Cloth diapering

I'm wondering if there are any real drawbacks to cloth diapering. I'm considering cloth diapers this time around, but I can only find good things about them and this seems a little unrealistic to me. I haven't heard anyone saying they wish they hadn't started or that it's a horrible idea, but I'm sure there are people out there who hate it. Just wondering if you guys have any input on this. Any comments, good or bad are appreciated! Thanks!

Heather

 

I thought about doing cloth, but felt overwhlemed by all the info and doing it for 2 babies at a time. I know several moms (none of multiples) who do use cloth and they are all very happy and love it. It's still something I might do once I get into the swing of things and get used to caring for the babies.

 

I considered doing cloth this time, but then my father told us that his gift would be diapers for a year. OK, decision made!

 

We used cloth diapers for our two singletons and loved them (we use Little Lambs), but we didn't start really using them until they were a little older (at least 4 months I think), only because they're so small as newborns that cloth diapers really take over their little bodies. We intend to use them for these twins coming soon, but I don't think we'll start right away. Although at this point we already own them, so we might as well get our money's worth

 

We're planning to use both. We got enough cloth diapers (prefolds and wraps) to last until they are 30 lbs. for under $200, and our estimated monthly diaper cost was between $150-200, so it was a no brainer.

However, my mom gave me a ton of disposables so I will probably use those up in the first few weeks. I don't want my husband getting too used to them though!

As the boys get bigger, we're going to add in some pocket diapers and AIOs, trying a couple of different kinds.

 

We cloth diaper our singleton (who is now 18 months) and started with him when his cord fell off at 2-3 weeks old, and he was about 7.5 pounds. We use a pocket diaper (fuzzibunz) and we wash them ourselves. We are planning to cloth diaper with the twins as well. I already have my small sizes ready to go.

I should add that while I cloth diaper, I am not fanatical about it or anything. When we go out and expect to change a diaper, I use disposables. I send disposables to daycare. If he gets a bad rash, I use disposables so I can use any cream I want on them without worrying about it ruining the diaper. If I haven't had a chance to wash the diapers, we use disposables that day.

That said, it saves us a lot of money, and the diapers hold their value very well. I sold my sons small sizes when he moved him up to medium sizes at about 6 months - for just a little under what I bought them for! He's still in medium sizes, by the way, we've been using them for over a year! We just don't have to buy a lot of disposable diapers, and I don't notice a difference in our water and energy bill at all (from washing them).

However, I'm not going to beat myself up if I can't keep up doing it or it becomes too much of a hassle with the twins. I'll just do what I'm comfortable with and can handle and be at peace with that! I do hope to do it most of the time though, since it really will save us a ton of money, with three in diapers at once!

If you want more info - diaperpin has some good forums to talk about it if you want more info - it can be a little overwhelming, but I found the pocket diapers to be the easiest for us.

Jenny

 

I cloth diaper my twins and started at birth. I don't think it's a big deal. The only drawback we've had recently was difficulty with overnights (wasn't a problem until 23 months) so now we use disposables at night. We're still saving a ton of cash and only going through 60 disposables a month.

There was a learning curve. The prefolds took some time to reach full absorbancy even with prewashing so we had leaky legs the first couple of weeks (I'm sure it didn't help that they had skinny legs) but once we were past that, it was smooth sailing.

I think the vast majority of people who would hate cloth diapering don't try cloth diapering and that's why you see so many positive reviews.

ETA: my guys are going to potty train out of size medium so the most expensive part (the covers) hasn't even been as much as I'd initially estimated

 

I've just started cloth diapering and the only drawbacks can be solved by the occasional use of disposables or being well prepared. I must say that it's wonderful never to run out of diapers!

QUOTE
I think the vast majority of people who would hate cloth diapering don't try cloth diapering and that's why you see so many positive reviews.

I think Debi hit the nail on the head there.

 

QUOTE(ladybenz @ Nov 9 2007, 07:06 PM) [snapback]489333[/snapback]
We're planning to use both. We got enough cloth diapers (prefolds and wraps) to last until they are 30 lbs. for under $200, and our estimated monthly diaper cost was between $150-200, so it was a no brainer.

