Cloth Diapering

[mrizzo]

I am looking into cloth diapering. Mostly because of the whole diapers in landfills thing, but also because it has GOT to be cheaper in the long run (especially if you have more than one child)

So I have some questions:

Where do you get cloth diapers, is online my only option?

How much money did you save?

Anyone that used both cloth and disposable and found one is easier/better to use than the other?

Are there any downsides?

How many will I need to have on hand?


Thanks ladies!

[belltree]

I am glad you asked I will be reading along here and possibly chime in with further questions, if I may

[mrizzo]

Of course you may! That's what this forum is all about

[kolszewski]

We started cloth diapering DS when he was about 2 years old and DD from birth.

Where do you get cloth diapers, is online my only option?
I have bought a good amount of them online but we have a great store in Ann Arbor, MI that also sells them. They are called The Little Seedling and also have an online store.

How much money did you save?
Hmm, good question. I bought some diapers used so that helped and other I got for gifts. If I were sposie diapering Rachel full time right now, it would run about $32 a month. So, about 30-40 per month times the months she has been alive is $450-$600. Each cloth dipe runs about $15-18. We have quite a few of them now, probably up near 30 would be about $500. So, we are about break even at this point. Except, I bought a lot of the diapers when for DS so we have certainly made back our money by now. There are also way cheaper diapers. We happen to use Bum Genius one size diapers so they go from birth to potty trained. I have a friend who uses a lot of prefolds and covers and she does it for A LOT cheaper. Including making some.

Anyone that used both cloth and regular and found one is easier/better to use than the other?
I use both with Rachel because I have to alternate a few days of cloth with one day of sposie because she gets rashes that I just can't cure with creams or oils. It is convenient to just pull one off, throw it away and pop on a new one. Especialy when out and about. However, it is not hard to cloth diaper. Yes, there is an extra load of wash every 2-3 days but, especially at home, it is as easy to change her and throw the diaper in the wet bag as it is to throw the diaper away. However, right now, having to wash her poop off in the toilet makes my stomach turn but hopefully that will pass as the pregnancy progresses.

Are there any downsides?
For us, the only one is that her butt is really quite sensitive but now that I have figured out to let it rest, we haven't had any problems. The only other downside is the frequency with which you have to change a cloth diapered bum. Not that I would let a child sit around in a soggy disposible, but, my kids pee a lot at a time. I used to be able to put on one sposie, drive the 4 hours to my sisters. Now, I will usually stop and change her so that we don't end up with leaks. The only other downside is the amount of clothes I seem to go throw at the beginning due to leaks. But, once you learn your baby, that all goes away.

How many will I need to have on hand?
Well, honestly more than you think. Especially at the beginning. Those first few weeks, I was changing just about every 2 hours. So, we just went until we used up cloth ones and then put a sposie on while we washed them. Now, I have around 30 and that lasts us 3 days or so. (but, she does sleep in an overnight disposible so we dont' cloth at night)

Good questions! Start reading up now and visit a few stores if you have any around. The employees are so knowledgeable!

Kelly

[bbrandonsmom]

Hi, cloth is awesome. So is ec if you give it a try. Both of my boys are allergic to sposies, so we had no choice but to cd, plus we wanted to anyhow. With ds1 we started with about 24 prefolds and covers, but I soon realized I liked pocket dipes much better, as then the wetness wouldn't be on him. I got mine on ebay (back when you could purchase used ones there, but now there are many places to get seconds) for not much money. We started ecing him soon after though and I made my own snap pants.
With ds2 I didn't make nb dipes, so spent $100 on 24 pocket dipes new. I got some premie prefolds and cover-? how much I spent, from a local mom, but he soaked through the prefolds, so that's why I got the pockets. The prefolds come in handy though as milk catchers or spit up clothes and now I use them as one wet inserts for him.
This time I am buying a nb lot-prob about 24 dipes instead of making them. I don't like the wonderoo brand I bought with ds2, that's why I'm buying new ones. Then I'm making smalls for him.
I honestly feel we saved a lot of money not using sposies. I didn't see much of a change in our water/elec bill at all. Most of the summer I line dry-it takes maybe an hour to dry the dipes here in Fl if that.
It can be overwhelming at first-there's so many choices out there. Your best bet is to try a few diff types and see what works for you, before buying a ton of one kind. We didn't do the bucket thing, I put mine all in a big wet bag made of pul and dumped them all in the wash about every other day.

