The Top 3 Mistakes with Cloth Diapers: Avoid These At All Costs!

Hey mamas! Today, we're diving into the world of cloth diapering to help you avoid the most common mistakes and empower you to have a more positive experience.

In this episode, we're revealing the top three mistakes parents often make when using cloth diapers:

1. Improper Fit: I'll teach you essential fit tests to prevent leaks and discomfort!
2. Misunderstanding Poop Handling: I'll explain the simple truth about handling your baby's poop before they start solids, saving you time and effort!
3. Using Incorrect Products: I'll share which detergents and creams are safe for cloth diapers to extend their longevity and protect your baby’s skin! (not sponsored)

Plus I'll share a few extra helpful tips and benefits along the way 🙌 So, if you're wondering about how to use cloth diapers or you're a little nervous to try -- then join me for an informative episode packed with actionable advice to make cloth diapering a breeze!

P.S. Please subscribe and leave a review if you found this episode helpful. It's such a quick and easy way to support the show! ✨

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Transcript

Katie Kurpanek: 0:00

Hey mamas! Welcome back to The Eco Minded Mama Podcast where we are supporting parents who want to live sustainably, meaning they want to live a life that is saving money and reducing waste in their homes so that they can live with overall less stress. I have gotten tons of questions and reactions when it comes to cloth diapering over the years. And there are three common mistakes that I want to help you avoid at all costs so that you can actually have a positive and dare I say, an enjoyable experience cloth diapering. So let's get into it. A few quick benefits when it comes to cloth diapering that you may or may not already know. So number one, they save you 1000s of dollars over the years. And number two, they also save 1000s like literally nearly 3000 diapers on average per baby per year from going to the landfill and just rotting and decomposing, and it takes like over 500 years for each diaper to eventually decompose, emitting methane into the atmosphere in the process. It's super gross. I know. And, cloth diapering is not for everybody. So I don't say any of this to shame you or to put judgment on your plate, there are just some things that are outside of your control. And we talk a lot about that inside The Eco Minded Mama Collective. There are other alternatives to cloth diapering that are also sustainable. But for those that can access cloth diapering and they want to do it, I want you to be as like supported as possible. And so I really want you to know these top three mistakes that you can avoid, so that you have a much better experience. Okay, number one, improper fit. If you have an improper fit for your baby's cloth diaper, then it is going to lead to more leaks, which you know, is just frustrating for you to have to clean up, it's frustrating for your baby to like be uncomfortable in that. And then of course, it might lead you to feeling like cloth diapers don't even work and it is just a waste of time, which is not true. It doesn't have to be that way. So I have a couple of tests for you to do to make sure if you've never used cloth diapers before to just make sure that it is fitting properly. So most cloth diapers these days have like snaps, or some sort of band that can be tightened. So when you put them on, you need to make sure that the fit is snug, but not too tight around their legs or their inner thighs and their waist. So a way to test this for their waist, you can do the two finger test. So if you can take two fingers, and easily put that between the cloth diaper and your baby's skin around the waistline, if it's able to like easily fit in between there, you don't feel like you're like forcing two fingers into that space, then that means that it's snug enough. But if it's so loose that you could just like easily put two or more fingers into that space between the cloth diaper and your baby's skin, then you're going to want to like tighten it up a little bit. And then you also want to do the test around their thigh or like the leg openings for the diapers. So you could do the pinch test. So basically, you want to just take the fabric that is right underneath the inside of your baby's thigh. And you want to take the fabric and see if you can pinch it. So if you can pinch it and when you pull the diaper doesn't have like this big gap between your baby's thigh and the opening then that means that that will be snug enough. If you try to pinch it but you can't even pinch the fabric then it's probably too tight and you're probably gonna see like a red line on your baby's skin. So making sure that it fits snug so that that way it is like closed around your baby's legs. That will prevent a lot of leaks from happening and make it a much more comfortable and enjoyable experience for everybody. Of course as your baby becomes more mobile, then you're going to want to be checking this and adjusting it as needed. Okay, common mistake number two, not knowing that poop is water soluble before your baby eats solid foods. So we're going to talk about poop. I know it's gross, but you're listening to a cloth diapering episode so you're probably prepared for it. Okay, when your baby is just drinking breast milk or formula and they are not introduced to solid foods yet, then their poop is completely water soluble. It's just like liquid right? There's nothing solid in it. So