10 days cloth diapers - My experience with cloth diapers

last edit: 10.02.23

reading time: 5 minutes

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On Facebook and Instagram there was recently, the action 10 days cloth diapers of Stoffwindelguru and Alicia and the cloth diapers. Unfortunately, I have not managed time to write every day on time something on the corresponding topic. Therefore, here is my 10 days of cloth diapers once in fast forward.

Day 1: Introduce yourself

I am Natalie and first and foremost a mom of two children. We live together in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. Many who know me well would probably describe me as a little stubborn. When I want something, I go through with it. I would also describe myself as a rather quiet person.

Otherwise, after the birth of my son, I have dealt a lot with different "species-appropriate" topics: carrying, breastfeeding, cloth diapers, family bed, ... Finally, I have made various training and further education in this area, so that I now offer carrying advice, cloth diaper and diaper driving advice, as well as breastfeeding support and baby massage in Oldenburg. More offers are planned, but my head is, as always, full and I have to sort through everything first.

My main job is actually occupational therapist and I would like to start working as an occupational therapist again in October, if everything works out.

You can read more about me in my articles "1000 questions to myself" (I really have to continue here).

Day 2: Your beginning

Phew, our cloth diaper beginning was not so easy. It took quite a long time. Before the birth of my son I didn't think about it at all. I had completely different thoughts in my head. After the birth, I encountered a lot of resistance, so we didn't actually start using cloth diapers until he was one year old.

Eine weiße Stoffwindel mit Eulen an einem Baby in Bauchlage.

With my daughter, the security was there, so we used cloth diapers as a backup for the diaper-free method from birth. That worked out great right from the start. Simply because we had gained enough experience in the meantime.

Day 3: Favorite diaper

Eine dunkle Stoffwindel mit verschiedenen Raketen als Muster.

I can't answer this one at all. I don't have a favorite diaper. Especially because I only use the cloth diapers as a backup. I like for example the Emilino-Wollsnap overpants or the diapers of the Diaper Manufacture. But I'm pretty flexible there, so we use very different diapers such as Milovia, Blümchen or even the wool overpants from disana with knitted diapers.

Day 4: Total Fail

Total fail was certainly that I did not deal with the topic of cloth diapers at all before the birth of my son. But I also know that other things simply had priority at that time.

Apart from that, the first diapers we bought were a total fail. We bought a used, probably quite old, package of Lottie's panty diapers with PUL overpants. The diapers were incredibly thick and stiff. At night the absorbency was not enough and during the day they were so thick that they restricted my son's movement. So we quickly switched to other diapers.

Day 5: Favorite insert

Definitely the Ikea washcloth. Super cheap and flexible. The absorbency is good enough for us as a backup, so we use little else.

Day 6: Night diaper

I don't do nighttime at the moment, which is why I mostly use panty diapers with slip-on overpants with my daughter. When it comes to pant diapers, I like Bamboozle from Tots Bots or the bamboo version from hu-da, for example. We also love the FlatWrap diaper from Glückswindel. As overpants I like best the wool slip from disana.

Day 7: On the road

It depends on where we are on the road. If I can stop well, I use nothing else than at home. Otherwise, I also like to take an AIO or a prefold as an insert in overpants. But I'm really flexible on that as well.

Day 8: Changing place

We don't have a fixed changing place. Here, too, I'm totally flexible and change where it suits me. We took down the changing table when my daughter was two months old because we hardly ever changed diapers there. Most of the time it's on the floor or on the bed. Nevertheless, I can't complain about back pain so far.

Day 9: Wool or PUL - What experiences have I had.

I think it's getting boring, but I'll go with what's available. In my experience, both materials have their advantages and disadvantages. I like that wool is so breathable and rarely needs washing. On the other hand, greasing is a bit more time-consuming than just putting it in the washing machine.

PUL is simple to wash and minor stains wash out easily. Since I'm kind of suffering from a chronic lack of time at the moment, this is quite handy right now.

Day 10: Velcro or Snaps - my favorite

When we first started using cloth diapers, I preferred Velcro. There are fewer differences when switching from disposable diapers to cloth diapers. At the same time, my son could sometimes open Velcro pretty quickly, which wasn't always so convenient. During this time, I was very grateful for diapers with snaps.

With my daughter, I initially preferred Velcro. These were quicker for me to open, which I found more practical for quick removal and detachment. By now I don't really care because she usually eliminates on signal, so the short time difference isn't a big deal. The only thing I find annoying sometimes is diapers with three snaps on each side. It works for nighttime, but during the day it's usually too much for me.

So, that was my 10 days of cloth diapers once in fast forward. How is it with you? What do you prefer for diapering? What experiences have you had with the different materials and cloth diapers?