However, my mom gave me a ton of disposables so I will probably use those up in the first few weeks. I don't want my husband getting too used to them though!

As the boys get bigger, we're going to add in some pocket diapers and AIOs, trying a couple of different kinds.



I was just wondering where you got them from.

 

Sorry, I know you weren't asking me but I got my Chinese prefolds from Soft Cloth Bunz. They have a prefold diaper package and a diaper sampler package. Either way - seriously consider getting a couple Snappis, I LOVE them!

 

I think that most people I know of who ended up hating using cloth diapers are those who started out without the right equipment.
I use mostly fuzzi bunz diapers to diaper my Nov 2005 son and I intend to use them with my March 2008 twins as well. They were a bit of an investment to start but when I think about how much waste I've saved and how much money in the long run, I'm happy with my decision to CD. It took me a few tries to find diapers that I loved: I started with fitted diapers that required a cover and prefolds with a cover and I found it too fiddly to deal with two pieces every diaper change. I tried a variety of AIO and pocket diapers with my son and found quite a few that worked well. We ended up going with the fuzzi bunz in the end. My son always leaked out of swaddlebees and I found the motherease one size too bulky (plus they needed a cover).
-So in the end I bought some fuzzi bunz which I love, some bumgenius which I also love although I find they don't look as nice after many washes as the fuzzi bunz do and I use those the most. I have some "dress" diapers which are cute, berryplush which are so soft and some valorkids AIOs which I use occasionally.
- I have a diaper sprayer that hooks on to the clean line of my toilet so I can spray any solids into the toilet and flush
- I have a large diaper pail which I line with a waterproof cloth bag, I just toss my dirty diapers in and run a wash every 3-4 days (cold rinse, hot wash 2 cold rinse cycles, hardly any detergent)
-I toss everything into the dryer
- I still use a disposable at night just because my son sleeps better in them.
I personally love the cloth, my son has barely had a diaper rash in his life, the cloth diapers are so colourful and cute and I haven't found any difficulties in using them.
Good luck making your decision

 

Hi,

Our babies are just a few days old, so we are working on our one month supply of disposables. We are then switching to prefolds and bummi covers with snaps. We bought our prefold package from clothdiaper.com and have enough to do laundry only twice a week. Big money saver and we look forward to cloth diapering (less chemicals).

 

i cloth diaper my babies. it definitely saves us money, that's for sure!

 

QUOTE(alliandre @ Nov 9 2007, 11:33 PM) [snapback]489455[/snapback]
I was just wondering where you got them from.


I got them from clothdiaper.com they had the lowest prices on packages of prefolds and wraps. I got 6 dozen prefolds (2 different sizes) and 8 wraps (again, two different sizes) for $140.

Its probably not "enough" wraps to strictly CD all the time, but with adding in some pockets and AIOs over time, I think we'll be okay. Also, my mom cloth diapered all of us with just prefolds, no wraps, back in the 70s and said they worked just fine without them.

 

A TSer here just had a baby a couple of weeks ago and I know she is very happy with it and glad she decided to use cloth diapers.

 

We will be using prefolds and covers. I got a bunch of covers from local friends and alot of the prefolds as well. I also won some new prefolds on ebay, got 3 doz for under 20 bucks! I also have about 8 snappi's for them. We will use them as soon as we get home. Once their bellies heal we will start using our Bumgenius. I got pretty much all my Bums from PinstripesandPolkadots.com (lucky for me her shop is fairly close to us).
I have made several wet bags and have lots of doublers just incase they like to sleep at night.

 

I have a few concerns about cloth diapers. We live in an apartment with a community laundry room, and I wouldn't want to use a washer after someone cleaned poopy diapers in it and I don't want to do that to anyone else. I also worry about keeping poop covered diapers sitting for days until they can be washed. And how is cloth water proof?? I have looked into cloth diapers and I still don't understand how you avoid having the waste leak through...