you do not need to do like a whole bunch of prep work. Like really thoroughly rinsing your diapers off before they go into the laundry. This will just save you some time and make it a more enjoyable experience in the beginning of your babies diapering experience. So if you are changing your baby's diaper at this stage, then I would recommend having a what's called a wet bag. So you can find those online and just hang that you know on the changing table or somewhere nearby. And when you change their diaper, you can just take the cloth diaper and the cloth wipes if you're using those and put them into the wet bag. And then I would recommend like you know Once a day or once every other day just doing a small load of laundry, but you can just take what's in the wet bag and dump it right into the washer, make sure that you're using a proper detergent, which we will get into. And then if you just do that second rinse cycle, you're going to be golden. You don't have to worry Everything is going to be totally clean and it takes less effort on your part. Okay, so speaking of detergent, then that leads us to a common mistake number three, make sure you are maintaining the longevity of your cloth diapers and not irritating your baby's skin by using the right products. So the common mistake is going to be using a product that is not meant for cloth diapers, or has a lot of toxic chemicals. So you want to be sure that you are using a cloth diaper specific detergent. Personally, I'm not affiliated with this, but this is who I used. I used the Charlie's brand. So Charlie's laundry detergent. It's a powdered detergent made for, well, I don't know they might have one that's made for cloth diapers, but there's this for sure labeled like cloth diapers safe. It's a formula that is made for tough things like poop and blood and just like gross stuff like that. Do not use fabric softener. I would say just don't use fabric softener in any of your laundry. But that's another topic for another time. And then cloth diaper safe diaper cream, so you want to make sure that you are using a diaper cream that is labeled as safe for cloth diapers or cloth diapers certified, something like that, to reduce build up and stains so that will just make your cloth diapers last longer. If you use a diaper cream that is not cloth diaper safe, then the residue can actually build up in layers over time and it will make washing your diapers harder and it will make them less absorbent. And then finally, you want to make sure that you are air drying your cloth diapers, don't stick them in the dryer to make sure that they can last longest and the elasticity stays intact. There is so much more, SO much more to cloth diapering. And like I said before, other eco friendly alternatives like EC, or elimination communication, or looking into fairly sustainable brands of disposable diapers, there's all of this and more covered inside The EMM Collective, or The Eco Minded Mama Collective. We get into that all together, as well as so many other topics and offer you support in real time. So you can bring all your questions to the table. You can bring the challenges, the weird things that come up in the moment that you're like, Who do I ask about this? Right? So one of our mama members inside the Collective, her name is Akua, and she is expecting her first baby this year. It's so exciting. But she recently wrote "even though I have been intentionally on my sustainability journey for over six years, I am looking forward to seeing what new things I learned. I really haven't thought much of my sustainability journey from the perspective of an eco minded mama. So this model will be so insightful for me..." So whatever stage of motherhood let alone eco minded mamahood that you might be in, we have support for you. We have mamas like Akua who are pregnant with their very first baby, motherhood is all new to them, but they've been living sustainably in their personal lives for a long time. We have mamas who have been living sustainably for a super long time and have kids and can mentor you. We have moms who are new to all of this and don't even know where to start and they're just here for more support, or something in between. Whatever it is, we've got support for you. And this month is super exciting. We are calling it Jumpstart June. So the month of June is my favorite month. It has my birthday, my wedding anniversary, Father's Day, so many back to back fun celebrations. And I just love summer. And so in this month, I am just wanting to like spread the joy of spread the love. And I am gifting you a free month of The Eco Minded Mama Collective! If you want to join the membership but you've been kind of like on the fence about it, not really sure if that's for you, or you're just hearing about it for the first time today, I want you to go into the episode description and you will find the link for checkout and you can use the code JUMPSTART, so jumpstart all one word that will give you one month for free. That code will last until the end of June. So June 30 at midnight, and I just want you to try it out and come and have fun with us. You will have instant access to our digital library of video lessons, all different topics of sustainable living and resources for you. We have our online community of mom friends that are supporting each other on a weekly if not daily basis. And we also have really fun perks like challenges, giveaways, Live Q&As with myself and other experts. It's really fun and I just am excited to see you on the inside!