Cloth diapers...???

[jaxinsmom]

I've never used them, and didn't imagine I would with this little one, but the recent article in mothering has me changing my mind. Here are my questions:
1. they say to put the soiled diaper in a dry bin until it's ready to be washed -- how does this not stink, and what do you do with poop (bf poop that's all yellow and stains clothes after 5 seconds...? shouldn't it be washed right away?)
2. what do you think of this diaper?
3. how many would I need?

I have a bag of disposables that I would like to return to the grocery story, but I need to figure out this cloth diaper situation first...

thoughts??

[Dea]

So I'll admit first that I am a cloth diapering newbie as this is my first baby, but we've been cloth diapering her from home from the hospital.
We have a dry bag we use for her soiled diapers, and it doesn't stink. I would bet that it would stink more if it were in a bin that was sealed shut, but with the air circulation nothing gets to fester. Also we wash diapers every day to every other day, so less stinky-ness.
My diapers are staining, but I'm not too worried about it, I have prefolds so it's not like they are $30 diapers. I do use baby oxy clean though and it helps, and sunning them also helps to remove stains, but it's my opinion that they are diapers, they're gonna get stained.
I've read that you should have 3 dozen diapers, I thikn that's crazy, I would say 2 dozen or even 18 diapers, depending on how often you change the baby and wash a load. Also remember that a cloth diaper will feel wet to the baby before a disposable one, they don't have as much absorbing power, but that means less freaky chemicals next to her skin.
I like the ones that you've chosen, right now we're using prefolds because newborns don't fit one size well. I have a friend who uses a one size fitted and loves them, and I have some pockets and they are great, so 2 greats in one. I think I'll get a couple too!

[jaxinsmom]

wow, great advice, thanks Dea. I like the Baby Kangas, but 18 of them would run me over 300 bucks. Not sure that I can shell all that out right now...
So, when she poops, do I rinse the diaper (or insert thingy) in the toilet, and then put it in the bag/bin? Or do I just put the whole soiled thing in there?

[smokeylo]

Originally Posted by jaxinsmom

I've never used them, and didn't imagine I would with this little one, but the recent article in mothering has me changing my mind. Here are my questions:
1. they say to put the soiled diaper in a dry bin until it's ready to be washed -- how does this not stink, and what do you do with poop (bf poop that's all yellow and stains clothes after 5 seconds...? shouldn't it be washed right away?)
2. what do you think of this diaper?
3. how many would I need?

I have a bag of disposables that I would like to return to the grocery story, but I need to figure out this cloth diaper situation first...

thoughts??

We have been CDing since Robin's birth and it's going great. We had to use disposables for a few days while the dryer was broken and she had a rash and DH hated them!! We are loving our cloth dipes.

1. We have several wetbags (the large bummis ones) and we never cinch them and smell is not a problem at all. We don't do anything to the dipes, just chuck 'em in the bag. The key to preventing staining is a good wash routine. We have no stains in our diapers. Here's our wash routine:
cold/cold wash with water softener (a powder you add if you have hard water, this makes a huge difference - we use a brand called Raindrops but you could use Calgon, White King, or Washing Soda - all in laundry aisle in grocery store).
hot/cold wash with small amount of detergent (about 1/4 of the cap, we use Purex F&C), water softener, and a few drops of tea tree oil
cold rinse

2. Instead of buying new diapers, go sign up at www.diaperswappers.com and buy used!! I have no new diapers and you will save soooooo much money. You might also look at seconds stores, like this one.

3. For a newborn, I wouldn't want less than 24 diapers. Otherwise you will always be panicking because you're on your last diaper. I use kissaluvs size 0 and a few covers with my newborn. You'll use fewer when they get older. Plus remember, you will be able to sell them when you're done, recovering some of the initial investment.

