Who else is cloth-diapering? - Page 2

[korintherin]

We used cloth with DS and will do so again. We went with a diaper service, since our septic system is nearing "retirement age" :)

So, we used the service's cotton prefolds and bought our own PUL covers (we were responsible for washing those). I called the 800 number for Proraps seconds. Never a moment's regret.

We also used Pampers for times when CD wasn't the best option (certain travel, or baaaad diaper rash, when Desitin was needed and can't be used with CD). Then they changed something about the diapers and DS got a horrible reaction, like a chemical burn. So we switched to 7thG for those, and only 7thG wipes.

ETA: I'm interested in trying wool covers this time around, especially with a cold-weather baby! The term "soakers" scared me off initially, until I met a kid with a pair on, and got to ask his mama whether or not they really get soaked.

Edited by korintherin - 3/2/11 at 2:32pm

[AKislandgirl]

We do! I love cloth diapering! :)  DD is still in diapers but I'm hoping she'll be out of of them by the time baby comes. Only time will tell!

The bulk of our stash is prefolds with a handful of fitteds thrown in. I think I'll pick up a few more fitteds to round out our stash. I prefer sized fitteds and covers over one size.  The workhorse fitteds from GMD are a great price and I like them on DD. I'll have to get the NB and small diapers out of storage and assess the situation to see what I might need want.

Although I have a few PUL covers for days at the beach and sick days I much prefer wool. I will need to pick up a few more wool covers and longies along the way. Waiting to find out gender before I buy or make longies. I did use PUL with dd as a newborn and still have all those covers. That was nice with all the EBF poop while I figured out a good fold to contain it on her little body. I never had blow outs outside of the cover!

[vanmomma]

This is our first and we are fully on board with cloth diapering!

We are still figuring out the loads of different options and are attending a cloth diaper workshop to get a better idea of what we like, but so far I am finding myself partial to the pre-fold and cover options and have been looking at the bumGenius and bumbini brands.

How many pre-folds and covers would one suggest is best to have on hand for newbie parents? I will be avoiding wool, as I am vegan so I think that fleece will be my other go to.

Edited by vanmomma - 3/2/11 at 10:13am

[mariacm]

We use cloth with DS and will with the new baby, too.  With DS, we used the sposies we got at showers for the first 10 days or so til the meconium was gone.  (FYI, a bit of olive oil on the bum at every change makes the next change easier).  Then we used newborn prefolds and thirsties duo-wraps size small til he outgrew those, prob at 6 weeks or so.  Then we used Sposo-Easy AIO's in size small til 5 mos or so.  Now we used mostly Dream-Eze Organic AIO's and some Sposo-Easy AIO's, both in medium.  Dream-eze has since changed names to Grovia and are one size I think.  I like that Dream-eze hold more pee than Sposo-Easy, but they are snaps only whereas the sposoeasy we have are velcro. 

Since we plan to have a couple more kids, I went with sized dipes for a better fit rather than one-size.  Most say that one-size only last through 1-2 kids anyway since you use them up to 3 years per kid.  I hope to have our current stash last through at least 2 kids, maybe 3.  The Dream-eze are showing wear on the cotton lining around the elastic, and the Sposo-easys have some thread undone aroudn the velcro panel, but neither has been a problem so far.  (This is only for size medium, the smalls are fine since we used them less time I guess).

Prefolds with snappis are easy and certainly way cheaper than aio's, but DH didn;t want to use them.

[miami mommy]

I'm definitely going to CD, but I already use CD on DS, so it's already my way of life.  I'm going to start off with prefolds, fitteds and pockets,  then eventually switch to just fitteds and pockets when the baby hits the squirmy stage. Since DS is a 16 mo ball of energy, I'm looking forward to having a baby that stays still during diaper changes cause that makes using prefolds easy. I part-time EC my DS and I'm going to do the same for the new baby. EC (even just part-time) and CD is a dynamite combo b/c by the time my DS was eating solids he almost always would hold his poop for the potty. That has made diapering so much more pleasant!

[1love4ever]

Laundry is no big deal for me, especially if you have enough diapers, I would say 20!  If you are concerned about startup cost, save some money each month, and then buy them, or buy a few each month.   Also look for sales and coupon codes online.

[corrabelle]

With my first two, cloth diapering was still gerber cloth with pins, with thos horrible plastic pants! So much has changed since then, so i'm really excited to cloth diaper this time. (Especially now that I have a washing machine!)

