COMPLETELY Clueless !

[HeidiLC01]

I was hoping someone could give me advice or tell me where to get info on CD'ing ? I know it's what I want to do, but I don't have a clue on what is what. I've tried browsing the web but most of what I have found seems to have expectation that you know what you are looking for.
I have silly questions like, what is the diaper itself ? Is this what's known as the prefold ? Can I use just the pre fold with a cover , and are things like fuzzibunz and bum genius considered a cover ? Is the prefold what I stuff all in ones with ? I actually bought some all in ones on ebay but I don't have a clue what to do with them .
And how about heat ? I've found cute patterns for knit wool covers but they look so hot for the summer. I also found some adorable cotton cover sewing patterns but they don't seem to be anything more then cute....no absorbency or use besides cosmetic.

Tia for any and all advice you can give me.....

Heidi

[Virginia884]

This is a great guide to what's what... http://www.esbaby.net/whatdoineed.htm

Here's another good site/store... http://www.cottonbabies.com/clothdiapers.php#4

You can definitely just use prefolds and covers. This is a very economical diapering set-up. I like prefolds from greenmountaindiaper.com and Thirsties covers. (This is what I'm using now).

Fuzzibunz are pocket diapers. They do not need a cover, the outer layer is like a built in cover. There is an insert that you stuff into a built in pocket in the diaper. Some bumgenius diapers are like this, too. Some bumgenius diapers do not have anything to stuff, it is all built in and these are called all-in-one or AIO diapers. 

I am clueless when it comes to wool!

HTH!!!

[Jaimee]

Hi and congrats on embarking on your cloth diaper journey.  I teach CD101 seminars at natural parenting stores and upon request uploaded the seminar to youtube (in a 7 part series).  I cover all the basics you need to know to get going, including the answers to your above questions.  When it comes to getting started I think it really helps to SEE how they work and not just read about it.  HTH!

http://www.youtube.com/user/JaimeeGleisner?feature=mhum

[RthyCrunchyMama]

What you need to get started and what types of diapers will depend on your budget, preferences and situation (stay at home vs daycare for instance).  We love to help parents new to loth figure out what they need on a budget that works for them.  We also offer a newborn cloth diapering rental program for new moms who want to try out some new born diapers prior to buying or who just want to rent until their baby is a bit bigger. You can check us out at www.earthycrunchymama.com or email me directly at [e-mail] and I would love to help you figure out what you need. 

[slaggyc]

Wonderful videos!!! Thank you!!! Just now starting my cloth diapering research and this was a wonderful intro!

[CJsMama]

That video was SO helpful! Thanks for posting! I'm just thinking about switching my 8 month old to cloth but I was also completely clueless and the video answered almost all of my questions. We live in an apartment and don't have our own washer and dryer (there is a laundry room in the building) so could we just wash the diapers on hot without the cold rinse/spin cycle before and after or would that not work? There is really no way for us to do the cold rinse before and after in the machines in the building unless we ran (and paid for) three full cycles, which would take close to two hours. I'd really like to switch to cloth but not sure about it without my own washer. Are tushies and nature babycare the only gel free diapers? We've been using earths best or 365 since they are chlorine free but I'd like to use something gel free as well.

[Jaimee]

I'm not 100% positive that Tushies and NatureBaby EcoCare diapers are the only gel-free sposies, but those are the only two I've heard of so far.

Apartment laundry is definitely a challenge.  It would be my recommendation to do two cycles one for the cold rinse/spin and one for the hot wash with the rinse/spin at the end.  You'll have to experiment to see if they are getting rinsed well enough with just one rinse/spin at the end.  To help with this, be sure to wash fewer diapers and wipes at a time- don't stuff it full to the top.  This would mean every other day washing ideally. 

Of course, you can always experiment without the first rinse/spin and see what happens, but I would think you would be at a higher risk for not getting fully clean and the result could be rash. If you do this, I would recommend using BioSoft liners all the time so that you're really getting rid of as much poop as possible. And make liberal use of Bac Out enzyme spray on each poop diaper.

[hoping42]

Originally Posted by CJsMama 

Are tushies and nature babycare the only gel free diapers? We've been using earths best or 365 since they are chlorine free but I'd like to use something gel free as well.

 

Just wanted to chime in that I contacted nature babycare awhile back about the amount of SAP in their diapers because it seemed they were representing the diapers as SAP free - they would not disclose how much but responded "Please know that the information you request is confidential.  We can tell you that due to unique distribution channels in our diapers, Nature babycare uses 50% less SAP than "traditional" diapers.  See the attached FAQ's sheet that shows how superior Nature babycare is compared to other brands." So they do have gel. Tushies are the only ones I know of that don't. The first rinse as the pp stated is really important so that you rinse out the poop and pee before you wash otherwise you are washing your diapers in the pee and poop. You could use the liners and handrinse each diaper before putting in the pail then you might try a wash cycle and see how that goes. If you are using more natural fibers (prefolds and flats or other all cotton diapers) that would seem easiest to rinse things out before then spray with bac-out. If you do use the pre-rinse cycle what I do is a full hot wash/cold rinse with no detergent first - so you can run a whole wash cycle as your pre-rinse but I realize without your own machine it gets expensive and time consuming! What about renting a washer? HTH!

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by hoping42 

Just wanted to chime in that I contacted nature babycare awhile back about the amount of SAP in their diapers because it seemed they were representing the diapers as SAP free - they would not disclose how much but responded "Please know that the information you request is confidential.  We can tell you that due to unique distribution channels in our diapers, Nature babycare uses 50% less SAP than "traditional" diapers.  See the attached FAQ's sheet that shows how superior Nature babycare is compared to other brands."

Good information to know!  Thank you for sharing!

[CJsMama]

Thanks! I might try either hand rinsing or just running two entire cycles. Unfortunately there's no where to hook up a washer where we live right now. I think im just going to buy a few diapers to start (maybe six pre folds and two of the cheaper covers) to see if I can make it with before investing in a full supply of diapers.

[CJsMama]

Jaimee - I was just wondering how one of those sprayers attached to a toilet would work compared to a biosoft liner?  I just started using some prefolds at home only and i am using the liners for right now but I feel like that could get a little pricey if I have to use them all the time since they are $6-$8 for 100, which would end up being $12-$16 a month in liners alone.  Thanks again for all your help!

[Jaimee]

Most people I know with diaper sprayers really love them.  There is a bit of a learning curve to figure out how best to hold the sprayer and diaper to angle everything into the toilet and avoid spray coming off the diapers onto the rest of the bathroom and you.  But once you figure it out, they really do work well.  They cost about $35-40, so you would save money if you didn't need to use the liners any more.  That might be a good choice for you. 

Another thought is trying out a different brand of liners.   Kushies liners are thicker, more rice paper like, and say they are reuseable. What they mean by this is, if the liner was only used in a pee diaper then you can wash it and reuse it a few times. 

And my last thought is to apply a little bit of EC strategy to your LO's elimination.  If you start to pay more careful attention to when s/he poops you will likely find a pattern.  Some babies go after feedings, some first thing in the morning, some every 4 days, etc.  So if you get into a routine of when s/he poops, you'd only need to use liners during the most likely times that poop will happen.  If you get pretty good at the pattern, then you can start putting your LO on the potty and not dirtying the diapers at all!