Cloth Diapering as a Working Mom

So many times I see moms saying that they would cloth diaper if they didn’t work or they could do it with this child because they are a stay at home mom. So, here I am saying, it is possible to cloth diaper as a working mom!

Yes, cloth diapering as a working mom has a few challenges, but it is doable. And, you get to save more of that money you are spending all your time at work for! But, let’s cover the challenges here.

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Laundry

Yes, there is more laundry, but the amount is possible to control by the amount of diapers you have. When we started cloth diapering, I had about 24 diapers with one child. I was washing every 3-4 days. That’s 2 loads a week. When I had 2 in diapers, we upped our stash to 45 diapers and I washed every 2-3 days. That was a bit more hectic with 3-4 extra loads a week!

Now that we are back to one in diapers we still have 45 and I only wash once a week! (I just make sure the diapers are in a very open laundry basket so they air out and don’t stink!)

Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely mornings that I was stuffing diapers at 6:30am so we had some to bring to daycare, but I would rather do diaper laundry any day than fold my own clothes. Something about it is just more satisfying. But, if I was stuffing diapers before work, I only did enough to get us through the day.

Dealing with Diapers and Daycare

The next hurdle is bringing diapers to daycare. Again, totally doable if you open the lines of communication. We have had three different daycares and they all cloth diapered for us. Sometimes it just takes asking and some explaining of what is expected from both parties. You never know if you don’t ask!

When we started our current daycare, we were the only family that currently cloth diapered. (There were some in the past.) Now there are 2 more families that do so in addition to ours. We are so happy that our daycare is cloth friendly!

We bring pocket diapers that are as easy to put on as disposables and the daycare provider does not have to do anything with the dirty diapers. They just throw them in a wet bag, and I deal with them when we get home!

Bringing Diapers to Daycare

Here’s our diaper set up for daycare.

I pack the blue plaid bag (labeled Wyatt for convenience!) with 5 clean diapers at the beginning of the week. Daycare put these diapers in Wyatt’s cubby. As they use diapers, they put the the dirties in the green wet bag. I take the whole set up back home and empty the dirties and repack that number of cleans so there are always 5 at day care. We take these bags back and forth every day.

The bags are great too because daycare will put Wyatt’s used breastmilk bottles in the clean bag and if there are any dirty clothes, they just go right in with the diapers! I began this set up when we started our latest daycare and it has been better than lugging a whole diaper bag back and forth.

I provide disposable wet wipes to the daycare that they use. We use cloth wipes at home but I haven’t wanted to deal with bringing cloth wipes to daycare. I’ve actually never even asked them about it. But back to the disposable wipes: I have had providers that have left the dirty wipes in the diapers and ones that have thrown them away. Either one works for me! (But I gotta say I like when they throw them away 🙂 )

Bringing Diapers Back Home

When I bring the diaper bag back home it needs unpacked. (Some days I might be a little behind and it doesn’t get done until the next morning.) I unstuff all the diapers and put them into the laundry bin. Any poo diapers get swished in the toilet and added to the laundry as well.

I wash the wet bag when I do diaper laundry. If for some reason it gets dirty or stinky before laundry day, I have a spare that I can use.

Establish a Diaper Routine

See? Cloth diapering isn’t just for stay at home moms. Any mom can try it if she wants! (Or Dad too!) Typically I do all the diaper chores in our house because Cody and I have an agreement. I deal with the human poo and he deals with the kitty poo. Honestly, I think I have the better end of that deal! 😀 The litter box is stinkier than the laundry basket!

Questions?

Any questions about cloth diapering? I would love to answer them! I have found the more I discuss my cloth diaper usage, the more new mamas have asked me about them! I love supporting other moms in their decision to cloth diaper and I try to make it as easy for them as possible. So even if you’re not serious about trying and just curious don’t be afraid to ask! Leave me a comment below or type cloth diaper in the search bar and find my other posts!

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