Cloth Diapers for a New Mom!

[LilyLiberty]

This is my first Mothering.com post, so hello! Although I'm not a mom myself I do have lots and lots (and lots) of childcare experience. So much so that I often find I have more experience than some of the new parents I've babysat for. Still, not having my own kids (and not knowing any moms here in my new east coast city) means that I am not the expert that all of you Mommas are, and so I've come to you with a question.

My good friend E. (who is married to my other good friend A.) recently moved out East because of her husband's schooling (Medical School). She is interested in cloth diapering but doesn't know anything about it. I've used cloth diapers before but I've never chosen a system -- I always just did whatever the Mom of the kid I was babysitting did. Since all of E's family and friends (minus me) are out West, she and I are sort of going-at it alone in terms to supporting her through the pregnancy (finding used-maternity/baby shops, talking about prenatal yoga, etc). There aren't enough friends out here for us to throw E. a real baby shower but I wanted to get her and A. something really nice an useful for the baby. My idea? A cloth diapering starter kit!

What do you all recommend I should get her? I want to buy her things that will last well beyond the newborn stage but I'm not sure what would be the most practical. My thoughts thus far:

6 prefolds
3 wool soakers
3 diaper covers
1 wet bag

Any comments? Suggestions? What kind of starter kit would YOU have enjoyed when you had your first baby?

I'm not wealthy, but I make a decent salary and only have myself to support, so I can afford to spend around $200 on this. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks all!

[levans]

Welcome to MDC! I like your idea about getting your friend a cloth diaper starter kit. I think your list sounds good, but I would get a few more prefolds (maybe a dozen) since they're cheap and she will need a lot of them. I like the ones from greenmountaindiapers.com. For wool soakers, you can save money by making them from recycled wool sweaters or buying ones others have made from recycled sources (look at Etsy.com). For diaper covers I think Bummis SWW or Super Snaps are a great bargain. Also consider topping off your gift with one or two adjustable sized diapers, like the BumGenius organic AIO, or pocket diaper, like one-sized Fuzzibunz. I'm pretty sure this will all fit into your budget. To save more money, and if your friend wouldn't mind, you could get some gently used diaeprs from diaperswappers.com. Sounds great!

[LilyLiberty]

Thanks for the quick reply! I have been trolling Etsy and am actually planning on buying from the site. A friend of mine sells her soaps and lotions (you can look her up, krugsecologic's) on Etsy and I am planning on buying her Bum Balm to go with the diapers.

Thanks especially for the tip on diaper swappers. E. is not at all shy about buying things that have been "pre-loved" and if my money can go farther and I can get her more supplies then all the better! E. is teaching art part time and her husband is in medical school so they don't have a lot of money to spend on baby supplies.

[Michigan Mama]

What a great support you are for your friend, and you are offering a great gift getting her started in cloth!

I would also get more prefolds. Most people can start with the infant size prefolds (unless baby is really small), but you'll probably want about 2 doz for her to be able to wash every other day. In the bigger (regular) size, 18 might get her by. Wool covers are really nice but a little pricey, so it might be hard to fit them in your budget unless you make them or find them used. You can knit or crochet them or make them from an old wool sweater. There are lots of free patterns around. For regular covers, I like Thirsties the best, especially because of the leg gussets.

Have a few pocket style diapers are nice because so many people love them. Your friend could try them to see. I like TinyTush the best. They are a one-size diaper that have held up very well for me and fit well, too. Just fyi, one size diapers are often bulky on a nb, but still workable for most people.

Wetbag is a great idea, for going out & about. She'll also want a pail - I just use a garbage can with a lid and a simple cotton liner. Cheap.

I also love love cloth wipes. They work so nicely. I use double layer flannel, but some people just use washcloths. To wet them, I just keep an old pop bottle filled with this mix (I don't actually measure): Fill bottle mostly with water, then add 1-2 t. baby wash, 1 t oil (olive or baby or whatever). Then I wet my wipes as I need them. I keep them in an old wipes container.

Again, what an awesome gift! A real blessing for her, I'm sure.

Oh - she'll also want to know about detergents & washing instructions:
http://footprintsbaby.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=6

[Marcimama]

This is what I would get her:

12 prefolds or 6 prefolds and 6 fitteds (6 isn't even a days worth)
6 fleece liners
1 wool cover
2 covers (two different kinds so she can try different ones)
1 wet bag

Great idea!

[LilyLiberty]

Revised list

Hmm okay, based on feedback I'm thinking:

12-18 prefolds (depending on what I can afford?)
3 covers ( a variety like people suggested)
1 wool soaker (because they're super cute and durable -- I can't resist)
12 flannel wipes
1 Bum Balm (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php...ng_id=22822758)
1 wet bag


What exactly are flannel liners? I didn't include them here because I wasn't sure what they were/what function they served.

Also, do I need to get snappis? I think pins will probably freak E. out but I'm sort of confused as to where Snappis come into the equation. I've only ever done a trifold into the cover/liner, no pins needed.

When I put the whole kit together I'll take a photo and report back I'm also including a 10-pack of free-babysitting coupons, which might even be more of a hit than the diaper kit!

[Ola_]

For affordable prefolds check out http://www.little-lions.com/, they have very good prices ($18/dozen of infants or $14/dozen of infants seconds). Snappis are not expensive, usually around $2.50/ea so if you can get one or two that would be nice. They are used instead of pins to hold the diaper around the baby which is helpful for keeping the newborn poo contained (trifolding lets it get on the cover which then needs to be washed, but it is a good method for slightly older babies).

