Convincing Day Care to Cloth Diaper

Sending your baby - or in my case two babies - to daycare can be an overwhelming experience. Sending your babies to daycare and wanting the daycare to use cloth diapers even though their policy clearly states that they don’t do cloth diapers can be tad bit more overwhelming.

I won’t even go into how stressful finding a daycare was! Location and cost were really important factors – not to mention finding availability for twins who were under a year. So when the daycare we finally found didn’t allow cloth diapers we stuck with it anyway. We really didn’t have any other choice. I had to make some sort of compromise.

I was committed to sticking with cloth diapering though.

We chose cloth diapers for many reasons:

• We have twins and disposable diapers are NOT cheap!
• Cloth diapers are way better for the environment
• We worried about the chemicals in disposables and what harm they might cause our precious babies

And cloth diapers are totally cute.

I had to work up a little bit of courage to broach the subject with the daycare director. I already felt a little bit like the odd duck – with my Prius in a parking lot filled with mini-vans, trucks and SUVs, with my Tupperwares of homemade baby food next to Gerber puffs and yogurt bites, and with my pumped breast milk baggies in a land of Similac and Enfamil - but I took a deep breath and just asked her about the cloth diaper policy. I knew that Maine had recently amended the law to allow cloth diapers at daycares, so my plan was to start the conversation and see where that led.

She was surprisingly open to talking about it! She said that while Maine had changed the law and a representative had been there to talk to her about it, they had decided to stick to their policy just because they were worried it would be too difficult for the staff and too stinky.

I knew at that point that all they would need is to learn more about modern cloth diapers and it was my duty to help!

I suggested that we do a trial run. I would bring in the cloth diapers (I felt like I should stick to pockets and AIOs for ease) and a pail liner and even my own garbage pail and the staff could see if it would work for them.

She was open to the suggestion but did insist that they would not do anything with messy diapers besides roll them up and throw them in with the rest. I didn’t even press this – logistically it wasn’t realistic for the staff to have to deal with messy diapers.

So I brought in a big bag of cloth diapers the next day and hoped for the best.

I expected some sort of hiccup but the transition was surprisingly smooth.

All of the staff are happy to use the cloth diapers and we haven’t had any problems. I did start using disposable liners since the messy diapers were more difficult to deal with after sitting around for a few hours. But I learned from the Cloth Diaper Support Group on Facebook that you can just throw those in the wash with the diapers and reuse them which is fantastic.

My advice for using cloth diapers with child care providers and family is to be flexible and ready to compromise. Wet diapers are super easy, but be willing to deal with all the messy ones!

A couple of other things I’ve learned along the way:

Pockets vs. AIOs: I send a combination of pockets and AIOs to daycare because that’s what I have. I do have to sort through a stinky bag of diapers each evening and pull inserts out of the pocket diapers and I spend 2-3 mornings each week stuffing the pockets. AIOs would definitely be simpler!

Hook and Loop vs Snap: I have a few hook and loop diapers in my stash and these always come back rolled up with the tabs secured to each other – just one more thing to undo before you throw them into the wash, so snap closures are definitely better for daycare!

Bio: Agata Ketterick lives in southern Maine with her husband and one-year-old twins. She works full-time for a conservation non-profit and has discovered a new love for advocating for all things any crunchy mama would love.


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Convincing Day Care to Cloth Diaper

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Cloth Diapers at Day Care While Working Full Time

So you made the decision to cloth diaper, awesome! Those first 6 weeks flew by, maybe you didn’t even start until week 3 when you were good and ready. Then 6 weeks comes around it is time to go back to work....full time…outside the home. You feel like you just got a good wash and folding/putting away routine established and going back to work is just going to put a wrench in everything! Not to mention you are going to be navigating pumping if you’re breastfeeding, Mommy separation anxiety when thinking about giving a child you just delivered a little over a month ago to someone that is not you, all while still cleaning the house and making time for your dear hubby! Whew! That is exhausting just thinking about returning to work!  If you are lucky like us, you will find a loving daycare that will accept your obsession love for cloth diapering. Here are some tips to get you started.

Will you phleeease use my cloth diapers???

Asking can be a hurdle in itself. Here was my indirect approach for our babysitter while meeting with her in her home: “Would you mind if I change his diaper here, quickly?” Start changing and right when she sees the diaper say, “oh have you seen these new modern cloth diapers? Look how cute they are! Let me show you how they work!” Hook, line, sink ‘em. Make sure to do a full demonstration on just how easy and similar they are to disposables, just instead of putting in the trash can, they put in a wet bag! (this works best if you bring your cutest diapers possible!)

What types of cloth diapers have worked best for us at daycare?

Our stash consists of a mixture of many different types of cloth diapers, as I was once given the recommendation of not investing in a large stash of one kind, right of the bat.  I’m glad I listened because I have found there are ones that I do not grab to put on very often! For the most part, we have found that sending pre-stuffed pockets (Kawaii & bumGenius 4.0) and all-in-ones (bumGenius Freetimes) have worked the best for us. For the all-in-ones, I did show day care how to put it on, because with the Freetimes, I didn’t want them accidentally putting the microfleece side against skin!   In a pinch, when diaper laundry just did not dry in time, I have sent my GroVia hybrids, with the snap in inserts pre-snapped in the cover. In this case, they did not reuse the shell, they put the whole diaper in the wet bag after a change.

What is in our day care diaper bag?

1. 6 Diapers (remember pre-stuffed!). Between 4 and 9 months old, I have found this to be a sweet spot number for my day care provider, him being there 8 hours. That is roughly a change every 2-3 hours with one to spare. Knock on wood, she has never run out!
2. Wipes. I send about 15 cloth wipes each day, dry. She has a spray bottle she uses to get them wet and then she puts them in our wet bag. Sometimes, this is another hard subject, so don’t feel bad if you have to send a pack of disposable wipes!
3. Toys.  Mainly his favorite soft monkey rattle for nap time.
4. Change of Clothes
5. Stick of Cloth diaper friendly ointment Easy because they do not have to apply with their fingers! We use a Grovia Magic Stick!
6. Light Blanket
7. Breastmilk/formula/food

My laundry room happens to be right inside our door from the garage, so I drop the bag there after we get home and pick it up on my way out. There is always diapers drying so it makes it easy to grab 6 new ones and go!

