First time CD'ing. Totally lost......too many questions and tooo less time....... PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[newmom82]

Hello moms, I'm new to this forum and would love to get your expert advice on Cloth Diapering. It's my first attempt towards CD. I barely managed to research about it and convince my husband, and now again I'm lost as to which ones to choose and how many do i need to order initially? I'm due next month and we don't get cloth diapers where we live. So would have to order these online. Keeping these in mind, I would need help making some decisions: 1. From what I've read and from what I've been told, pocket diapers may not work for new borns and would also turn out to be expensive, and are usually recommended for infants 3 months+. Is this correct? I've been recommended to buy BumGenius pocket diapers but not for initial use as these would turn out to be a huge investment. What do you all think? 2. Now that BG pocket diapers might be too expensive for initial use, I've been recommended to buy pre-folds with Thirsties Duo Covers. Would this be a right choice to go with? If yes, then a. how many would I need to buy? (keeping in mind that we would be washing on a daily basis). b. Would this be a good/safe choice to start off with? http://www.diaperjunction.com/econobum-one-size-diaper-kit.html# c. Anyone else used the Econobum Diaper Kit? Any reviews? or do you recommend any other for me to choose? d. Please look at the options on this website, as this is one of the websites that ships international. So don't have many choices of websites to choose from. e. I would need to buy extra inserts and covers for pre-folds in addition to the kit mentioned above. Which inserts should I pick from this website and how many and how do i determine which size to pick? please refer to this link: http://www.diaperjunction.com/cotton-prefold-diapers.html Appreciate all the feedback I can get. Thank you ladies for your time.

[cristeen]

So, there are some pertinent pieces of information missing that can help us help you. 

What country are you in?  Obviously not the US or Canada, but there are mamas on here from around the world, and maybe someone has another website to suggest. 

What is your washing set-up like?  Do you have your own machines?  Are you hand washing?  Do you have shared laundry?  Do you have to line dry?  Unless you have your own machines I would not recommend pockets.  If you're hand washing or line drying I would stick with flats (which you could actually make from old towels or sheets or receiving blankets), unless you're in a desert or tropical location, in which case PFs will dry pretty quickly too.

Are you planning on having more kids?  If so, I would not suggest OS pockets.  Unless you have a huge stash, they don't tend to last through multiple children.  Sized diapers are typically the way to go, or else a large stash of OS (30+).   

For a newborn, you need a minimum of 12-15 diapers per day.  If you're planning on washing daily, I'd go for about 20-ish dipes just so you have something to cover the butt while the rest are in the wash (more if you're line drying).  You do not need inserts for a NB. 

From that second link, I'd pick the "Cotton Prefold Diapers Package" over the one you linked to (size Small, not NB).  I would not try to put a OS dipe on a NB, particularly a OS PF, that's going to be hugely bulky.  I would add a couple covers to that package, since 4 is a little light for a NB (or you can make some if you have access to wool).  Or 2 of those packages along with a few OS covers will get most kids to about a year before you'll need a bigger size PF.  I think I had to size up the PFs around 11 mos (which was the same time I switched to OS pockets). 

If you do want to jump right into OS pockets (and skip the PFs), Rumparooz do fit on a NB.  Rumparooz are my favorite on my toddler, but I've also seen them on a NB, and while they're a little big they do work (to contain everything) because of the inner gussets. 

HTH

[Jmariel]

If you're washing daily with a newborn, I say go with 12-18 prefolds and 6-8 covers. You should look at it as diaper change every 2-3 hours, plus a few for extra messes. Thirsties I think are a good start, but econobums and bumgenius are great, too. I believe Diaper Junction is offering a free book, Changing Diapers by Kelly Wels, with a $15 purchase. This is a great start and great info to pass on to hubby. Hope that helps.

[mambera]

Aren't the Thirsties Duos supposed to be good for nb?  I've never tried them (I have a regular nb size Thirsties cover and it's great) but I thought the whole point of the duos was birth to PT in two sizes?

