CD stash for twins

[Hilarigh]

I've done a TON of research and while I know it's not a great idea to build a stash before the kid(s) are even here, I'm registering for dipes and think I've landed on a brand that will do me.

I don't think I want to do AIO or pocket, so I'm leaning toward the motherease brand. They seem to have a good reputation for longevity, absorbancy and customer service so I'm building a stash of those/them(?) Any other brands you CD pros like that I should consider?

What kind of numbers do you think I'll need to ECD two kids at the same time? I'm not going to start with the CD right off the bat. I'll be a first time mom with two babies and I know I'll be on a fast train to crazy town. I'm going to start CD when they're about 8sih weeks old. I figure maybe/hopefully by then they'll need fewer changes than when they're brand new and, again, maybe/hopefully I won't be so over my head.

I thought 48 of the small sandys would do me with 8 covers in each size plus 24 inserts. Does that sound about right? I'd like to get away with doing laundry every other day. Also, what would your recommendation be for cloth wipes quantity?

TIA

[Galatea]

I know you are sort of set on these, but you have to consider that they may not fit your babies. Every baby is shaped differently and not every baby fits in every diaper. And even if they do fit in a diaper at 8 weeks, the same brand may not fit at all at 8 months. Plus, it is going to get expensive, buying sized fitteds for two kids. If you do still want to do these diapers, you need 3-4 covers per dozen diapers, so you'd need roughly 16 covers, not 8. And you want as many wipes as you have diapers, plus another dozen, so 60 wipes. And only wash 5 of the diapers to see if you like them on the actual babies.

I would strongly recommend looking into prefolds. They will be a lot cheaper and will definitely fit every baby. I use a doll in my diaper classes that is the size of a 6 month preemie and I can still get an infant-sized prefold to fit him, so they would fit twins.

As for all the other things you said about Motherease, they are true, but keep in mind that longevity and customer service don't mean anything if you don't like the diapers. Online research doesn't compare to actually using them. Buy a few of every diaper that interests you, and try them on the babies before buying. You'll be glad you did.

[AKislandgirl]

I have some of the ME one sized. They didn't fit well until about now really. DD is 10.5 months old and is petite. I can see that they will fit from here on out but they just aren't my favorites. I love my prefolds though. My perfect stash (for me and my one baby) is 2 dozen GMD prefolds, 6 fitteds, and my 6 MEOS. I have 6 covers and a couple of soakers for night time use.

HTH! and congratulations!

[Erinjvrn]

Ive never tried either of those, but my friend uses mother ease and loves them, wont use anything else. And my other friend uses sandys fitteds and loves them. I think your stash sounds great...what are the inserts for? And I would consider maybe some good pockets for night time, like fuzzi bunz. Fitteds overnight stink. Then the baby has the wet fitted stuck to them during the night. (unless they are young enough to still be changed overnight of course). BTW I found my babe woke more often at night when wearing fitteds due to wetness.

[Juliacat]

Mother-ease are awesome diapers, and I think you'll do great with them. I don't think you should buy the liners until you're sure you need them--a lot of kids don't wet heavily enough and you can find cheaper doublers anyway, such as preemie prefolds. Other than that, I think your numbers are about right.

[Hilarigh]

Thanks for the feedback ladies.

I guess I never thought about babies coming in different shapes. The babies in my fam and hubby's fam are pretty, um, sturdy. That is to say they're chunky monkies. My neice started out with little chicken legs but once she started putting on weight, her "little" thighs were giant. I'm expecting our kids to be pretty solid once they're not newborns but you're right. You never know what you're gonna get.

I nanny a 20-month old and her mom has her in prefolds and they're not my fave. They leak all the time, maybe the covers that her mom uses aren't very good. I know this is also not a good reason but I like the look of the fitteds better.

The inserts would be for overnight when they're older and, hopefully, start sleeping through the night. I guess a pocket dipe might be better for that though. Thanks for the tip.

Maybe what I'll do is not prep the diapers right away. I can return the diapers to ME within 6 months of purchase as long as they're not used/washed. We'll use disposable diapers on the kids until they're a little bigger so when we're ready to use the cloth diapers I can practice with a couple of the diapers that I get at my showers and see how they do on the twins and either return the unused ones if they don't work out and find ones that will work OR prep and use my ME stash if they do work.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Hilarigh

We'll use disposable diapers on the kids until they're a little bigger so when we're ready to use the cloth diapers I can practice with a couple of the diapers that I get at my showers and see how they do on the twins and either return the unused ones if they don't work out and find ones that will work OR prep and use my ME stash if they do work.

With twins, that whole "getting bigger" thing can take a lot longer. I know a set of twins who are 6 mos old and are almost the same size as my newborn was. At 8 pounds, even my little guy didn't fit into a lot of his diapers right away - it took over a month before the legs started fitting, and even now (at 3 mos) I have half a dozen that the legs gape too badly to use regularly. And at 3 mos, his size smalls still fit on the smallest or 2nd snap setting - he's just a skinny baby (even though I was a chub as a baby). You really just never know what you're gonna get in the baby shape dept, particularly with twins.

And I'll say that a fitted with a cover is just as prone to leaking as a prefold is. It's all about the cover and the fit.

[Michigan Mama]

I do like Mother-ease, but it is true that different diapers fit different babies differently! (how's that for a mouthful?). Just to give you food for thought, I love prefolds for the newborn stage, and I actually prefer cloth in the newborn stage. I get the laundry issue. I have tons myself, but I find cd in the nb stage is very easy. No rinsing, no poo globs. Just easy. They don't leak (assuming you have a good cover) like sposies do for us.

My suggestion is always to try a few brands/styles so you can see what you like. I really really like the meos, but the ME covers don't seem to fit my ds2 that well. I much prefer Thirsties covers.

Oh - don't want to rain on your parade, but I'll offer one other thing to consider. I have two kids in dipes, 4 mo. ds and (almost) 3 yr ds. Ds1 doesn't go through many dipes, really. If I wait 2 days to wash diapers, the machine is stuffed full and they don't clean very well because there are too many in there. Now, I think my washer drum is smaller than average, but it's still something to consider. The diapers agitate better and clean much easier if I wash daily, or at least after a day and a half.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!!!!

[lesliesara63]

I use pockets, but I have used ME Sandies in the past and they fit great. I think a size small would fit for a very long time. For my next I'm going to get the XS to use before the OS diapers fit well. If I had twins I'd probably get a full stash of Sandies as well. They are not as cheap as cpf's, but easier to use. Easier to wash than pockets. I really, really like Thirsties covers! Maybe just get a starter package to sample them first. Also there are often Sandies available second hand.

[Pinoikoi]

I loved their airflow covers!