All About My Flat Cloth Diaper Routine

As of writing this, I estimate that I have changed close to 10,000 diapers since I have become a mother.

(Ask me again tomorrow, the number may have jumped to 20,000) 😉

I cloth diaper, because it saves us lots of money, its fun, and its good for the earth.

Plus, I think disposable diapers smell weird. 😉

I use flat cloth diapers, I really like them and they are actually kind of fun. There are definitely Pros and Cons to flats, but in my experience it is mostly pros!

Sometimes people are intimidated by flats, and I was too before I tried them. But over time I have learned how to integrate cloth diapers into my life in a way that doesn’t take too much time or effort, and now I will never look back!

I wanted to write this post to give you an idea of what being a flats-user looks like.

Your routine will be different from mine, and even my routine has changed a few times. This is just how I do it right now!

You can master cloth diapering! If you want to learn how to do flats, keep reading, this post is for you!

Let’s start from the beginning:

Flats are a big piece of fabric, usually diaper cloth made from cotton, or even hemp. The ones I buy are a Birdseye weave which means that if you look really close, the fabric has a tiny diamond pattern on it that looks like little bird’s eyes.

The flats I like the best are from green mountain diapers, I love their size, and thickness. They come in organic and also bleached. I like to buy the unbleached organic ones. (Just to splurge a little 😉 )

I usually have about 3 dozen flats on hand, sometimes more. I pair them with a PUL one size cover, my favorites are from Nickis Diapers. I currently have over 15 covers but you really only need 6 or so as a bare minimum. (One for each day between washes and some extra.)

When you purchase flats, they will need to be prewashed and dried a few times to boost their absorbency. I tend to only do it twice or thrice although some people prewash 5 times. I haven’t noticed a huge problem doing it this way.

After the flats are dried, and if I remember to get around to folding them, I dump them on the floor to sort and fold them all.

I store them in some fabric bins I got from Walmart, and they go on a linen shelf in my bathroom. (Bins are similar to these ones from Amazon.)

I have one basket for diapers, one for accessories like covers, wipes, and liners, and one basket up higher for things I don’t use often like newborn sized diapers.

When it’s time to change a diaper, I grab a flat, a liner (for extra absorbency now that my baby is older) and the wipes.

My favorite flat fold is called the kite fold. You can fold it large or small for different sized babies. I place the liner on top after I fold the diaper.

Here is how to fold a kite fold:

Here’s a tip: Fold your flat BEFORE starting to change the baby, so they don’t have time to crawl away. They are speedy!

I change the baby, then put on the new diaper, and then use a snappi to secure it.

I like to keep my snappis kind of loose so they aren’t squeezing the babies tummy. They will take a little experimenting to figure out the perfect tightness.

Then, I put the cover on.

If the cover your baby was previously wearing isn’t soaked or poopy, then you can reuse it. Otherwise, grab a new one.

I also put a new one on every morning.

For some reason when putting on a cover, I always snap the right side first. Just a weird habit!

After snapping the right side, I gently pull the diaper from the left side to get all the slack out, and then snap the left side.

Diaper Covers should be tight enough to not let leaks out of the leg holes and top, but not so tight to leave red indentations.

Sometimes the baby will have some red marks on their legs even if the diaper is not tight, that is normal.

It’s kind of like when you wake up and have red marks from your pillow on your face, it’s just from the fabric being pushed into the skin. Don’t be alarmed!

If the baby’s legs look like they have indentations on them, or feel like they are being squeezed, you need to loosen the cover.

Then, I let the baby crawl away and take care of the dirty diaper.

For poopy diapers, I spray them into the toilet or swish them, then throw them along with the wipes into a wet bag liner in a garbage pail. (I really like the Planet Wise brand, I have a blue and green one I rotate out.)

Once the diaper pail is full in a few days, I take it to the laundry and dump it into the washer.

update: I now use a pretty blue plastic trash can I added handles to.

I wash once with cold water, to get all the poop off. Then, I wash a second time on Hot to sanitize the diapers.

I use regular powdered detergent, and add borax to each load since I have hard water.

After washing, I smell the diapers to make sure they are clean.

All the diapers then go into the dryer, but anything with PUL or plastic I air dry on a bar in my laundry room, or in the bathroom over the curtain rod.

And then the next day I get around to folding them again, and the cycle continues!

Additional Notes:

• When I leave the house for an outing: I put a diaper and some wipes in my purse.
  
  You can have a designated set of diapers JUST for your purse or car so you never forget them, but I don’t leave the house enough to need that.
  
  I also have a small sized zippered wetbag just for my purse, but if I forget it I also just grab a grocery sack from whoever’s house I’m at. 🙂
  
  Nothing as classy as toting home a grocery sack full of dirty dipes.
  
• When traveling: I take all my diapers and needed diapering supplies in a laundry basket. Remember to take some detergent too, if you wont be back before wash day.
  
• If you have 2 in diapers: you don’t necessarily need twice the amount of diapers, you can simply wash them more often.
  
  (I just wash as often as my pail gets full, so I make sure I have enough to fill a pail while also having a few to use while they are being washed.)
  
  I do recommend having a few extra covers if you have 2 in diapers.

How many diapers and wipes do I need?

Everyone’s stash size is different, and you will discover what you like and don’t like. Here is what I recommend starting out with:

• 3 dozen flats
• 6 waterproof covers
• 3 snappis
• 2 wetbags (to rotate while washing) (You can use zippered wetbags, or wetbag liners that go inside a pail. I have used both and like them both for different reasons.)

This is GREAT to start with, but you can certainly get away with less if you are willing to wash more often.

As you gain experience, you will add more or replace your items as you create your own routine.

As your baby grows, you may need to also purchase some doublers/liners for extra absorbency during the day, and put the baby in 2 diapers at the same time for night time.

That’s my flats routine.

It changes as my family grows and our needs and preferences change. Flats are an incredibly flexible way to cloth diaper, and they really aren’t as hard as they sound.

I have tried several different types of diapers, and these are truly my favorite!

If you liked this post, Check out these!

– Why Flats Are Better than All Other Cloth Diapers
– How To Master the Art of Cloth Diapering
– 12 Super Random But Effective Ways I Save My Family Money

Are you surprised by anything in my cloth diaper routine?