Cloth Diapering on the Cheap: Rashes, and other odd things

There are always odd things that come up when cloth diapering. One is the dreaded diaper rash. Some people say that you are less likely to get diaper rash with cloth. I think that depends on why your kid is getting the rash. If you child is sensitive to the chemicals that are in paper diapers then yes, they will get less rashes with cloth. If however your child gets diaper rash from having pee against their skin (like my children) then you may get more from cloth diapers. The solution to this is fleece. You simply get some fleece (from the fabric store or an old blanket) and cut it in to diaper sized rectangles and place them in the diapers. This will keep your child's skin dry and rash free. You can wash the liners with the diapers and reuse them.

For wipes I use white wash cloths. We use white because our other wash cloths are not white so we can tell the difference. I went to Target and for $5 I got a pack of 12 wash cloths. I bought 3 of these packs. Then I just use a squirt bottle of water to get them wet and wipe the baby up with them. They can be washed with the diapers just the same way. Really why not use cloth wipes when you are cloth diapering anyways right?

Some babies are super heavy wetters at night. For them it would be a good idea to get some overnight diapers. Many different bands make them. They cost a bit more but you only need a few of them. I got 3 because I do my wash every 3 days. I got the Happy Hempy pocket diapers. Hemp is very absorbent and works well for overnights. They cost $18 but like I said, I only needed 3. There are other hemp diapers that will work too.

Cloth diapering is really not as hard as it sounds and the pay off money wise and environmentally are huge. So give it a try! If it does not work out you can sell your stash and make back at least some of your money. Some websites even have a "try it" package that will let you return all or part of the diapers and get your money back.