Who is cloth diapering? - Page 5

[greenmm]

Originally Posted by jaclyn7 

We'll be cding this little one as well.  I loved the Bummis organic prefold kit (BTW, our kit came with a few liners for the meconium so you can start using it right away) in the beginning and I also hand a sampler package with a few other diapers and then around 4ish months we switched to mostly pockets -  a mix of OS and sized Fuzzi Bunz and BumGenius for no particular reason other than they were on sale.  Even with our chubbier baby, they've both worked fine so no complaints and they've always been very simple for DH and the rest of our family, too.  I do prefer the FBs because of the snaps, but I haven't had a need to try the BGs with snaps so maybe I might feel differently once I do.  This time, I'm tempted to have more pockets from the start so all the diapers can be washed together if DS isn't out of diapers by then. I love the idea of a stash and a greater variety, but for me I find I get lazy with having to wash things separetly, etc. and it's not my weakness (carriers are).

I will say that I do usually use use a hemp or bamboo fitted at night with an Aristocrats cover though

You can throw everything together. I know when you wash hemp & stuff like that for the first time you have to wash it separate but after that you don't need to separate anything. Unless you know of something i don't know. Velcro can be a pain in t he laundry tho. :/

[greenmm]

Originally Posted by t whitehead 

We cloth diaper!  We used Kissaluv fitteds with 3 covers plus one wool cover for night use.  They worked really well in containing mess and wet.  My big babe outgrow them though in the first three months or so...  Boo!  But they were great while they fit him.  After doing a diaper trial through "the natural baby" we chose the bumGenius 4.0.s  They are so cozy and convenient.  The only downside to these are that they require us to put Kell into HUGE sized clothes.  I had him in 24 months shorts and he's 5 months this Friday.  Yikes!

Also, like someone said earlier, the first week of life we used disposables that we received as baby shower gifts (um...thanks, friends...?).  Although at the time I was annoyed we received so many Pampers, the earlier poster was correct in that doing the laundry will be the last thing you want to do that first week.  (And we didn't have anyone lined up to do it for us.)

So despite the few caveats we are definitely committed!

Wow! That is quite the difference in clothes size. That's one of the things I hate about cloth is that they don't make clothes big enough in the butt but then you put them in something bigger and they are huge huge huge around the waist. I found that if you want something that you can wear somewhat normal size clothes in you have to go with AIO or AI2 diapers...pockets & fitted just aren't trim enough for the most part. Fuzzibunz aren't too bad, much trimmer than BG 4.0 but I found BG AIOs or my favs AI2s are the trimmest. I love Bottom Bumpers sized & Grasshoppers for AI2s, they are so trim. They aren't as trim as disposables but there is a huge difference when he's wearing those vs pockets or fitteds...HUGE!!! A lot of times they have sales on Bottom Bumpers...once you try those you will probably never go back :)

I agree with you on getting disposable diapers as gifts. lol. A lot of friends & family knew we were going cloth but still we got disposables as gifts, not sure they even checked out our registries which had cloth dipes on them...hello??? Yea, I tried to put the word out there but still got like 3 or 4 pkgs. We did use them for about a week as well...when you're so sleep deprived you don't even know how to use your own washer it is easier. I was the same way...like what are we supposed to do with these, don't these people even look at our registry?!" lol.

[EDDMayDay]

Huh. We absolutely loved kissaluvs 0 for newborn stage. She never peed out of them, probably because at that age they're getting changed almost every hour. At 4 or 5 weeks we moved into one size diapers like bumGenius and Rump a Rooz.

[jaclyn7]

Thanks for your experiences re washing them together - I'll have to look into it a bit more as that makes me a little more likely to still stick with mostly prefolds & fitteds and just add a few small pockets for out & about.  

 

I had read that you could once the natural oils are stripped but most people IRL told me to try and keep them separate and since I never actually had to wash them together as we switched to mostly pockets once he outgrew the small covers, I never really looked into it.  My girlfriend has never had to strip her diapers, so I've just taken her word for it but obviously there might be some other options.

