My Cloth Diaper Hospital Bag--In Depth List!

I am 40 weeks pregnant with our third baby and we are anxiously awaiting her arrival! We have had great hospital experiences and pretty much know what to look forward to and know what we will need. I LOVE packing in general and am pretty organized. This may seem like a lot of stuff, but I like to be prepared and we only have two bags and a train case for everything. Also, in the past, we have spent up to three days in the hospital (from labor to our pediatrician signing us out), so it will be nice to have enough stuff and feel as much at home as possible! I will be providing any link I can to the products that I am listing.

Let's get started! ♥

I will be having an all natural birth and we will be exclusively cloth-diapering. There are certain products pertaining to both so I will explain what each item is for. Hopefully this will help you pack your hospital bags!

Here are items for Mommy & Daddy:

We will be using my Large Utility Tote and a Top-A-Tote from Thirty-One for our things.

*A cotton dress for getting to the hospital and for laboring in (So much more comfortable to walk around the halls in this rather than a hospital gown!)
*Bike Shorts (to wear with the dress)
*Flip-flops
*One pairs of yoga pants
*Two pairs of yoga shorts
*Two tank tops
*Two loose, flowy tops
*An assortment of panties
*Two pairs of socks
*Two nursing bras
*Two boxers for Daddy
*Two extra shirts for Daddy
*An extra pair of shorts for Daddy
*One laundry bag
*Camera & video camera
*Phone & camera chargers
*Notebook & pen (a must for notes and documenting the labor progression)
*My birth plan & signs for the labor room
*Goodie bags for my nurses
*Word search book
*Bluetooth speaker for music
Snacks (in a Picnic Thermal Tote from Thirty-One):
*A couple gallon sized Ziploc bags and mason jars full of ice as our "ice packs" so we can refill them at the hospital
*Three Lemon Luna bars
*Mixed nuts
*Dried cherries
*One bag of The Good Bean Chickpea Snacks
*One bag of Mrs. May's Cashew Crunch
*Britney Spears Baby Pink Couture Pop with a strawberry refill. (Something so simple makes me so happy! It's a nice treat in the hospital...thanks Momma ♥)
*Assortment of fresh juices from Trader Joe's
*Also, we will be bringing a couple of  1.5L bottled waters from TJ's


I got the train case at the thrift store and gave it a makeover
with spray paint, jewels, and lace. Easy DIY--I get compliments on it all the time!
Train case items:
*Chapstick
*Face wash (travel size!)
*Face wipes
*Face moisturizer
*Grapefruit toner (made with Grapefruit essential oil and water)
*Toothbrush/toothpaste
*Deodorant
*Nail clippers
*Body lotion
*Body scrub
*Shampoo/conditioner sample packs (easy and compact for traveling!)
* A headband
*Two hair ties & a handful of bobby pins
*Evian Mineral Water Spray (This SAVED my life when I was in the transition phase of labor with my last baby. I was boiling hot in between contractions and my husband would spray me down as I was laying there totally limp with exhaustion.)
*An assortment of Essential Oils and my diffuser for laboring, post baby, and as my perfume
*A small makeup bag with simple items, nothing fancy! (All super easy to apply and worth having when I have tons of visitors! I may not wear all of it at once, or any of it at all, but I want to have it just in case, and I like having a fresh face! :)
        -Bare Minerals Foundation compact in Fairly Medium
        -Bare Minerals Powder Concealer in Bisque
        -Travel size Bare Minerals Mascara
        -Lorac Pro To-Go pallete (eye shadows, blush, and bronzer in one!)
        -MAC Paint Pot in Painterly     
        -Travel size Buxom Mini Full On Lip Cream in White Russian
        -Sigma Brushes
*Daddy's deodorant, toothbrush and other essentials


Here are items for baby:

We are using the Medium Utility Tote (no longer available) from Thirty One for her things.

*Four newborn onesies
*Two pairs of newborn Babylegs (A must for cloth diapering! So cute!)
*One infant Swaddleme swaddler
*One Aden and Anais bamboo swaddle blanket
*One mama-made burp cloth (owl print)
*One nursing cover (doubt I will use it, but just in case!)
*A combination of 24 newborn cloth diapers and accessories:
       -9 newborn prefolds
       -4 flat diapers
       -4 mama-made fitted diapers      
       -1 Snappi
       -5 Lil Joey's all-in-one diapers
       -1 Blueberry newborn fitted
       -1 Smart Bottoms newborn all-in-one diaper
       -3 Thirsties Duo Wraps size one
*One medium Planetwise wetbag for her soiled diapers
*One spray bottle of water
*One small Plantetwise wetbag to carry:
*6 Organic Reusable Nursing Pads
*24 flannel cloth wipes

 

 

I will also be bringing my stability ball to labor with! Loved this!!


