[Zevy]

Morning mamas!

I figured THIS would be the best place to ask.

I want to cloth diaper my twin girls (I have a two year old son who is in disposables). They are now 2 months old (1 week adjusted) and are just about 6 lbs. I have been using disposable since they were born, as they have been been so small (3 lbs at birth) and with the stress of the NICU, I just didn't want to also look into researching/learning about cloth diapering.

But now that they are bigger, it is something I (and my husband) really want to do. I have enough diapers stocked to last a few weeks, but once they are gone I'd like to make the switch.

I've been doing some researching and am torn between which type to get: either a fitted diaper with cover, a pocket, or an AIO. Cost is an issue, of course, but I also would like something that isn't horribly time consuming since there are two of them...so ease is pretty important as well.

If you did fitted with covers, how many of each did you get? I would imagine you don't need as many covers since they don't get (as) dirty. If I were to do laundry every other day (is that reasonable for twins), how many would you recommend?

Likewise, if you did a pocket or AIO, how many did you buy?

I've also been reading reviews of brands, velcro vs snaps, etc. Any suggestions? Fuzzies seem to leak a lot, according to reviews, and velcro seems to not wash as well, so maybe brands with snaps are better?

And any tips on how you dealt with them while out...special bags, rinsing if you did fitted with covers so they wouldn't smell, etc.

Suggestions, tips, etc., would be welcome.

 

[verycozy]

We CD'd our twins from birth when they were barely 5 lb. I found that covers & prefolds worked best because the babies had such skinny legs that it was hard to get a good fit with AIOs and pockets. Thirsties covers worked wonderfully. My daughter is about 10 lb now and the smallest Thirsties size still fits her.

The standard advice is 12 diapers a day per newborn, but it's more like 8 a day per baby if you use disposables at night. If you decide to use covers, you'll need maybe a total of 6-8. I like to fasten the prefolds with a snappi, but that's not strictly necessary. You can just lay the prefold in the cover; this makes it no more work than using an AIO.

I use Country Save detergent. It's dirt cheap and awesome. You'll need someplace to put the wet diapers. I have a garbage can in the garage next to the washer, and I lined it with a large wet bag that i bought off amazon for like $10.

A word on velcro: If you're vigilant about making sure the velcro tabs are folded back before you wash them, the velcro will last a long time (like forever, in my experience with CDing my toddler son). If you don't think you're going to be careful with this, do yourself a favor and get covers that close with snaps. Me, I love velcro.

I think I've covered everything, but I'll happily blather some more if you need more info

 

[dividedsky]

i also used sposies at first (mine were early too - 3.9 and 4.4lbs) and then switched over to cloth. i've always used aios because they are easy to deal with. always w/a cotton inner so as to avoid complicated laundry regimens. i started with sposoeasy in size xs, which were great. now i'm using bumgenius organic which i like a billion times better (but wouldn't fit your babes well just yet most likely).

personally, i have no desire to ever deal with a 2-piece system. the thought gives me hives

i've always had only 26 dipes, which is plenty if you wash every night. i've never run out. i don't like the idea of them hanging out longer than a day personally.

i do use sposies when out and about. it's my compromise. if i had 1 baby i might not, but with the 2 it just makes life easier for me personally.

my boys are over a year now, and have never had diaper rash! love cloth! hope you will, too!

 

[nummies]

nak

prefolds and covers at first and then one-size pockets once they hit 10lbs. My twins are 5 weeks old and jusy hit the 10lb mark, but the prefolds were so easy!

 

[MamaRabbit]

Another vote for prefolds and covers at first. We used ProRaps preemie size until they were almost 8lb and then small size until about 10/11lb. Skinny legs here too!

 

[GoodUserNamesTaken]

I wanted to ask about CD twins, too... how many to buy, etc. I'm watching this thread!

 

[eatingfor3]

here's my copied and pasted response from the diapering forum:

I've been cloth diapering my twins since they were 3 weeks old and about 5 pounds. We had to start out in preemie prefolds with preemie covers because there was no way any OS pocket or AIO was going to fit them. Even at that point, the x-small FB was a bit big on them.

Here's what my stash looks like:
*36 preemie prefolds
*10 proraps preemie covers
*24 newborn prefolds
*14 kissaluvs size 0 fitteds
*4 x-small Fuzzibunz
*12 x-small thirsties covers (the duo cover wasn't out at the time, or I might have gone with that instead)
*24 regular infant prefolds
*24 premium infant prefolds
*48 premium prefolds
*10 small thristies covers

I plan on getting 10 of the thirsties size 2 duo wraps next. And I honestly haven't decided to use once they start walking. I'm thinking I'll stick with the prefolds and use some fitteds on occasion.

