need TIPS on CLOTH DIAPERS

[BabyHopes]

i know it is still premature, but after doing some research DH and I have decided on using cloth diapers... not just because it is better environmentally, but also because there are so many benefits to the baby.

i am a little worried on the "maintenence" of cloth diapers, but i am sure i will manage. any tips would be great!

also, for those who use cloth diapers... how many will i need to purchase before the baby is born? how long will i be able to use the newborn size? also, are there any types of cloth diapers that are better than others? any websites that you can recommend?

thanks so much mamas! you all are wonderful!

[moderngal]

I can't really help you with the newborn questions- I didn't start using CDs until DS was close to a year old. But we use pocket diapers (fuzzibunz or happy heineys) and I like them. I am a WOHM, so I needed something simple and easy to wash- these fit that bill. I honestly really haven't done any maintenance on the diapers. I soak stinky or messy ones first, then throw them all in the wash. (I have a sanitary cycle and add a pre-wash and extra rinse.) I've never noticed an issue of having to strip them or whatever else people do.
I've bought mine at nurturedfamily.com

[Ilovelife]

The diapering forum has pretty much everything you need to know (and more) about cloth dipes! In a nutshell, you can get by with a dozen or so dipes for a newborn but 18-24 would be easier, IMO. It depends if you want to wash every day or every other day, how often your baby poos, and how much you want to spend. As for maintenance...not sure. I just wash mine. Throw them all in a bin (dry) then cold prewash, hot wash with extra rinse, dry on low or hang out in the summer. Here are a couple sites you might want to check out in addition to the diapering forum: www.diaperswappers.com & www.greenmountaindiapers.com I like the GMD site because it does a nice job of explaining the different types of dipes IMO. Oh, most NB dipes go up to about 15 lbs, so will last maybe 3-4 months depending on how big your babe is. HTH

[elisheva]

FWIW, ds is 14 mo and we still use our newborn prefolds tucked into a Bummis cover. We bought 10 small diapers to start and 20 large (the up to 35 lb size) and right now we use them all.

Like pp, we put the dirty ones in the bin dry and then prewash and wash them. Now we have a frontloader washing machine that heats the water itself and has a sanitize cycle, so we use that. Until we got that, though, we just used a regular washer - I added a bit of Borx or washing soda and found it helped more with the stains. You def want to get stains out because it's actually still poo in the diaper and will cause an ammonia reaction with the urine next to your baby's skin. Hanging outside to dry is a great way to go if your weather permits!

[Astoria]

I'm in August DDC, but I just wanted to say that we loved using cloth diapers. After a while it begins to seem really strange to put bleached paper (and chemical filled) diapers on babies and throw them away after every pee! You get so used to soft cloth, and washing and reusing them it just seems normal.

You don't actually have to rinse poop until you start solid foods, so you have a nice 5-6 month period of getting used to just throwing all dirty diapers in the wash. After that, some parents just shake and flush, other rinse or use a little shower like device, others use disposable liners to keep the poop off the diaper. Also by that age, poops are less frequent, so its really not an issue. Certainly not harder than having to clean up after a dog.

We used prefolds with velcro wrap covers and Happy Heinie pockets for nighttime. The prefolds were our main thing but the pockets were nice if there was a longer stretch without changing (car ride, nap) because the fleece keeps the skin out of contact with the wet diaper. Have fun -- check out the diaper forum and other resources like hyena cart and diaper swappers.

[AllieFaye]

For this baby, I'll be sewing some AIOs and fitteds in the newborn size. We also have some one-size pockets that we'll use on both our toddler (assuming he's not done potty learning by Sept.) and our new baby. We also have some infant sized AIOs, AI2, fitted pockets and contours. It's not too early to start thinking about diapers; it takes time to sort out what's what.

[emski4379]

We were using cloth with DS, but have recently stopped due to the extreme drought we're facing. We're still not sure if we'll use them on the new baby or not. I want to, but not if the drought is still as bad as it is now.

Anyhow, www.diaperpin.com has reviews on almost every diaper type and company out there.

[triana1326]

Originally Posted by Astoria

Certainly not harder than having to clean up after a dog.

LOL That's why we don't have a dog!!!

...um, maybe cloth diapers are too much for us - but I'm determined to do them.

[ehunter27]

We used prefolds with handmade wool soakers to begin. I had lots of trouble with leaks, and started using chinese prefolds with bumkins wraps. I have really found the bumkins good, economical, and I like the way a 3 way folded prefold fits in and can be placed ahead of time in the front piece.
Now, we use mostly used fuzzi bunz, bumgenius, and large prefolds stuffed into large bumkins. I prefer the fuzzi bunz, but hte prefolds work well. We have big wetter, so I admit, I usualy use seventh generation at night. But, when we night ween, I plan to use the pocket diapers w/hemp prefolds inside. I've found our two hemp prefolds very absorbent and durable.

Good luck and congrats!!!!!!

