suddenly feel empowered to CD, but need guidance (x post from Nov 09 ddc)

[Sleepyheaded_Mama]

Ok call me crazy, but I like to watch tutorials on YouTube, lol, discovered this while looking for a 'how to' for a faux fur baby blanket I'm working on. It is sooo relaxing somehow just sitting there letting someone tell me how to do something step-by-step.

Just now I discovered a TON of cloth dipe tutorials while looking for product reviews on a stroller (I'm easily led astray apparently, lol). Suddenly I have this overwhelming urge to use chinese prefolds, snappis and thirsties covers!!! I mean, like rabid desire to stock up on these, lol.

When I initially considered CDing I thought I might prefer the 'all-in-one' varieties, but after watching the tutorials with the chinese prefolds/snappi/thirsty cover combo - something clicked like 'OMG, I can do that'.

I am at this very moment staring poverty right in the eyes, with no respite in site, at least until this baby is considerably older. Can I afford a stash of prefolds/snappis/thirsties?? I don't even know what a good, functional stash consists of, realistically speaking. How many of each do you need to get by without having to constantly run wash??

Keeping in mind I will be a single mom with four kids, one with special needs requiring HUGE amounts of time and attention, a newborn, a grade schooler and a high schooler, and working outside the home as well -- honestly I'm not going to have time to wash dipes every day.

Being hideously poor already, I can't drop $300 for a starter stash. I only have a few months left before baby arrives, I don't know how big he's going to be, although I can assume he will be at least 8 and possible 9+ lbs. going by my history. I would like a supply of dipes that we can use a good long time, not something I would have to constantly be sizing up as he grows. Something that isn't complicated to wash or dry.

Am I losing my mind? Can someone guide me to where I need to be here? I am lost but suddenly so excited to do this. Why didn't I find those tutorials 5 months ago??

[veedeepee]

I use prefolds and Thirsties covers, and I love them! Prefolds are by far the cheapest way to go (cheaper than AIO or pocket diapers). I'll try to address some of your concerns/questions here:

1. Cost: You can get a dozen Chinese prefolds for about $20. A lot of people (including me) like the ones from Green Mountain Diapers. Thirsties covers are $11-12 each. Snappis are cheap, and you only need a few.

2. How many diapers to get: I have 36 infant size prefolds. This seems to be plenty. I do diaper laundry most days, simply because I don't mind doing it and I have the time. I can skip a day, though. I haven't tried skipping 2 days, just because I never had a reason to. I think if you want to skip 2 days you might need at least 36 to get you through the newborn months.

3. How many covers to get: I have 6 covers, and that has worked well for us. During the first couple of months we seemed to end up with poo on the covers fairly often (b/c he would poo while laying on his side nursing), so having 6 was helpful. I still have 6, but I really don't need that many now that he's 4 months and we don't end up with poo on the covers too often.

4. Diaper sizes: Infant size prefolds should work for a long time...With prefolds there isn't a whole lot of sizing up. At some point I guess we'll switch to the bigger toddler size, but I think the infant size should work for a long time. My LO is only 4 months, so someone with an older baby or toddler might be able to address this point. I did find that having some of the newborn size prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers was REALLY helpful the first few weeks. The newborn size fits great in the Thirsties X-small covers, whereas the infant size needs to be folded down to fit. The folding down creates some bulk on a teeny newborn. My LO was only 6 lb 5 oz when born, so this was a problem. If you're expecting an 8-9 pounder this may be less of an issue. If you can spare and extra $20-40, I'd get some newborn size. We use these as burp cloths since he's outgrown them.

5. Cover sizes: The Thirsties x-small covers say they're good up to 12 lbs, but we used them longer than that. I think the smalls are up to 18 lbs, and I haven't checked the other sizes. So there will be some $$ spent buying larger covers as the baby grows. Thirsties just came out with an adjustable size cover...I saw it on their website yesterday. I think it said that just 2 sizes will get you all the way through diapering your baby. They have the snaps in the front like one size diapers have, so you can snap down the rise to make it smaller or undo the snaps to make it bigger. These cost around $12-13.

6. Snappis: I have a couple, but I don't use them. I just put the prefold into the cover. I think if I'd used them when he was really little, I probably could have avoided the whole poo-on-the-cover problem. If you're going to Snappi, you can probably get away with fewer covers as you won't need to wash them as much.

7. Laundry: Prefolds are really easy to wash. You'll probably want to get some sort of pail liner (made of PUL...waterproof). I have Planet Wise pail liners...they're great. If you're really trying to save $$, you could skip the liner, but then you'll have to wash out your diaper pail from time to time. So it's a matter of time vs. money...not sure which is more limiting for you. The liner gets washed along with the diapers, so it's easy to do and you don't have to touch dirty diapers. I put the diapers and liner in the washer, do a cold water rinse cycle without detergent, then do a hot water wash with detergent and an extra rinse at the end.

[bezark]

Buy used. Diaperswappers is fantastic. It's good that you're into PFs and covers, because that happens to be the least expensive option. Used PFs are typically around $1. Thirsties covers are usually $5-10, including shipping.
For the newborn days, you're going to need about 12 diapers a day, perhaps more, and 1-2 covers per day. You can get away with going a *little* longer, but you'll need to wash your diapers once every 2-3 days. Covers can be reused until they get stinky or pooped on. Even then, a quick hand wash will suffice and they hang dry amazingly fast.
So, lets pretend you want to wash every 3 days, you're using 13 prefolds each day and you've got 4 covers: you're looking at about $60-80 to get you started.
When your little one outgrows the smaller sizes, you can sell that stash to put toward the next size.

If the little one will be going to day care, however, keep in mind that many DCPs don't allow CDs, especially complicated origami-wrapped prefolds, so you may need to supplement with 'sposies or some more user-friendly CDs.