Who is planning on Cloth Diapering? « Back to Group Discussions

[withlittlelungs]

We didn't start cloth with DS until he was 7 months old. I am really excited to have this baby in cloth from the start!

[LightForest]

I was just talking with DH about this today! I'm excited to cloth diaper from the beginning again this time around, with a little EC'ing thrown in also. Newborn sized diapers are just so precious! I know they won't fit for long, but I just can't help myself!

I'd love to hear what kind of diapers everyone will be using (or what you're considering). With DD, I had prefolds and flats, then a few Mother-Ease fitteds. I knit most of her newborn and small sized soakers, then used PUL wraps as she got chunkier, then ended up loving plain old pull-on nylon diaper pants once she became mobile. Money was REALLY tight when DD was a newborn... This time around I feel a little more comfortable "splurging" on some more newborn fitteds (most likely more Mother-Ease XS sized Sandy's), and DH has requested some all-in-ones for nighttime changes. I'm thinking about the Imagine NB all in ones from Nicki's Diapers - can't beat the price - $9!!!

[spughy]

I will be using cloth a bit (when out and about) but mostly EC, assuming no post-birth trauma like I had with DD.  I'm going to follow a neighbour's lead on the EC and when the babe is wee I'll use a disposable with a cloth insert - so little piddles or schmears can just get tossed in the laundry but you have the easy on-off of those disposable tabs.  My neighbours said they usually went through just one disposable a day, which I am ok with.  For nighttime, if EC turns out to be not possible in a semi-comatose state I will just use straight disposables. 
 

The cloth diapers I will use will be whatever I can scrounge from hand-me-downs.  My sister has a good stash that should be freed up by the time this baby arrives!

EDIT: the reason I'm so keen for EC this time around is that when DD started walking, I could NOT find a cloth diaper that didn't chafe and cause sores on her legs.  Disposables were fine. :(  I tried every kind possible - borrowed tons from friends, and they ALL caused the sores.  Just too bulky for her little legs.  I had to give up on them.

[jodieanneanton]

Me! Me!  I will be doing a combo of partime EC and cloth diapering.  

As for what type of diapers, I already have some fuzzi bunz from DD2 that I will use (we CD'd her starting at 3 months) when we are out and about and prob overnight.  To fill out my stash, I will prob use fitted diapers (either made by me or bought premade from...i can't remember the brand right now) and covers to do it on the cheap! :D

[withlittlelungs]

I feel like I tried everything with DS. He is a very heavy wetter so we mostly used fitteds. I want to get a few NB diapers but plan on mainly using flats and prefolds with wool and covers in the beginning with this baby. We have a bunch of different diapers from DS, so when #2 gets older I can see what I like best and go that route.

[SamiPolizzi]

I am!!! I didn't start with DS until he was 5 months old, at which point he weighed 20 lbs. So we only have bigger diapers. I think I'm going to mostly stick with prefolds and covers this time around. I did a mix of everything with DS, but by the time he was potty trained a lot of the AIOs were in really bad condition. Most of them leaked because the PUL had worn out. I don't think they're worth the money. 

[mamakaikai]

I will! We've had our cloth diaper stash in constant use over the last 4 years with our first 2 babies. We have a variety of diapers including fuzzy buns, blueberries, bamboozles, motherease and prefolds. My favorites are the blueberri all in ones. We'll need to supplement with a few more since some of our fuzzy buns have deteriotated, mostly the snaps.

We also do a combo of EC and cloth. Our kids tend to stop pooping in their diapers by the time they are introduced to solids, which is great! So, we're likely to do that this time around too.

[maydaymom10]

We are. We also didn't start with DS until he was a little older, so I've started a stash of NB sized for the new addition. I have a few Tiny Tots AIOs & then some GMD workhorse fitted inserts and bummies whisper wraps. I was planning on just renting nb-size from Modern Cloth, and am still on the wait list, but I just couldn't resist actually buying some nb fluff!. I think I'll see where I am come March! 

