Cloth diapering?

[naturelady]

Hi ladies,

This will be my first baby! We've already made the decision to cloth diaper but after much research, I still don't know which brand to fill my stash with. Need some expert momma advice! (By the way, I really like the elastic adjustment system in the Fuzzibunz, but wanted natural cloth/fibers. However, conversations is not limited to this kind!) I'd like to keep my stash filled with one or two brands to keep it simple for family and DH. A few questions..

Which cloth diapers do you prefer? And why?

Which do you use the most for day? And for the night?

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

[alesmama07]

Ah. I was waiting for this to get posted!

With CD it's all about preference, how often you want to wash and dry diapers (if at all). Take into consideration how many changes you will be doing initially. Breastmilk poop is so much easier to deal with sticky toddler poop! (thank goodness DS is potty trained) Generally speaking, the # of changes in a day look something like this:


Newborn - 4 Months (8-12 changes daily)

5 Months - 15 Months (7-9 changes daily)

16 Months - 30 Months (6-7 changes daily)

With DS I did a combo of prefolds and covers & the Fuzzi Bunz- I got the FB off of craigslist for a sweet deal that saved tons of money.

IMO I think prefolds and covers are the cheapest system out there.

Personally, I am planning to use a diaper service for this baby. My washing/drying machines are old & not so environmentally friendly. It rains here most of the winter, so drying outside is not an option. I've spent the past few months crunching numbers, and this will be cheaper than doing all the washing, rinsing, and sanitizing here. Maybe with all that money I'll be saving I can finally get some new machines.

Many websites out there have packages available that offer a sample of each system: 1 AIO, 1 pocket (ie: FB), 1 prefold & cover, and 1 fitted & cover. Sometimes, that's a good way to go, and then after you try out all the different systems samples, you'll know what you like best and then you can stock up. Craigslist, Garage sales, local sales from families of multiples are great ways to get awesome deals on CDs.

Hope this was somewhat helpful.

[leurMaman]

Okay, I CDd my son fulltime until he was 2. I have a small fortune in cloth dipes in a closet. I loved fuzzibunz. I switched to Gdiapers for my daughter and put hemp and chinese prefolds in them. Now I guiltily admit with my third that i use Nature Baby Care disposables (bleech-free and compostable). They are pricey, though, and I feel guilty. Good luck on your search. The diaper board is full of info too - and I'm sure lots of our mommies will give you some useful tidbits.

[MamaFern]

i CD'd with my son full time.. till he was totally out of diapers at about 2..
with the exception of travel..i did use disposables on occasion then.

with my middle daughter i did EC with her mostly at first & used cloth, but i think from about a year on started using disposables at night. i never found anything that worked well for her..she was out of diapers by 2 as well.

with my youngest i did do some EC but not as much as with #2.. i used cloth for the first year, then moved and got into the habit of using disposables half the time.. then we moved again and i have been mostly using disp. although at home she is diaper free mostly and using the potty. she is by far my oldest diaper wearer and im hoping it will pass soon. im getting tired of changing toddler diapers. i think that the main reason i hate using cloth these days is because generally when i put any diaper on her in a day is when she poops..she isn't p into pooping on the potty much and washing out poop... *sigh* im just burnt out on it and my laundry is piled high as it is..

i hate being a polluter though, and i am aware every time i reach for one that im causing the earth harm.. i do buy "green" ones, which are hopefully more earth friendly.


i do plan to EC & CD with the next baby.. i have a whole stash of nice newborn cloth so i will put them to use..and since this one and my youngest will be almost 3 years apart i think EC will be much easier. i found the 2 year age gap just a bit harder..

[~Demeter~]

You will get different opinions from everybody on which dipes are their favorites. I only cd'd my most recent babe we ec'd a bit, too. For little butts I really like prefolds and a cover. When they get a bit older I liked pocket dipes. I didn't really need to change it up too much for nighttime dipes because my daughter didn't wet at night past 3 mos.

