How many of you plan on cloth diapering?

[cameragirl]

Last time we used disposables, and DD's skin was irritated by any but the expensive Pampers. She also could NOT stand being in a wet diaper at ALL. She'd scream and fuss. We wanted to CD last time, but my husband's aunt was watching DD while I worked. She said she was supportive, but she gave me crap about insisting my daughter have breastmilk instead of formula, that she not take her places without telling us, etc. Because we lived in an apartment with a horribly small stacked washer/dyer, and had to deal with the witch, we decided to not CD.

This time, though, we'd like to give it a shot. Due to the economy we share a house with my mom, who is a big supporter of CD. My sisters and I were all cloth diapered. Mom teaches Red Cross babysitting classes, and she teaches the kids about the types of cloth diapers available and how to use them. So this time, the support is there and so is the standard size washer/dryer.

Are you planning on cloth diapering? Why do you cloth diaper? What supplies would you recommend for a newbie? I think I'd like to use prefolds with soakers and some sort of cover.

[RosieL]

I am planning to cloth diaper. Since I'll only partially be a SAHM and will have to supplement with some kind of daycare, I'm going to go with pocket one-size diapers. Fuzzi Bunz, to be exact, and I'm stalking for sales and second hand lots now. If I was going to SAH I'd do prefolds with a snappi and covers, for sure. The CD forum has some awesome CD101 threads, and guides to all the different kinds of dipes. 

I'm choosing this mostly because I don't like the chemicals in the disposables and because I'm cheap. With the One Size, the cost should be SIGNIFICANTLY less than 3 years of disposable diapering, and I plan to re-use them with additional kids down the line.

[BirthFree]

Definitely.  :)  I'll make 'em if I can find the time.

[JunebugsMom]

I cloth diapered both of my kids.  unfortunately I got rid of everything after DD PLed because I thought we were done.  Just to keep things as cheap and easy as possible, I am going with prefolds and PUL wrap covers for the nb/small stage.  I sew diapers as well so I think I will make a bunch of one-size cloth fitteds for later.

[cocoabean8]

I'd like to give it a shot!  I will be home with the babe from March to September but will have to go back to teaching when the new school year starts.  We'll switch to sposies then.

[thegalawayhouse]

I'm planning on CD'ing this babe too.  I've used them off and on for the last 2 years with YDD.  We had lots of washing issues, hard water, front loader, so there were times when I just got tired of fighting the stink, but I think I might have it figured out now.  I will probably try to do fitteds with covers for the nb/sm stage, and I love my pockets for the older stages.  I've also started knitting some longies and will probably have several pair of those and some shorties for next summer.  I love to sew and am looking forward to getting a little further along so I can start sewing some squishy nb diapers.

[mamathomas]

I played around with many different types with DD and definitely want to CD full time with this one. 

This site is a wonderful resource - http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/index.html 

Excellent FAQ section, New to Cloth section and great package deals!

[Bobbys]

We cloth diaper. We started CDing my son at 4 months old. This time around, we plan on doing it from day 1. When DS was a newborn, he was constantly having blow-outs in disposables. We would bring 3 safety outfits wherever we went and we used them too. So many accidents. Once we started using cloth diapers, all that stopped. They hold in the poop so much better.

We have a large stash of prefolds and plenty of pocket diapers as well. We use the prefolds in the house and we use the pockets for when we are out of the house. My daycare is totally accepting of them. (I find the All in One and Velcro work best with daycare.) I bought some used, some from babysteals.com and some from jilliandrawers.

If you're new to CDing, I recommend doing Jillian's Drawers trial program. (http://jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/tryclothfor10) You can try the cloth for 21 days and return them. You just have to pay for shipping and a $10 program free. If you like the diapers, you can keep them ($161) or return only the ones you don't want. It's an excellent way to experiment with different kinds. We never thought we would want to use prefolds, but through the trial program, we realized that they were easy to use and launder. Plus, they were the cheapest option. JD will mail you out the diapers up to 3 months in advance of the birth, so you can launder them and have them ready to use.

Another great resource for cloth is http://alphamom.com/

Do a search for cloth diapering. For some reason, it won't let me directly link.

Amalah has written several posts on CDing and she makes it accessible and fun.

[Motherto4]

I have cloth diapered my last 3.  I like pf with pul covers for NB but I know some babys have problems with PUL.  Then I make OS AI2's so I will use those when The baby gets bigger. 

