Expecting twins, considering CD-ing. Am I crazy???? Recommend some prefolds please...

[Ahappymel]

Hi all,

I am expecting twins and considering cloth-diapering, at least giving it a shot for the first few months. (Am I crazy??)

Anyhow, I did not cloth-diaper, despite my best intentions (even bought the lovely Motherease One sizes), my first two babies.

Honestly, ECONOMICS is a huge motivator here. I am told that twins newborns will go through about 150 diapers a week!!!! YIKES!!!!

 

Anyhow, I think that prefolds and covers will be the most economic way to go.

Can anyone recommend a brand of prefolds and covers to use?

The most important considerations for us are:

 

1)Economy (and value for our money). I would be buying in bulk. How many do you think I need to get started with for twin newborns?

2) Comfort for our babies

3) How long they will fit our babies (Otherwise, will the babies outgrow them quickly).

 

I'm also reading lots of horror stories on this form about moms with HE washers...which I am lucky enough to be equipped with : (

So, ease of care would also be a consideration.

 

Many many thanks!!!!

 

 

Mel.

[Ellie'sMom]

My youngest are 5, so I haven't posted in diapering in a long time, but I wanted to give some words of encouragement. I CD'd my twins and had an HE washer. And my older DD was still in CDs at night as well for the first year after the twins were born. I used fuzzibunz stuffed with prefolds and microfiber towels and they worked great! As the boys got bigger I used wool covers and prefolds at night. I did have some stink issues with my fuzzibunz, but it wasn't too bad. I always put them through a hot wash and then a cold wash without detergent with an extra rinse. 

It really isn't that bad (and I am pretty lazy about housework!). Diaper laundry doesn't require folding. Honestly, twins generate so much laundry anyway it just becomes a way of life to throw in a load every day. 

I say go for it, BUT, whatever you decide be gentle with yourself. When it comes to twins, I learned not to be too dogmatic about anything. It's all about survival!!

[Nicole730]

I have some Green Mountain Diapers organic prefolds I really like.  I also like the organic flats I have from them.  I'm not sure how their cost compares to other ones, but they are soft and absorbent.  For covers, I'd recommend Thirsties Duos.  They come in Size 1s and Size 2s.  I'd probably get 10 of each size (maybe more if you can afford it)  If you aren't opposed to use cloth diapers, I've found some great deals on our local Craigslist. 

For twins, I'd say to get at least 50 diapers.  Even if you have enough diapers to go 3 days between washing (which I like to do), you will have way too many for one load of laundry with double the diapers times 2 days. 

I have a front loader and I find I only get stink issues when I use synthetic fibers.  If you stick with cotton and don't overload the washer, you should be fine. 

[mcoreen]

I was able to buy a bunch of prefolds from a diaper service, most had tons of life left in them & they were super cheap.  Second hand may be the most economical and even allow you to get some all in ones or pocket dipes for your stash.  I have an HE washer & have never had a problem with washing until now, I generally wash with cold water on heavy duty cycle.  I switched to Tide due to a sale & DH doing the shopping & now DD has a rash.   Just make sure you are using a diaper friendly detergent!

[Amanda Leigh]

I am CDing my 8 week old twins now and it's going pretty well. We have 33 bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers and I wash diapers every other day, but we do disposables at night still. Disposables do get really expensive with twins so cloth is a great way to go for economy. As a MoT my brain seems to take occasional vacations :) so I wrote out the washing routine, taped it to the washer and I have a magnet pointing to which step I'm on. That way I don't have to try to remember at midnight when I realize that I was only half way through washing them. I agree with the above post though, nothing is set in stone when you have twins -- remember to be flexible. Good Luck!

[mylilmonkeys]

I'm another cd'ing twin mama (6 mo old today).  I'd never be able to afford sposies for twins.  I have 30 Kawaii pockets which are our main stash and then some fitteds I made, for wash days.  My experience with the early days for twins was that DH needed to chip in with diapering a lot more than previously with our singletons.  He was not comfortable or competent with pins (I didn't sew closures on my dipes, and didn't find Kawaii dipes until they were a couple weeks old) so we used a couple packages of disposables.  I have terrible luck with newborn sposies, and had several blowouts which left me washing baby clothes and treating stains.  I think it's easier just to buy diapers that work properly and wash them instead of ruining my baby clothes. Especially times two.

[hoping42]

check out little lions (they often have seconds on sale) or my favorite is imagine smartfit prefolds from nickisdiapers.com (save 5% using the code "FIVE") - I have used the organic unbleached starting at orange (with my 8 lb 1 oz at birth babe starting at 2 weeks) and now use the yellow edge for day and have a few blue edge for overnight - love them - great price, absorbent, quilty, soft. What I like most is that they are wider but shorter to fit longer than many other prefolds. My fav cover is the imse vimse organic cotton - the preemie size is newborn size (newborn size they carry did not fit my DD2 until she was about 10-11 lbs). You need a full coverage cover - lots of folks like the thirsties duo or bummis super whisper wrap too - I also liked the prowraps for the early stage too. I'd agree with 50ish - I had 24 for one and that was enough for every other day washing plus 6 covers. I think I have a prowrap around still if you are interested let me know and I can send a few out to you.

[rinap]

I've been using prefolds (diaper service) and Thirsties Duos for my twins. A friend bought me three months of diaper service as a baby gift and it is completely awesome. (and it means that I didn't have to buy preemie or newborn sized diapers). I had a few prowraps for use when they were very small, and that was good.

We've really enjoyed the cloth diapers, and found fewer leaks than we had when we were traveling and using disposables.

But I second the recommendation to be gentle with yourself. Twins are overwhelming, and compromise where you need to.

[LaughingHyena]

If you are expecting to have tiny ones in cloth I'd recommend the motherease XS wraps. We used them on DD from about 5lbs and got several months worth of use before she outgrew them. At which point being cheep we swiched straight into the mediums.

[snanna]

Chiming in with a note of encouragement about the HE washer-- I've been using one for years with cotton diapers and never get buildup or stink (we use Charlie's or Country Save) and we got both with synthetic fibers in our inefficient top-loader. Sometimes water quality can be an issue when people are having these problems as well.

Congrats on your twins!

[Justmee]

I also haven't posted here in a while!

I CD'd my twins with bummies covers (now I prefer thirsties, but this was before thirsties) and indian prefolds. I pinned or snappied and was able to get away with much fewer covers. I handwashed them mostly, threw them in the washing machine every so often.

Good luck. Twins are such fun. I hope I can be lucky and CD twins again :)