Fitting in washing diapers in the *small* amount of time at home

Juggling working and an infant is tough, then throw in making sure you wash diapers every two days and you have a challenge on your hands! For me, I really make sure I stick to washing every other day. Because I have a pretty minimalist stash, especially of the types of diapers mentioned above that I actually send to day care, I find this is the perfect wash time to make sure I never run out of clean diapers.

On a wash day, when I walk in the door, I set the diaper bag down in the laundry room, keep little man in his car seat on the floor talking to him, and immediately start the load. This way by the time I finish nursing him or taking the dogs out, the first warm pre-wash cycle is done and I can start the main wash. Our main wash cycle is 79 minutes, which is right about when I am ready to clean up the kitchen from dinner! While little man is in his high chair still, I can then take what needs hung out of the wash (I don’t dry AIO’s or covers, and the rest goes in the dryer (mainly inserts, pre-folds and boosters). Then by the time little man is snug in bed I can take the rest out of the dryer to finish drying on the drying rack.

There you have it. My take on cloth diapering at day care while working full time. It can be done! Do you do anything differently? How do you switch up your diaper bag or wash routine?


Bio: Stephanie is a working mom to a 9 month old who loves everything about cloth diapers!


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Cloth Diapers at Day Care While Working Full Time

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Prefolds and Covers at Daycare, OH MY!

When we first set out on our cloth diapering journey, my husband and I tried quite a few systems before we decided on prefolds. We knew our daycare was open to prefolds since another mother introduced us to them, but there were a few things we learned over time that have made things easier for both the daycare providers and us.

#1) PREFOLD your prefolds
Our providers occasionally have difficulty folding the correct way. For those of you who use prefolds, you know it’s not that difficult, but when you have four other toddlers screaming in the room it is SO much easier to simply throw it in the cover and go!

#2) Stuffing prefolds?
If you can provide extra covers each day, it works even better if you can prestuff your covers. It’s a little thing, but it helps the provider and ensures a better fit which helps prevent those little prefold corners from peeking out.

#3) Covers, covers and more covers
Part of the reason we chose prefolds was to save money on covers. We have learned over time that most of our daycare providers prefer a new cover each time. We started with sending three covers, now we use five, and it has made our provider much happier.

#4) CD safe cream
We orignally used a non-safe cream with liners but we found that often the provider would forget the liner or get cream on the prefold anyways. I finally purchased some CJ’s. Not only is CJ’s amazing, but no more errors and less scrubbing my prefolds!

#5) Wet bags
Wet bags have helped save my diapers in quite a few ways. The first is that the providers know that diapers move from the clean bag to the wet bag, instead of back into the clean bag: yuck! It also saves the trouble of the infamous “white plastic bag”, which can get misplaced or even THROWN AWAY.

#6) Liners, for some but not all
We originally used liners to help with the poops. It turns out that our providers prefer to simply place the folded prefold in the wetbag. This helped us since I no longer had to worry about throwing liners in with my diaper laundry; I had plenty of spraying to do anyways! However, the providers in the 2 year old room have let us know that they prefer the liners so we will be switching back. My best advice would be to provide liners, explain options, and let the provider choose.

#7) Covers with flaps
While we love our Blueberry, Imagine and Kissa covers, covers with flaps help prevent the “prefold sticking out” issue that has lead to LOTS of clothes changes at daycare and a good amount of frustration from our providers. For this reason, we try to use only covers with front and back flaps.

#8) To Flip, or not to Flip?
We felt that AI2’s would be awesome for daycare. We tried Flip’s. No folding, small and thin: perfect, right? For us, it was not. Even though we educated all of our children’s providers about “soft side up, letters down”, after three different “mistakes” I could not deal with another bum-burn. Daycare providers are busy and if you have a daycare like ours, there may be other teachers and substitute teachers coming in on occasion who may not be educated on which way to put a Flip. It may help to write “UP” on the insert. We simply went all prefold. No risk of putting microfiber against the bum and risking a burn. However, if you have a single provider, Flips are a pretty simple system.

If you are looking for a similar system, we have friends who use Best Bottoms successfully at our center. The snaps help the insert go in the right way and also prevents the issue mentioned in #7.

Overall, we have had a good experience using prefolds and covers with our daycare, but we have learned that we need to be flexible. Talk to your provider, let them touch/try things and try to tackle issues head on. It is possible to use prefolds and covers at daycare successfully!

Bio: Carrie Long - Wife and mother of two beautiful girls and one angel. Occasional speech language pathologist and animal rescue enthusiast.


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Prefolds and Covers at Daycare, OH MY!

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Cloth Diapering at Daycare in a Disposable World

I recently had a mother approach me wanting to make the switch from disposable diapers to cloth. This was a first for me; I’ve never had a mother ask if it was okay to use cloth. My automatic answer was let’s do this, lets make the change. I wanted to learn everything I could about switching to cloth. I researched so much that I made the great switch to cloth diapers for my own little man. Cloth diapering was a whole new world for me I loved the fact that I could save my family so much money while being eco-friendly.

I realized some moms really struggle with approaching there provider about switching to cloth. Approaching a provider about making the switch to cloth diapering does not have to be intimidating. The first step is ask to schedule a meeting time to discuss cloth diapering. Inform your provider about the reason your making the switch to cloth. It may be that you love your provider but want to switch to cloth to offset the price of childcare while being eco- friendly.

Demonstration is key. Bring your choice of cloth diapers along with your choice of inserts. Let the provider see how easy using cloth diapers really is. I think some people have an old fashion preposition of cloth diapering, when really cloth diapering has really evolved over the years. Many people choose to have the provider’s use the disposable inserts. This is also the time you want to explain how you will be transferring the dirties home each night. Some people bring wet bags, others choose individual plastic sacks.

Come prepared. Bring a copy of your states regulations on cloth diapering . This can be found by your states NAEYC, National Association for the Education of Young Children. Have a back up plan, this may be a list of providers who are willing to accept cloth diapering.

