Anyone Cloth Diapering? « Back to Group Discussions

[holidaymama]

Who is going to CD? This is my 3rd baby but 1st time CDing. I'm also going to buy mama pads as I am SOOOO sick of disposables...they make me sweat and chafe...I have really enjoyed not having a period! We are waiting for our tax return, and then I get to buy all of this! Last night I made about 40 cloth wipes out of flannel I had laying around...so sweet!

[littlegreenlady]

we do a combination of cloth diapering and EC. We did this with our first and plan to do the same with this one.

We have tried different types of covers and what not, and my preferences seemed to change.

In the end I really liked wool covers with flats or prefolds. I didn't like the all in ones at all with the first one.

I've heard however that each little one is different so it feels like starting all over again. 

I will need to get new covers, because the ones I used for my first in the beginning did not work out very well and have been lent to friends and seem too worn out.

[Sweet Huck]

We're gonna give it a shot! I'll inherit a bunch of prefolds from a friend, so our cost to get started will be minimal. I've also registered for a diaper service as part of my baby registry ----friends can purchase a week's worth of service for us at a time! Maybe we'll continue with a service, maybe not, but I figure that a service for at least the first 6 weeks would be very helpful. This is our first baby, so it's all a grand experiment. I did convince my daycare to support our cloth diapering, efforts, though, if we do continue with it! They are very willing to accommodate.

As for dealing with diapers at home.... we'll install a sprayer on our toilet so we can rinse diapers that way, and then put them in a cute wet bag for laundering.

And for lochia.... I've faithfully used a Diva Cup and GladRags for years and I plan on doing "mama cloth" too. Instead of buying a GladRag or LunaPad postpartum kit, though, I'm just going to fill out my current collection of pads with select choices from Etsy. GladRags and LunPads are certainly wonderful companies to support, but from what I've looked at, I can get greater variety and flexibility with an order from an Etsy maker/artist. And cheaper, too.

[Cuau]

We've done CD with our first two girls, but we are thinking of combininb CD and EC this time around, and I started using mama pads with my last baby, what a nice difference, can't believe it took me this long to make the change.

 We still have our old cloth wipes from my last baby, but I feel like making new ones... we'll see.

[dayiscoming2006]

I cloth diaper on and off. I try to do it all the time, but sometimes fall off the bandwagon. I have easily paid for all my diapers and saved money cloth diaper even if not all the time. 

I have been having stink issues since moving to Texas. Think the detergent I had didn't work well with my water. I have tried switched to a hard water detergent, but results are still inconclusive. If I had to do it all over, I'd stick with only natural fiber diapers except for the PUL and fleece. I love my fleece liners and cover and my PUL covers. I have thirsties brand sized covers that have worked very well for me. I like the double gusset. My second choice of cover would be the Bummis super brites - very similar to the thirsties covers.

I like fitted diapers, but prefolds and contours are pretty good too. Natural fiber AIO's with free flowing inserts or AI2's with natural fibers could be good as well.

I had a couple less than stellar experiences ordering on etsy. It can be good, but you are taking a chance too. 

I like the imse vimse heavy pads post partum. Not too spendy and can hold a lot of liquid, longer.

If you can sew, cloth pads are supposed to be really easy to make.

[spotty4]

What is EC?

[Cuau]

Elimination Communication, look it up is really neat.

[BabySmurf]

Ec = elimination communication, which is watching baby for cues and taking them to potty when they have to go...even as infants babies can communicate need to go. I thought it sounded bizzare when I heard about it when ds was a baby, but now that I am looking at potty training a two year old, I think I might give it a try this time. I think there are certain ages where it is more successful than others...I still need to look into it more.
I bought a newborn stash of dipes from other local moms looking to get rid of their used dipes, so I got a wide variety of dipes for really cheap. I tried on and off with ds, but had a lot of stink issues...I'm hoping to find a good routine this time, maybe even getting a portable washing machine would be cost effdctive, since I think our he washer just doesn't use enough water.
I'm pretty excited about it

[spotty4]

Oh ok!  Fascinating.  We were thinking we would teach sign language pretty early on to help baby communicate w/ us what her basic needs are.  So this is in step w/ that.

We are planning on using disposable diapers for the first few months while we figure out this whole parenting gig.  After that we will look into CD, at least for at home.  We are not sure what kind of childcare arrangements we are going to need to know what they will be willing to use.  I did manage to score 2 bum genius diapers off of freecycle, though.  I got 2 pairs of these: http://www.bumgenius.com/organic.php  They are in great shape and super clean.  Either the previous owner never used them (LOL) or they clean up really well.  How do I use these things?  I read about inserts ... are these the prefold cotton diapers you can buy from Target and the like?

I would love to entertain CD to an extent but I am clueless and admittedly have done little to no leg work of research on my own.

[dayiscoming2006]

Here's a link that might help Spotty. :) http://jilliansdrawers.com/newtocloth

I wish I would have started cloth diapering even earlier with my first. I started around 4 months. It contains blowouts better if you get kinds with good leg elastic and or double gussets. I don't know how soon you need child care. You'll definitely need to look into that more. I've heard more will let you use pre-stuffed pocket or sleeve diapers(so they go on easy) and/or AIO (all in one) diapers and you provide your wet bag and take care of any soiled diaper at home yourself. But, not all places take them. And some may not have taken them before, but if you have a diaper to show them and explain that it's easy to use and you'll take care of any messes at home, many have agreed to it from what I've read. It's much easier than you think. There is some maintenance involved, but nothing horrible. Cloth diapers do tend to come cleaner in top loader non-HE washers in my experience and from what I've read, but I have done it with a front loader HE too. I say, do a little bit of research, give it a try with a small stash, see how you like it and go from there. 

[pokeyAC]

There is also a great diapering forum on here under "Baby" up at the top.  My plan is to use disposables for the newborn stage and then use prefolds with the Thirsties Duo covers and/or Blueberry coveralls when baby is big enough.  And then FuzziBunz Elite for nighttime as the babe gets a little older.  FuzziBunz and BumGenius are similar.  I heard the pocket diapers are better when the baby is older because their poo is easier to remove from the cover when they are older.  Breastfed baby poo is water soluble so easier to remove early on.  Jillian's Drawers website was very helpful in my research, as dayiscoming mentioned above.  All of the different options can get very confusing.

sweethuck-Are you getting some covers to go with your prefolds?  I was a little confused because the diaper services provide the prefolds but not necessarily covers.

spotty-You might be able to use the bumgenius with a prefold, but they are designed to use with an insert that slides into the pocket.  I suppose you could put on the prefold and then just put the bumgenius cover over it or fold the prefold and stuff it in the pocket.  With the pocket diapers (bumgenius), you have to wash the cover and the insert every time they get wet or soiled.  I decided to go with a prefold and cover because you would need to wash the prefold when it gets wet but the cover can be used over again. 

[veggieviola]

We're also going to CD.  I've been reading and talking to friends about their preferences, but haven't really come to any conclusions or decisions as far as prefolds/pockets/AIO.  

SweetHuck  - How does the diaper service registry work?  I haven't heard of this before.  Do you register through the company directly?  It sounds like a really fantastic idea for the first month/6 weeks as everyone is getting settled and acquainted at home.

[Sweet Huck]

Veggieviola.... You are, i think, within the delivery area for this service. Its called 2 the root. Website here: http://www.2theroot.com/

They have a 'gift' section where people can purchase services on your behalf. Im building my baby regstry via 'my registry.com'....where you can list all kinds of items and stores all on one registry/page. I've even registered for certain etsy products! Any way... I registered for 6 one week gift certificates with 2 the root. I figure we will give it a try and decide on a different service package, if any, after that period.

Pokey-- the service does provide some covers, but, as we are not certain if we will stick with the service after 6 weeks, we are also accumulating whatever freebies we can now....primarily just prefolds and covers at the moment.

[veggieviola]

Huck, thanks for the info, I will definitely check it out!  

[SweetMama34]

I've found a TON of my preferred diapers (Fuzzi Bunz perfect fit) on DiaperSwappers. Love that site for buying/trading dipes. I also scour Craigslist and keep my eyes open at consignment shops.

Love the sprayer attachment on the toilet. I use a pail next to the toilet to hold dipes until laundry time.

I use disposables until they fit into the small Fuzzi Bunz. I usually get so many leftovers from the hospital and shower gifts that it works well this way.

[jr'smom]

We us CDs.  We use pocket dipes since DH is the main diaperer and it's so easy.  We have mostly BG3.0s and some Happy Heinys and Fuzzy Buns.  They've all held up well through 2 babies and they wore them until they were around 2 yrs old and potty trained.  (We didn't start Cding until our 3rd baby.) The BGs can use a little refresh with the velcro closures, so that will have to be a project here shortly.  I do need a few more diapers, because the last 2 babies were girls and I did get some diapers with girly prints because they are so darn cute.  Most are gender neutral though.  Now I want to find a few diapers with cute boy prints.  Has anyone seen any really cute pocket diapers and/or any good sales?  I prefer to buy new.

[BumkinsMum]

Cloth diapering all 5  of my children was no easy feat and a LOT of laundry. But It was SOOOOO worth it in the long run. I use pre-folds and wool Bio-Bottoms or Thirsties for covers. Love the Bio's because they're soft and....wool. But they take forever to dry. Love the Thirsties cause of their ease of washing and great fit and they're pretty!

For emergnecies on the go( when I've used all the change of clothes I've got. See the Baby Wipe thread for more stories.) I have a pack of disposable Seventh Generation diapers. Seventh Gen's are good paper-like diapers and don't have that plastic bum feel and sound when you hold them. "crinkle crinkle" shudder..
 

[dayiscoming2006]

I watched a show about how 7th gen diapers aren't as good as they make them out to be. It was a show based in Canada comparing conventional to the supposedly healthier/natural things. I cannot remember what it was, but anyway. They said they are like any diaper pretty much and they even dye them tan to make you think they are more natural. Maybe they could have less chemicals in them? I haven't done further research. Just thought to mention it. I use huggies or kirkland brand when I use disposables. Not so healthy, but yeah, sometimes...

[littlegreenlady]

dayiscoming I also came across that into a few years ago when I was looking for a better diaper. In the end my son was allergic to all but the gdiaper insert for disposable options. We used that on occasion while I got used to cloth outside the home, but with his allergy and positive response to EC it wasn't often. I will say this for EC does not in my experience facilitate the overall potty training experience, but does eliminate poopy diapers. We only had poop in diapers when he was a new born, but soon he preferred pooping in the potty and refused to go in his diaper.

[here we are]

when I see people doing cloth with wool, AND cloth with PUL, which is what I'm assuming Thirsties &those name brands are...i want to ask how the baby responsd differently..like since its less breathable, do you notice that? I am worrying about using anything but wool, but after reading more especially about leaks , i wonder if i will need them in some situations. I wish i could get a sense for how it feels to the baby.