 

Per her direction, I've always washed my hemp diapers on Sunday mornings together and I do my other diapers every two days or so. It's been so easy and I think that's what I'm looking to replicate with this new little one. Cold rinse on the gentle cycle (sometimes with a dash of vinegar); hot wash with a bit of Nelly's and then a quick cold rinse and we hang everything to dry - they're only about a year old so I haven't needed to strip anything yet.  Wool is handwashed every two weeks or so with Eucalan. Any other thoughts on washing?

[Dlynn918]

Great Link for moms new to cloth:

http://www.2theroot.com/choices-of-cloth-diapers/

Enjoy!

[dfunk98]

we used fb's for our last 2, but never at the newborn stage.  i am thinking about doing prefolds and covers for that.  this will be our last and i'm of the mindset "why spend more $, if this will be our last?"  how many covers do you think i would need for the first 3 months or so?  we do a cd wash every 2-3 days.  i'd like to get xsmall thirsties covers, maybe the one size ones as the baby gets older, not sure though. 

i'm also planning on making some covers and maybe even some pockets.  we have fb's in small and medium and the smalls didn't fit ds well until he was about 3 months and he was a big boy.  he was the only one to wear the smalls, so they are in great shape.  the mediums have really seen better days.  i've replaced elastic in most of them and the fabric isn't holding up too well on some of them, so i'm thinking of making some pockets for that size, too.

and what about sewing soakers out of fleece?  does it really work?  i just feel like it would leak, or get the clothes wet.

anyone here sew any dipes before?  i cannot knit or crochet.

[Dlynn918]

Has anyone ever used Flat Fold diapers and folded them origami style? I was hesitant at first because the diapers look paper thin but I saw a cool video on how to fold them from a woman who I bought a wool soaker from and it looks worth trying out! Check it out here:

http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/how-to-fold-a-flat-cloth-diaper-origami-style/

Pretty cool huh? She swears by it and says that the fit is way better for newborns especially. I might have to learn how to knit! :0)

[cparkly]

I did used prefolds with DS, but my mother used flats for all of us. I changed many, many flat diapers for my little brother. Our default fold was the "origami" style. They are simple to use, very, very simple to wash and they dry quickly. I am only supplementing my great prefold and cover stash with more wool covers and longies, and a dozen flat diapers. I have bought all of my cotton prefold from Green Mountain Diapers and plan to buy my flats there, too.

[bignerpie]

I just starting CDing my 2 year old, and I'm using BG 4.0s. We tried prefolds and Bummis covers, and it was a disaster. We're both happy with the BGs, but I do need to get some more, and I was thinking about getting some Fuzzibunz. When my new baby comes, I have a TON of disposables left from my son, so I figured I'd just use those until he or she fits into the BGs. I seem to have pretty big babies, so it might not be that long.

[Dlynn918]

Originally Posted by cparkly 

I did used prefolds with DS, but my mother used flats for all of us. I changed many, many flat diapers for my little brother. Our default fold was the "origami" style. They are simple to use, very, very simple to wash and they dry quickly. I am only supplementing my great prefold and cover stash with more wool covers and longies, and a dozen flat diapers. I have bought all of my cotton prefold from Green Mountain Diapers and plan to buy my flats there, too.

Isnt GMD the best? I got all of my prefolds and covers from there with DD. Im trying a couple of AIO that I found on clearance but in general they are just way too expensive full price to use exclusively for us. I'm going to try knitting a few soakers and see how that works out. PUL are economical but I dislike the lack of breathability. I found some free patterns on Ravelry that Im going to give a try for shorties and longies. I think I might give the flats a shot this time, looks nice for NB cause you can custom fold to size without the bulk and they are easy to wash/dry. :0)

[FarmerCathy]

I hope this isn't totally OT, but wanted to know what you mamas recommend for washers for washing cd's.  I'm definitely going to need one and by that time dh should have a better job.  Currently we wash our clothes at MIL's.  I don't think bringing over cd's all the time will work, but we do have a clothes line and I'll buy one of those things to line dry inside as well.  I want to get a top loader since I hear the front loaders you can't do a soak and I don't think I want to spend that much on a washer anyway, but if you recommend a top loader that would be way awesome.  Let me know if this is too OT and I'll go to the cd part of the forum.  Thanks.

[Phineasmama]

They have some really awesome high efficiency top loaders now that have all the features of the FLers! I would just check out Sears or Best Buy or something and see what you can find.