[Dea]

I don't rinse my diapers at all, I just put them in the bag, I think mine is a wet bag also that we just leave open so that air can circulate.
When she's older I think we'll have to either rinse, or just plop the poop in the toilet.
I have 18 prefolds, and then I bought 12 more thinking they were larger, but they're the same size, and I have 4 pocket diapers. I have never been to the bottom of my diaper box (where I store them all) But I wash diapers everyday and she uses several. (I've never counted, but I change her a lot)

If more experienced mamas read this, what's your wipe mix? And what can be used for diaper cream? I can't use anything white because it's too hard to wipe off her and we inadvertently wiped some skin off, so now we're using A&D butt stuff. I wonder if that will ruin my prefolds, or will I just have to strip them?

Sorry to hijack.

[sunkist33]

My baby has a baby kanga on right now We just bought one to try it out & we like it! It seems very well-made & the inside is super-soft. Plus the insert zippers in, which is nice (although not really necessary). Mostly, we use Fuzzi Bunz just because they are so easy~ they don't leak and they wash & dry fast.
We have two big wet bags made by Wahmies (and a small paisley one for outings). I ordered everything from www.gogonaturals.com. She has great prices & the service is wonderful.
For wipes, we have fleece ones that I bought off of Ebay (they're "irregulars" but you can't even tell) that work great. I just use plain warm water
Good Luck!

Stacy

[smokeylo]

Originally Posted by sunkist33

For wipes, we have fleece ones that I bought off of Ebay (they're "irregulars" but you can't even tell) that work great. I just use plain warm water

I like baby washcloths for wipes, and I also have some nice velour ones from baby hope diapers ($1/each). Our wipe solution is either plain water or water + a few drops of Doc Bronners -- or baby body wash -- or whatever.

[StrawberryFields]

I second the Wahmies wetbag recommendation. That's how we did a "dry pail" (CD'd ds though so far we are using sposies w/ dd). I still use it for all sorts of things so it is handy to have even when your diapering days are over.

I love OS pockets but they are not all created equal. I would try one before you order a full stash. My personal favorites were Haute Pockets. Those look nice, too!

I would say bare min you could get away w/ 12 pockets if you can wash every day and have a dozen prefolds and some snappis to back you up while you wash.

[jaxinsmom]

thanks to all of you for all the great advice! I googled cloth diapers Ottawa, and came up with a store called The Extraordinary Baby Shoppe and this is what I found:

Ottawa's *original* Cloth diaper borrowing program

A lot of parents are hesitant about trying cloth diapers because of the high initial cost involved, and the perceived difficulty of using cloth diapers. For this reason, we have implemented a loan program whereby parents will receive a 'stash' of various cloth diapers for up to two weeks:

This loan program give parents a chance to try a wide range of cloth diapers, and to determine whether or not they can keep up with the laundry involved (washing instructions are provided). This program takes a lot of the guesswork out of buying cloth diapers -- rather than sink a lot of money into cloth diapers you might not like, you can give them a test-drive first, see how they fit your baby and your lifestyle.

Participants in this program are required to return clean diapers, and we will wash them again to ensure they have been cleaned properly (we will use Tide Free in the wash, vinegar in the rinse, and lavendar essential oil in an extra rinse -- diapers will be sunned to remove stains and kill any germs that might be lingering).

A deposit of $150 is required; if you decide cloth diapers aren't for you, this deposit is returned when the diapers are returned, minus the fee ($20/week) you have paid. If you choose to purchase diapers, the fee for borrowing the diapers is waived (up to $20), and you can apply the $150 deposit to the purchase of new diapers. The cost of this program is essentially what you would spend to keep your child in single-use diapers for a week.

Click here for more detailied information about our innovative cloth diaper loan program.

If you are interested in this program, please call us at 1.613.321.7249 to book a spot -- this program will run on a 'first come, first served' basis. It's a really great opportunity to see how you feel about cloth diapers -- the fee involved is roughly what you would spend on single-use diapers for the duration of the program.

and this is what you get:

Currently, each participant in the loan program will be provided with the following diapers:

• 2 Bummis Super Industrial Whisper Wraps (retail value $10.49 each)

• 2 ProServices Classic Velcro covers (retail value $10.49 each)

• 2 dozen prefold diapers (retail value $29.00 / $38.00 each, depending on size)

• 1 Snappi

• 2 stay-dry terry liners (retail value $2.99 each)

• 1 Tiny Tots fitted diaper (retail value $5.75 /$6.49 /$7.25 each, depending on size)

