Need a completely new stash for daycare...

[Willovia]

Hello,

Hope you all can help. Sorry for the length.

DS is almost 9 weeks old and will be starting daycare at 12 weeks. We love prefolds and were prepared to buy the next size up, but daycare won't accept them.

We've been doing an experiment-to-own program and I'm trying to decide which one to make the investment on. Because we only have a short time before we need to buy a whole set, I'm trying to foresee what issues I'll have with them. And because I'll be buying around 16 at once (8 per day), I want to make sure I'm making the right move. I know folks say not to build your stash on one type of diaper, but with this daycare, the last thing I want to do is change it up on them. I want to show them one diaper, so they know what to expect. As it is, they will have a bunch of other little ones to chase after.

These are the ones we are deciding between:
 

BumGenius Elemental Organic All-in-One ($25 each) Investment $400

Pros: Love the snaps. These snaps have elastic, so it's easy enough to find a good fit - tabs are similar to disposables. No liners or inserts to remove prior to washing. No velcro laundry tabs to worry about. Plus, it's organic. I like natural fibers against DS's skin. I figure we could probably use these for our next child, as they seem to be pretty durable.

Cons: There's nothing I really haven't liked about these, other than perhaps the drying time. Oh, there is one thing - the COST! So expensive!!

Babykicks Velcro Basic Pocket Diaper ($16 each) Investment: $250

Pros:These are definitely the most cost-effective. They are wicked easy to put on, and would hold DS over for about the 2 hours it would take between changes.

Cons: Velcro seems like it would wear pretty fast. I also always forget to fold in the laundry tabs, so that would be an issue for me. These come in snaps, I believe, but the side snaps are too confusing for ME, let alone daycare. Also, I hate separating the inserts before washing. And I don't like the microfiber. I really prefer natural fibers. I feel like these would be a one-child diaper and would not last for our second child. I also don't think I'd want to use them at home, so I'd still need a different diaper stash for at-home use. These would definitely be the most work for ME, with laundry (unstuffing, stuffing, velcro tabs, etc.) but probably easiest for daycare.

What would you do? Spend the extra money and go with the BG, which I'm liable to use full-time and with a second child? Or use a lesser quality for the daycare-only environment, to save on cost? I don't want to buy the wrong kind and find out in 2 months there's an issue I hadn't considered.

Thank you!

Edited by Willovia - 10/11/12 at 5:46am

[Basylica]

most of the diapers I used have gone by the wayside by now, but both my kids were in cloth at daycare.

I am not a huge fan of aplix because it gets pilly and chains in the washer etc, but daycare def preferred aplix as they were the most like sposies. I mostly used snapping pockets at home, and because of my work schedule they ended up going to daycare quite a lot ;)

I used the first iteration of BGs and sent them to daycare. I actually preferred another brand that came out at the same time but from what I can tell they stopped making them :(

BGs ran a bit smaller but did actually fit my 3yr old and  newborn very well. but a heavier toddler they might be a tad snug before PTing, but perhaps they have changed that a bit?

I had a couple of the BG AIOs when they started making them and they were really cute and easy, but were FAR harder to get dry and get clean. I'd suggest the regular one size BG over the AIO style.

Generally though, my daycare did really well with aplix and snaps both, altho I did have a really good funny when my older son was in daycare one day...."(see pics!)

You won't need 8 a day, even as a newborn. they don't change them that often. I think 4-5 was what mine was using, even at 8wks. I had a pretty big stash though, because I was working godawful hours (when dont i? lol) and I would wash pul seperate and hang dry, then wash inserts seperate and put in dryer....so I generally needed 2-3 days before I had enough for a minimal wash, and 2 days + on washing process (hard to run 2 loads multiple times when you get home at 8-9-10pm!) so I usually had a good 5ish day stash. I made sure I had more with my older DS and stuck with as close to ONE brand as I could.

with older DS I had tried out a variety and had a bunch of cheaper WAHM pockets....so they all fit different. With younger DS I had basically 2 brands of aplix, and 2 brands of snaps. One of the aplix and snap brands was the same.

[Willovia]

oh my goodness - those pictures are TOO funny! No one else has changed DS besides me and DH, but I can imagine some family members doing this!

I was just doing some reading and was thinking of scaling back to maybe 10? For two days worth? DS is going to be there from 8 am - 4:45 pm each day, which is 9 hours. We are going to bring disposables as a back-up, just in case. DS still poops a lot during the day, so that was my biggest fear. That he would poop five seconds after putting one on.

I don't really want to buy more than I need to, especially since I'm so on the fence. But I hate the stuffing and unstuffing of the pockets, even though I know the wash/dry time is less.