[Gracecody]

Originally Posted by Phineasmama 

They have some really awesome high efficiency top loaders now that have all the features of the FLers! I would just check out Sears or Best Buy or something and see what you can find.

Our washing machine broke a few months ago and we went with an HE top loader. In my research I read so many bad things about the front loaders that I felt it was a gamble, I didn't want to spend a fortune, and I didn't want an all-digital machine -- too many things to go wrong and result in expensive repairs! So the result was a HE top loader that still has several cycle options and is doing a fantastic job for us. Since it's a HE we qualified for town and state energy rebates totaling $150 and the washer was about $500 on sale. I am really happy with it. I typically just use the hot cycle for my CD's and to soak them I simply start a normal cycle and pause it once the drum has filled.

[Phineasmama]

I WISH I could have gotten the top loaders ><

Our washer just cut out suddenly, and our dryer took like 3 cycles to dry as it was! I went to one of those lease to own places because I wanted a GOOD set that would last a really long time, and I couldn't shell out that kind of cash all at once. So I ended up with Samsung front loaders which are awesome except for cleaning CDs. I paid it all off with our tax return so I didn't have to pay any extra financing costs (that's how they get you) and of course when I went in to the store to pay it off they had some brand new HE top loaders lol!

[EDDMayDay]

Top loader all the way.  Frankly you NEED a lot of water to get cloth diapers really clean.  They are freakishly absorbent, after all!  My routine is as follows (and I combine natural fibers and microfiber after all prepping is completed, btw):

1.  Cold rinse (gets out the pee and poo) on quickest shortest cycle.

2.  Hot wash with recommended amount of cloth-safe detergent (I use Dropps) on the "long" wash setting with the most "bashing" agitation.  I sometimes lower the water level so that they are really chugging around in there, not floating gently without touching each other.  This is important to avoid buildup.

3.  Final rinse.  Cold.

I have never had stinky diapers.  (Knock on wood) My baby is 11 months and I've used cloth from Day 5, when her umbilical cord fell off.

[FarmerCathy]

Thanks for the washer rec's.  I think it would be best not to go digital, great idea.  I know it was so expensive to get my mom's front loader looked at and stuff, so I definitely want to go as low tech as possible.  Oh, and thanks for the washing instructions.  I think because I didn't know to use a cold cycle first that they started getting stinky soon after, so that helps.

I think I'll also try some flat diapers, that looks easy, not bulky, and such a good price on organic cotton flat diapers.  Awesome.

Edited by FarmerCathy - 4/8/11 at 11:40am

[dfunk98]

Originally Posted by EDDMayDay 

Top loader all the way.  Frankly you NEED a lot of water to get cloth diapers really clean.  They are freakishly absorbent, after all!  My routine is as follows (and I combine natural fibers and microfiber after all prepping is completed, btw):

1.  Cold rinse (gets out the pee and poo) on quickest shortest cycle.

2.  Hot wash with recommended amount of cloth-safe detergent (I use Dropps) on the "long" wash setting with the most "bashing" agitation.  I sometimes lower the water level so that they are really chugging around in there, not floating gently without touching each other.  This is important to avoid buildup.

3.  Final rinse.  Cold.

I have never had stinky diapers.  (Knock on wood) My baby is 11 months and I've used cloth from Day 5, when her umbilical cord fell off.

 I wash EXACTLY the same way-down to the Dropps...I love them!!  I was washing about 16 diapers every 2 days on a medium water level.  It's worked really well for us!!
 

[FarmerCathy]

Originally Posted by dfunk98 

 I wash EXACTLY the same way-down to the Dropps...I love them!!  I was washing about 16 diapers every 2 days on a medium water level.  It's worked really well for us!!
 

Where do you get the Dropps at?  Can you usually find it local like Charlie's?  I used Charlie's last time and I don't know if I was just doing it wrong or the Charlie's wasn't really working.

[greenmm]

Originally Posted by FarmerCathy 

Where do you get the Dropps at?  Can you usually find it local like Charlie's?  I used Charlie's last time and I don't know if I was just doing it wrong or the Charlie's wasn't really working.

I didn't like Charlies @ all. Seems like every diaper would come out stained. I ended up switching to  RNG & everything comes out great now :)  I had never heard of Dropps...
 

[Phineasmama]

Is RNG approved for HE machines?