Once your provider is on board get your daily supplies in order. I bring cloth diapers daily, I suggest 8 a day for a newborn and 6 for older infants and toddlers. If you decided to use cloth wipes those will also need to be in your bag along with some cloth diaper friendly bum cream. My best tip is always prep your bag the night before.

I hope this has eased fears of other fellow cloth diapering mommas. Ask your provider about their written cloth diaper policy; if this isn’t in place encourage them to write one. You can be another mom's future advocate. Hand in hand we can start a cloth diaper revolution.

Bio: My name is Kenci Grayson. I'm wife to Chris, Mommy to Landon, Cayden and Carter. I'm a lead care provider for infants and toddlers at a licensed daycare facility. I have my CDA and am nationally accredited in childcare.

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Cloth Diapering at Daycare in a Disposable World

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Diapers at Daycare

Since I went back to work when my daughter was 12 weeks old, I have been sending her to daycare with her cloth diapers. She goes to an in home daycare, however, we also looked at daycare centers and didn't meet anyone who refused to use our cloth diapers. I didn't do too much research into local laws or policies, but I did read somewhere that they are required to use an entirely new diaper at each change, i.e. no reusable covers and inserts. That left only pockets or all-in-ones as daycare diaper options, so I brought a couple of those to each interview. None of the people we spoke to had any experience with cloth diapering, but once I took out an example and showed them how easy they are to use they said it would be fine (it probably didn't hurt that I always brought the cutest ones!) The diapers I send are mostly BumGenius Freetimes with snap closures, or a few pockets, like BumGenius 4.0 and Kawaii.

Each day she goes to daycare, I send a dedicated cloth diaper tote bag which comes home with her at the end of the day. I don't leave any cloth diapers there, and the provider does not wash them there. In the tote I put two small wet bags, and enough diapers for a diaper change every two hours and a couple extra, just like I would pack for a day out with her. This tote is also useful for items which need to go back and forth daily, i.e. her bottles and breastmilk, an emergency disposable diaper, sunscreen, any crafts or notes she sends home, etc.

At the daycare she has her own cubby and in it she has a change of clothes, disposable wipes, a couple of disposable diapers, and a Grovia Magic stick, which is our preferred brand of CD safe ointment. When the daycare provider changes her diapers, she can put them directly into a wet bag, which goes back in the tote full of dirty diapers to come home at the end of the day. If its a poopy diaper, she will usually rinse it out, which is thoughtful, even though we have told her that it is not necessary. When we get home from daycare I put the wet diapers directly into my diaper pail, and rinse the dirty diapers off more thouroughly with my diaper sprayer.

I do my best to make sure that using cloth diapers is no harder for my daycare provider then disposables, and she doesn't seem to mind, so I must be doing it right. With the current rates for daycare, I am very happy about the money I save with cloth diapers!

Bio: Rebecca Azer is a working mom to one beautiful baby girl. She got into cloth diapers to save money, but quickly became an addict!


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Diapers at Daycare

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The Art of Convincing Your Daycare Provider to Use Cloth

I was lucky enough to keep my daughter home with me for six months before we enrolled her in daycare. But when it came time to find a daycare center, I realized I may have a fight ahead of me. We use cloth diapers for all the typical reasons: the environment, money, our little girl's bum. I did not want to start using disposable diapers just because she was in a daycare.

So I did some research. I found the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education, which was invaluable. It's important to go into a daycare knowing your state's laws when it comes to using reusable diapers in a center. If you know the answer to all their questions and how you will follow the state's laws on reusable diapers, then you are well on your way to convincing your daycare provider to use cloth. This website compiles all that information by state and daycare setting (center, in-home, etc.).

Another website I found compiles a list of known daycare centers in the US and Canada that are cloth diaper compliant: Cloth Friendly Daycare List. Of course this list doesn't have all centers willing to use cloth diapers, but it is a good place to start. Please do not shy away from centers not on this list! Our daycare provider isn't on it; however, the teachers and staff were more than willing to work with us. (Some were even excited to see and try modern cloth diapers; and there is at least one staff member that has helped a family member decide to cloth diaper because she loved my daughter's diapers so much.)

After narrowing down our very long list of possibilities, the first thing I did was send each an email asking if they were willing to look at my diapering system. Three centers said yes, so we made appointments for a tour, armed ourselves with the state's laws, wetbags, wipes, creams, and – of course – our cloth diapers! (We started out by sending pocket diapers and have moved to AIO diapers.)

Not so oddly, most people still think cloth diapers are Gerber flats with pins and plastic pants, so many are skeptical of allowing cloth in their daycare centers. However, when you show up with an AIO or pocket diaper that is as simple as a disposable diaper, it is very easy to convince them that they can do it. And I would suggest using the easiest diapering system possible at daycare. You don't want to send in too many parts, otherwise there could be mistakes and, subsequently, leaks.

The biggest concern of most centers is what happens with the soiled diapers. When I went in with my arsenal, I made sure to stress the fact that I did not expect anyone to swish or dunk my daughter's diapers. I just asked them to fold it in half and put the soiled diaper right in the bag. It's no different than folding a disposable diaper and putting it in the trash! And, of course, I take the diapers home every day so soiled diapers are not left there overnight, which is another concern. Shoot those concerns down! And don't get too offended when center directors tell you that your diapering system is unsanitary (yes, that happened to me). Just turn around and leave. Don't waste your time!

As I mentioned before, go into the center with all the answers. Think about what others have asked and what you asked yourself when you began your cloth diapering journey. How does cloth work? How many will you send in each day? How will the diapers be stored at the center? Will you take them home every evening? Do they leak? Some of your original concerns will likely be the same concerns at the daycare center. You have all the answers because of your research and your practical knowledge from using cloth. Be excited and listen to their concerns. Be willing to work with them, and they will be more likely to work with you.

Bio: Jennifer Esposito - I've been cloth diapering my daughter, Adele, for a little over a year. She wore her first cloth diaper when she was 6 days old and was in them full time at 3 weeks. I've been married to my best friend for 4 years. I'm an editor by trade, and during my free time I like to run, sew, or read.

