diapering

Cloth diapers are about a million times better for both your wallet and the environment, but we couldn't get our act together on that front and ended up using disposable diapers. If you do consider cloth, there are great cleaning services like Luludew in LA that make it a lot easier.

On to disposables: we used Pampers Swaddlers at first. Pampers Swaddlers are used in the hospital and the nurses sent us home with a few packs, plus the diapers have this amazing technology where a line on the outside of the diaper turns blue to tell you if the diaper is dirty. We later transitioned to Bambo diapers based on this guide on disposable diapers and that's what we've continued to use. Bambo is a littler harder to find in brick and mortar retail stores, so when we travel (if we don't ship diapers ahead, which we actually do most of the time) or if we otherwise need diapers in a pinch we use 7th Generation or Honest Company (the cutest designs, rivaled only by Parasol).

I recommend getting an on the go diaper changing contraption like this Skip Hop Diaper Changing Station to have in your diaper bag.

You will spend a small fortune on diapers. The usual price range is $0.25 (Pampers) to $0.50+ (Parasol) per diaper. There is some thought on where to buy diapers cheapest. I think a lot of people prefer diapers.com, but we're loyal Amazon Primers so we've stuck with that.

On the wipes front, many people use a disposable cotton cloth dipped in water at first (we did), or something really simple like WaterWipes. Once you introduce solid foods and diapers get more intense, it makes sense to transition to more substantial wipes. There are no big secrets in this arena, or at least not that I know of -- whatever you like and works for you is probably just fine. Some of the most common and most loved wipes I see are the Kirkland brand from Costco, Bloom (which comes with a cute on-the-go reusable wipes clutch) and 7th Generation. There are on-the-go wipes dispensers, but I find it's easier to just carry a pack of the wipes. All the wipes packs are resealable and take up basically the same amount of space as the on-the-go thing. Also, I'm too lazy to take the time to constantly refill a travel wipes dispenser. For diaper changes at home, I like having a dedicated wipes dispenser for easy one-handed wipe access. We use the OXO Tot Dispenser and we keep it on top of the diaper changing table. I also know lots of people who prefer to keep all diapering supplies tucked away in a drawer, and instead of a dispenser just have a pack of wipes at the ready in the drawer. Some parents swear by wipes warmers, and that may be particularly helpful in the very early days (as in, the first few weeks) when babies hate having their diapers changed because it's a wet and cold experience. I think babies probably hate diapering at that age no matter what, so we just powered through that stage and have been fine with un-warmed wipes.

Creams: we used Aquaphor as a barrier cream to prevent diaper rash on all diaper changes for the first 6 months or so, and then just at night from 6 months until about 20 months. Special baby Aquaphor exists, though I imagine it's the same as normal Aquaphor (we used the latter). We also keep diaper rash cream on hand for any irritations. We like Babo Botanicals Soothing Diaper Cream, recommended by Gimme the Good Stuff.