Disposable or cloth?

I wonder who out there has done the cloth diapers? How much trouble are they and how much money can you save with them? And just how dirty do the dirty, dirty, number 2 diapers actually get? Really would like to save money and to not have so much "crap" being thrown away?

EDIT--- I must be having a baby day because I meant for my heading to read....Disposable or not dipose? Maybe I should stick with reading today!

 

We used cloth diapers and loved it. The dirties really don't get all that dirty at all. I breastfed so I didn't even have any poo to dump until the boys started solids and anthony started formula. then i just dumped the dump into the potty, tossed the diapers in the pail, and when it was time, dumped the pail into the washer!!

the environmental and cost issues were the biggest factors in choosing to cloth diaper. i never found it to be inconvenient aside from the extra few loads of laundry, but that wasn't a huge deal for me at all. I actually enjoyed diaper washing days!

I know several other moms here cloth diaper(ed) as well

 

If I were going to be a SAHM then I would seriously consider cloth diapers. A friend of mine used them and I was impressed by the quality and softness of them. In no way did they remind of the stiff diapers held together with mega pins and covered in plastic like we wore as babies.

 

With my first we used cloth diapers. I loved it! With my second, I went back to work. It was just easier mentally to use sposies. With my third, we didn't have the money up front to purchase cloth. Man, it would have been soooo much cheaper!!!

We are using cloth diapers this time. Though I am working again, we aren't using a sitter or daycare. So, it should be much cheaper and easier!

 

we plan on cloth diapering too...hoping to save some money. I did not with DD but with two coming and bm supply problems with dd I worry about the combined costs of diapers and formula, especially for two! I am glad to hear others say it worked out well with two. Most people think I am crazy so I have stopped telling people that is what we plan on doing!

 

I am also planning on using cloth diapers...I will be home and I have some already...the way I look at it is I have nothing to loose at all, if it is just not for us then we can switch, but i am hoping that it will not be too much extra work as it will save soooo much money!!

I get most people telling me that I am absolutely crazy for wanting to use cloth diapers...i just tell them it is not them that has to wash and deal with it.

 

I am using cloth. Well, not yet, but I will be! I would recommend just getting a sampler from somewhere and seeing what kind you like and then buying the rest. That is what everyone told me. However, I did decide just to use prefolds and covers, so there are less decisions once you know what kind you want to use. There are a lot of good sites to help you out a lot. This is a good one. There is a lot of info, plus you can purchase from them. Also, this one is a good one as well. Check em out, and see what you think! Good luck, momma, you can do it!

ETA: LoL about the title of your post. I was wondering what you meant when I clicked on it, and laughed when I read the post. I totally understand. Uhh, baby brain! :umm:

 

Thanks everyone! It does make sense to reuse rather than throw away! Thanks to the Nanny for the links, I will be checking them out. If anybody has any favorite types of cloth diapers to try, that would be helpful.

Even after the edit, I still did not get it right.....feel like such an airhead

 

I vote disposable.


amanda

 

i am definitely doing cloth. i am going with bumgenius.

 

I don't know anything about cloth, I was all about disposables but I did fix your title for you!

 

We did cloth for 5 or 6 months with our singleton....I really wanted to like it, but didn't. First, it wasn't much cheaper than disposables, because I used pocket diapers with hemp inserts (Happy Heiny's and Fuzzi Bunz), which aren't cheap. I bought enough to have to wash them only once every other day -- which is a LOT of diapers (even with one baby). And, then I was grossed out by letting them sit for more than a day, so I ended up washing them every day, anyway.

I bought the shower that attaches to the toilet to spray off the poopy ones -- it worked okay, but my daughter pooped a LOT as a baby (many times a day), so it quickly got old. I hated washing them and hanging them to dry. And, we had a lot of problems with leaking and odor....

It was kind of a bummer, because I really wanted to like cloth -- I hated the idea of gels and chemicals in disposable diapers being close to my daughter's sensitive parts, and I hated creating that much landfill waste.

All that said, I really commend anyone that cloth diapers long-term -- I have a lot of friends who did so, and loved it. Definitely check out diaperpin.com, which is great for info. Also, it gets a lot cheaper if you use pre-folds and covers -- a little more work, but tons cheaper. (And now, there's something called "prefitteds" too -- unsure what those are like.)

So alas, I'll be using disposables with these twins....the cost isn't a huge factor for us, but the convenience is.....

 

Thanks Dianne! For some reason I just could not handle it....This is my first day to be so goofy 8P

 

Sorry I'm late to this conversation. We were on a trip when this was posted and I just noticed it after getting a PM from AnneMarie.

First, let me address the washing issues because that is what scares some people. For newborns, all you need to do is throw the dirty diapers in a bag and then turn the bag over the laundry machine on cleaning day. A cold rinse, hot wash, and machine or line dry is all most cloth diapers need to get clean. After starting solids, you will want to turn dirty diapers ove the toilet to get the poop to fall off (it comes right off diapers with a fleece or microsuede lining) and then you can follow the same cleaning routine as before. There's usually no need to rinse unless you are using prefolds with an older baby or the solid poop just won't come off. I only ever rinsed the girls diapers a handfull of times and I've never had to do it with Dax.