The Art of Convincing Your Daycare Provider to Use Cloth

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Mission: Possible

The mission should you choose to accept it is to: find a great daycare for your little one which will allow cloth diapers, is easy to get to, and is affordable. Oh, and you have four business days to do this since we want you to start yesterday, therefore the daycare needs immediate availability. This was my mission recently as I made the choice to re-enter the non-work-at-home workforce.

Since we have invested all of our time and energy into cloth diapering our little girl, we decided that a daycare that wouldn't at least talk to us about cloth diapering wasn't going to work for us, despite being crunched for time. We called every daycare in our town (yes, it is small enough that an hour on the phone exhausted the list) and found a few that would cloth diaper for us, provided we used a pocket, all-in-one, or a gdiaper (Yay! Since that's most of our stash and they know enough to tell us what kinds they would accept). However, the earliest availability they had was February.

Since the position I accepted was in a nearby town we looked there. I called multiple places and a few said, "Sure," but sounded like they were already drunk at 10 am, so we decided not to call them back. Eventually I found one and they said, "We're not sure." The opening I had been hoping for! I have convinced several people that cloth diapering is easy, so just the willingness to give me a shot had me encouraged that I would be able to convince them the cloth diapers are the way to go. I set up a time to meet with the daycare director and I was good to go.

Now, to get a diaper bag ready for convincing someone they need to cloth diaper. I took along one of every different style we have: so a gdiaper with a cloth insert, a separate gdiaper liner stuffed with a disposable insert, a pocket with aplix and a pocket with snaps.

I also took both cloth wipes and disposable wipes, and never forget the wet bag. The meeting came around, and since my little girl had a wet diaper at the time it was a perfect lesson in the making. I took out the various diapers and asked which they would prefer to use. They chose pockets since those essentially look and work just like the disposable diapers they were used to using. I then asked about the wipes. Since they have a sink right there (legally they have to in most states) I was able to use some warm water to wet the wipe, take the wet diaper off, wipe the bum, take out the wet insert for the pocket she was wearing and put it all in the wetbag with my little audience. Score one for cloth wipes as well since the teacher said, "I'll just use the cloth wipes and put it all in the bag."

The real test though was the first day of daycare. I put together a bag with as many of the same diapers as possible. For me, this meant all the blueberry and fuzzibunz pockets that I own. I picked giving them snaps because I could tell them where to set them versus letting them guess, figuring the less they had to "wonder" about the better my chances. I dropped her off, reminded the teacher about the pockets and told her where to snap the diaper so that it was fitting best. I came back at the end of the day my daughter was still in the same outfit. I asked the teacher how it went and she said it was super easy and great! She then wondered why more people didn't use those... I may have another cloth convert in my midst. Mission Complete.

Bio: Carolyn recently returned to the work place and enjoys the extra income to buy extra fluff!

Mission: Possible

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Cloth Diapers in a Home Day Care

I initially started cloth diapering my son because it just seemed more natural. Disposable diapers are papery, have an odd odor, and no amount of printed on cartoon characters is going to improve their looks. However, obviously getting started in cloth diapering is a financial undertaking, and I hoped to save money, as well. I started cloth diapering my son when he was about 4 months old. I was working full time, and while he was at daycare he wore disposables. I used cloth on the weekends, in the evening, and through the summer (I’m a teacher). With this system, I don’t know that I saved a ton of money. I probably broke about even, and maybe saved a little.

My daughter was born six years later, and I knew I would start with cloth right away. She first wore Kissaluvs size 0’s with Thirsties covers, and then when she was about two months old, I switched to FuzziBunz smalls and bumGenius. When she was about three months old, I went back to work. I was using a different home-based care provider this time around, and I approached her about using cloth diapers. I brought along a Fuzzi Bunz and wet bag to show her how it would work, and after seeing how simple the cloth diapers were, she readily agreed that using cloth diapers would be just fine. It’s no more work to change a pre-stuffed pocket diaper than a disposable one—the main issue was keeping all of the used diapers in a wet bag. Every day when I take my daughter to the sitter’s house, I bring along 4 pre-stuffed pocket diapers, 4 moist cloth wipes (in a disposable travel holder), and a small wet bag. The diaper bag also contains some Grandma El’s diaper cream, and a few disposable diapers and wipes in case of an emergency. For my cloth wipes solution, I use 10 oz. of water, 20 drops of grapefruit seed extract (to prevent a musty smell), and a drop of baby soap. This system has worked out perfectly. When I get home from picking her up, I go through the wet bag and separate the diapers and inserts, spray the diapers off if necessary, and toss them in my large wet bag. I wash cloth diapers about every 2-3 days.

Before approaching my sitter, I did check the laws for day care homes. These may vary by state, but in Illinois, the code specifically mentions cloth diapers. According to the Licensing Standards for Day Care Homes, “A toilet shall be easily accessible so that the contents of reusable diapers may be disposed of before placing the diapers in the diaper pail. Disposable diapers and their contents shall be disposed of in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. “

My daughter Campbell is 8 months old now, and she’s been cloth diapered 99.5% of the time since the day we came home from the hospital. She’s only worn disposables a handful of times. She currently wears FuzziBunz size mediums and bumGenius. I wish I had kept better records of what I paid for the diapers I have and how much I’ve earned back by selling the ones we are no longer using, but if I had to guess I’d say we are currently getting close to the break-even point and from now on we will just be investing in detergent and water, assuming she is like my son and wears size medium through toddler-hood.

I am very thankful for my open-minded sitter who is willing to use cloth diapers. No only are we saving money, we are helping the environment, she has more natural fibers against her bottom, and she looks adorable!

Jan Scott - Mom of Evan, 6, and Campbell, 8 months

Cloth Diapers in a Home Day Care

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Diapering and Daycare: When you can’t use cloth, but WON’T use disposables

When our son was 4 months-old, we decided to make the switch to cloth. We switched for many of the usual reasons, economics, greenness, the desire not to have our kid sit in chemicals all day…but the big reason was because our guy has super dry skin. After a few hours in a disposable, the gel beads and chemicals dry him out so much that his bum looks all ashy, wrinkly, and chapped.

