Cloth Diapers

I've been doing some research here and there about cloth diapering. I'm really interested and I know that I want to at least TRY it, but I still have a few more questions and would like to hear some practical advice from you wonderful mothers who have done it. Even if you tried it and hated it, please let me know why. My questions:

1. Your preference, prefold with covers or fitted diaper (not even CONSIDERING all-in-ones...too expensive)
2. What's the MINIMUM amount of diapers I will need to start comfortably
3. Tips on cleaning aside from the toilet sprayer thing. I am really trying to cut my costs as much as possible.
4. How do onesies work with their big puffy bums? Are onesies a thing of the past once you start to CD?
5. What do you do for wipes? Disposable wipes don't seem to make sense with a cloth diaper.

Thanks in advance and please share any other information you feel would be beneficial to me in making my decision to do this or not. My husband thinks it's disgusting and a waste of time (and that my children will grow up to be "freaks") so I need to have my you-know-what together when I ask him for the money to do this. I'm thinking a power point presentation.

-Larami

 

If you go to Cottonbabies.com they have a try it pack where you can sample different types of dipes.

This one is flats or prefolds and covers
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.p...products_id=148

And this will give you a taste of some others.
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.p...products_id=769

 

About the onesies... they all work over cloth diapers although you might need to go up a size for length. The only clothing I've had trouble with are pants with the half-elastic waists & no zipper and a few pants with a short rise (Carter's) so the diaper sticks out the top. Okie Dokie is particularly good about allowing diaper room and using full-elastic waists on their pants (JCPenney's brand).

 

Please report back how it goes... I have been thinking about making the switch too. I have also been thinking about switching to g-diapers. Has anyone else out there used them? They are flushable disposables. They work a little bit like cloth in that you have a liner (the disposable flushable part) and then you have the cover that goes over top that you re-use.

When we first got pregnant I had big plans for our little eco-baby, but when we found out there were two all our ideals flew out the window. But now I wonder if we couldn't think about going cloth or biodegradable.

(By the way, Target by us has biodegradable diapers that I thought worked pretty well, but my hubby hated them.)

 

1. Your preference, prefold with covers or fitted diaper (not even CONSIDERING all-in-ones...too expensive)

I use cloth diapers about 1/2 the time. I have a few different kinds, including some AOI (Fuzzi Bunz). The AIO are good in that they're not too bulky under clothing, but my kids can't wear them for more than 2 hours, even with an extra insert. I think that Sandy's are the best, with a good velcro cover. I recommend www.motherease.com for your diapers. My kids wear the Sandys for 13 hours at night and we've never had a leak (compared to zillions of leaks with disposables). The only draw back is that they're really bulky.

2. What's the MINIMUM amount of diapers I will need to start comfortably.

I have 4 Sandy's with covers, two Motherease brand cloth diapers, and four AIOs and I can do about 50% cloth so long as I really stay on top of the laundry (doesn't always happen).

3. Tips on cleaning aside from the toilet sprayer thing. I am really trying to cut my costs as much as possible.

I put all of my dirty diapers in a dry pail (I separate covers so they don't take absorb dirty diaper odour). When the pail is full/I'm out of diapers, I run the whole lot through a cold pre-wash cycle (no detergent) then I do them on hot with detergent, a regular cycle. I've never had issues with stains. It's important to use a biological detergent, if you want your diapers to last.

4. How do onesies work with their big puffy bums? Are onesies a thing of the past once you start to CD?

Let's put it this way, my boys are 7 months old (they are big for their age, I admit) and some of their clothes are the 18 months size because their little butts are SO PUFFY!

5. What do you do for wipes? Disposable wipes don't seem to make sense with a cloth diaper.

I've been using disposable wipes but as I was cutting up a bunch of old t-shirt to make dusters I thought I might try making some wipes too. Haven't tried it yet.

You can always start using 1/2 cloth and see how it goes. I sometimes cheat and use cloth only in the afternoon when I do my babies are usually done their pooping! Ha!

 

QUOTE
1. Your preference, prefold with covers or fitted diaper (not even CONSIDERING all-in-ones...too expensive)
2. What's the MINIMUM amount of diapers I will need to start comfortably
3. Tips on cleaning aside from the toilet sprayer thing. I am really trying to cut my costs as much as possible.
4. How do onesies work with their big puffy bums? Are onesies a thing of the past once you start to CD?
5. What do you do for wipes? Disposable wipes don't seem to make sense with a cloth diaper.


1. Prefold with covers (Bummis Super Whisper Wraps)

2. I went all-out and got 8 dozen diapers, about 80 cloth wipes, and 8 diaper covers. I'd say 8 diaper covers is a comfortable minimum - plenty of days I wish I had more. I could probably live with 6 dozen diapers without too much trouble. 4 dozen could work if you can really stay on task keeping the laundry going. 60 wipes would probably be my minimum.