I used cloth with the girls starting at 1 year old. I was planning on using cloth before we found out it was twins but I got intimidated by the idea of two babies in cloth since I was under the misconception that all cloth diapers were still prefolds and pins. I actually looked into it when the girls turned 1 and when I saw how easy cloth diapering had become we promptly stopped using disposables. With the girls I tried a few different all-in-one and pocket diapers including: bummis AIO, ATD AIO, fuzzi bunz, wonderoos, and Happy Heinys. The Happy Heinys were by far my favorite and we used those until potty training. I liked them best because the velcro was simple for anyone to figure out, they fit well, they came in lots of cute prints, and they worked. I got my first set at a store called Heiny King and then we became retailers ourselves.

With Dax, we started cloth diapering at birth. A few new items had come out since I diapered the girls so, inaddition to Happy Heinys, I also tried bumGenius 2.0, some swaddlebees fitteds, prefolds and bummis covers, prefolds and wonderwrap covers, Happy Heiny sherpa fitteds, berry plush AIOs, and the pocket change pocket diapers.
- The bumGenius are a nice diaper and I have bought a few more so I now have 5 but I wouldn't make my entire stash out of them. The velcro tabs are small and can be difficult to get on and off of the laundry tabs and the flap that closes over the pocket is a little annoying. I like the stretchy tabs though and the one size design. The thing people forget about one size diapers though is that they don't last forever. Any item that you wash every other day for 2 years is going to have significant wear. Also, one size doesn't mean it will fit forever. The one size diaper I used with the girls they grew out of at 18 months old.
- With a newborn, I found that prefolds are pretty easy to use. You don't have to rinse out the poop because they aren't eating solids and the baby stays fairly still so you can easily get a prefold and cover on.
- I wasn't too impressed with the bummi covers because they leaked but I do like the wonderwraps which are a one-size cover. I still use the wonderwraps with my swaddlebees fitteds, my sherpa fitteds, and the occassional prefold. I didn't want to use wool covers because they have to be hand-washed and the fleece was a little too bulky for me but it does work well with heavy wetters.
- As for fitted diapers, I'm not sure what the value is above that of prefolds because you still have to use a cover with them and they are more expensive but I am strangely attracted to them. I really enjoy using my fitteds and the Happy Heiny sherpa fitteds are just so plush. I only use the Wonderwraps covers with my fitteds and prefolds now and I have 3 of those.
- The berry plush AIO is a beautiful diaper because it is so soft but I have had problems with leakage. It just doesn't seem to hold as much as I need and that will only get worse as Dax gets older. I love the feel though.
- The pocket change diapers worked well but they were really bulky. Looking at the design, I'm not sure what caused this but they just puffed out so much more than any of my other diapers and were comparable to a prefold with cover in bulkiness.
- Again, the Happy Heinys are my favorite diaper to use on Dax. They just don't have any problems that I have seen. The velcro is easy to use (Happy Heiny has recently come out with a diaper that has velcro and snaps so you can use snaps with your toddler in case they keep taking off their diaper), the colors and print choices are great, they fit well, the inserts work, and they do their job. The bulk of my stash is again composed of Happy Heinys and they are the only diaper Paul uses when he changes Dax.
- For inserts in my bumGenius and Happy Heinys, I prefer hemp. It just holds so much more than microfiber. Microfiber is good for fast wetters and I usually put a layer of microfiber on top of a layer of hemp for bedtime.

My current stash for Dax is 8 Happy Heiny pocket diapers, 5 bumGenius, 6 Happy Heiny sherpa fitteds, 4 prefolds, 3 wonderwrap covers, and 3 berry plush AIOs. I'll be adding a few more Happy Heiny pocket diapers when the new prints come out. Dax has recently moved to medium diapers.

As for the number of diapers you need, I would plan for 10-12 a day for a newborn and that comes down slowly as they age. When you get to size medium you'll probably only need 8 a day and then 6 a day when they get to size large. Double that for twins. With your newborns, you may want to do a combination of prefolds and a pocket diaper. Pocket diapers are easier and plusher but prefolds are more economical and not too difficult with newborns. I don't recommend getting the XS sizes of diapers (unless the babies are tiny) because the babies will grow out of them quickly but you can move to a system of all pocket diapers by the time they move into small. AIOs would probably be too expensive to use as your sole diaper and I have found that they don't work as well as pockets anyway because they don't hold enough.

If you are interested in any of the Happy Heiny diapers, let me know because we do have a twins discount on our site and can also make you a package of your design. We love sharing Happy Heinys with other parents!

Let me know if any other questions come up and I'll be happy to help. I have access to a large group of other retailers so we can probably find someone to answer any question you may have and I can recommend other WAHM stores if there is a specific diaper you are looking for.