CDing in a small apartment

[baglady]

I know some of you do it. Give me the courage to try. I did the research and planned on it while PG, but I chickened out. My MIL did it 30 years ago, but she didn't even have prefolds, so I'm in need of some modern advice on making it work with no space. What works for you?

My little guy is pretty lean in build and a very heavy wetter if that makes a difference. I also have an in unit washer and dryer, but no space to hang outside.

[inky leeuhhh]

we live in a small apartment and dont even have a washer and dryer and its fine. when i need to air dry, i just hang covers or whatever on the backs of chairs. we do have access to my moms washer (she lives next door) so that makes things easier- but i don't see why living in a small apartment would make cding much harder. go for it!

[alfabetsoup]

I think it would be fine if you can keep your stash reasonable! I would try to have only one or two types of diaper (e.g. all AIOs or AIOs for going out + prefolds & covers for the house) and wash every other day religiously.

What exactly are you worried about? Storage space or extra laundry? If storage space, a minimal stash + wipes + accessories will fit in a regular changing table just fine.

[Gabes Mommy]

Organization will be key. Set aside storage space for your dipes, and don't buy more than what you have room for. Keep the stash minimal. If you want to line dry, you can get foldable drying racks (I got mine from Ikea for $7). As long as you know how much room you have, and you don't exceed it, you'll be fine.

[baglady]

thanks to all replies. I guess the small space is just my excuse for not going for it. Thanks for the encouragement.

[ursaminor]

Hey,
I too live in a small apartment and really stressed about CDing when DS was still inside me. I was under the impression I would have to use a wet pail, because that's what my mother did with my siblings and I. After reading up and realizing all I needed was a pail, no water, I felt a lot better about it. Heck all we used at first where 5 small size wet bags I got on sale to store the dirty dipes. I havent looked back, CDing is so much fun - even DH turned into a cloth advocate!

[vermontmomma]

my grandmother cd in a one room apartment with no running water. everytime she needed to wash she would get cold water from a shared bath down the hall bring it back to the stove and boil the diapers clean which were then hung out the window to freeze dry. if you have a washer/dryer you'll be fine!

[eclipse]

I cd'd in a small apartment wiht no washer. It was fine. I just had a couple of bins under the changing table for dipes and covers. If I hadn't been cding, I would have had to find space for sposies anyway - the cds never took up more space than a big box of sposies or pullups. If you have an in unit washer, you should try to wash frequently - once a day or so, do a small load. I wouldn't worry about hanging them, unless you have a convinient place for them. When I needed to sun out a stain, I put the diapers on the dash of my car and let the sun shine in through the glass.The stains came out quickly, and if they were still wet I'd put them in to dry with the next load I was drying. I also wasn't too picky about how I washed my diapers, and would often use a few diapers to fill up a load, especially if I had towels to wash and a little extra room. I would wash diapers with almost anything, though. I had a sprayer attached to my toilet to spray away the poop, so I didn't have to worry about staining anything else.

[poppan]

I have two in dipes and all my diapers + wool fit in our changing table drawers with room to spare for all the other crap.

I have a smallish stash and wash every day by preference. I didn't want to invest a lot of money and I don't like having used diapers sitting around too long.

I exclusively dryer-dry because it's just easier for me. I'm not saving the earth as much but I do have soft diapers

[Ruthie's momma]

We CD'd in a 1 bedroom apartment. I stored all of our clothing and DD's diapering supplies in one closet. The prefolds were stacked with the inserts/doublers, PUL covers and wipes beside (I just moistened the wipes with water, as needed). The diaper pail was nearby. And, because the closet was off the bathroom, flushing poop was even easier. Our washer and dryer were in our apartment (off the living room). We moved into our first home this past spring but DD was already in the midst of potty learning. For the duration, I stored her diapering supplies in the same way...just in her bedroom closet. HTH!

[CookAMH]

You can absolutely do it. You are lucky to have an in-unit machine. I have to use communal laundry and it's working well so far. Space isn't an issue, just dry longer if they're wet.

[JudiAU]

We live in an apartment and the shared laundry is fairly far. We are just transitioning with the new babe. We have three washers/dryers which is great for bulk laundry but no special features like extra rinses cycles. I am trying to focus on more natural fibers. Getting them clean seems to be easier and they also seem to build up less stink.

We also love gdiapers because there is much, much less washing. A lot of people use cloth inserts rather than the disposables but basically, the covers and liners are reusable. Usually a poop will take out the liner but not the cover. Lots less washing. We hand wash the liners and wash maybe three covers once a week. If you are interested there is a good yahoo group and coupons for really cheap starter packs floating around (6 covers for $30) floating around on the internet until the 7/31. We are transitioning to cloth inserts now and I've purchased some gcloth and some gflappers. (Compare that price to a pocket dipe or an AIO!!!!)

I also have sposo-easy and bg 3.0 for the new babe.

[inky leeuhhh]

Originally Posted by vermontmomma

my grandmother cd in a one room apartment with no running water. everytime she needed to wash she would get cold water from a shared bath down the hall bring it back to the stove and boil the diapers clean which were then hung out the window to freeze dry. if you have a washer/dryer you'll be fine!

my grandma told me how they did this too! funny.