Can we part time CD?

[kalishea]

I know we can do CD part time, but is it practical?

Here's our situation:
After 6 weeks off when our baby is born I will be returning to work 28-32 hours a week. Those hours will something like 3, 10 hour days. While DH and I are at work, LO will be with either my mom or DH's mom. I have already decided to use sposies on those days, but I thought I would CD the rest of the week. But now I am wondering if that is even practical? I am mostly worried about the washing routine (a day between using CD and not having a load) and getting use out of the initial investment (buying diapers that are expensive, don't get used much and the baby outgrowing them too quickly).
So, my questions are:
Is this practical?
If so, what type of diapers would be our best bet (money is not an issue if they will work best)?
And if so, what would our washing routine be?

I wanted to commit fully to CD's but with my work schedule, I think it would be difficult for the babysitters.

[chely7425]

If you wanted to CD full time I don't think that a pocket dipe or AIO would be any more difficult for a babysitter then a sposie. I have friends who have never even seen a cloth dipe who can easily put a bum genius or blueberry pocket on DS.

Not sure on what your wash routine would be with PT CD though..

[kirstenb]

When DS was in a daycare that wouldn't take cloth diapers, we did it PT on nights and weekends. It worked well for us- we washed dipes probably twice a week.

Have you asked your moms if they would be willing to use CDs? We only use pockets and I agree that they are pretty easy to use even for those who have never used them. We have a daycare that will accept CD now and it's easy for everyone. I bring in dipes and a wetbag in the morning, they just put all the dirty dipes throughout the day, and I take care of them when I get home. I wash now about every 2-3 days. I am out of the home probably about 50 hours a week and it is totally doable!

[Michigan Mama]

If your moms will try cd, pockets would probably work best since they'd be so easy to use.

prefolds might be a good bet if you only do it part time since they are inexpensive and very forgiving when it comes to washing. You could buy just a couple sizes and probably be all set until potty. You'd need covers in each size, still.

If you decide not to do pf's, you might want to consider a diaper that is one-size or two-size. It will make your investment go further.

You can wash every 2-3 days or even longer in between. People do it all the time! If you wind up going longer, a diaper sprayer or using flushable liners would probably be helpful so there's less poop sitting around.

[kalishea]

I think both moms would be up for CD if that is what we decided to do- I just didn't know if it would be a pain for them? I know my mom used CD on me- I think pre-folds with "plastic pants".

Would we just give them some diapers for the day and a wet bag and then do the laundry on my days home? I think my work schedule is Mon/Wed/Fri, so it would at least be alternating days that I am home.

[chely7425]

If your moms would be up for it just bring over diapers and a wet bag when you drop the baby off and then wash the next day probably!! You will have 6 weeks to figure out how many diapers your baby will go through and you can always bring extras for them.

[DevaMajka]

Imo, if you use pockets and have them already stuffed, or if you use aio's, I can't see them being more difficult than sposies, except that baby might need changed more often.

If you would use 15-20 before you'd have to wash (and wash every 3 days or more often), then I think it would be worth it to cd.

Once the baby is 6 weeks old, I would think you could give one size pockets a try. Those would at least last you the longest (but they don't fit tiny newborns well at all, or so I've heard).

[coyotemist]

I work 12 hour shifts on Thursday and Friday, plus have half a day of school on Monday. It's completely worth it to CD part time.

My supply of diapers is quite varied (of course Charlie is 3 months old and I've been collecting stuff since I was about 20 weeks pregnant! ). I have prefolds (rarely use) fitteds (usually use with wool covers), contours (use with Bummis Super Whisper wraps), and Fuzzi Bunz one size (love the snaps!).

You can do it, and it's worth it. Your babies bummy will thank you!

[mommyhopeful3]

A pocket diaper or and AIO would be a breeze for them. I don't think they would have a problem.

I did part time at first and it worked. Now with a doctors note the day care will CD my son. So he is in cloth full time now. They realized how easy it was

[RGsMom]

I agree with the Pockets and AIO's being best for others watching your baby. And I think even part time CDing is great to do - for the first 3 months of using CD's, we were going back and forth between CD's and sposies, and slowly as we were more comfortable with using them out, that's when we completely switched over. And if you show them "this is what we use" and show them how to do it, I'm sure they'd have no problems doing so.

[emmaegbert]

I did mostly cloth but some sposies. Its not a big deal. I had a very simple washing/diaper pail routine. I washed 2-3x per week, kept a dry pail. I don't have a washer in my apt, use a shared laundry room. I also used flushable liners so I didn't have to deal with a poopy pail, or any soaking, spraying, etc (nor did caregivers, they could just dump it in the toilet).

You don't need lots of complicated diapers to get through babyhood. I have prefolds that I bought before my son was born- he's 4 and wears a diaper at night, and still uses them. You can get fitted diapers as well, and sort of do two rounds of them (we had kissaluvs when he was little, got Motherease Sandy's when he was 9mos, he also still wears those as night dipes). You should be able to resell diapers when you are done (or reuse for more kids! I gave a lot away, but the ones I kept are seriously no worse for the wear). I know people on these boards seem to have very fancy diaper stashes, but you really don't need that to successfully diaper a kid.

Covers have a shorter life span. But you also don't need tons of them and they can be pretty bare bones and work fine for most kids. They can just be rinsed out at the sink and reused without waiting for wash day, as long as they aren't poopy.

[shareeo77]

Use an aio and you could go full time. Or just make sure your dipes don't sit longer than 4-5 days. I used bumkins and had enough that I only had to wash every 4-5 days and it worked just fine.

[Ifluffedthree]

It is only as hard as you allow it to be.

Any diaper will do. I don't find any one diaper much more cumbersome than the next once you/they get the routine down.

Of all the choices AIO's will be the least amount of handling, but like any diaper each has their own perks and setbacks. IMO pockets require just as much work as the fitted's or the prefolds -- each has their own way of application but evens out in the end to be about the same time involved, just my two cents.


Pick what you like/feel good with and just bring them. They will learn.

[Ianthe]

I started out CDing part time, and my mom and MIL picked up on it quick. AIOs, fitted, and pockets are super easy.. and they don't have to do anything to the dipe at all for EBF poo!

[inky leeuhhh]

i cd'd dd part time and to me it was totally worth it. i agree with all pp's who mentioned the pockets or aios being easy for a caregiver to pick up. we have had kiddos using fuzzi bunz go through the infant room at the preschool where i work with no problems.

[kalishea]

Thank you all so much for your advice! Now that I have all of your support behind me, I think I can do it! Now I just need to start researching what diapers are the best fit for me.

[sapphire_chan]

: for you doing CD. One last little thing, when you're thinking about if it'd be hard for your moms, remember that they don't have to do the laundry! They can just toss the diapers into a bag for you to deal with.