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Okay, so I am the worst blogger EVER right now because I haven’t written in MONTHS.  I’ve been very busy writing and arranging some awesome music for my students at school, and with the complexity of my ensembles it takes a lot of time to get it right (not to mention the time it takes to rehearse it, continue with regular lesson plans, and take care of all of those teacher duties that have nothing to do with teaching).

And then there’s…you know, selling our house (still on the market but LOTS of interest!), raising my child and spending time with my husband and family.

So not busy at all.

Excuses, excuses.

ANYWAY, I’ve had a lot of friends either have babies in the past couple or months or find out they are going to have a baby soon and several have expressed an interest in cloth diapering!

If you missed it before, here’s my post about How to Use Prefold Diapers

Today’s topic is:

HOW TO SET UP AN EASY CLOTH DIAPER CHANGING STATION

The one comment I hear or see often is:

“Cloth diapering just seems so hard and time-consuming!  I just want to throw the diaper away and forget about it!”

I can understand where this is coming from, really.  I have many very lazy bones in my body and would rather take the easy way out more often than not.  However, cloth diapering really doesn’t take any extra time than regular diapering; having a simple, efficient changing station makes it even EASIER!

A cloth diapering station:

1. Doesn’t require special new furniture.

2. Doesn’t require expensive pails or other niche, single purpose items like diaper genies.

3. Can be assembled with items you already have in your home.

Here’s mine!

KEY:

1. Changing Table

2. Diaper Pail with Liner

3. Cloth Wipes and Homemade Rash Balm

4. Cloth Diapers

5. Dresser with clothes

1. CHANGING TABLE

(i.e. my husband’s old childhood desk) I had SO MANY PEOPLE tell me that I shouldn’t use a desk because my back will hurt from constantly bending over.  I am 5’5″ and he is 5’10” and neither of us has had an issue.  The few times I’ve used an actual changing table that sits up higher, I found it way more difficult to complete a changing.  I love having a desk for a changing table!  Bonus points for it becoming wee man’s desk once he moves on from diapers.

I also love the desk because it has enough drawers to hold items such as:

1. Covers and doublers (added absorbency for nighttime)

2. Fleece liners (stay-dry feeling/rash prevention)

3. Extras (changing pad covers, etc.)

I keep small extras like Snappis, thermometers, and random diaper creams in the long center drawer (not pictured).

The nice thing is that you can customize the contents of each drawer based on your own needs and preferences!  If you are a pocket diaper family you won’t need a drawer full of covers, or you might have rolls of disposable liners tucked away.  The possibilities are endless!

2. Diaper Pail with Liner

Our diaper pail is a step trash can that my mom was no longer using, so I acquired it for free.  Were I to buy my own I probably would have gone for an inexpensive tall trash can with a lid.  The step is nice but there are times we don’t use it.

Also, to answer a frequent question: NO IT DOESN’T SMELL.  Disposable diapers often smell because of all of the additives in them.  The lid keeps any smell from getting out pretty well, and a honestly even when you open the lid it doesn’t usually overwhelm you (unless he’s eaten a lot of broccoli or something).

We have 2 PlanetWise Pail Liners that we rotate as we do diaper laundry.  These are awesome too because after we’re done with diapering they have lots of uses.  We’ve already used them as laundry bags for travel and some people use them as reusable garbage bags.

3. Cloth Wipes and Homemade Rash Balm

My cloth wipes are just a bunch of Nuby washcloths I got at my baby shower.  I got 20 of them and they’ll last a laundry rotation and then some.  Some people like to buy flannel wipes but honestly these work just fine.  If I had to buy them I’d have done the same thing.  Washcloths have enough texture to get off the worst of it but are gentle enough for everyday use.

My rash balm is a take on many of the recipes I see floating around Pinterest.  Stick around for a post with the recipe soon!

4. Cloth Diapers

I keep mine in a bin I already had on top of a dresser we already owned (yay for repurposing) and it’s easy to just grab what I need.  This system could work well with any type of diaper, but I love it with prefolds because I just lay them in the bin once I get them out of the laundry.  No folding or fussing to organize!  Plus, they’re up high so I haven’t come in to find a toddler throwing them around the room (yet).

5. Dresser

You never know when you’ll need to do a change of clothes in addition to a diaper change!

So there you go!  If you’ve diapered with disposables before, this probably isn’t too different from your typical set up.  You can reuse a lot of things you already have and really create a system that fits your needs.  It took a lot of trial and error to find out what item placement worked best for us, but that’s true for anything when you’re a new parent.

If you’re interested in learning more or want to add some tips/tricks that work(ed) for you, leave a comment below or catch me on Twitter @AcciHippies or catch me on Facebook!