• 1 Kissaluvs fitted diaper (retail value $14.50 each)

• 1 Kissaluvs contoured diaper (retail value $7.99 / $8.99 each, depending on size)

• 1 Snug-to-Fit one-size diaper (retail value $9.75 each)

• 1 ProServices all-in-one diaper (retail value $15.00 - $18.00 each, depending on size)

• 1 Fuzzibunz pocket diaper (retail value $21.49 each)

• 2 JoeyBunz hemp inserts (retail value $7.49 each)

They're closed today, but I'm going to call tomorrow

[BabyBump]

I use a mix of kissaluvs/covers and bumgenius on my little guy. Dry pail with a lid and wash every other day. No stink either. Only a couple of my diapers have ended up with a faint stain. I wash cold, hot with a small amount of detergent, and then another rinse. I use Tide Free and Clear on the recommendation from the diaper website I buy form. Diaper Co and if you use MDCmama in the coupon code area you get 5% off.

I'm trying to wean my husband off the disposiables. For now if he changes a diaper Eli gets a disposiable on. I'm not going to complain at least he's changing the diapers too.

[Mommy2Austin]

BF baby poop doesn't smell at all to me. I had one pail go 3 days without being washed because I was too busy and it didn't smell anymore than normal (I have a toddler with toddler poopy smells lol)

I had slight staining on the diapers in the beginning, but now I've started doing a short cycle cold wash with no detergent first to rinse and then hot wash w/ detergent and then another short cold wash. No stains

I use prefolds pretty much exclusively on DS2 (with the occasional flat or fitted) I only have dappi pull on covers for him and I haven't had one leak!

[AlwaysByMySide]

We started out with Kissaluvs and covers (Thirsties, mostly, and a Nikki wrap that smokeylo gave me in the swap that I really like!), and I'm slowly moving over to Disposanots and Fuzzi Bunz, because this little guy can soak a Kissaluvs in a second, and I was changing him what felt like 400 times a day!

I have two dozen KL's, half a dozen Disposanots/FBs (and slowly building) and wash almost every night. I just made it part of my routine. If any get stained, a couple of hours in the sun takes care of that quickly. And if they stay stained, I don't really care, because they're just going to get pooped on again, right?

We do a dry pail downstairs (WAHMies liner in a trash can with a lid), and have no stink issues. (I have a 2 year old in diapers too, but she's slowly potty learning, and her poo is the only poo that smells, and she'll happily poo on the toilet.) When I change diapers upstairs (we're only up there to sleep), I have a Huggabuns bag that I use, since there'll only be three or four diapers in there at any given time.

I do a cold rinse, then a hot wash with two cold rinses. I use Purex F&C or Sun liquid during the hot wash, and tea tree oil during the first rinse (after the wash). Covers and pockets get hung up, and inserts and KL's go in the dryer. Once it warms up here, I'll start hanging everything outside, but for now, they get hung on a retractable clothesline in the laundry room.

For wipes, we use Huggies, because I like the smell and the convenience. They just get tossed in the pail with the diapers, washed with the diapers, and I separate them out to throw them away as I'm hanging/putting inserts in the dryer.

[Juise]

We were really lucky and got all of our diapers / wipes hand-me-down from DD's cousin . She has maybe 10 all-in-ones called penguins that are really nice to have over-night or when going out, and other than that a bunch of pre-folds and some fitted with snappis. DD is 5 weeks now and still wearing the same penguins that fit her when she was born. They have three snap size choices on them, and she is still on the middle snap option. Her wipes are bamboo cloth, they are super soft, I love them. They were just ordered as cloth and cut up, the bamboo doesn't fray or curl so they didn't need to be hemmed or anything. We just wet them and put them in a wipe warmer where they stay moist and warm. We use two big tupperware bins for dirty and clean, they have lids and the diapers don't smell. I stopped sorting and putting away in a drawer after a couple days I dump the dirty bin into the wash then take them out of the dryer and into the clean bin!