3. You totally don't need the toilet sprayer! Here's my procedure. Everything just goes in the diaper pail (lined with a cloth bag). Then two washes: first a cold power wash (cold so it doesn't set stains), then an extra hot wash. Then into the dryer. Done! I think I've only ever rinsed a diaper in the toilet once, when there was a particularly huge, sticky, foul poo.

4. No problem with onesies or any other clothes. Everything fits just fine.

5. Cloth wipes and warm water. I keep a small electric kettle on the changing table to warm up water really quickly. My cloth wipes are about 4"x6", flannel on one side, terry on the other. The terry cloth is especially good for cleaning up BIG messes. And water is much kinder on little tushies than perfume-filled disposable wipes.

I got all my stuff from http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/. The quality is fantastic, the website has tons of helpful info, and service was outstanding - I got my order the next day or the day after!

Good luck. CD is totally worth a try. It is really no trouble, and it is SO much cheaper than disposable! You will save hundreds if not thousands of dollars. I've also heard that CD kids potty train earlier because they're more aware of the wetness - but I'm a long way from finding that out first hand.

 

[quote

1. Your preference, prefold with covers or fitted diaper (not even CONSIDERING all-in-ones...too expensive)
2. What's the MINIMUM amount of diapers I will need to start comfortably
3. Tips on cleaning aside from the toilet sprayer thing. I am really trying to cut my costs as much as possible.
4. How do onesies work with their big puffy bums? Are onesies a thing of the past once you start to CD?
5. What do you do for wipes? Disposable wipes don't seem to make sense with a cloth diaper.

[/quote]

We've been using cloth diapers with our guys since they were a month old - we only use disposables when we travel, plus 1 at night under a cloth diaper (to stop leaks). To answer your questions:

1. We use Kushies fitted diapers & covers, and I like the simplicity of them (they have velcro closures). They wear really well, too. We got ours at Sears, but we're in Canada, and I'm not sure if Sears sells them in the US. I also have some Kushies all-in-ones that someone gave me - they are even simpler to use, but I hang-dry my diapers and these take forever to dry, plus I think the plastic outer part would break down quickly if you were using a dryer.

2. We have 40 diapers and 8 covers, and we never run out, and that's having a load of diapers out of commission everyday while they hang to dry. Cloth diapers need to be changed every 2 hours or so, and each baby uses 6-7 diapers/day (more when they're smaller & pooping more often).

3. Until your babies start eating solids, I wouldn't even bother with the toilet sprayer. We just use a dry pail, and every morning I run a load of the previous day's diapers on hot, using scent-free detergent, then hang to dry. Very simple.

4. Almost all their clothes fit fine over the cloth diapers, with the exception of some narrow-fitting pants (eg. we have some cute cords from the Gap that only fit if they're wearing disposible diapers underneath).

5. I use old baby washcloths as wipes - I keep a pile of them with the diapers, and a spray bottle on the change table to moisten them. (I fill the bottle with water & a tiny bit of babywash & baby oil) When I've used a wipe I just throw it in the diaper pail, and they get washed & hung to dry along with the diapers.

Once you've got a routine going, cloth diapers are not a big deal at all! Plus kids in cloth diapers have less diaper rash (it's virtually never an issue here) and they potty train much earlier than kids in disposibles. Good luck!

If you're looking for more cloth diapering support, try the folks over at mothering.com - it's a pretty hippie site but they have some good suggestions.

 

Oh, I've started my journey into cloth diapering! I'm awaiting my shipment right now. Keep us (or just me) updated! I went with prefolds and Bummis Super Whisper Wraps. I'm planning on doing cloth diapering 50/50 for right now and if I really like it I'm going to go whole hog.

 

DH and I just decided to cloth diaper and did a lot of research. We read through this website http://www.diaperpages.com/ of a mom who cloth diapers and she explains everything step-by-step. It's very informative and answers all of the questions you have plus a lot more. Here is a list of detergents that are recommended using for cloth diapers http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm. Btw, no matter what I read, there were differing opinions on cloth diapers depending on an individual baby, age of babies, etc. However, everyone seems to love prefolds with bummi covers (snaps not velcro). There is a great website with prefold and bummi covers in packages at http://www.clothdiaper.com/. GL and hopefully some of these websites help .

 

try checking out www.diaperpin.com too they have a forum too.

 

You guys are awesome! Thanks a lot.

 

Here is a great site for info and for diapers.
This is a local WAHM I know, she does her own research and is great!
http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm