lots of CD questions for a newbie! help!

[KellyandBean]

I'm glad i found this form because i wasn't sure where else i was going to get my answers! My husband and i plan to use a mix of bumgenius & fuzzibunz one size fits all to diaper our first due in Feb. I have a whole bunch of questions!

1. Are pretty much any of the laundry soaps at Whole Foods going to be ok with the diapers? We usually use different kinds (wheaver is cheapest at the moment) from WF for our clothes so it would be nice not to have to get something seperate.

2. My husband really wants to use the flushable biodegradable liners that they sell. He is pretty squemish so i figure if it helps him help me with diapers then i'm cool with it. But if we use the liners do we still need one of those toilet diaper sprayers?

3. How many times before she arrives should i pre-wash the diapers? I've read a story where the woman said that she didn't know she was suposed to prewash them and they ended up leaking a lot? She said 5 times in hot water! that seems like a lot to me!

4. I was thinking of getting about 24 diapers. Is this going to be enough?

5. If by chance she ends up being real lil- like 5 pounds or something- will the diapers even fit her? If she is little should we use disposable pre-me diapers until she grows? they all say they fit 7-32lbs...but what if she is smaller then 7?

That is all i can think of for now! Thank you in advance!!

-Kelly

[MadiMamacita]

Hey
Welcome to MDC!
I have limited experience with bumGenius and fuzzibunz- we normally use prefolds.
We used a diaper service for the first few months with our little guy. He was very small- 6lbs at birth. the service had preemie sized prefolds that fit him great. I'm not sure our bum genius would have fit him then. You could get a dozen or two of small prefolds and snappies so they'll for sure fit at first. even if they get outgrown fast, they work well as doublers, inserts, even rags down the line.
I originally thought we would use only BGs, but since we were given 3 months of diaper service we started out with prefolds, and honestly, I really like them better.
I appreciate the ease of the all in ones, but i find the fit and ease of care of prefolds so much better. You might find you like them!

The bumgeniuses i got said to prewash once or maybe twice. I believe that to be true of any diapers.

24 bum genius/fuzzibuns will be good if you intend to wash every other day. For a newborn I'd plan to budget between 10-12 diapers a day. They are pretty expensive, so thats a pretty big investment.
I'd buy a few of a lot of different kinds and brands because what works on one baby might not work on another. Not trying to oversell the prefolds here, but thats the best thing about them is that you can fold to fit whatever shape and size baby you have.
We never had a diaper sprayer, and we never used the liners, but we're not that sqeamish. I have heard that people tend to really like them. If they function properly, you shouldn't need the sprayer. That being said, if your DH is really squeamish, go for it.

I don't know much about the soap issue. We wash in arm and hammer powder and haven't had any problems. we did have some stink issues but that was due to inadequate hot water in the washer.

HTH!

[odoole]

My understanding is if you're breastfeeding, you don't really need the liners or the sprayers until you start introducing solid foods. My son is EBF and we just pop the diapers into the diaper bag and wash them as is. EBF poop is really liquidy and liners wouldn't do much for them. This may be different for formula-fed babies.

I use Charlie's Soap and have also used Purex. Both have worked well. No smell problems at all. You should read up about detergents because some kinds with soap in them will cause build up that will reduce the absorbency of your diapers and also cause a smell. This includes the 7th generation and other brands sold at whole foods.

My Boy came home from the hospital at 4lbs 10 oz. We use prefolds and covers and also fuzzibunz pockets. As pp said prefolds are nice b/c you can shape them to fit your baby. The covers and pockets we had purchased didn't fit for the first few weeks but we didn't bother to buy preemie size b/c we knew he would grow out of them quickly and being so little he wasn't producing a lot of pee anyways, so the prefolds alone were good enough. We just had to change his onesie a little more often.

[caro113]

Laundry detergent depends on baby. I've always natural, non-petroleum based detergent. We later discovered that DD needed the natural stuff or she would get a rash. And speaking about rashes, if your baby gets one, add vinegar to the wash. It kills the yeast that is usually causing the rash. And always wash in hot water.

You mean your husband wants to use the G diapers? If you use those, you don't need anything. The packs of covers with diapers comes with a stick for you to help break it up in the toilet. And you rip them before putting them in the toilet.

A lot of diapers require five washes. It all depends on the brand you buy.

24 diapers? You'll have to wash nearly every day. If you don't mind that, then fine, but I honestly wouldn't have less than 50. That way you can go two or three days and have extras just in case.

The diapers will fit. You'll just fold them more. No big deal.

If cleaning them is a bit much, or just grosses you out, have you looked into in a diaper service? You don't have to do any washing or pre-washing. Baby soils them, you get what solids you can, you throw them in a bag, and you're done. At the end of the week you put the bag outside and a new one, filled with clean ones, magically appears in its place Honestly, I would highly recommend it for at least the first few months, while you're still getting used to having a new baby in the house.

Don't forget snappis!! They are a huge life saver. With snappies you can allow baby to have a diaper on without a cover. It's really nice, but it keeps the diaper in place while you are trying to get the cover on, which really comes in handy when you have a squirmer.

[Ola_]

I think FuzziBunz and BumGenius one size will be quite bulky on a newborn (depending on size of babe, of course). I hope someone who's tried it on their little one will be able to chime in. Otherwise you can do a search for some pictures online maybe, a place like DiaperSwappers would probably have some.

[mambera]

Originally Posted by KellyandBean

1. Are pretty much any of the laundry soaps at Whole Foods going to be ok with the diapers? We usually use different kinds (wheaver is cheapest at the moment) from WF for our clothes so it would be nice not to have to get something seperate.

No, sorry! check

http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html

to see if your detergent is CD safe.

2. My husband really wants to use the flushable biodegradable liners that they sell. He is pretty squemish so i figure if it helps him help me with diapers then i'm cool with it. But if we use the liners do we still need one of those toilet diaper sprayers?

No point in either for bf poo - just dump it in the washer for a cold prerinse before washing. We still don't have a sprayer and don't miss it; solids poo = soft little turd you can shake into toilet or pick up in tp. I hear some people use their peri bottles from the hospital as sprayers also.

If you use a liner you will have to take off the liner and flush it, which involves more poo-contact than just dumping the whole diaper in the pail. It saves your dipes from staining but it doesn't sound like that is your concern.

3. How many times before she arrives should i pre-wash the diapers? I've read a story where the woman said that she didn't know she was suposed to prewash them and they ended up leaking a lot? She said 5 times in hot water! that seems like a lot to me!

Depends on your dipes but I don't think ours hit full absorbency until at least 10+ washes. Used them anyway but we had way more leaks in the beginning.

4. I was thinking of getting about 24 diapers. Is this going to be enough?

For an older baby, plenty.

TBH I would not recommend that you buy a whole bunch of expensive pocket diapers before your baby is born. You may find you don't like them very much and then you will take a big hit if you have to sell off a whole stash (esp if they are stained w meconium poo).

I think it is best to buy ONE dipe of each of a few kinds. Eg try a pocket (I like FBOS much better than BGOS for what that's worth), a prefold, a fitted, and an AI2. Use each for a couple of weeks - you may be surprised at what you end up liking. *Then* pay down for a stash of the ones you like best.

If you are hardcore into the CD and don't want to use sposies at all, I would still recommend that you buy something super cheap (ie prefolds and covers) for the nb stage and for while you are testing other kinds of diapers. OS diapers are very unlikely to fit a newborn correctly.

5. If by chance she ends up being real lil- like 5 pounds or something- will the diapers even fit her? If she is little should we use disposable pre-me diapers until she grows? they all say they fit 7-32lbs...but what if she is smaller then 7?

Honestly they will probably be too big even on a 7-pounder. FBOS are trimmer than BGOS but both would be big on a newborn unless it is like a 10-lber.

[lovebug]

[cileag]

My baby girl is 5 weeks old now and we're just now starting to be able to use our Happy Heiny's and Bum Genius. She's approx. 10 lbs. I just didn't find that they would fit in the leg area before now. My SIL made me newborn sized fitted and we bought/borrowed covers for her until now--we had 13 diapers and 6 covers and had to wash diapers every day and occasionally had to use disposables until a load dried. In restrospect, I'd have gotten about 7-10 more.

My favorite cover so far is the Thirstie brand and they just came out with a "two size" system (Duo Diaper) where they have pocket diapers that are for 6-18 lbs and then 18-40+. I'd have liked to try that if I'd known about it in advance or if my SIL hadn't made me the newborn diapers. My daughter was 7 lbs 8 oz at birth. And btw, we just washed our diapers once before wearing, but have had some leaks with the Bumgenius and HH (although I think they are mostly fit and not repelling.)