No stain problems here. We do a cold soak for a bit first then drain and wash cold with some detergent, using oxo bright every once in a while to get them back to white. If they start to get a little bit of a smell, throw some vinegar in the wash with them, the vinegar is also supposed to help with absorbency. We wash every day or every other

[Benji'sMom]

1. breastfood poop doesn't usually have a strong odor at all so that keeps it from stinking. I never had problems with stains and I didn't wash right away. Sometimes I was only washing twice a week, it was never a problem as far as smell or stains.

2. Never tried the baby kangas but pocket diapers are great in general. But one size diapers sometimes don't fit newborns, the baby needs to be a little bigger for them to fit.

3. Not less than 2 dozen for a newborn, and 3 dozen would be even better.

[eilonwy]

i have the most mottley collection of diapers ever. i love them dearly. poopy ones get rinsed in the sink-- i've been doing this lately. notbecause they stink, but because they stain quite badly (yellow breastfed baby poop oxidizes green... and i got tired of having them all be ugly and waiting for mike/patting him on the head when he did it. that, and bella is still in diapers and her poop REEKS. all the others go into a laundry basket unless the peepees smell really bad (bella's do sometimes). just a regular basket, though, open to the air. they really do stink if the container is sealed. we wash every day, but again we have two in diapers.

bear gets wiped with plain water most of the time; bella gets some california baby diaper area spray if we can swing it, because she gets rashy often. i've got a collection of cheap baby washcloths which make perfect babywipes. as i said, our collection is far from fancy, but it does the job. mostly prefolds, most of which have been through at least three of my kids (often more). they last and last and last. while i can't say that many of the ones i bought for beanbean still look brand new, i can say that most of the ones we still have work beautifully on bella, and bear wll wear them when he gets bigger. (i didnt start with bean until he was big enough to wear medium covers and premium prefolds.)

[nolonger]

I had one kissaluv and about four dozen infant prefolds--too many! They're already too small for the covers we're using so we get unnecessary blowouts.

I was planning a trip to a local business that sells prefolds (probably much more expensive than eBay, but I am guilty of not even looking at small, locally owned busnesses before buying online during my pregnancy) but colic and/or a growth spurt had other ideas so I grabbed one of the receiving blankets I made out of some much worn and thoroughly loved flannel sheets from my big kids' childhoods and they work beautifully! It feels kind of funny having ds2 poo on ds1's Pooh sheets, but it's not like my 16 year old is ever going to want to sleep on them again and they're too threadbare to last for another kid, so I just would have tossed them anyway.

I love my wool covers (biobottoms, sugar peas, and bumpy; my Stacinator is okay, but doesn't seem to last through as many changes) but they're expensive, so I'm making more of my own out of polyester fleece from McCall's pattern #8574. My "tester" breathes and seems to keep clothing just as dry as wool so now that I've gotten a better quality of aplix, these should work.

I hate making them, which is about the only thing saving me from wanting $75 a yard organic wool atm.

My wipes are old T shirts, small pieces of the same sheets, and leftover scraps of the bamboo I made his gowns out of.

I wash every day and love the smell of exclusively breastfed baby poo so much I'm tempted to stick some in the freezer "for later"--why, I don't know, since it had no medicinal qualities that I know of, just to thaw and smell after my midlife babe is on solids since I probably have a bit of a wait for grandbabies.

I use gallon ziplocks for wetbags when we're out and just toss everything in the washer. I used to run them through twice with no detergent the second time, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

We also EC, but right now it seems like that's more "for fun" and to make outings less unpleasant than to reduce laundry; he completely knows my cues and appreciates the opportunity to "empty out" before I put a fresh diaper on, but I'm not very good at consistantly recognizing his signals.

Something must be working, though, because this is the first one of my kids who hasn't had a serious diaper rash problem and also the first one who has a very low budget stash instead of diaper service and all wool covers.

[AlainaFrederick]

I have been cloth diapering my kids for over 2 years. I am currently cloth diapering my 6 week old.
First I highly recommend www.diaperswappers.com There is a WHOLE board full of questions and answers that will be most helpful to a newbie.
It can be quite overwhelming too so for the first few weeks try and keep your diapering as simple as possible...

Here is what I personally use on my newborn and it works well--these are things that are not too expensive to buy new and can get them used and they will still hold up well.