 

QUOTE(Twinsylvania April @ Nov 10 2007, 09:37 AM) [snapback]489698[/snapback]
I have a few concerns about cloth diapers. We live in an apartment with a community laundry room, and I wouldn't want to use a washer after someone cleaned poopy diapers in it and I don't want to do that to anyone else. I also worry about keeping poop covered diapers sitting for days until they can be washed. And how is cloth water proof?? I have looked into cloth diapers and I still don't understand how you avoid having the waste leak through...



Most All in one or all in 2, and the covers you get for them are a special coated fabric commonly called PUL, it is kind of like how a raincoat works. Except here the pretty cloth is on the outside and the coating is on the inside to be a barrier for the excrete.
Here is a great link with all the things you may want to research in diapers.
http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm

 

QUOTE(Twinsylvania April @ Nov 10 2007, 11:37 AM) [snapback]489698[/snapback]
I have a few concerns about cloth diapers. We live in an apartment with a community laundry room, and I wouldn't want to use a washer after someone cleaned poopy diapers in it and I don't want to do that to anyone else. I also worry about keeping poop covered diapers sitting for days until they can be washed. And how is cloth water proof?? I have looked into cloth diapers and I still don't understand how you avoid having the waste leak through...


I don't know what to suggest with a community laundry room. I've thought of getting a washer/condensation dryer (like people buy for their boats) that doesn't need to be vented and putting it upstairs just so I won't have to walk downstairs to my regular laundry room with poopy diapers. (I have three dogs, carrying poop through the house seems like a bad idea)

I do know that back in the seventies when my mom CD'd us all, she would hold the corners of the diaper as she held it in the toilet and flush about three times before she put them in the diaper pail. Nowadays they have sprayer attachments that hook up to your toilet.

And all in one diapers have a layer that is waterproof. So do pockets. Prefolds don't, so you use wraps with them that are waterproof.

 

We have a sprayer on our toilet, so easy to install it is mind blowing. You can also keep your wet/laundry bag for diapers there. This way you aren't really puting poo through your home and not so much in the washer either.

 

QUOTE(Appymomma @ Nov, 03:02 PM) [snapback]489976[/snapback]
We have a sprayer on our toilet, so easy to install it is mind blowing. You can also keep your wet/laundry bag for diapers there. This way you aren't really puting poo through your home and not so much in the washer either.


Where do you get the sprayers?

 

QUOTE(Beth*J @ Nov 10 2007, 05:06 PM) [snapback]489979[/snapback]
Where do you get the sprayers?


most places online that sell the diapers also sell the sprayers.

 

You can even do it yourself with parts from the home improvement store.
3 way valve with stop
tubing
spray like at your kitchen sink.

 

I admire all you moms that are using cloth diapers. I can't even imagine trying it. I guess I am a bit of a wimp and my first born had severe food allergies and thus VERY bad diahrea that I could barely deal with a disposable and running it outside. He was in diapers till he was almost five. Then wore them at night till he was 9 due to being mentally disabled. Other than saving money, rashes and the environmental concerns, what has been the other pluses. I hadn't considered cloth diapering EVER until I read all these positive reasons to use them.

 

We started cloth diapering at 13mo. becuase they were getting really bad diaper rashes that just wouldn't go away! I love it!!

Coveytwins: as for saving money, no more rashes and enviromental concerns I also love it because they are soft can be used over and over, and you can get them in many different prints so they can run around in the summertime or in the hose without pants on. Also what I learned about what is is sposies really made me change. The gels that are in sposies also cotain a chemical that is the same that was linked to TSS in tampons. Just knowing that was touching their bare bottoms everyday all day made me switch.

For cleaning you just need a schedule and it's so easy! Here is what I do:
at the end of the day I take them out of the pail close all the velcro throuw in the washer for a cold rinse cycle
Then it goes through a normal wash on HOT with 1/4 of the deteregent, you need ones with no softeners or perfumes, these will make them no longer waterproof
Then 2 more rinses. the first rinse I put in 1tbps of distilled white vinegar to take the smell out, only about 2-3x a week.

You can 1 a month add 1tbsp of bleach to the wash cycle. THis also helps keep your washer clean as well.

There are some great sites out there to buy CDs, I have some for sale in my store click on my link in my siggy. There are also some on www.Mommyauctions.com
I went with all Used Cds and have had no problems!