Weekly chat thread #2-- 2 July-8 July

[eilonwy]

Yeah. It's time. Let's hear it for the geeks!


Nursing Moms Thread
P.A.L.S. Thread
Homebirth Thread
Cloth Diapering Thread
Fat Mammas Thread
C-Section Support Thread
Keeping Fit Thread
First Time Mamas Thread

And, while I'm at it, I'll ask a Question for the Week:

Cloth or paper diapers, and why?

We'll be using cloth on the tiny butt, no doubt. My toddler wears paper in the car, but cloth at home; the reason for this is that we have NO medium covers that work at all, so she has to wear larges... and sometimes things leak. If I manage to get my hands on half a dozen medium proraps that don't have shot elastic, and she doesn't grow much, I'll probably keep her in cloth 90% of the time.

Tiny butt, however, will be set as soon as I get my tiny covers and diapers back from my sister (who's to lazy to use them anyway).

[Jezzy]

Thanks for the new thread eilonwy!

[juneau]

Thanks for the new thread, eilonwy!

I'll be a cloth mama. I can't wait to reuse my cloth diapers -- I tie-dyed them for dd. I EC'd so she was out of them by a year old (and into trainers) and I was so sad because they're awesome. Although since my pregnancy she's been asking to wear them again; she even said she wants to be a baby again. (Cute, but the accidents are frustrating.) I used prefolds last time but of course there's all kinds of new fitted diapers out that I might just have to try. I also gave away all of my small/med covers because I never thought I'd be pregnant again!

On another topic, I had some pinkish mucous last night when I wiped and it's freaking me out. I realize that although I'm trying to stay positive and upbeat and believe that this pregnancy is going to last, it's only easy to do that when absolutely everything is OK. I'm still a worrier at heart. Ugh.

And still no passport. The latest I can get it in time is tomorrow. I called yesterday and the woman on the phone said to call back today after 7 p.m. And, what, I asked will happen if it's not printed and mailed by then? "We'll try for same-day delivery," she answered. Yeah, right. Our government at work...

[miss_honeyb]

Thanks for the new thread, eilonwy!

Definitely cloth for me. I can't wait to bust out those tiny little Kissaluvs. "Lamby butt diapers"

Does anyone who uses cloth the rest of the time use 'sposies during the meconium stage? Why or why not?

[Jujubie]

Thanks for hosting the weekly thread! Happy Monday! I'm excited, I work today and tomorrow and then i'm on vacation until July 16! My sister flies in tomorrow night and I get to tell her in person about being pregnant, it has been so hard to keep quiet on the phone.

I had my first baby dream over the weekend! I had just had the baby and was holding HER in my arms and she had brown hair and brown eyes and a round face and looked just like her Daddy! I turned to look at DH and say look what we did and he's asleep and snoring! I woke up and he was snoring away. LOL.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

[joshs_girl]

Thanks for the new thread Rynna!

We're actually using cloth! I'm so incredibly surprised my super-square husband as agreed to them, but he has! There's actually a cloth diaper service here in Houston that we'll probably use. I think it's just like $12 a week, which I think is really good. Anyway, DH sees it as a real cost saver, so that's why he agreed to it. We will use 'sposies though when traveling and such, I'm sure, just for the ease factor.

[flapjack]

Thanks for the new thread!
Baby will be in cloth, but my toddler is in plastic gel-type evil smelling crappy things because I'm too lazy to do two extra loads of laundry a week. I promise, as soon as I'm safely through the first trimester I will either try potty training or else put her back in cloth :
Oh, and we used cloth from hour 1, and meconium does NOT stain. I don't, however, recommend using paper liners with breastmilk poo, I think it gives a nice smooth surface to enable a really big beautifully messy blowout (like dropping bird poo onto a car- far more mess than on the grass). For my money, you get the best containment with lots of lovely layers of terry loops (lots of resistance) followed by prefolds.

[eilonwy]

I usually end up using paper for the meconium stage, but only because i'm in the hospital and they don't use cloth.

Early breastmilk poop can stain diapers BADLY, far worse than the last bit of meconium in my experience.

Not that it makes a difference to me. We just use the plain rectangles. I've had a handful of fitted diapers, but on the whole they're too expensive. I like the cheap, gerber flatfolds (or the half-dozen REALLY NICE hemp flats that I have... for the teeny tiny butt stage, followed by preemie (have half a dozen of those) and infant (a good two dozen) prefolds.

When it comes to blowouts, nothing beats a properly fitted Prowraps Colors cover in my experience. The fanciest fitted or the cheapest prefold, if it's in the right cover it's all good. My collection of covers is entirely mottley, and my mediums.. well, they've been in continuous use in this house for almost four years, and not a one of them was purchased new. I've got a handful of covers that I managed to knit while I was pregnant with Bella, but of course I can't knit these days because my children have no respect for my things... I don't like to tink about it, it makes me to angry. :

In my dream world, I would purchase the following:

• five dozen hemp flatfolds
• 10 newborn prowraps colors (i wash them every time they get poop on them, and that's every change with a teeny-tiny)
• 10 small prowraps colors (I don't have any of these, my kids are usually in limbo between newborn and medium)
• 10 medium prowraps colors (at least-- I might need more if Bella is nowhere near potty learning by the time newbean gets to a medium, and that's a distinct possibility.)
• I'd knit two or three pairs of longies for 'fresh air' time on the buns in sizes newborn and small, and some wooly shorts in size medium.
• Two dozen really nice diaper pins
• 4-5 x-small Fuzzi Bunz
• 4-5 small Fuzzi Bunz
• 2 medium Fuzzi Bunz

It sounds like a lot, but when you don't use fitted diapers at all you need to change the covers a lot more often than not. I don't know how anyone could get by with only 6 covers in each size... it would never work in this house, and I do a load of diapers every. single. day. even now, with Bella the only child in diapers and 15 months old.

Oh! I wanted to add something-- if there's a regular sort of thread you think should be posted to my list, lemme know, okay?

Hm. Speaking of lists, perhaps it's time to update the big one.

[widdlelou]

Hi all, Kind of new on here.

I'll be doing cloth this time around. I did cloth with DD but not till she was almost a year old so I get all new fluff!!! ANd to top it off, my husband now knows that I will do it and his best friends wife is doing it (oh yeah... thank you thank you I did show her my cutie diapers right before she was pregnant and she wanted to do them ever since) and so I think I'll actually get a half decent stash this time.

I think right away I'm going to do one of those trade in programs for the newborn stuff b/c breastmilk poo stains so badly and I know how quick my kiddo got out of the newborn paper diapers I can imagine its the same with cloth. So I know sunshine diapers seems to have a pretty good program so I think I'm going to do that. And they dont' count of $$ for staining.

[Wabi Sabi]

We might end up with a pack of disposables around for backup, but we'll be using cloth for the most part mainly because I already have a pretty large stash leftover from my ds. I think I would like to buy a couple dozen preemie prefolds for those first few weeks, but otherwise I don't think we'll need much at all.

Although we did use cloth with my ds, we did use a few Seventh Generation disposables here and there- we probably went through one package of disposables every 3-4 months.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by widdlelou

I think right away I'm going to do one of those trade in programs for the newborn stuff b/c breastmilk poo stains so badly and I know how quick my kiddo got out of the newborn paper diapers I can imagine its the same with cloth. So I know sunshine diapers seems to have a pretty good program so I think I'm going to do that. And they dont' count of $$ for staining.

My kids are slow-growers. Like, the only reason I have any large covers at all is that my BooBah's kidney problems caused her to put out a LOT of urine, so I needed to be able to put two premium prefolds + liners into a cover for nighttime and even naps. If BooBah hadn't had this issue, she, like her brother, would have trained out of mediums. Bella probably will, too. My kids are just little. My brand new niece (two months old) is in size three paper diapers-- so is Bella. And yes, the tabs still overlap. You see why a large cover on her might be a problem?

[Nature]

Since those mamas who will be using 'sposies probably won't speak up here at MDC, I will be the brave one.

I won't be using cloth for this babe. I can't afford it, and it has to be AIO's in order for my husband and sister in law to be able to use them. Hence more money. I have a hard time keeping up with the regular laundry in this house with 3 girls in it, and me and dh.. plus my 2 nieces five days a week. So nope. I just can't do it. If I had the money and extra help maybe. For now, everyone is happy that I remember to make meals.

