My friend had two daughters (now 9 and 5) who had been disposable diapered. She received the shock of a lifetime when their big surprise baby #3 turned out to be babies #3 and 4. I sent her several diapers I wasn’t using so they could give cloth a try, and her husband, a stay at home dad, cloth diapered their now 20 month old twins part time. 2013 held one more surprise for them as they just welcomed baby #5! I asked her to write a guest post for me, but understandably, she was a little busy! Instead, she agreed to answer some questions for me.
Your husband was a stay-at-home dad (mostly) when you told him about cloth diapers. What was his reaction?
He went back and forth between “its a great idea” and “doable, but not sure if we can commit to it”. My push to do it was because my allergies to paper were getting SO BAD, and secondly I really like all the styles, etc. I spun the idea to him as a “cost savings” because that is what interested him the most. Doing the math on disposables, etc… THAT’S the info that got DH to try them. Helped that every time we changed diapers, we did 2 together and as I threw them away I would say “oh! Another buck in the trash can” LOL, because the pampers were about 2-3 diapers per $. Ha!
How did you handle having twins in cloth diapers?
Get a routine. Every night was a load of diaper laundry, so in the AM I had a stack that needed stuffing and folding. Sometimes I wouldn’t get through them and we would work them right out of the laundry basket as we needed them. That sucked because we had so many different brands, matching the right size stuffer was not always easy in a basket of 30 possibilities and a wiggler on the table! Best bet here – laundry on first floor (mine was in the basement) and use all one brand.
How many diapers did you feel you needed?
I think we had about 30 total, and used most every day.
What was your biggest hurdle to cloth diapering?
For us… Poop. Poop in the diaper was not acceptable to DH. So we made our own liners out of cut up t shirts – make them big so when the edges curl in the wash they can still cover the whole butt area. So if the liner got peed on, we throw it in the wash with the diapers and re-use. If it got pooped on, it went in the trash, diaper in the wash (mostly poop-free). For caregivers – the impossibility of learning the technique, or unwillingness to. So we used both cloth and paper diapers due to them.
You’re expecting your 5th baby soon, are you planning to use cloth on him as well? (Baby was born in December!)
I saved my favorite prints and styles from the twins, but many of the diapers got some heavy use so we donated them. It will be a mix of cloth and paper this time, I am sure.
Thanks for answering my questions! This is such a great example of how you can make cloth diapering work in different situations, and that it does not have to be “all or nothing!”
Do you have an interesting or unique cloth diaper story to share? Send me an email!
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
That last sentence needs to be repeated often. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Part time cloth diapering will still save you money, and cut down on trash & chemical exposure. This is the message that people having trouble paying for disposables need to hear, actually it’s a good message for anyone with a baby.