Before Baby Arrives
Pre-washing instructions
Your diapers need to be prepared for your new baby's sweet little bum. Before your baby arrives, set aside a laundry day. You will need to wash your diapers 5 times to help them reach their maximum absorbency before they are put to use. This also ensures that any oils from manufacturing have been removed.
Do not dry in between pre-washings, as this is unnecessary wear and tear on your diapers. Dry them only after your 5 wash cycles have been completed.
Drying in the dryer is optional. To extend the life of your diapers, it is recommended to hang them to dry. That being said, who has time for that?! Dry on low heat. If you're using a dry sensor setting, make sure it's set to extra dry as the microfibre inserts hold moisture longer.
What else do you need
Diaper pail - The wet pail liners will fit in a 13-gallon diaper pail or kitchen garbage can. Alternatively, you can use the handles on the wet bag to simply hang it from a hook near your diaper change area.
Other Products
When purchasing or making products to use with your cloth diapers such as sprays and creams, you must be mindful to use cloth diaper friendly options. Many diaper rash creams provide a barrier on the bum, but also rub off into the diaper, reducing how much the diaper can absorb. Here are some recommendations:
Bum Spray
You can just use water if you want to keep things simple. We found a great recipe online that's worked well for us:
Tip! This recipe can be scaled - we make a large batch in a 4-litre container and then refill our spray bottles as necessary. For a 4-litre container, we use 1 cup of castile soap, 1 cup of oil of choice, 4 eye-droppers of tea tree oil, fill the rest of the container with water.
Tip! Keep an extra spray bottle already filled and ready to go for when you run out.
Bum Cream
Coconut oil is great as an everyday bum cream. One of the great things about cloth diapering is it's gentle on baby's skin. Should you find any redness or mild rash, coconut oil is perfect.
Rash Cream
For more serious cases of diaper rash (particularly if your baby gets a rash while teething... Yes, totally a thing that happens!) we recommend calendula cream. The UNDA calendula cream has been our go to for diaper rash and sore nipples. You can also buy it at Birth and Baby Needs in Burlington and The WOMB (both Milton and Burlington locations).
Your diapers need to be prepared for your new baby's sweet little bum. Before your baby arrives, set aside a laundry day. You will need to wash your diapers 5 times to help them reach their maximum absorbency before they are put to use. This also ensures that any oils from manufacturing have been removed.
- Wash in hot water or sanitize cycle, if available, add or program extra wash time on your washer if you can
- Cold rinse is fine, add extra rinse time if your machine will allow you to do it easily
- Use detergent based on the approximate size of the load - if your laundry bag is full, use a regular portion of detergent, half full use half portion.
- Please use detergent that is free from scents and dyes! Don't use anything that could irritate baby's sensitive bottom. We've used the Free and Clear detergent from Costco without issue.
Do not dry in between pre-washings, as this is unnecessary wear and tear on your diapers. Dry them only after your 5 wash cycles have been completed.
Drying in the dryer is optional. To extend the life of your diapers, it is recommended to hang them to dry. That being said, who has time for that?! Dry on low heat. If you're using a dry sensor setting, make sure it's set to extra dry as the microfibre inserts hold moisture longer.
What else do you need
Diaper pail - The wet pail liners will fit in a 13-gallon diaper pail or kitchen garbage can. Alternatively, you can use the handles on the wet bag to simply hang it from a hook near your diaper change area.
Other Products
When purchasing or making products to use with your cloth diapers such as sprays and creams, you must be mindful to use cloth diaper friendly options. Many diaper rash creams provide a barrier on the bum, but also rub off into the diaper, reducing how much the diaper can absorb. Here are some recommendations:
Bum Spray
You can just use water if you want to keep things simple. We found a great recipe online that's worked well for us:
- 500ml spray bottle
- 5 to 10 drops tea tree oil
- 1/8 cup lavender castile soap (alternatively, use castile baby soap and add 5 to 10 drops of your choice of essential oil)
- 1/8 cup oil of choice (we use almond oil)
- Fill with water after ingredients are added to the spray bottle
Tip! This recipe can be scaled - we make a large batch in a 4-litre container and then refill our spray bottles as necessary. For a 4-litre container, we use 1 cup of castile soap, 1 cup of oil of choice, 4 eye-droppers of tea tree oil, fill the rest of the container with water.
Tip! Keep an extra spray bottle already filled and ready to go for when you run out.
Bum Cream
Coconut oil is great as an everyday bum cream. One of the great things about cloth diapering is it's gentle on baby's skin. Should you find any redness or mild rash, coconut oil is perfect.
Rash Cream
For more serious cases of diaper rash (particularly if your baby gets a rash while teething... Yes, totally a thing that happens!) we recommend calendula cream. The UNDA calendula cream has been our go to for diaper rash and sore nipples. You can also buy it at Birth and Baby Needs in Burlington and The WOMB (both Milton and Burlington locations).