[widdlelou]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

My kids are slow-growers. Like, the only reason I have any large covers at all is that my BooBah's kidney problems caused her to put out a LOT of urine, so I needed to be able to put two premium prefolds + liners into a cover for nighttime and even naps. If BooBah hadn't had this issue, she, like her brother, would have trained out of mediums. Bella probably will, too. My kids are just little. My brand new niece (two months old) is in size three paper diapers-- so is Bella. And yes, the tabs still overlap. You see why a large cover on her might be a problem?

That is so funny. My little one started out tiney. She was just 6 lbs even when born and 19 inches even and by the end of the first month exploded! She got massive and was hitting 10 lbs by 5 or 6 weeks and actually developed a weird breathing thing because she grew so fast. She had this tiney little skinny butt like her dad's and thne it exploded into mine it was so funny to see.

[AlwaysByMySide]

Happy Monday everyone!

We're going to be using cloth on this one. We're also going to be branching out into the world of wool (eek!) for the first time.

[APMomOfKimmyN-Maya]

I'll use prefolds and snappis with a water proof cover...I have a bunch of diapers left over from my 15 month old so I won't need to buy many more for the new baby. I mostly choose cloth because it is cheaper especially when you can use the diapers again on another baby. I have also been doing Elimination Communication with my 15 month old since she was 3 months old and she is about 75-80 percent potty trained by day and night so I plan to EC the next baby probably starting next summer when the baby is a few months old and the weather is warm.....I think it is perfect to try EC in summer because they can have a lot of naked time. I might try EC from birth with a combo of cloth diapers but I'm not positive about that. We'll see how much energy I have once #3 makes his/her arrival.

[eilonwy]

I tried EC a little bit with Bella. It's difficult to do with two other kids who need to be chased. Hopefully things will go better for the little Bean. Even so, it'll be part time at best.

[jaxinsmom]

Originally Posted by Nature

Since those mamas who will be using 'sposies probably won't speak up here at MDC, I will be the brave one.

I won't be using cloth for this babe. I can't afford it

Same.

I tried using cloth with ds (he was born at the end of January) and I went from doing 1-2 loads a week, to 1-2 loads a day. We have an oil furnace. It was costing us an ASTRONOMICAL amount of money (our oil bill went from $200 in December to over $450 in Feb!). Too much.
I would love to be able to do it, but I don't think we're going to be able to swing it financially. If this baby was coming in the summer and the first 6 months could be on the clothsline, I'd reconcider ~ but as it stands it not going to work.

[flapjack]

We managed with cloth in the days before we had a tumble dryer Just mentioning.
We have a big issue coming up with rubbish disposal here, actually. We live with my FIL who uses incontinence pads "just in case". We're a family of six, going to be seven, plus a dog, and as of September we will get a weekly collection of recyclable rubbish plus a fortnightly collection of a wheely bin. If it doesn't fit in the bin, it doesn't get taken away Even without sposies, I'm worrying about how this is going to work.
Oh, and the cheeky buggers at the council are charging us for bags to recycle plastic bottles in- 20p per sack, on top of the council tax we already pay. I'm livid.

[Dea]

My husband and I have agreed on cloth. We don't know which kind though, and possibly I might like to make them. Any ideas? I'm also intrested in wool, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by jaxinsmom

Same.

I tried using cloth with ds (he was born at the end of January) and I went from doing 1-2 loads a week, to 1-2 loads a day. We have an oil furnace. It was costing us an ASTRONOMICAL amount of money (our oil bill went from $200 in December to over $450 in Feb!). Too much.
I would love to be able to do it, but I don't think we're going to be able to swing it financially. If this baby was coming in the summer and the first 6 months could be on the clothsline, I'd reconcider ~ but as it stands it not going to work.

Dude, if we were using hot water for every load without the high-efficiency water that'd kill us, too. We use our clothesline when it's cold, just not when it's likely to snow, so any time from early March to late November, we can be found hanging clothing on the line.

Yeah, cost benefit analysis is key. For us, having two children in sposies is CLEARLY more expensive than cloth, especially considering that we don't need to buy too much to use the cloth. We have to pay for trash removal by the bag, and our trash amounts went way down when we switched to cloth...

Ugh. I'm not looking forward to looking for small and medium prowraps. Normally I'd offer to knit in exchange for them, but of course my knitting needles are MIA and I rarely have the opportunity to knit these days. : It's nigh on impossible. Ugh.

I've got the worst heartburn already. With the others, it didn't start until around four months. : This time, I'm already at the point where I can't lie on my back without feeling the burn. It SUCKS.