[naturelady]

Thanks for all the info! Appreciate it.

I don't think we are going to go the prefold and cover route, for my hubbys sake. He would be way too intimidated by it. We really want to go the AIO, one size, or pocket dipes. From my research, I have a checklist of what I want in a cloth diaper. 1.one size diaper so we wont have to buy every size, 2. elastic adjustment instead of button down adjustment, 3. preferably natural fibers, 4. snaps as aplix tends to wear in the wash. With that being said, we are considering SoftBums and Rocky Mountain diapers.

Anyone have any experience with those brands?

[~Demeter~]

One size typically isn't good for the newborn period. They are just too big and bulky. So it would probably be good to get some newborn dipes for at least the first few weeks.

I don't have experience with those brands... the one size I do have experience with our Tiny Tush. I like them well enough... they made it through most of Sage's cd experience.

[Sagesgirl]

I'm going to cloth diaper for the first time with this one. Wish me luck, LOL. We will be using prefolds & covers--anything else is simply cost prohibitive.

Here's a question--does anyone know a good brick & mortar store where I can get diaper covers? Wal-Mart doesn't seem to carry them anymore. I'm busily crocheting soakers, but I'd like to have options.

[Stitches]

I'm still CDing my 21 month old (although I want to have her out of diapers by November). I LOVE cloth diapers. I have a giant stash of prefolds and covers (two sizes) and 20 Bum Genius that are getting pretty worn out. I initially loved the velcro closures because I hate messing with snaps on a squirmy baby, but the laundry tabs wore out and everything sticks to each other. I tried my hand at sewing some flannel fitteds, which turned out not too bad so I want to make a few small sized ones, and I may invest in a small variety of other fitted diapers, I'd like to try out some bamboo and cotton. I find that natural fibres don't get as much icky ammonia smell in the diaper pail as the synthetic ones.

[Stitches]

Sagesgirl They can be hard to come by, I've only seen them at children's specialty stores. I use Bummis and they are great, you can order them online, but I have the luxury of living in a city with several yuppy baby boutiques. I agree, pre-folds are for sure the most economical choice, and I like them, they wash great and don't smell as much, you can change the fold depending on your needs. Only draw back in the early days was my DD would wait about 4 days and then have a giant poo explosion that would leak onto the cover, so it's good to have a few, I got by with 4 size small. I learned to always always put a onesie on over top and it keeps any leaks off the clothes.

[47chromosomes]

Well, we like different types and brands for different reasons.

When DS1 was born what we did was buy all of one type of diaper. Which later we ended up ditching.

What I WISH we had done was buy a variety of diapers to try out, and then invest in the ones we liked the most. So, if I was going to do it again, I would start putting away $20 a month (maybe a little more) in the sock drawer. And then for the baby shower have friends buy a variety of newborn diapers to try out, or lend you a couple of theirs to try, and then when you find what works for your family plunk down the cash for what you like--which really, could be more than one brand or type.

We currently use BumGenius one size pocket diapers because they work really well, and the one size part is important for our budget. But, they don't work well for the newborn period. They are really more of a one size for 2 or 3 months and up. But we are still using them now and guy is 2.

We have in the past used plain old prefolds and covers, which is an extremely economical and practical choice. We only switched to pockets because my older son had low muscle tone and needed diapers with less bulk.

Anyway, I love cloth diapering. It almost becomes a hobby if you let it!

[GreenMamma]

I use Osocozy AIOs on my 10 1/2 month old babe. I had my 2 1/2 year old in them too, before he decided to use the potty. I LOVE them!

[TeaJunkie]

We bought one size diapers before DS was born an quickly realized that they wouldn't fit him for quite some time! We ended up using Kissaluvs size 0 and Thirsties covers. I loved them and I'm looking forward to using them again! I have heard of some people doing a "rental" of the Kissaluvs size 0 through Sunshine Diapers, but if you plan on having more than one baby, it makes sense to buy.