I think i'm leaning towards thirsties wraps with prefolds...but I'm not entirely sure.

I've heard that the pockets can cause problems with bunching up in the bottom of the pocket-and I don't want to fork out a ton of money for all in ones! I like the cost of prefolds with covers-and you don't need near as many covers as you do prefolds, since the covers can be washed and dried so quickly!

I'm still open to ideas-there's a really awesome children's store across the street from my house that has a huge section that specializes in cloth diapers. They have a ton of different brands, and a diaper expert who will help you choose the best for your child and budget. It's pretty sweet. AND, they have really nice brand name/gently worn children's clothing on consignment for super cheap. How lucky is that?? 

[SilvanaRose]

I will be using all my cloth again for this baby. We use indian prefolds and diaper covers/wool soakers.

I was worried about laundry too until I talked to someone who told me about EC or elimination communication. We have been doing EC since DS was 1 month old and in the 15 months he's been around I can count on both hands (under 10 times) how many 'dirty' diapers I have had to wash. I can't even tell you how impressed I am with the fact that babies CAN go on the toilet. So it's fair to say we will be doing the same with baby #2 !

[Kindermama]

I've cd'ed all my kids so far (since '99). I went through a serious obsession at one point but in the end, made my entire stash Fuzzibunz. This time, I don't know what I want to do. I might get Kissaluvs O (the new version w/ microfiber) for the newborn stage and Kissaluvs Hybrid Diapers for the rest of the time. I really want to use wool longies that I plan to knit (if I can get my act together!) and some merino wool longies that I will purchase. I don't want to go all nuts over diapers again. I'm really craving simplicity this time around! 

[baby.fatty]

We CD with our first, we used a variety of options at first but have settled into using a stash of about 20 BumGenius 3.0 pockets the vast majority of the time.  The hard thing about planning to CD is that different dipes are best for different babies and different parents, and it's hard to know what will work for you.

One resource I wish I had known about was the trial program they have at Jillian's Drawers.  http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/tryclothfor10/tryclothfor10

You rent a variety pack of new diapers for 3 weeks for $10, and then you either send everything back or keep just what you want and buy those at a discount.  There's a newborn version and an everything-else version.

Another option a lot of mamas I know have done was stalk the consignment stores for cloth dipes.  That way you can try various types out without the huge investment, and you can re-sell those that don't work for you for only a little less than what you paid.

[nicolian]

Originally Posted by klemomma 

I've been cloth diapering for 6+ years now, so of course we will continue with the new LO.

We use fitteds and wool. I might get a few PUL covers also.

I'm planning to sew my own fitteds out of cotton interlock. I want to have a diaper party, kind of like a baby shower, but no presents - everyone just comes and helps sew (plus eats some yummy food and visits / has fun!).

I'm also knitting up a whole stash of NB wool. (I learned to knit longies after DD2 was born). So much fun!

That sounds so fun!! I am going to learn to knit this pregnancy. I'm determined to!
 

Originally Posted by hjdmom24 

I want to cloth diaper..my biggest concerns are startup cost and laundry. About 6 months ago I had ordered a trial pack from nomorebummers.com but ended up deciding against it because it seemed like my son was ready to potty learn (he wasn't) and I didn't think I would have more kids..I really regret that now! But provided I can start a stash soon and spread out the cost maybe I will be able to do it. I want it to be easy, cute and low cost..lol not sure that all goes together though. I really wish I could learn to sew and make my own but I don't see that happening in the near future.

I haven't found laundry to be a huge deal when it comes to diapers. In fact, that's about the only laundry I don't mind doing. lol! As for start up cost, you could go with an inexpensive system, like prefolds and PUL covers. Simple and cheap. Or you could buy over the course of the pregnancy, searching for deals. I buy a lot of used diapers. You do need to check feedback and ask good questions though, if going that route online.
 

Originally Posted by AKislandgirl 

We do! I love cloth diapering! :)  DD is still in diapers but I'm hoping she'll be out of of them by the time baby comes. Only time will tell!

The bulk of our stash is prefolds with a handful of fitteds thrown in. I think I'll pick up a few more fitteds to round out our stash. I prefer sized fitteds and covers over one size.  The workhorse fitteds from GMD are a great price and I like them on DD. I'll have to get the NB and small diapers out of storage and assess the situation to see what I might need want.