I know that was super in-depth, but it helped me feel in order typing it all out! I hope this helps you too! ♥

All About Cloth Wipes!

 

 

Ever since we started using cloth diapers, I thought it would be best to start using cloth wipes as well. We just toss them into our diaper pail and wash them along with the diapers; this makes diapering that much easier! No need for a second pail for disposable wipes or having to use twice as many disposable wipes for one change.




Cloth wipes are so sturdy and clean up messes SO much better than a disposable wipe, so you don't need as many. I highly recommend using cloth wipes if you already use cloth diapers!


There are a lot of options for using cloth wipes!
Let's talk about a few:

Baby wash cloths:

Baby wash cloths from Target or Walmart make super inexpensive cloth wipes and get the job done!

Receiving blankets or other fabric:

If you have old receiving blankets or some other fabric like flannel or terry, cut it up into pieces and these will make nice cloth wipes also.

Brand Name Wipes:

Cloth diaper brands such as Grovia, Thirsties, Charlie Banana, Bumgenius, and Planetwise sell their own cloth wipes along with their popular diapers and accessories. You can find flannel, organic cotton, and baby terry fabric among these brands. Below are some direct links to these brand name wipes. You can find most of these wipes on Amazon.com which is awesome, but I love supporting companies like Abbyslane, Sweetbottoms, and Jack Be Natural.

Charlie Banana Wipes (LOVE their Organic Cotton Wipes!)
Grovia Wipes (These are SO soft! We haven't used them yet but I was able to find them really cheap on my favorite new/used site Spot's Corner)
Bumgenius Wipes
Thirsties Wipes
Planetwise Wipes (These are great flannel wipes!)

Etsy Wipes/Washcloths:

Probably my favorite site to shop for cloth wipes is Etsy! There are SO many beautiful options to choose from and I love supporting other moms. Some shops sell "baby washcloths" that can easily be used as super sturdy cloth wipes. There is a wide range of materials and thickness when choosing wipes on Etsy. Some sell single-ply flannel or cotton wipes, and others sell thick chenille or two-ply flannel wipes. Here are my favorite shops to buy cloth wipes:

KBExquisites (first picture below)
dezignzbyliz (middle picture below)
TurtlesRUs

These are all wipes that I have purchased on Etsy. The first two sets of wipes are made with a minky backing. That is a popular fabric that Etsy sellers use for wipes.
(I have also bought some chenille washcloths that I love from a seller who no longer sells them [bottom picture], but SO many other shops sell the same thing!)



Here is a direct link to a "cloth wipes" search
to help you start browsing!
CLOTH WIPES ON ETSY



Now that you have a little bit more information about cloth wipes, find what works for you and your little one!

Depending on the size and thickness of the cloth wipe that you like best, you can still use a disposable wipe container for storage. I
have found that the Charlie Banana wipes and baby washcloths fit
perfectly in a container and you can fold them so they dispense the same way too. Here is a tutorial on how to fold them:




1. Lay your first wipe on a flat surface

 2. Lay a second wipe on top of your first, overlapping.






 3. Fold over the first wipe onto the second wipe.






 4. Repeat the process on either side until you have made a stack big enough to fit in your container. Lay your wipes in your container and pull the top wipe through the dispenser hole.




Organic Charlie Banana wipes and
baby washcloths from Target

 Check out my post on how to makeover your wipe container so you can use your cloth wipes in style ♥

 

CLOTH WIPE SOLUTION SPRAY:

 

This is not totally necessary when using cloth wipes. We just use water in a spray bottle and wet the wipe before wiping the bum. Some people like a wipe solution to submerge or spray their wipes before using. Something as simple as Dr. Bronners Mild Baby Soap diluted in water is a great wipe solution. Also, there are a lot of brands that sell their own solutions ready to go, or concentrated. Etsy is a great place to find wipe solution cubes that you melt into water and you are ready to go!

 

We found that simple water spray with a cloth wipe followed by a smear of and a cloth diaper safe bum cream like coconut oil, Grovia Magic Stick, Grandma El's diaper cream, or CJ's Butter work great!

 

Potty Training & Other Exciting News!!

Theresa is officially potty trained! Both girls only wear diapers at naptime and night time. Rachel will be four in September and I am thinking that she will be completely out of diapers by then. I am leaving it up to her to make that decision since she went to panties so soon (the month she turned two). Theresa will turn two in June, so I see her in a nighttime diaper for a while as well.

Diaper loads and diapering in general is not super exciting over here anymore, but not to worry because we are EXPECTING BABY #3!!! And IT'S A GIRL!! ♥♥♥♥

I am in full nesting, cleaning, and diapering mode right now prepping for this sweet baby! I still have a ton of things cloth diaper and baby related that I want to post and talk about. Keep an eye out for new things! ♥