Since our son spends about 9 hours a day, 5 days a week at daycare, I obviously wanted have him in cloth at his school too. However, in the rush to book a spot at this in-demand school (we only had a few weeks to get ready for our son’s arrival), I neglected to ask if they allowed cloth. One month after he started school we made the cloth switch and found out they didn’t. While our state licensure allows cloth, the franchise license does not.

So, what’s a cloth diapering-loving mom to do? Research! Though lots and lots of research, I came upon hybrid systems offered by GroVia and Flip. These systems are waterproof cloth shells and disposable inserts. Armed with this information, pictures, and samples, I approached the owner of my son’s school and asked if we could use cloth hybrids. She investigated with the franchise licenser, and got a yes! We started using GroVia shells and Biosoakers right away. Our son’s infant room teachers loved how easy Aplix GroVia shells were to use, and the gusseted Biosoakers were fantastic at keeping in the runny infant poo. We had 7 shells that would rotate in and out, and after 9 months, they still look like new.

I was notified recently that our son would be moving up into the Young Toddlers room, and I thought this might be a good time to transition into Flip shells with disposable inserts in an effort to save a little money. While GroVia Biosoakers are amazing and I use them quite a bit for travel, they are about 40 cents per unit. Flip inserts are about 33 cents per unit, which over time is a big savings. Our son’s new teacher also happens to be pregnant and plans to use the whole Flip system with her baby, so this was a great opportunity for her to get comfortable with Flips as well! We have now been using Flips for 3 weeks, and love them. The best part about the disposable insert is that they are very, very absorbent. Our son is learning to hold his bladder overnight, and often releases the pee-nami on the way to school, so I need something highly absorbent so he doesn’t make a puddle in his car seat… and Flips rise to the occasion!

Every night I pre-load 5 Flip shells with inserts and put them in his diaper bag along with a medium sized Planet Wise wet bag. In the morning when I drop off our son, I put the diapers in a stack on one side of his cubby, and the diaper bag with the wet bag opened up and ready for action on the other side. This way, it is very easy for his teacher to take a diaper for changing, and then place the old shell in the wet bag to be sent home. I also send CJ’s Butter-Spritz O’BUTTer to school. The teachers love how incredibly easy and mess-free it is to use, and I like how there is no chance a non-cloth diaper friendly cream will end up him and then on his evening and overnight cloth diapers.

Are you in a situation where you can’t cloth diaper at daycare? Give hybrids a try! At 33 cents a unit, the cost is the same or less than disposables, so you have nothing to lose!

Bio: Caryn Lantz is a proud new mom though domestic adoption. When not doting over her almost one year-old, she works full time as a communications specialist and editor, and is also a freelance knit wear designer and technical editor. You can follow here on Twitter at twitter.com/fuzzynoodle or on her blog at www.fuzzynoodlelife.com.

Diapering and Daycare: When you can’t use cloth, but WON’T use disposables

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A Childcare Dream Come True

Like many of you who have both parents working, I was concerned about finding a daycare that would be accepting of our baby in cloth diapers. I read up on other people’s experiences, drawing as much advice as I could from them, as I tried to figure out how to convince places it would not be an inconvenience for their employees. As it has turned out though, most of that was not necessary!

One daycare option we looked into did not even bat an eye when I asked them about their willingness to use cloth, and showed them two different diapers (a one-size FuzziBunz and a Flip with an insert). They did not mind or seemed concerned about either one at all! While we ended up not going with this particular place, it was very encouraging to find someone unfazed at the idea of dealing with cloth!

The person we actually decided to go with was the mom of an acquaintance who was looking for work, and things ended up matching up very well between her and our family, especially in regards to cloth diapering!

First of all, she used cloth diapers on her children years ago –when the only options available were flats and plastic covers. So she was not intimidated by the thought of cloth, and was then surprised and curious to see how much it had changed over the past two and a half decades since her time using them.

Second, we did not have to buy any new or special diapers for her as she was willing to use the ones we already owned –primarily covers with inserts and prefolds. To make it a bit easier on her (our decision, not her request) we give her the inserts so she does not have to deal with folding the prefold and placing a stay-dry liner on top. Not hard things to do, but we want to simplify, not complicate, things as much as possible for her so she would not resent using cloth. We have even given her the few pockets and AIOs that we have for her to try out, but she actually prefers the inserts! This works perfectly for us as I now do not feel any pressure to buy a special type of diaper especially for her.

Third, and this is my favorite thing, she rinses out the diapers for us to take home at the end of each day! This was not something we asked her do to, but she knows we rinse them at our home and so after only a week of watching our baby she began rinsing them out too! Even though we have told her she does not have to, she still does. Plus, she even nicely rolls or folds everything up in the wetbag for us! I love it!

I am still so happy we have this lady taking care of our baby. She has been nothing but respectful of our wishes, does her best to ensure those things take place while we are not there, gives him lots of developmental attention as he’s the only child she watches, has not had any problem with using cloth diapers, and only costs a small amount more than an official daycare center. She truly is a wish come true for us and I am glad we found her!


For those who are looking for their first (or a new) childcare person or center, I would recommend two things: One, look at the smaller family-run centers; those, I found, were the most willing to accept cloth diapers. Two, talk to people within your friend, work, church, etc groups. We stumbled upon our person through conversations with her daughter as we were working. I knew her mom was looking for work, she knew I needed a babysitter, and we both respected each other; and then one day I thought about asking if her mom would be interested in babysitting, and they had been thinking the same thing! So look around, you might be surprised at who you find that way!

Rebecca Brown and her husband are first-time parents to their seven month old baby. She is also very excited for the upcoming holiday season when she will be able to watch her son experience it for the first time!

A Childcare Dream Come True

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The Day Care Challenge

"I’m sorry, I can’t keep Noah any more."

Not exactly the words I was expecting to hear from our in-home sitter just two months after she started keeping my son. And just about a week after we’d plunked down the money for a full set of 26 Bum Genius cloth diapers with the understanding that she would be glad to help us keep the kid in cloth.