I'm hoping that I can bring one of the BG Elementals to daycare and show them the snaps and they will be happy with it. Since they don't use cloth, they won't really have any aplix to compare to.

If anyone else has tried the Elementals or these Babykicks in particular, please share!

[Basylica]

I actually sent snaps, and as long as you have the same caregivers a decent amount of time it shouldn't be an issue. this was bringing my son back to a different daycare (one we used when he was little, but hadn't used in like 6+ months. the one I use currently and had been using those 6+ mths didn't have a slot for the baby....so I used one that we put older DS in from 1-2.5yrs of age) with different teachers and that was first day back...LOL.

I don't know how you could make such a big mistake! luckily DS was on the cusp of pottytraining and never peed as the velcro was between his legs! hahaha....

I had a few of the (I think?) wonderoos AIOs and I had like 2 or 3 of the BG aios, and a couple of VB AIOs when older DS was little.....and since I preferred to hang dry....they took FOREVER to dry and still had to be fluffed.

I had some organic AIOs made by mt diaperstore (now naturalbabyco) that was the precurser to the grow via. they had snapping sides and sewn in soaker like the BG ones, and they were the worst to get dry because the area the soaker was sewn to didn't like to dry for anything!

I found (this is my exp with 2 daycares) that if I brought any backup sposies they would use them first, no matter what I said. if I just brought cloth they used cloth no probs. I always sent 2 more in the bag than they used the day before. And I never left cloth there like sposie moms do....they left my cloth in the diaperbag.

I was fine with them using sposies as backups, but that never happened.

I'm out of the game, but if you didn't want to do pockets i'd look for a diaper that has a snap in soaker over sewn in or AIO type....but i imagine you'd have the same issues stuffing/washing?

anyway, thought i'd weigh in since so few moms were around for breastfeeding/pumping or cloth diapering advice when I was dealing with it when it comes to daycare and working. seemed like CDing and BFing was a SAHM gig primarily ;)

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=daed0c875e1f5d7a&sid=8CcNmrJw4at3m

These are super old obviously, but thats my 3yr old (either right before he turned 3 or right after since I went back to work about 4wks after his 3rd bday) wearing the pockets I liked the most in OS aplix (green) and a BG1.0 (mint green), and a snapping sized (m I believe) version of the first diaper, and then baby wearing them too. don't have a pic of him wearing the BG however....

[BK Mommy]

I would go with the BG. I haven't tried the elenentals but we were the pioneer parents at my dd's daycare. They gave me a one week trial so I wanted to make it work. We use BG 4.0 snaps with stay dry inserts to really prevent leaks. We also line them with bumkin liners so daycare can just toss # 2s in the toilet. I drop off 4 diapers for a 10 hr day and then take them home at the end of the day. So they see fresh diapers each morning. It a has worked really well for us and another baby is also now cloth diapered. I know because we have gotten a couple of his diapers in our wetbag but no big deal. I wash and return then to the owner. Also ended up labeling them with namebubble stickers that look like new after hundreds of washes.

I could talk forever! Good luck!

[Juliacat]

I would go with the BG. I really like them.
 

[merbear0929]

I have a couple of the BGEs and we love them. I don't think the snapping should be a big issue. At my daughter's daycare, there are only 3 kids in her class, and they all wear cloth! When I send snapped diapers, I put a small dot in the correct snap with a sharpie. That makes it easy for anyone to know where to snap! The only drawback about the elementals is the long drying time. Cotton babies actually suggests that you dry them in the dryer, because they take so long to air dry that they might mildew. If you do dry them in the dryer, they may not last through two kids full time.

All of that said, I would not invest in diapers that you don't think you will like! So I would still go with the BGEs.

[Basylica]

Originally Posted by merbear0929 

I have a couple of the BGEs and we love them. I don't think the snapping should be a big issue. At my daughter's daycare, there are only 3 kids in her class, and they all wear cloth! When I send snapped diapers, I put a small dot in the correct snap with a sharpie. That makes it easy for anyone to know where to snap! The only drawback about the elementals is the long drying time. Cotton babies actually suggests that you dry them in the dryer, because they take so long to air dry that they might mildew. If you do dry them in the dryer, they may not last through two kids full time.
All of that said, I would not invest in diapers that you don't think you will like! So I would still go with the BGEs.

oohh...to expand on that, you could do the dot in nail polish and use a qtip and remover when the size changes :)

[merbear0929]

Originally Posted by Basylica 

oohh...to expand on that, you could do the dot in nail polish and use a qtip and remover when the size changes

That is a better idea. I wish I had though of it!