Here's what we've done:
--used the preemie prefolds for like 2 weeks before I moved up to the newborn size, used the covers until they were about 7 pounds. if i had thought about it and realized the preemie prefolds were just less absorbant than the newborn ones, I would have just bought the newborn prefolds instead. but now they are nice to have around for burp rags and doublers.
-- used the newborn prefolds until they were about 7 pounds then moved up to the infant size, only because I found it easier to put the bigger prefolds on them. We still use the fitteds and one of my babies wears the x-small covers.
--I never used the x-small fuzzibunz. Never once. total waste of my money lol!
-- i should have gotten all 4x8x4 infant prefolds instead of half 4x6x4 but I didn't realize what I had ordered (yay sleep deprivation) so I use the 4x6x4s for day/ awake time and the 4x8x4s for naps and nighttime.

I have 18 Bumgenius pockets, 5 fuzzibunz and 4 blueberry pockets. The plan had been for me to move them into pockets once they outgrew their newborn stash, but that is not going to happen. I LOVE my prefolds. I really do. I thought I would hate them but now i can't imagine using pockets. I've never once reached for them when diapering these babies so I don't see myself starting now. I'm going to sell off the new ones and keep my older ones (from when I was diapering my then 2 year old) incase I suddenly have the desire to use one.

I would think you would need at least 40 pockets to diaper twins and wash every other day, especially during the newborn stage. This is one of the reasons why I went with prefolds-- I'm kinda cheap that way.

The main benefit for prefolds, for me, is they are not time consuming at all. You don't have worry about stripping or buildup. I can literally wash, dry, fold and put them away with one hand, which is awesome. Stuffing pockets took so much time when I was diapering 1 kid, I honestly couldn't find the time to stuff at least 20 pockets a day for 2 babies. The extra time I spend putting a prefold on them vs. using a pocket is far less combined than the time I would spend stuffing pockets. I chose not to use an AIO because they take so long to dry and I never really got into fitteds but I don't mind them at all. I'd use them before I'd use a pocket, for sure.

With 48 diapers (prefolds) I normally do one load on say a monday night, and then another load on wednesday morning, a load on Thursday night and then a load on Saturday morning... if that makes sense. When they were younger, there were some days I 'd do a load everyday (I should have bought 36 newborn prefolds to have at least 4 dozen total diapers and not had to worry about washing everyday.)

When we go out I still use the prefolds. I have 2 medium wetbags that I rotate for small trips out (less than 6 hours) and I have 1 large wetbag for the times we are out longer. I haven't used cloth on big trips, more than a day, because they would take up too much room when packing. We have enough stuff to take already. I've never had a problem with smell when we go out, I just put them in the bag as is and rinse when we get home, but i just started rinsing after they started on solids-- they had breastfed baby poop before then so they didn't really smell. It is kind of gross to fish a poopy diaper out of a wetbag to rinse, but I've dealt with worse while being a mom

For our home time, I use a dry pail with a liner. I just use a regular garbage can, I can't remember the size, but it isn't huge, maybe 15 gallon (still would fit under the kitchen sink) and then I have an extra liner for when one is in the wash. Never had a problem with smell because I keep it open.

I do use cloth wipes at home, but use disposables when we are out, mainly out of laziness. I keep disposable wipes in the diaper bag anyway for cleaning dirty faces and surfaces so it is easy for me to just use them for their bums too.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Feel free to ask questions, I know this is kind of jumbled. Congrats on your babies!

 

[Valerieg]

I just tried my Kissaluvs 0's on my babies that are both 6 lbs and I found they didn't fit well. So we're still using sposies unfortunately. They did fit my 7 lb babies well though (singletons).

After reading this I may try the prefolds I have and see if those work but I'm not a big fan of that diapering system. I just really dislike sposies.

Once my babies are big enough we'll use the perfect size Fuzzi Bunz that I have. But I don't bother with XS since they aren't in them very long.

 

[yogafeet]

Used prefolds and covers, too. Worked very well for my skinny girls!