When I was pregnant with Noah, my husband Bobby and I considered cloth diapers, but we wrote them off because we figured there was no way we’d find a day care that would be willing to use them. I knew I would be returning to work, and cloth diapering just on nights and weekends didn’t seem worth it to us.

So we found ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. We’d invested several hundred dollars to buy cloth diapers, and we actually found ourselves really liking them after even just a week.

When we started looking for a day care to replace the in-home sitter, the first question we asked was whether they had space available; the second was if they would be willing to cloth diaper our child. Turned out, of the three centers in town that had openings when we needed it, one of the actually was willing to cloth diaper.

Bobby and I were actually pretty astounded that the day care center was willing to do this. We live in the deep south, where cloth diapering isn’t exactly the norm, and the other two places we looked told us absolutely not. The workers at one place even basically mocked us for using cloth diapers, telling us there was no benefit to it and that it was a waste of time and money.

When we asked this question at Little Friends, on the other hand, the administrative assistant who was showing us around lit up. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “You have no idea how excited that makes me because I want to cloth diaper my children when I have them, and we don’t have any babies here in cloth diapers right now!”

Even though the center that was willing to cloth diaper was the most expensive option, and we knew the price difference (about $150 more per month that what we’d been paying the in-home sitter) would put a bit of a strain on our budget, it was worth it to us to put Noah somewhere that was willing to work with us on something so important to us.

Our experience since starting at Little Friends has been a great one as far as cloth diapering is concerned, and their willingness to work with us on cloth diapering is a great reflection of the type of care Noah receives all around. It’s well worth it!

BIO: Misty Mathews is mom to five-month-old Noah, wife to Bobby and pet-mommy to Nom Nom, Rosie and Ranger. She blogs regularly at www.thefamilymath.com.

The Day Care Challenge

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"D" Puts the Care in Day-care Provider

We walked through the door and were greeted by a smiling, beaming women who instantly grabbed our little boy out of our arms and began talking and playing with him. As a first time mother, I wasn’t sure what we should expect out of a daycare provider, but I was surprisingly comfortable with the way D handled our little boy. Braylon instantly responded to her and was so calm and relaxed; I knew we had found our daycare provider! We left with the understanding that she would contact us the next day to let us know if she would be willing to take another baby. We got in the car and shut the doors and my husband looked at me and said “Did you notice that her house is a little messy?” Nope I hadn’t noticed that, she does daycare for 10 children and is single, I would expect her house to be a little unorganized, it wasn’t dirty was it? My husband then said “Did you notice that her sink was full of dishes?” Nope, I didn’t notice that either, we went to her home at 5:30pm; she made the comment that her last child left about 5 minutes before we arrived. Again she has 10 children she watches daily, when do you expect her to do dishes during the day? My husband opened his mouth and all I heard was “Did you…”, I rudely (yes I will admit it) interrupted him and said “I did notice the way that she handled Braylon, the way that he responded to her, I noticed that her walls were covered in artwork from all of her day care kids, I noticed that she talks about doing daycare as though it is the one thing in life she can’t live without, that it is a real passion for her! If I was hiring her to clean my house, based on what you said, I would probably not hire her, but based on what she showed us and what she told us I am thoroughly convinced that I don’t want anyone else watching our child but her!” My husband grabbed my hand and smiled!

That was the start of a very beautiful relationship with D and our family! She called us back only an hour after we left her home and said that she would be THRILLED to have Braylon be the newest member of her daycare family. When she called she told us that she would provide the formula and food for Braylon, we just needed to let her know what formula he was on… She was a little surprised to learn that Braylon was an exclusively breastfed baby, her first in almost 15 years. She has since become a big advocate of breastfeeding and makes sure to give new parents that come to interview her, a packet of information that includes a few sheets on the benefits of breastfeeding!

When Braylon was 5 months old we discovered that we were expecting Baby #2! D was thrilled and made sure to “save” a spot for the baby when he arrived! Porter our second child was born with a few medical conditions, nothing long term, but one of those included having an Ostomy bag for the first 5 months of his life. D reassured us that she would have NO problem taking Porter with an Ostomy bag and even had me show her how to change it, just in case it leaked while he was there. Luckily D never had to change a leaky Ostomy bag! It was after Porter’s surgery and we got the all clear to start feeding him baby food, that I had decided that I was going to make our baby food instead of wasting money on store bought baby food that had who knows what in it. I had mentioned it to D, letting her know that the plan would be for us to bring a weeks’ worth of baby food every Monday and that she could just put the containers in the same bag that the breast-milk containers were going in. It was then and there that she asked for the website that I was getting my information for homemade baby food, I graciously gave it to her and the next morning, while we were dropping the boys off, she announced that after her late night research, that she too would be making homemade baby food, for all of her kids, so we wouldn’t need to bring any from home! She continues to thank me for turning her onto that, wondering why it had never occurred to her to do it before.

It was when Porter was 15 months old that I asked D how she felt about cloth diapers. Not knowing much about them she said that she would be open to the idea as long as I had a system down and showed her how to use them. It wasn’t until we found out that we were expecting baby #3 that we decided to switch Porter out of disposables and into cloth diapers, at the age of 23 months. D has been using our cloth diapers for over a month now and she loves it just as much as I do. She told me yesterday that she is trying to figure out how she can afford to buy cloth diapers so that she could be an exclusively cloth diapering daycare, cloth diapering the none potty trained kids during the day. How amazing is that… How amazing is she…

But for now, until that ball gets rolling, we pack our cloth diapers and send them to D’s for the day. Our system is simple at home and simple at daycare, that is the way that cloth diapering is suppose to be, right?

Our Daycare Cloth Diapering System:
We have our Medium size Planet Wise wet/dry bag that we send 4 cloth diapers (we use one size cloth diapers) in each day. D has a roll of disposable liners that she puts in twice a day; she knows what time of the days that Porter usually does his number 2’s and only includes one in the diaper at those times (after breakfast and before nap). She also has a jar of Coconut oil in-case he has a rash or redness starting. She changes him and puts the dirty diapers in the “wet” part of the bag and leaves his clean diapers in the “dry” part of the bag. When I pick the boys up from her house, I grab the bag and that night our day’s worth of diapers and the wet/dry bag go in the washing machine and finally hung to dry overnight, ready to be packed the next morning.

