Micah and Christine

Today was pretty big- today my kid sat on her potty. Was she fully clothed? Sure. Was she paying more attention to the necklace she was wearing than the potty itself? Probably. But my lovely, strong-willed daughter sat on the potty that she has run screaming from every time it has entered her sight in the last few months. 

In honor of this momentous occasion, I have been reflecting back on diapering her. I mean, she will be out of diapers in a couple of days now, right? (Ha. Ha ha ha. Ha. )

So here we go, part one of a two or three part series on our experience diapering our first kid. 

Most of our diapers are BumGenius. I like them. They're simple DURING the diaper change, which is what I care about the most with my squirmy kid. The first couple of weeks that we cloth diapered, I used disposable wipes. Though that was ok, I quickly realized that it was annoying to have a separate diaper pail for the diapers and trash pail for the wipes. 

I think I should start out by saying this- I know that my cloth wipes are not the cheapest option. I know that you can make your own from old receiving blankets, or from recycled flannel, or from lots of other places. One thing I have decided- for myself and my family- is that I just don't have time for all of those options. So here is what works for us. 

I bought BumGenius cloth wipes from Kelly's closet. (4 sets at $12 each = $48.) 

I also purchased a Prince Lionheart Wipes Warmer. I thought that I got that at Kelly's closet, too... but it looks like they don't carry it any more. (About $20? It's available at Walmart.com right now for $17.54.)

I read several different options for wipes solution- if you do a google search there are about a million of them. What I ultimately decided on was something super simple and cheap. We just use a mix of some baby oil and baby bath wash. (We buy cheap- the bath wash and baby oil cost maybe $5, and lasts for months.)

Why do we use cloth wipes?

I wash Charlotte's diapers and wipes in the washing machine, then dry the wipes and inserts in the dryer. (The covers and pockets are dried on a drying rack.) When the wipes and inserts are dry, I separate the wipes and throw them somewhere. This time I enlisted the help of Charlotte's pillow pet, Buggy.

Now I take the wipes and fold them into a neat little stack. I do this by laying one out, then laying the next one out, with about 1/3 of the second wipe overlapping the first. Then fold the first wipe over the second...

Then the process starts over. You wind up with this accordion effect- alternating folds from each side. We repeat as many times as we can- until we have a stack about the height of the inside of our wipes warmer. 

Then if you're lucky, you have a Buggy to carry the wipes over to the wipes warmer.

We keep our wipes solution in the bathroom, just a few steps from where we diaper Charlotte. As I mentioned above, we use a simple mixture of a little baby oil and a little baby bath soap. 

Right now Micah has mixed the bath soap and oil in a small bottle, so when it is time to prep wipes, we just shake the bottle and pour a little of the mixture into the bottom of a cup. Then we pour hot water into the cup until the suds reach the top.

Then we take the sudsy water back to the wipes warmer. Place the accordion-stacked wipes in the warmer, then pour the water over it. 

Feed the first wipe through the top, and Voila! The wipes are ready!

There you have it- our wipes routine. It may seem complicated, but it really only takes 5 minutes to prep a stack of wipes. We prep wipes around every 2 days, depending on our schedules and how messy Charlotte gets. And when we go to change Charlotte's diaper, it's really simple and quick to get wipes. 

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!