"What is it like to cloth diaper with multiple children in diapers? Quadruplets anyone?"
There is great deal of fascination about the concept of more than one baby being born at the same time. Statistically 90% of all multiple births are made up of twins and the remaining 10% being shared between triplets, quadruplets and more. So we got very excited, when received some good news from our Colombian retailer that Quadruplets, Ian, Bandon, Briana and Briana, had been born in Colombia and joined the ranks of Charlie Banana® babies!
|
Edith is just starting her cloth diapering journey and we thought that we would put some tips together for her and many twin families, or families with multiple children in diapers. We have also asked for advice from our experienced cloth diapering moms of twin babies, Dana Ryan (MsDanaRyan,
www.danaryan.tv) and Charlene Antczak
|
|
"No more late-night trips to the grocery store for diapers" - one of the immediate benefits of cloth diapering.
|
But there are many far more important reasons such as your child's health, cost savings and the environmental impact. We will not go into them here as we assume that you have already made this decision and now need help to make cloth diapering easier and fun process.
|
|
Charlie Banana® tips for cloth diapering multiple babies:
• How many diapers should I need all together? Here are are talking about pocket diapers and for twins you will need a minimum of 40 diapers altogether. For Edith, we would be talking about 60-70 diapers!!!
• Which patterns should I go for? Consider going gender neutral if you have mixed sex multiples, so that would not have to plan two separate sets of diaper laundry and could freely choose which ever diaper is ready for use.
|
|
• You need to plan on washing cloth diapers more often with multiple children. You don't want to end up with more diapers than you can wash in one load.
• Wash your diapers around dinner time and hang them to dry so that they are ready to use again the next morning.
|
|
Charlene emphasizes the importance of a good washing routine:
• Wash them every night so they don't sit too long.
• Leave to soak immediately after changes.
• Rinse cycle and cloth friendly detergent cycle.
• Hang dry!
|
|
• Register for cloth diapers for your baby shower. People tend to be very generous when they know you're having multiples. So tell them that you want cloth diapers. There are some good value
starter kits.
• Use a flushable diaper liners and install a diaper sprayer- this will help you life much easier. You can find more general laundering tips
here.
|
Dana Ryan, who is passionate about cloth diapers, babywearing, breastfeeding and YOUTUBE, and who is a mom to 4 kids, including twin boys and two girls, has agreed to share with us her experience:
"A little bit harder? Maybe. A little bit more laundry? Sure! Impossible? NO! If you are expecting multiples and hoping to cloth diaper, then take heart... it
CAN be done! We cloth diapered our twin boys from birth until potty training.
|
|
Here are a few tips to help you get things going:
• Build your stash slow and steady. You WILL need a larger diaper stash (everything is times 2 now, friends), so make each diaper count. Purchase a few at a time to test ON YOUR BABIES, until you find a system you LOVE.
If you blow your full budget all at once, and discover you dislike the system you've invested in, you are more likely to quit.
|
|
• Get a dirty diaper BUCKET! In addition to your diaper pail, have a small pail on hand to toss a messy diaper that needs to be sprayed. With multiples you will be diaper changing assembly style and you may not be able to walk away from the nursery until ALL babies are changed. If you have a "go-between" bucket, you can carry the soiled diaper(s) to the bathroom after you've changed and secured your babies in a safe location.
|
|
• Get organized! Multiples are extra love, kisses AND work. Make those diaper changes as fast and easy as possible by preparing your changing station ahead of time with fully stuffed cloth diapers within arms reach.
|
|
• Have FUN! Purchase a few diapers in your stash to "dress" up your twins or multiples. There is NOTHING cuter than matching fluffy butts."
|
|
Good luck! It CAN be done!
Charlie Banana® team
|