[deny_zoo29]

There is a specifically cloth diapering forum here on Mothering, so I'd check there for all your specific questions answers. But we plan to use cloth too. And as from a complete newbie with no actual cloth diapering experience, at this point we have decided to go with the BumGenius 3.0 as from my research they seem to have the best mama/papa reviews, while they are a bit more expensive up front it seems to be worth it. We believe we gotta stop all these disposables in the landfills and the money to be saved with subsequent children is an added bonus! :-)

[ShwarmaQueen]

I think at this stage, I'm not going to buy much other than 2 doz. used fitteds and covers.

[annettemarie]

In keeping with the DDC Guidelines, I'm moving this to the Diapering forum

[sahmama_12]

I second the visiting the cloth forum. But I use cloth with my two boys and I'll never go back. Even my husband loves them and sings their praises to everyone.

We get ours online but we live in the remote Canadian north and all the stores are on the other side of our country from us. I'm sure you could find real stores in Buffalo

We used both for a little while with DS1 but he became sensitive to the sposies and it caused rashes. So we learned to use the cloth even while travelling. I find they are just as easy to use.

We use the form-fitted with a cover and we've spent roughly 700 dollars but some of that was trying other types of diapers. My sister has two boys the same ages as mine and she uses exclusively sposies and she's at 2000 dollars and counting and she buys in bulk.

The only real downside to me is the need for an extra load or two of laundry a week but we wash in cold and use a line drying system so the cost to us or the environment isn't large. Some people don't like having to lug dirty diapers around everywhere with them but we don't mind so much. We use reusable bags and have a large diaper bag (well I've got two and almost three in diapers so a big bag is my destiny regardless). And most of the places we go, camping, hiking etc we'd have to lug dirty diapers cloth or sposies anyway.

And we have roughly 40 diapers for two boys and I do diapers about once every three days.

[C-Momma]

We used cloth with ds (and also EC'd beginning around 4 months)...

I've changed more disposable diapers than I care to count while working at private foster home and various babysitting stints. I believe the benefits of cloth far outweigh the convenience of disposables. I bought some of our diapers online and some in a store. We tried many different kinds, pockets, flats, AIOs, prefolds, fitteds, etc... In the end I found fitteds and prefolds to work the best for us and both were more economical and held up better than the alternatives.

Washing is easy, we always used BS and vinegar and when weather permits we hang outside to sun and dry, otherwise we often hang from a rack indoors. I think there can be some learning curve at first to find the right washing routine, but once you get the hang of it, it's not a big deal to throw a load of diapers in, and we didn't find them to make a significant difference in our utility bills.

You mentioned that you were interested in cloth to for environmental reasons, but I would encourage you to do some research about the possible health risks of disposables... http://www.everydaydiapers.com/category_s/26.htm

To answer your specific questions:

Where do you get cloth diapers, is online my only option?
I'm not sure where you live but there are lots of stores that sell cloth...We live about 2 1/2 hours from the nearest store that stocks them, but manage to pick some up while we're in town. We bought a good portion of diapers online.


How much money did you save?
This is hard to estimate. We rarely dry our diapers and washing hasn't caused us any serious change in our utilities. Since a very small amount of your preferred "washing" ingredients are needed it's not very costly. I think a lot of the savings depends on what type of diapers you buy. There are so many types of diapers, but as I said earlier, I found fitteds and Prefolds to be the best value. Practicing EC also cut down significantly on the wash load and how many diapers we needed.