Although I have a few PUL covers for days at the beach and sick days I much prefer wool. I will need to pick up a few more wool covers and longies along the way. Waiting to find out gender before I buy or make longies. I did use PUL with dd as a newborn and still have all those covers. That was nice with all the EBF poop while I figured out a good fold to contain it on her little body. I never had blow outs outside of the cover!

I was looking into the GMD workhorse dipes, and I ended up finding some new fitteds that are actually cheaper. I bought a twelve pack. They're so nice!
 

Originally Posted by vanmomma 

This is our first and we are fully on board with cloth diapering!

We are still figuring out the loads of different options and are attending a cloth diaper workshop to get a better idea of what we like, but so far I am finding myself partial to the pre-fold and cover options and have been looking at the bumGenius and bumbini brands.

How many pre-folds and covers would one suggest is best to have on hand for newbie parents? I will be avoiding wool, as I am vegan so I think that fleece will be my other go to.

Bumgenius pockets are my favorite for my 2 year old. I have all aplix, though and it's starting to wear out so I would go with snaps in the future and may even get my aplix dipes converted.

As for how many prefolds - you will want to look at how many diaper changes you will do daily and how many days you would like to go between washes. Newborns go through a lot of diapers - and maybe more if it's prefolds - depends on the baby. So, we'll say changing every 2 hours gives you 12 diapers. So, I would get a dozen for however many days you want to go between washings. PUL covers don't need to be washed after every use - unless they are soiled. You can wipe them out. Wool rarely needs to be washed, unless it becomes soiled with poop. And fleece should be washed after each use as it will smell like urine. Fwiw, there are many humanely-raised and sheared sheep out there. It would probably take a little homework to find them though.

[ncas72]

I will be using cloth diapers. We used them with DS and will do the same this time around. DS was very tiny when he was born. He weighed 5 lb 11 ounces and the only thing that would fit him for a while were the kissaluvs so we will start out with kissaluvs fitteds again plus some contours and prefolds.

For us the fitted diapers with covers worked best. At home he just wore a fitted. We used a wool cover at night and either a thin wool cover or fleece or pul cover for outings.

If I can get myself motivated, I think I might try to sew a few contours.

[nicolian]

What a peanut he was, Neeka!

[brennan]

We will be!  I used BumGenius one size with dd and LOVED it, and then moved to prefolds and wool.  I plan on doing a newborn stash of prefolds, wool and pul covers plus some all in one diapers, and then he/she will move into dd's old stash.  I already have everything that I need except for the all in ones.  I have a bunch of wool that I can knit into covers.

If you're on the fence about it, it totally ROCKS.  I never found the laundry to be that much extra (with all the blowouts we were having with dd I was doing more laundry when she was in a sposie; I didn't have a full stash until she was 6 weeks old).  I really hope to never use a sposie diaper again!

[lifeguard]

Those that have made their own wool longies or shorties would you be willing to share your pattern? I made a few with ds but they never seemed to fit right & so I never used them.

[JunieMoon]

I'll be cloth diapering again this time as well. Too bad I just gave my friend all my newborn prefolds a few weeks ago. Oops! I used primarily fitteds with my last newborn. I am excited to get to put tiny longies on a baby this time. I have no idea what else I will be buying. I "know" I'm having a boy this time so some of the tiny diapers I saved won't work since they are pink. Or, I guess I don't have to care about that! I loved our organic newborn Swaddlbees fitteds. Do they even make those anymore? It's been 4 year since I cloth diapered a newborn! I guess I need to head on over the diaperswappers and see what the best brands are now.

[~pi]

We started with 2 dozen prefolds for DS , and then got another dozen just to make life easier. You can't really wait until the last diaper to do laundry, or you won't have any clean, dry diapers! I liked having 3 dozen, and we'll be sticking to that again.

[by-the-lake]

Cloth diapers here again too! I like prefolds for newborns, flats and woolies too, and I have AIO's for when he gets bigger!

[starling&diesel]

We do.  I would love to think that DD will be out of her dipes by the time the babe comes, but I doubt it. 

We went through a mish mash of this and that (kisaluvs, prefolds and covers, happy heiny, fuzzibunz) and grew to love fuzzibunz the best.  We got rid of our smalls in all the dipes, so only have the mediums and larges.  I think we'll just go with small fuzzibunz and a few prefolds and covers thrown in for good measure. 

QOTD:  How many of you used either liners or a sprayer?  We didn't use either, but now I'm wondering about both. 

[tank]

can someone explain longies to a newbie?  Also do they have to be wool?