatter. That's where a spray shield comes in. There are a few different options here.
Another option is the spray pal (below). Clip in the diaper, hold it over the toilet, and stay dry. You can make a DIY alternative to the spray pal with a plastic folder and clip board. Check it out here.
Another DIY option is to use a 5 gallon bucket with either clips of some kind or even pegboard hooks like the photo on the right. See how they did and learn how to make your own here. |
Drying Rack
A lot of cloth families hang dry their diapers and inserts. If you're planning to hang dry, but don't live in a place with great weather year round, and indoor drying rack is a must have. This is something that can also be DIYed.
Cloth Friendly Butt Cream
I've mentioned this before, but diaper cream is repelling and diapers are absorbing. Diaper cream that isn't cloth friendly can stain and/or cause repelling issues. Fluff Love breaks down what to look for in a diaper cream and All About Cloth Diapers gives a list of cloth friendly butt creams.
Cloth Wipes + Wipe Bits
Cloth wipes are seriously incredible. I made my own wipe solution with coconut oil, baby soap, and warm water. The only thing I would like to add would be tea tree oil to help inhibit mold growth since I soak mine instead of spraying them. The coconut oil moisturizes the little baby butts at every change and I really think they clean more gently and much more effectively.
Coconut Oil
Speaking of coconut oil...
What? You didn't think it could be a cloth diaper accessories list without it, did you? You're just not a crunchy parent until you use coconut oil for...everything. So check out 77 uses you might not have thought of for coconut oil here.
What? You didn't think it could be a cloth diaper accessories list without it, did you? You're just not a crunchy parent until you use coconut oil for...everything. So check out 77 uses you might not have thought of for coconut oil here.
Other Cloth
A lot of times when families switch to cloth diapers, the switch to other reusable products seems like the right fit.
Cloth breast pads are amazing. Even when my daughter was a newborn and I was leaking all of the time they lasted a minimum of 3-4 hours. Once my milk supply regulated I was going through 2 pairs a day. Now that my daughter is older, they same pair might last 2 whole days. They're soft and I can't even tell when I am wearing them.
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I love the idea of UnPaper Towels. They're pretty and functional. They're typically cotton and terry with snaps to hold them together. I haven't bought UnPaper Towels specifically...yet, but we have pretty much gone paperless in the kitchen. I have a dozen hand towels that I use to clean the counter, appliances, etc. Since our family started cloth diapering, I've become a bit obsessed with minimizing waste.
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There's also what I like to call lady cloth. You can get menstrual pads that are basically mini cloth diapers for women, cloth tampons, and even free bleed underwear.