After DS outgrew the Kissaluvs, we did a trial through Jillian's Drawers to figure out what to buy next. I found it immensely helpful because diapers fit babies in different ways depending on their shape/build so I needed to see how things would fit before I committed. The basics of the trial is that she sends you seven different brands/types of new diapers and you use them for 21 days. Afterwards you send them back and get all but $10 of your money back. No penalty for stained diapers!

We now use mostly bumGenius, but I wish that we had done the Fuzzi Bunz one-size. They didn't have those when I bought my stash and I am so tired of the aging velcro!!

[mommyh74]

I'm doing it...

I'm planning on CD this little-bitty. I did CDing with my son starting at age 2 and really only when were together (he was in school FT). Even then we didn't do it 100%. This time I will have the little tike with me and eventually will just take a stash to his (o gosh, was that subliminal - maybe it's a "her"...) school. I used Fuzzy Bunz (they were OK) and also used "Mamamade" AIO (they were awesome, I want to see if she is still around..). I have already looked into buying gdiapers and will most likely use them exclusively. I want to go exclusive once I find the brand I like.

[ocelotmom]

I CD'd with my first two, and can't really see doing anything else. However, the details are going to depend on our financial situation, as most of what we've used previously is all worn out.

I'm partial to one-size fitted diapers, and have had my eyes on BellaBottoms since back when DD was still in diapers. I also want some pocket dipes. But we may just end up doing prefolds.

I suppose I should get myself together at some point and attempt to make some covers out of the felted wool sweaters I have lying around! Covers will be much more plausible to move with us than the sweaters themselves.

[naturelady]

Need some opinions!!

After spending much of the day on the computer researching CD more and more..I'm 90% sure we are going to go with SoftBums. You can reuse the covers if they aren't soiled and the insert just snap in an out. And they have organic options! They also come in a snap version under special request.

I still really like Rocky Mountain Diapers though. Decisions, decisions. The only thing I don't like about them is that there is suede against the baby instead of an organic bamboo or cotton. And the tabs fold up on the bottom since there is only one row of snaps. What do you think about them?

I'm a bit OCD and would really like to have a one brand diapering system to keep things simple for DH and the family.

Opinions? Check these two dipes out!

RMD's- http://www.rockymountaindiapers.com/ClothDiapers.html

Softbums- http://www.softbums.com/catalog.php?category=2

[heartchya]

I cd my 16 month old. We use all one size diapers, bumgenius brand.
For the new baby I plan to use prefolds (24) and covers (6) until baby is ready for the one size diapers. bumgenius makes a great organic diaper.

[morganeldi]

*lurking as I'm hoping to be here*

How about BG OS organic all in one? I really like it. Natural cotton against baby's skin, comes in snaps, one size and a smart (I think) AIO, and super easy for Dad's and babysitters. Super trim..One of my favorite dipes!

Another one that I like is the dreameze AIO, again, natural fibers, snaps..but these are sized.

There are a lot more that I like but these are the two that came to mind for you and also two of my faves!

[naturelady]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I've looked alot into the BG organic with snaps. It's really appealing to me, but I keep reading reviews on how the baby doesn't fit in them as long as advertised.

BG pros:
AIO
organic
snaps
great colors
trim
one size

BG cons:
babies dont fit in them as soon or as long (so you have to buy additonal NB dipes to use for a while)
snaps on front can be confusing for DH

Softbums pros:
organic
really fits a newborn
comes in snaps
elastic adjustment system
different inserts to choose from
trim
can reuse cover and just change insert

Softbums cons:
not an AIO
more expensive
longer prep

How long did your babies fit in BG os?
And how trim were they when the baby was a newborn?
Any leaks or problems in the wash? (stripping etc)

Thanks!

[erthe_mama]

I bought a bunch of homemade diapers a while back... hopefully they work. I'm going to be crocheting some covers as well. I'd have liked to do EC, but DP isn't into it.