[babytoes]

I did CDing with DS3 from birth, and really enjoyed the experience. We will definitely be CDing with this one, although DP has never diapered a baby in anything!! But he's a test manager in an IT tech lab, so I think he'll figure it out rather quickly, lol! With DS3 I used a slew of brands, and sewed my own hemp inserts. So this time I have a really good idea of what I am going to build my stash with. 

I am a huge fan of one size diapers and I will do 80-90% of my stash out of these. I have a baby registry on Amazon and when I have my baby shower I will be requesting on the invites that people help build our stash by buying one cloth diaper. Most people will buy at least one, and some two, since they all know it's important to me (thank God for cooperative friends and relatives!). So far on my amazon list I have, Fuzzi Bunz, Rumparooz, Bum Genius 4.0 (by far my fav!), and Oh! Katy's. As time gets closer though I will get a few of this and that, I like trying out different styles and WAHM's. I did have a few with DS3 from a WAHM that I adored, but, alas I cannot remember what they were called for the life of me, and I have searched through diaper pin like crazy. Who knows, maybe she's not in business any more, but it seems hard to believe since those CD's were amazing and super well made!  

[Peace+Hope]

We will.  I loved using cloth and have all my stuff from last time.  I'm a fan of snappis with prefolds - GMD cotton - and wool covers.  With frequent changes in a newborn, knitted wool is my cover preference, and I LOVE the boiled wool (Imse Vimse or Skoon) covers for later.  They are very thin and bullet proof with attention (lanolizing every few weeks).  I only keep 3 covers in each size.  My guy wasn't a heavy wetter, but eventually a prefold wasn't enough at night, so I have some of the GMD workhorse fitteds for night.

I had some other diapers gifted to me, babygreens (100% cotton too) and some AIOs, but anything other than the GMD cotton has failed me - they get ammoniated and stink up the rest of the diapers.  I have a front loader so I'm just not going to mess around with something that doesn't work.  I was diapers every other day.

I wanted to do EC with my first babe, but he was (and is still at 2) a frequent pooper.  My plan with him was to wait til a few months when he'd be pooping less often, but he never quit pooping 3, 4, 5 times a day!  I just wasn't on top of it enough.  Maybe if we have enough of us around PP who are doing it I will be more confident :).  Spughy, I like the idea of the sposie with the insert.  

[HopefulJo]

We actually, as of last January, own a cloth diaper shop. So, we'll be cloth diapering for sure :-P Last time we waited for a couple weeks and used up all the newborn-sized sposies we were gifted before starting cloth. This time, we'll be doing it from birth! I'm excited we'll be able to reuse what we already have, and we won't have to worry about buying diapers again!

[buko]

Me, me!  EC and CD, here, too.

[withlittlelungs]

Originally Posted by HopefulJo 

We actually, as of last January, own a cloth diaper shop. So, we'll be cloth diapering for sure :-P Last time we waited for a couple weeks and used up all the newborn-sized sposies we were gifted before starting cloth. This time, we'll be doing it from birth! I'm excited we'll be able to reuse what we already have, and we won't have to worry about buying diapers again!

I'm glad you shared this. I'm not sure what we are going to be buying yet, but I would love to support another MDC mama when we buy our cloth!

[cocoanib]

We do cloth and EC too. DD's cloth supplies are still in working conditon for the most part, but I know I'll be adding to our stash.

HopefulJo, congrat's on the shop!!

We have a shop as well, http://www.zenbabyshop.com

I've already been setting things aside for this little one. It's awesome having such a variety to choose from! 

[Sara79]

I can hardly wait! I saved all our cloth diapers. I am buying some newborn sizes from a friend. I didn't start cloth diapering ds until 13 month or so...and then with dd did it from the beginning. I've missed cloth diapering.

[BeagleSmuggler]

HELP!

Okay, we really want to go cloth, and I feel like I'm entering an alternate universe trying to figure out what I'll need.

Can someone give me a cloth diaper 101?