D is a blessing in our lives, I often think of what it could be like if our children went to another day care provider’s house. She has been willing to embrace every new “crazy” thing I throw her way and has actually jumped on my band wagon and has been my number one advocate throughout it all!

Our experience with day cares and cloth diapering has been GREAT! I strongly urge you to go find yourself a D, she is worth the search :)

Bio: My name is Amanda and I am a mother to two amazing little boys and am expecting a little girl in December! I love photography, running, yoga, cooking, traveling, my family, but most importantly watching our children discover the world around them! I aspire to be a stay at home mom one day, hopefully soon. I am newly addicted to cloth diapering and loving every minute of it.

"D" Puts the Care in Day-care Provider

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Terrified Daycare Director

I am one of those mothers that caught onto cloth diapering late in the game.  My first child wore disposables.  When my daughter was born I started looking into cloth diapers.  I realized that cloth diapers had changed so much over the years and decided that I could definitely do this.  My next thought was the daycare.  Would they be willing to use cloth diapers?  All of the people that I knew that used cloth diapers were stay at home Moms.  Were daycare centers willing to use them?  I made the call and the daycare Director told me that they didn’t have a problem with it, but she said they “won’t do anything with the poop so maybe you should consider using disposables just for daycare.”

She sounded terrified.  Were diapers really that scary?

I thought long and hard throughout my maternity leave about whether to go forward with this or not.  My biggest concern was actually the daycare.  I realize that I pay them so they should use whatever products I require on my baby.  However, I know that they are incredibly busy woman and I didn’t want to put them out too much either.  I came up with a plan that I think is ideal for cloth diapering at daycare.

1. bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers were the first step in the plan.  I bought many of them with hook and loop closures even though I read that they tend to wear out quicker.  I wanted to provide them with a diaper that was as much like a disposable as possible.  When you are changing six baby’s diapers at once it needs to go quickly.  I bought a variety of other diapers for at home, but I’m very careful not to send them.  I want to be consistent. 
2. Flushable liners were the next step.  I provide them with liners to go in the diapers so that all poop can get thrown out.  This step was actually for me.  I didn’t want the poop sitting inside the diaper all day long waiting for me to clean it off at night.
3. The final step is a Planetwise wet/dry bag.  I think that this is an essential accessory for cloth diapering at daycare.  Every morning I stuff the dry side with clean diapers and they put the dirty ones in the wet side throughout the day.  I bring the bag home every evening and do the same thing the next day.

Using these three products have us successfully cloth diapering at daycare.  I also recognized their fear of having to use cloth diapers.  The week before my daughter started daycare I stopped in and showed them how to use the diapers.  After showing them that it was very similar to a disposable they seemed much more at ease. 

We are only a few weeks in and they have suggested to me a few times that we use disposables at daycare and cloth at home.  I just explain to them that it’s important to me, my baby’s health, and my wallet that we use cloth full time.

Basically, I have tried to make it as easy as possible for them, but I’m also standing my ground.    Now I am so committed to cloth that if they were to tell me that it’s not working out, I would find a new daycare center.  I want to be respectful of them and their time, but also do what is best for my little one. 

Written by Tracy K.
Bio:  I am a wife and Mother of two.  I work full time and love my work, but also love every moment at home with my little ones.

Terrified Daycare Director

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Convincing Day Care To Use Cloth Was Pleasantly Easy

I was of the mind that it couldn’t hurt . My husband, completely on board with cloth diapers at home, thought it would be a waste of time to even ask. So, after a few months of cloth diapering on evenings and weekends when my son wasn’t at day care, I debated what to do.

We didn’t start using cloth diapers until right before my son turned 1. I started in with caution, but quickly fell in love with all of the benefits and realized the extra work was minimal. Once I had a routine down at home — and knew the diapers wouldn’t be putting an extra burden on anyone — I got the itch to cloth diaper full-time, which would mean getting our day care to use them.

I spent several days working up the nerve to ask our church-run day care facility about using cloth. Then I’d talk myself out of it (or my husband would). Finally, on a morning when I had a few extra minutes and a fresh load of laundry done, I simply grabbed one of my pocket diapers and brought it along with me to drop off my son.

“I have something to show you,” I said when we arrived.

My son’s care giver shrank back nervously as I pulled the diaper out of my bag and winced a little as I said the words “cloth diaper.” Just as quickly, however, she touched the diaper and visibly relaxed.

She said what a lot of people say — that her aunt used cloth back in the day and it was nothing like this — as I showed her that the diaper goes on and off just the same as disposables.

I explained that if they agreed to use them the only difference would be that instead of throwing them in the trash, they’d be throwing them in our zip-up wet bag for me to take home to wash. I was intentionally careful not to come across as confrontational, and I explained that I’d been doing it at home without any problems.

“That’s it?” she said.

“That’s all there is to it?” another caregiver asked.

Within two days I was sending the diapers to day care for a trial run, and I guess I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was that there have been no issues whatsoever.

In fact, the ladies seemed to be enjoying it — choosing their favorite colors and competing over which one to put on next.

I think the key thing for them, as it was for me when I started my journey into cloth, was getting to see the diapers in person. They sound a lot more intimidating than they really are. I also had the system down so that I could explain to them how it would work: I’d bring the diapers stuffed and ready — pockets with Velcro — so that changing his diaper stays essentially the same. I had the bag for them, as well. By Day 2, I was already introducing them to some different kinds of diapers.

My own conversion to cloth took awhile, but within no time my day care and I had a good routine going. I am thrilled to no longer be buying any disposables whatsoever. In the beginning I never thought it’d be possible with a son in day care, but sometimes, all you have to do is ask. You might just find that asking is as easy as using the diapers!

By Jessica W.
In the photo: My son, Tucker, naps on his cot at day care.

Convincing Day Care To Use Cloth Was Pleasantly Easy

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This Diaper Belongs To . . .

My four month old son started daycare a few weeks ago.