One thing I will say for someone new to cding, don't wait till you have a full load of diapers to wash.  The more water you can get around your diapers the better.  Also find a detergent that washes clean I use www.oldfashionclean.com and wash on the hotest setting and as full as I can get it with detergent, cold rinse, then another compleet wash with just normal or cold water to make sure all the soap is out.  So the diapers get one swish with detergents and 3 without!  We have a CHEEP washer so it doesn't take a high speed washer to get your diapers clean!

[amycorinne]

I really want to CD this time. I did it occasionally with my daughter, but my ILs, who watch her during the day, refused. I'm just going to insist on it this time.

A PP mentioned Amalah's cloth diapering posts at Alphamom. I have them bookmarked!

http://alphamom.com/parenting/baby/lazy-moms-guide-to-cloth-diapering/

http://alphamom.com/pregnancy/the-lazy-moms-guide-to-cloth-diapers-part-two/

http://alphamom.com/parenting/baby/the-lazy-moms-guide-to-cloth-diapers-part-three/

http://alphamom.com/pregnancy/cloth-diapers-again-more/

[Brighids Flame]

We're definitely planning on cloth diapering (at least when we're not doing EC)! We have 16 bum genius already, and may be getting some more BG and some fuzzibunz from my sister (though I don't know if her YDD will be out of diapers by the time our baby comes along). I also want to use prefolds, because I've heard that they're super easy and they're just so darn cheap.

We're hoping to do EC from the beginning, so hopefully we won't need a ton of diapers, but for those of you who have cloth diapered in the past: how many did you need for 1 child?

[Kyamo]

I'm planning on CDing to save money and not create so much garbage.  Probably prefolds and PUL covers.  

[Janel47]

Definitely!  I switched DD1 to cloth when she was about a year old when DH quit his job and I suddenly realized we'd been paying at least $45 a month to hold our baby's crap.  So this will be baby 3 in cloth.  I'm a SAHM/WAHM, so that makes it easier.  I'm a cheapskate when it comes to diapers and like all the traditional kinds best anyhow, so we'll be doing half flats and half extended tab bamboo prefolds and pinning under pul covers.  I got the flats at Ikea on clearance and I'll be making the prefolds and covers myself.  I had a huge stash of pockets for DD2 but didn't end up liking them as much.

[Janel47]

Brighids Flame-- I never did EC with a newborn, but I found 3 dozen diapers to be just about right for the first couple of months.  I didn't want to wash every day.  My kids didn't stop going through TONS of diapers until they were a year old or more, so we always kept a fairly large stash around.

[megame]

We CD our son. He's in bumgenius with the inserts.  I think they're my favorite for this phase at least.  When he was a newbie, we had a month or so of diaper service and because he was peeing approx every 5 mins, I didn't bother with the cover etc.  Just had snappies (sp) and kept stacks of the trifolds in the living room (this is how quickly I gave up on the idea of moving the baby to a changing area/station) for hanging out in the house and would use the covers for out and about time. 

He was kind of a big bay at 9.8 oz, so we didn't really have too much of an issue with the diapers being too big for him, though I guess, a one size diaper might be pretty big on a newborn.  I can not remember it being an issue for us though.

[Motherto4]

Maybe I'm just brain dead from being so sick and tired but I can't seem to figure out what EC is.  could someone please refresh my memory!

[amycorinne]

EC = elimination communication

[sonitaw]

I cded the first 6 months full time then half time when dd went to day care until 18 months when we move to Spain and dh said no you can't bring those. my daughter was skinny so fuzzi bunz, happy heinys and bum genius didn't work for us. I actually hated the Velcro because you have to close the tabs before washing or else they snag. I changed my stash many times then finally fell in love with green acre designs. I think I have 50!!! I like the brand because they have several sizes (husky and long-skinny) and they are super thin so there's no ant butt. I recommend the blueberry hemp microfiber one size inserts, This combo was bullet proof for us!

I can't believe www.diaperswappers.com hasn't been mentioned!! it is the cd Mecca and a great place to get used dipes to find what works best for you.

[MotherBhaer]

We've used cloth with ds all along, and will definitely CD this babe, too. I plan to use wool covers this time, though, instead of the Thirsties covers we've been using. Also thinking of converting prefolds into fitteds, using a tutorial I found online.

[Fly Girl]

We cloth diaper. This will be my third LO to use cloth. I like different diapers for different reasons and have so many right now. I actually need to organize them and get some out to sell. Cloth diapering really is so addictive! My DH was supportive with our first LO but less so with DD2. So if we're going to be out on the weekends when he's home I will use disposables.