I have

6- XS Sandy's Bambo Fitted (super trim, absorbent, and fit him on the smallest setting so they will fit for a while)

3- XS MotherEase Airflow covers (again fit on the smallest setting so lots of room to grow and don't have leaks)

3 dozen- infant prefolds (I really didn't want to do prefolds but when we got thrush and he got the bad rash I needed to change him every 30 minutes or so to help it go away and these were a must--I have to say I love the prefolds the most now--especially since I was shown how to put them on and have some snappi's)

4 Snappi's (makes putting on the prefolds a breeze)

5 Mommy's Touch Newborn All In Ones--these are great for the first days too as the aplix closure makes them super simple-especially when you 'dont know what you are doing' in the beginning)

4 dozen or so cloth wipes (leave these in a basket in the bathroom and at changing time will wet with warm water)

A number of 'wet' bags. I simply put the soiled diapers/wipes into the bag and every 2-3 days I take the bag and let everything just fall right into the washer.

I do a cold rinse with nothing added to the water. Then I was on HOT/Cold and add 2 tblspn of Borax (we have hard water) and about 1/3 cup of our detergent (use any detergent that you've been using if it works well on your clothing-just make sure it does not have any built in fabric softeners or bleech/bleech alternative or optical brightners) and I do an extra cold rinse. When I remember I will put about a cup of vinegar into the wash--added cleaning and softening power. Then throw them into the dryer or if I have time will hang out on the line. Sunshine is the best for any stains that may happen.

Super simple-

When baby is older and starts having solid poops just scrap (or let it plop) the solids into the toilet and care just as you would above...


Then when your baby (about 3-4 months) grows out of the sized diapers you can sell or trade them on Diaper Swappers for the next size up. If you ever need help feel free to PM or email me





PSA Alert
Also---if you decided that disposables are for you PLEASE get ones that do not have the bleech or chemicals--and PLEASE PLEASE put solid poops into the toilet instead of wrapping it up into the diaper and tossing it.

It is illegal to throw human waste into the garbage (just my little PSA)

[Dea]

Originally Posted by dinkerngiggles

PSA Alert
Also---if you decided that disposables are for you PLEASE get ones that do not have the bleech or chemicals--and PLEASE PLEASE put solid poops into the toilet instead of wrapping it up into the diaper and tossing it.

It is illegal to throw human waste into the garbage (just my little PSA)

I agree!!! Imagine all of the diapers in the landfills, and how so many of them are full of feces! We have a sewer system for a reason....

[LawrenceDoula]

I use prefolds and some Mommy's Touch All in Ones I got as gifts. The newborn prefolds are way too small now at 4 weeks so I've moved up to the infant size, but the Mommy's Touch are AWESOME! I didn't use them the first week because he seemed so small, but I decided to try them on him the second week and they fit great, no bulk. They seem very absorbent so far. Definitely worth the cost if they last through potty learning. I have some Mother ease one size fitteds and some Imse Vimse flannel contours, but neither of them are that absorbent. I use thirsties wipes, I have about 3 dozen and they last about 3 days, maybe less. I wet them with a spray bottle or spray directly on my son's bottom.

I pretty much do what every one else does as far as a dry pail and cold rinse/hot cold wash. I do an extra spin cycle at the end to cut down on drying time. It really helps with the prefolds. I have to admit, I do close the pail lid. It's in our bedroom and the smell of the poo gets to me. I know it's not that stinky, it's just gross to me. I guess it's the fact that I know it's poo.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by dinkerngiggles

PSA Alert
Also---if you decided that disposables are for you PLEASE get ones that do not have the bleech or chemicals--and PLEASE PLEASE put solid poops into the toilet instead of wrapping it up into the diaper and tossing it.

It is illegal to throw human waste into the garbage (just my little PSA)

I've yet to hear of anyone getting arrested or even fined for throwing away paper diapers.. but it's a really unfair kind of deal; The bleach & chemical free diapers are obscenely expensive and a lot more difficult to come by than huggies and papmers, which may be the most expensive varieties of 'regular' diapers, but which have coupons and go on sale so that they end up being cheaper than generics more often than not.