What a great friend you are!

[LilyLiberty]

Aha! This is why I came to Mothering.com, I completely forgot about leaky newborn poo (it has been awhile since I've babysat a tiny one).

I'm reading everything I can on the website because E is going to be learning how to cloth diaper from me and I have limited experience with it. We'll bumble through it together though and I'm certain that I'll be back with more questions (and tales of epic newborn poo blowouts from poorly pinned/folded/inserted diapers!)

[brietta]

Just wanted to encourage you that your kindness is awesome and very inspiring!

Also, I am in the planning mode for newborn diapers for my baby due in the fall (I've never CD'd a newborn before) and have realized I can get a nice little stash for under $100. Here's what I'm getting:

18 infant prefolds from http://www.little-lions.com ($27.95 total)
4 x-small Thirsties covers from http://kellyscloset.com ($43 total)
1 Bummis Super Brite cover http://kellyscloset.com ($12.50 total)
2 snappis from http://www.little-lions.com ($4.90 total)
4 metal headed diaper pins from http://kellyscloset.com ($1.99 total)

I already have about 2 dozen cloth wipes and a couple wet bags/diaper bags from CD'ing toddlers (I LOVE the kissaluvs terrycloth wipes, for what it's worth) so I don't need to worry about those. But I'm pretty excited about what I'll be able to get for just $100 (probably including S&H)!

[LilyLiberty]

Thanks brietta! That's fantastic info, I'm really into getting my money's worth and since as I said above E and A are on a limited budget the more I can outfit them with the better! I'm not trying to be a saint here or anything, but E and A and I all met when we were living in lovely Portland, Oregon and now we're all in New York City where our "hippie" sensibilities aren't exactly the norm. I know that E feels pretty alone in her pregnancy because she doesn't have any friends here (we weren't even all that close in college) and so I'm just trying to be there for her. I was surprised at how much information she was volunteering about her pregnancy/concerns/worries (the fact that she isn't going to have a baby shower because "who would come?") until I realized that she doesn't have anyone else around who she knows to talk to. Still, I love kids and I love E and A so I'm glad I can chip in.

Hopefully someday when I have my own kids someone will lend me a hand too (Hmm... guess I have to find myself a husband/partner first though...)

[3tammuz]

I wish I could offer more help, but it seems people more expert than me have already chimed in. I did have to post and say what a fantastic, wonderful friend you are. Amazing. WAY to GO.

[Ola_]

Do you think her friends from "back home" may want to buy something for her little one? If so there are online stores that offer a "registry" service and they could have the items sent to her instead of their address. Just thought I'd toss that out there since often when you move away friends and family wish they could be more involved - this could be like a little "virtual shower". You could take pictures of her opening the gifts and post them on a blog for her family to see, it might be a good way to keep everyone updated on what's going on once the little one arrives too.

[countrygirl28]

Originally Posted by 3tammuz

I wish I could offer more help, but it seems people more expert than me have already chimed in. I did have to post and say what a fantastic, wonderful friend you are. Amazing. WAY to GO.

: No advice here either, but just wanted to say you are a great friend!

[LilyLiberty]

Originally Posted by Ola_

Do you think her friends from "back home" may want to buy something for her little one?

I think that people from back home (our mutual friends) definitely are buying her stuff using registries, which is really nice and I know E. appreciates it. Still, even with the internet and all the contact it enables (she is using facebook to keep people in the loop) I think part of what she is really craving is person-to-person contact. The internet isn't much help when she's having those emotional or physical "I feel weird/sad/strange/scared" moments.
So part of my logic behind giving her this gift of a diapering-start-up-kit is because I want her to know that I'm around to help, as in, literally, I am here. She mentioned wanting to cloth diaper but that she had no idea how or where to begin and when I mentioned that I had done it before whilst babysitting her eyes got all wide and she wanted to know everything.

Maybe it's just my weird way of thinking about it, but I figure that this is sort of a way of me being like, "Hey, I listen, I hear you, I'll help out however I can." Does that make sense?

Also the virtual shower sounds like a nice idea, a video chat using skype might work too. I'll ask E and see what she thinks!

[LilyLiberty]

Okay, final MDC seal of approval please?

Final Diaper Basket :

1 Dozen Prefolds (small)
2 Cloth-eez fitted prefolds (small)
2 Fitted prefold (newborn)
1 Imse Vimse Cover (newborn)
2 Thirsties AIOs (small)
1 Bummis Super Brite (small)
1 Snappi Fastener
3 Nappy Pin 4-pack
1 Flannel Wipe 10-pack
1 container of Erin's "bum balm" (is this safe for cloth diapers? ingredients: shea butter, sal butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, castor oil, vitamin e, lavender, chamomile and tea tree oils, vegetable emulsifier)

What say you all Moms? Are we good to go here? Can I hit the "order" button?

[mrscompgeek]

I would suggest getting another x-small/newborn diaper cover. You have 1 and then the others say small. I would suggest adding one more newborn cover. Other than that go for it!!

[EmmalinesMom]

Welcome to MDC!

What a great friend you are to give her such a fluffy gift! I'd go with another xs or newborn cover, too, as they are good to have even for larger newborns. If the cover doesn't fit well, things can get messy.