What does EC, AIO and GMD mean?

What are the differences between pre-fold and fitted?

Inserts, nylons? How many pieces for each diaper?

Thanks!

[spughy]

Originally Posted by BeagleSmuggler 

HELP!

Okay, we really want to go cloth, and I feel like I'm entering an alternate universe trying to figure out what I'll need.

Can someone give me a cloth diaper 101?

What does EC, AIO and GMD mean?

What are the differences between pre-fold and fitted?

Inserts, nylons? How many pieces for each diaper?

Thanks!

EC is "elimination communication" - learning the particular noises, squirms, facial expressions that your baby displays when he or she needs to pee or poop.  It's actually remarkably easy - I was able to tell instantly with my neighbour's kid and he wasn't even mine!  That having been said, with a new baby, particularly your first, the whole experience can be so overwhelming that it's hard to attend that closely to one more thing when you're already worried about when you need to feed, if the baby's too hot, too cold, wrapped up too tightly, not enough, gassy, etc.  I couldn't do it first time around but I'm hoping that now I'm a certified professional baby-wrangler I'll be ok. (Certified professional baby-wrangler sounds so much cooler than DONA-trained post-partum doula, I think.)

AIO is "all-in-one", a cloth diaper that's all one piece including cover, absorbent bit, and bit that goes against baby's skin.  Not sure about GMD?  A pre-fold has to be fastened inside a cover, while a fitted diaper usually has an elasticized waist and leg holes and just pulls up like underpants.  Inserts are extra absorbent pads (like menstrual pads for growed-up ladies, but bigger, and, you know, diaper-y) that you can add to a diaper if your kid is a fire hose with legs and a mouth.  How many pieces for each diaper depends on the type of diaper.

Have fun researching!  There's a whole sub-forum on here for cloth diapering with lots of super-knowledgeable mamas.  When I was using cloth I was mostly old-school, with a waterproof cover with velcro closures, and I used origami-folded flats and hemp inserts - that was worked best for us.  My sister used a lot of AIOs and fuzzi bunz (pocket diapers - consist of a cover and a fuzzy next-to-skin layer, you add inserts to get the absorbency you need).  The best thing to do, IMHO, is to beg borrow and steal as many different, cheap used ones as you can and see what works best for you, your baby, and your laundry situation!

[BeagleSmuggler]

@spughy, I'm not having much luck with the search function, can you post al ink to the cloth diapering sub-forum?

[LightForest]

Here's a link to the diapering sub forum: http://www.mothering.com/community/f/221/diapering

And GMD is Green Mountain Diapers - that's a cloth diaper store particularly popular for their nicely sized prefold diapers. But, to be honest, a few other stores now sell this special size of prefold as well (for less money and free shipping) so GMD is not necessarily the only game in town ;)

[buko]

BeagleSmuggler-- you know by now I'm in the same first-timer boat, though I've gotten somewhat comfy with the idea of CD'ing and EC'ing at this point.  It's still kinda theory for me, because no one in my family-- my generation or my parents'-- uses/used anything but sposies.  My grandmothers did CD, and from talking to my maternal grandma, I gather she did a form of EC as well, so I'll enjoy discussing that further with her.  But it's not something I was really exposed to first-hand.

Here's what helped me:

Books:

-Changing Diapers: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0983562210/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00

-The Diaper-Free Baby: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061229709/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00

Websites: 

-The Diapering and Elimination Communication forums here

-Diaperswappers.com

-Diaperpin.com

Other:

-There are two local shops within an hour's drive that specialize mainly in cloth diapers, and DH and I plan to visit at least once or twice for free Cloth Diapering 101 "classes," and to consult with what sound like helpful staff.  Google and such for the same near you-- I'm sure you'll find them somewhere in or near such a big city.  I feel basically, theoretically good about EC'ing and CD'ing, but DH and I need some hands-on experience.  (DH did help CD his brother in '70s Asia, but he was 5-7 years old!  He could use a refresher.)