I’ve worked at Cotton Babies for nearly five years. So when I became pregnant, I knew I would cloth diaper my baby. But what surprised me about cloth is that I had A TON of questions — even though I was surrounded by diapers!

The first big question: Which system do I want to use? I remember my sister asking me the same question when she had her first baby. I had no idea what to recommend at the time so I said try a little bit of everything to see what works best for you. But when it came to choosing a cloth diaper system for my baby, I took my own advice and tried a ‘lil bit of everything! My stash consists of the following:

– 12 bumGenius Freetimes

– 12 bumGenius 4.0s

– 3 Flip covers

– Flip Stay-Dry Inserts

– Flip Day Time Inserts

– Econobum and Chinese prefolds. I did feel pretty fancy when I used my first prefold 🙂

Let’s back up to talk about the days before my baby arrived and I actually needed to use cloth diapers. When I was pregnant, I remember nesting and pre-washing my diapers. One particular day, when I sat down to put away my freshly prepped diapers, I was shocked that I didn’t even know how to stuff a 4.0! Not to mention snap up or down, front or back. At one point, I actually Googled “how to stuff a bumGenius 4.0.” I UN-stuffed hundreds of 4.0s when I worked in the Returns Department, so how did I manage to get away with never STUFFING a single one? I don’t even want to talk about the diaper doublers. Did I actually need to use these? Because I didn’t know how. For the record, use the doubler only if you need it — the snap goes away from baby and the bulk of the insert can go either direction, depending on where your little one wets most, typically in front for boys and in back for girls (my girl is opposite).

I built my stash so now what? Wet bags and other accessories? Got it. I asked my friend in human resources, a baby-in-the-workplace veteran, and she helped me decide on two medium Planet Wise wet bags and a diaper sprayer.

Fast forward to the day my baby arrived. You know, the day I actually had to begin using the diapers … on my baby. I had no idea if my diapers were on the correct size setting. I was sending photos to Customer Service on my maternity leave. I still go to Customer Service with a question at least once a week. Is my sling on right? Do I need to adjust the fit? Can she fit in the Tula yet? Is her swaddle tight enough?

Throughout my parenting journey, Cotton Babies is a part of my village and they are a fantastic resource at your disposal as well. Feel free to call our customer service team at 1-314-892-1855 or stop by one of our retail locations for personal troubleshooting. I hear them answer all sorts of questions all day long including my own. They are here to help and want all Cotton Babies moms to be successful!

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