[Carynia]

The simplest way to start out in cloth diapering is to have about 4 or 5 basic diaper covers, and about 18 cotton prefold diapers. Overall this would be a much smaller investment (and less bulky) than using only pocket diapers when starting out. Those amounts should be enough to get going if you'll be washing diapers every 2nd day. For the 4 or 5 covers it good to choose some different styles to experiment with to see what you like and what works best for you and your baby. Then when you're ready to move up to a bigger size, you'll have a much better idea of the whole process and what your preferences are.

Since everyone's baby and individual needs are all so different, going slow and experimenting will help fine-tune the process. In the beginning it's best not to buy too much at once, and that way you can refine your product choices as you go. Over the course of diapering, baby's size and weight distribution is also continually changing and some products that worked well the beginning may not work or fit as well later on when baby is older...  So that's another reason to stick with a smaller amount of diapering basics in the beginning and add from there as you go.

If you'd like more help in choosing the right items for your particular situation, please give us a call and we'd be happy to help!

Happy Diapering!  ~ Heather :)

Baby Bunz & Co. 

www.babybunz.com

1-800-676-4559

[schoonersam]

I'm just gonna chime in real quick on some specifics that you asked about, cause I've tried a few of the products you're asking about.  I am the mom of an 8-month old who's been CD'ed from the get-go.  We thankfully had a diaper service available that we used for the first month, then we started doing our own with, get this...the same cotton prefolds that my parents used on me and my twin bro in 1971!!  So they were a little thinner than the average prefold today, but were less bulky and given that you change NB's so often, absorbancy isn't super crucial until later on.  I've now added some bummis prefolds and econobum prefolds to my stock, but the majority are the old, thinner ones and they work (I have funky methods based on my stash for the longer nighttime stretches, but that's another conversation).  I will say that the thinness of the old prefolds (which might be similar in feel if you made your own from some flannel sheets as was suggested above) was good because they were less bulky even though they needed to be folded a bunch to fit her as a newborn.  Somebody also showed us a good fold for newborns shown here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAm8LVCpFx0, that made a little less bulk too.  If you have a prefold that's a little big, you can just fold the extra down at the waist.

Anyway, just to weigh in, product-wise... I have used several different covers since we started, including the Thirsties and the Econobum and my favorites by far are THE THIRSTIES!!! I cannot say enough good things about them. Very very rare leakage  (the leg gussets are great), trim fit (she started obviously with the size 1 and has just now started the size 2 at the smallest setting) even when DD was itty-bitty (she was 6lbs., 9oz.), easy to clean - AND you can get them in snaps instead of velcro, which was important to me, because the velcro on my bummis covers REALLY irritated when we were skin-to-skin and BF'ing.  DD has also now figured out how to get the velcro apart - doh! 

In addition to the Thirsties, I absolutely LOVE the 2 woolen covers I have - they are a bit more pricey but an excellent product (especially for longer nighttime stretches), needing minimal care.  I have an Econobum cover and it isn't bad, but the fit isn't quite as clean and I find I have to really tuck the dipe in to be sure of no leakage.

As for amounts, I second what the two previous posters wrote.  For me we have a stash of about 30 prefolds and 6-9 covers (a couple are coming out of rotation now - too small) and I do diaper laundry every 3-4 days - it was 2-3 days when she was a month+.  I also have a couple of pocket diapers and AIO's for those middle of the night, half asleep changes, for out-and-about, or if someone else is helping out and can't do the prefold rig - all picked up second hand.  But we didn't start using those until a few months in. 

I've also just acquired a Kawaii pocket (which they sell at diaper junction). I haven't used it yet, but I've heard really excellent things about them from friends.  With pockets and AIO's you obviously need more of them, but the Kawaii's are priced so that a decent stash doesn't break the bank and, like I said, I've heard that it's a great product.  If I was going to try and bulk up a pocket/AIO stash, I'd look at the Kawaii's first. (Though I did just order the new Thirsties AIO - more affordable than most, but pricier than Kawaii).

The last thing I would say is that you can mix and match...if the you get a couple of pockets, you can use the inserts later on to build up more absorbency for longer stretches with you other diapers.

Good luck! And here's a link to a site with a for sale board (FSOT) where you can get deals on used stuff, and probably ship worldwide depending on seller, http://www.diaperswappers.com/.