Anyone that used both cloth and regular and found one is easier/better to use than the other?
Having used disposables before (and even breifly with ds before we managed to find the cloth we wanted and have it shipped while learning as much as possible about the different choices)...I seriously prefer cloth. I could rattle off the reasons, but there are so many advantages, from saving money, avoiding the health risks that disposables pose and being more environmentally friendly, to cutting back on consumerism.

Are there any downsides?
I don't think we found any downsides...

How many will I need to have on hand?
I think this really depends on the age of the child, what kind of diapers you choose, etc...

We bought a TON of prefolds and fitteds and about 7 covers...I used to wash every other day but we had many days of being diaper free with EC although I used prefolds to clean up misses.

[mrizzo]

Thank you so much, everyone! I have started doing some more research online, I still have a bit before I will actually need them but I am definately going to go for cloth diapering! I was searching ebay for costs, and I found some prefolds at some local stores so, YAY! Thanks again everyone! All the information is great! And it sounds like most of you that have used both prefer cloth!

[mommy2jonah]

I love cloth diapering my ds! We have several different brands as well pockets, all-in-ones and prefolds/covers. We have the Bum Genius 3.0s and love them! I did end up replacing all the velcro with snaps though. I found that the velcro was not holding to the tabs in the wash and I would get one big diaper train. As well as all the time picking lint and stuff out of the velcro and then before washing putting the velcro tabs down. Also if it was a messy poop sometimes it would get in the velcro and be a pain to get it out. I know some people love their velcro I prefer snaps.

Maybe there is a cloth diapering group in your area. I think that would be a great resource for you. My friend whom I have been talking to about cding went to one in her town and it really helped her figuring it all out.

I know it saves money. I have had to buy maybe 5 packs of diapers and my DS is 15 months old!

I buy used online and then there is a store in my town.
Hope this helps!

[AllieFaye]

Where do you get cloth diapers, is online my only option?
I have purchased all of mine from a local cloth diaper store, sewed my own, or got some from freecycle.


How much money did you save?
From how much we would have anticipated had we stayed with 'sposies, about $5000 for two kids (so far.)

Anyone that used both cloth and regular and found one is easier/better to use than the other?
Hmmm... I now think of cloth as "regular" and sposies as the challenge - so yeah, cloth is easier. With disposables, the breastfed baby poop would blow UP the back all the way to the hair. I still had a mountain of laundry, but I'd be washing the poop out of clothing. With more solid poo, I accept that I need to flush, and that I may get poop on me. I know others who are happy to put poo into our landfill, which is upstream from our water supply (hello?), and freak out if they get any baby poo on them. Why poo is yucky, but vomit is okay, I haven't figured out. Ds #2 has never been in a 'sposie for even one minute, and probably won't ever.

Are there any downsides?
Not with cloth.

How many will I need to have on hand? I'm a total hyena, so I have well over 100. I stopped counting at 75, and that was a long time ago. You need nowhere near that. You certainly don't need to spend hours surfing for the ultimate wool cover crocheting pattern, either. Noooo, nope, nothing like that.

[Juliacat]

Where do you get cloth diapers, is online my only option? Usually online is your only option; however, if you're lucky, you may have a cloth diapering store in your area.

How much money did you save? You have to be careful with this. If you try one of everything or blow a bunch of cash on one system and decide you don't like it and have to replace it, you won't save much money. I sort of got obsessed last time and didn't save much money and am determined to save a thousand dollars or so this time.

Anyone that used both cloth and regular and found one is easier/better to use than the other? "Regular" to me MEANS cloth! I never used disposables.

Are there any downsides? It would be tough to use cloth if you didn't have your own washer and dryer or if you didn't have hot water--still doable, but tough. I can't think of any downsides otherwise unless your baby is one of the few who is allergic to cloth (some babies are allergic to disposables--most will do fine in either as long as they are changed frequently enough ).

How many will I need to have on hand? 30 diapers and 5 covers is a good number to have.

[Michigan Mama]

I love cloth diapering. :

I think people have already answered your questions very thoroughly, but welcome to the club!