One of my daycare requirements was that it allow for cloth diapers and thankfully I found a wonderful place. In fact, they are so pro-cloth that four out of the other six children in his class also use cloth diapers.

I quickly learned that everything that goes into his classroom MUST be labeled - including his diapers. I wasn't looking forward to disfiguring his cute (yes, I find them adorable) little cloth diapers with a permanent marker.

What to do . . .What to do?

I know! I'll contact Kelly's Closet!

I wrote to Kelly's Closet and explained my dilemma. I also told them how my daycare stash consisted primarily of BG 3.0s and AIOs. They suggested using one color of thread and stitching it around the edge of the interior pocket flap or even on the BG tag. This way, his diapers could quickly identified.

Fantastic idea! I don't sew very well, but I thought this would make an excellent project for my son's grandmother (my mom - we call her MorMor). She decided to sew a black star (to represent "the man in black", Johnny Cash, for whom my son is named after) on all the BG labels. She pre-washed the thread just to make sure the color wouldn't bleed when I washed his diapers. It only took her a couple of minutes per diaper (I loved the idea so much, I even put her to work sewing black stars on his blankets, clothes and PlanetWise wet/dry bag).

If it's possible, I think the diapers are even cuter now! The black star is easily visible to all his teachers and it's so simple that even I could sew them next time.

Thanks for the idea Kelly's Closet!

- by Stephanie N.

This Diaper Belongs To . . .

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Cloth Diapers at Daycare: Tools to make it happen

Running into difficulty getting your daycare to continue your commitment to cloth? Or are you a new mom returning to work and trying to find a daycare that will accept cloth? Unfortunately, the daycare industry has been slow to join the cloth diapering movement. Citing health concerns and time-management issues as the main roadblocks, many daycare providers may just need to be educated to make cloth diapering at daycare a success! The Real Diaper Association advocates cloth diaper usage in daycare and helps parents educate providers about the practice.

Here are a few tips for making it work.

• Be upfront. Whether you are just looking at daycares or have already committed and are trying to change the policy, let them know from the first meeting that this is something that is important to you. It may even be worth a phone call to each provider on your list before you visit to see how they will react. If the reaction isn’t positive, maybe it’s not worth a visit.
• Be thorough. Consider all types of daycare when doing your research. When a daycare center might not be flexible, an in-home provider might be your answer. There are many daycares popping up that do support cloth diapering…in fact some prefer it, so get online and start hunting for ones in your area.
• Be prepared. Have a plan for how cloth diapering with work and come to the meeting prepared to share your ideas. Many daycares don’t have formal policies regarding cloth diapers, so hearing a plan of how it would work may make some providers more comfortable with the idea.
• Be instructive. Bring a sample diaper along with you to show the provider exactly how it works. Most are probably thinking of the cloth diapers their mother used, so show them how far cloth has come! Don’t forget a wet bag and other accessories you’ll be providing so they can see the whole picture.
• Be flexible. There may be a compromise to your proposal that would make everyone happy, so be open to their concerns and suggest an alternative that will work for both.
• Be a guinea pig. Suggesting a trial-period might be the best way for both daycare provider and parents to test the waters. After 30 days, most will likely be converts, but having an “out” will make everyone more comfortable. Be sure not to sign a long-term contract until the trial is over to ensure you are not tied into something that isn’t going to work.
• Be calm. Nothing is going to change with a negative or quick-tempered attitude on your part. A calm, kind demeanor will let the provider know that you are serious about making this happen and you want to work with them not against them.
  

For more tips of bringing cloth diapering to daycare, check out the Real Diaper Association’s Tips for Using Cloth Diapers at DayCare. Good luck!

Cloth Diapers at Daycare: Tools to make it happen

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Our Cloth Diaper "Academy"

When it came time for our 20 month old son Wilson to start preschool 4 days a week I honestly didn’t even consider that I might find a place that would refuse to use cloth diapers. We've been a cloth diapering family since Wil was 7 months old, and sometimes I forget there's any other option. It's just...what we do.

Up until his recent enrollment in preschool at 19 months, I had been able to bring my son with me to my part-time job, and since our extended family lives out of state and we rarely get a babysitter, we haven't had to deal with anyone refusing to uphold our decision to cloth. So when we set about interviewing preschools in our area, I called the first one on my list and asked them every question I could think of except the cloth diaper question. After I hung up the phone, it hit me. "What if they say they won't?"

I regrouped and resumed my calls. This time I asked everyone the cloth diaper question first. I decided I wasn't looking for a place that was packed with cloth diaper addicts, and was not under the delusion I was going to find one either. The question I asked was "We use cloth diapers on our son. Is your staff familiar with cloth diapers, and if not, are they willing to learn?" I figured if they were going to say "no" to the "willing to learn" part, then we didn't need to go any further.

I'm happy to report none of them gave me a "no" response. For the most part, they were all up for at least learning about it. Good for me since one of the things I love best is talking about my cloth diapers! The school we eventually chose has been so great. They were one of the schools I interviewed who never had a cloth-diapered child, but were very excited to learn all about it.

On our initial visit and tour I sat down with my son's teachers and showed them everything they needed to know about the wonderful world of cloth. It's been three weeks, and things are going well. Wil attends school from 9am - 3:30pm and I usually pack 2 Gro Baby shells, 5 soaker pads, 5 flushable liners, and a medium sized Planet Wise wet bag. I also gave them a bag of Gro Baby Bio Soakers and a couple ‘sposies to keep there, in the event he happens to have multiple blowouts and go through everything I’ve packed (thankfully this has never happened. The staff are becoming cloth-diapering pros, picking up on the lingo, and adapting beautifully! Who wouldn’t? Cloth is addicting after all but after all!

I have found the most important element in beginning to cloth diaper is just to be open to it. This applies to both parents and caregivers alike. As long as you can find a day care or preschool that is ready and willing, you have the opportunity to introduce cloth to a new group of people, which is always fun! In addition, you may be pioneering the way for future cloth diapering families looking for daycare… instead of hearing "we've never cloth diapered here before..." they will hear the welcome words, “Absolutely! We use cloth diapers here and we love it!”

By Stefanie

Our Cloth Diaper "Academy"

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