[spiderdust]

I think we may be going with a diaper service (I have fibromyalgia and worry that if we *didn't* use a diaper service, I'd end up not being able to keep up with everything), but I wonder if it might not be good to have some of our own diapers on hand.

Has anyone used a diaper service before?

[ccasanova]

I used the kissuluvs size 0 with bummis and proraps with my last ds as a newborn. It wasn't so bad during the waking hours but I did not like having to do the two step thing with putting on a dipe and then a cover at night when I wanted to get back to sleep as soon as possible. My ds also seemed to wet through the entire diaper in no time at all and would end up with leaks on his clothes all the time. Sooo, I'm thinking of trying pockets exclusively from day 1. I'm looking into the Bumgenious pockets that are supposed to be one size fits all, but don't know how true they fit a newborn. Especially mine which have never been over 7 lbs. If they look too big I'll probably get some Fuzzibunz x-small. I know they will cost us a lot more then the kissuluvs did, but if you sell them after you don't need them anymore, you do get a good amount of money back for them. I'm planning on getting at least 24 or more because I don't want to wash every day or every other day. Every 2 or 3 days sounds much better to me. With all the other activities I have going at the house I need all the help I can get.

[honeybee]

CDing is awesome. It's so nice to just be able to throw diapers in the wash when you run low instead of running out to the store. We use a sprayer hooked up to the toilet for the sticky poo (not an issue until baby's eating solids, though), then just throw the diaper into a dry pail. Washing them isn't a big deal, as the washer does all the work. I've used sposies for camping or traveling before and absolutely hated them. They leak and I hate that chemical smell.

[cellarstella]

Originally Posted by spiderdust

I think we may be going with a diaper service (I have fibromyalgia and worry that if we *didn't* use a diaper service, I'd end up not being able to keep up with everything), but I wonder if it might not be good to have some of our own diapers on hand.

Has anyone used a diaper service before?

I had a diaper service the entire first year with my firstborn, and it was very convenient. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to do cloth, but also wants convenience. You just have to remember to put it out every week! It's pretty easy to remember when you have a big bag of stinkies. One thing I didn't really like was that the diapers smelled like bleach. Not really strong, and it's understandable that they would use bleach, so it wasn't a big deal. I just like how the ones we owned didn't have to be bleached. My grandma paid for the service. If we were paying for it, I probably would have stopped it at 6 months, but we went the full year.

We EC'd so I stopped the service at that point because we were only using 20 dipes tops, which was easier to wash then have sitting there stinking all week. Plus I wanted to use something other than prefolds/wraps. She's still getting the hang of pooping in the potty, but the poops are really easy. She's in training pants and usually I just dump it in the toilet and throw the undies in the hamper with everything else. If it's messier, then I wash it in the sink right away and then toss it in the hamper.

There is a FANTASTIC article in Mothering this month all about cloth diapering! It is very thorough.


ETA: here's how I always washed the dipes... Throw everything in the washer on cold/cold soak cycle, with an ounce of Bac-Out (enzyme cleaning liquid). I usually wash any peed on pants with them, too. Come back to it eventually , run a spin cylce, and then run it on warm/cold normal wash, with biokleen laundry powder. Dry on high or medium, depending on the materials of the particular diapers or wraps going in.

[spirit19]

Ok there is plenty of systems and non systems you can use. I highly suggest using all the resources on line that you can with out getting over whelmed.

we use flats and have 36 with 8 nb covers to start. The flats are good all the way through PLing for us we just add bigger covers as needed.

However, I like variety so we also have a sm/md fitted stash for cover less days and under wool longies and shorts.

That being said many people like pocket diapers....I don't like stuffing.

Also being new to cd's I recommend a decent nb stash. My boys were both 8lbs at birth but so long that they had skinny legs and having a good fit even if we only used our nb stuff for a few weeks was very worth it.

The only "issues" we had were hemp stink we just couldn't use hemp and both of my boys reacted to the enzymes in detergent so 7th gen enzyme free detergent worked just fine for us.

[ccasanova]

just wanted to add that I just found some AIO's that look great! They are called Sposoeasy AIO's and they are all cotton inners so their is no synthetic fabric next to baby's skin and best of all they will be easy to use! I'll probably have to start buying them a little at a time so that I have enough by the time baby's born since they are pricier then the fitteds and covers I used before. They are at www.greenmountaindiapers.com if anyone wants to look at them. They don't have the cute prints like other dipes out there but they look like they work really well, and I haven't read any bad reviews yet.

[paquerette]

I would suggest at least 3 dozen. We had a few days where my daughter went through 20 diapers in 24 hours.

We didn't have nb, smalls lasted until 4 or 5 mo.

emski, are you actually limited in the water you're allowed for household use or just asked to self-regulate? I'd be willing to be that there's a diaper factory somewhere in your region using more water to produce those sposies than you'd use to wash your cloth.

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

We have a house in NC andMexico... i'm back and forth alot... as far as washing clothes it would be a self-regualted thing...watering your lawn is a big no no and washing your car..things like that..filling your pool up..but as far as inside water usage your ok if you do a load of laundry a day or even 2 at that.