 

[obxbound]

Thank you so much for asking this question. My boys just turned a year and I thought it might be too late, but I talked to some other MDC mom's today and am convinced that I want to learn more. I figure I am just NOW in a regiment that I feel like I can and with at least one more year in diapers I'm still saving $ and the environ.

 

[GoodUserNamesTaken]

Is there a big difference between small prefolds and medium? I'd rather buy just one batch, and not two... Thoughts anyone? Any reason I can't just get mediums?

I'm refering specifically to Diaper Rite PFs like these ones...

http://www.diaperjunction.com/diaper-rite-prefolds.html

 

[daisie31]

I'm using BG pocket dipes for my 2 and I LOVE them. When they were tiny, I tried covers and prefolds but hated them, hated them. I was soo busy feeding and pumping that I couldn't get their dipes changed often enough and often times they bunched up leaving only the cover to collect the pee. I ended up waiting til they fit in the BG and haven't looked back. Mine are almost 4 months now and I have 28 diapers. I have to wash every other day and I think I would anyway but am thinking a few more would be nice so I am not washing while they are in the last 2 diapers.

My older ds was also in sposies and I like these sooo much better. We haven't had any leak issues or blowouts...so far. My girls fit into them at about 9 lbs.

Dena

ETA: For those using cloth wipes, what is your set up like? I have the wipes but haven't come up with a plan. I am hating the disposable wipes.

 

[verycozy]

Cloth wipes: I soak a handful of wipes in plain tap water, wring them out, and put them in a lidded container. I store the dry wipes with the diapers and just wet a day's worth of wipes at a time.

I know some people like wipe solution, but plain water works for me.

 

[dividedsky]

^^ i just keep them dry and wet @ the sink as needed. i keep a dispenser of baby soap (weleda) and squirt some on for poops. easy.

 

[Valerieg]

My wipes are dry and I wet them just prior to use. Sometimes I use soap but rarely.

 

[daisie31]

Thanks mamas! I think I will try the wet ones in a wipes container tomorrow. Sometimes the simplest things go right over my head!

Can't wait to start using them.

Dena

 

[yogafeet]

For my preemies the smallest size diaper was needed and they lasted forever since the girls were small forever (it seems.) Now I use those preemie diapers as wipes!

My wipes solution has lavender oil. tea tree oil, water, and when they were really little, aloe vera juice but I cut that out since it was getting spendy.

 

[MawrtyrB]

We CD'd our twins and DD since birth. The twins were 5 lb 2 oz and 7 lb 7 oz. DD was 8 lb 11 oz. We started each in Kissaluv fitteds, but none of them, even my little guy stayed in them long. After the first month they were just peeing too much and had gained so much weight that we switched them into our pockets, mainly BumGenius OS. Our other mainstay diaper is the FB. With twins, expect to launder diapers daily. It's not that big of a deal, just becomes part of the routine. Don't spend too much on newborn diapers. They won't use them long. Consider renting.

 

[Zevy]

Thanks guys! I've been spending a lot of time reading reviews and trying to figure out what I want. I'm thinking pocket diapers, but don't know if I should go for the one-size versions? I think doing prefolds with covers would be too time intensive for two babies (plus my husband isn't a fan of the prefolds). I was looking into fitted diapers + covers, but many seem not to be so absorbent? I was given some pocket diapers (FB I think) but they seem so bulky!! Are they all so big? Are there any brands that are not so cumbersome and bulky?

Do people buy various types? Like, invest in BOTH pocket diapers, and fitted diapers with covers? It seems when I ask people they have a lot of different types of diapers rather than just sticking with one brand.

I have a ton of newborn disposables I was given and I am going to use them up before I invest. The girls are now close to 7 lbs, and I think once they hit 10 lbs they should be big enough to get into the one size pocket diapers?

I'm ok doing laundry provided we can use a dryer. I have no way of line drying, unfortunately.

 

[verycozy]

You're right that many cloth diapering mamas have lots of variety in their stash. It's like a hobby

Also, some brands and types work best for different ages and body types and times of day (naps vs. playtime vs. car rides).

As far as bulk goes, AIOs and pockets are usually your trimmest, but *everything* seems bulky on a 7lb baby, especially if you're used to disposables. One size diapers usually are going to seem bulky on a tiny baby, and then they seem more trim as the baby grows.

I think 8 or 10 lbs is the usual recommendation for when one size diapers start to fit.

You might enjoy one of those variety packs (starter/sample packs, whatever they're called) that some online cloth diaper stores offer. You can find what works best for you.