Some general questions (a mixed bag)

Oh dear. Well if it's not too late to cancel that LL order (oh, it is) then I would cancel it. But don't count those diapers into your stash because they won't work. Okay, maybe 10% of people can use them.
For full time daytime use, I would say you need about 15 or so. I go through about 18 diapers a day with my 8 month old, but he is a special case. I think 6-8 a day is realistic though.
Going through only 4 a day doesn't sound too good. Just because the stuffing can absorb it, doesn't mean it's okay. There is still bacteria growing and it can irritate your daughter's bum.
And I am sure you are aware, but happy hempys are not really pocket diapers. They still need a cover. Just wouldn't want you to be out and about and find that she is leaking everywhere!
If money is an issue, fitteds with covers are just as easy as pockets and much cheaper. Mother-ease makes decent fitted diapers for about nine bucks a pop I think. Some people have issues but I personally love the ME diapers.
I wash my diapers separately, but you really don't need to. You CAN wash them with regular clothes. And no need to separate everything. Washing fleece with hemp can make it pill faster, but it doesn't affect the functionality. I separated them for awhile but it was just too much of a headache, so now I wash everything together again.
As far as washing... you'll have to tinker to find what works best. It depends on so many factors. The way I wash my diapers might leave other people with lots of stains and stink, the way susie washes hers might leave my kid with a rash... it all depends on a lot of things. If what you are doing now works for you, stick with it until it stops, and then change things up.

Good luck!

My dd's schedule is like this....in bed usually by 7 pm and up at 6 am. Typically sleeps through, but will get a change if she gets up. I use sposie at night. I only used the cloth for one day so far and I don't think I started first thing in the am, so I really don't think I can say I did it for an entire day just yet. I really haven't figured out my daughter's wet times and not so wet times. With the sposie I always just did it every 2-3 hours no matter what, unless there was poo - then immediately. I did use a cover with the hempy, but the cover was shaped the same as the diaper so it made it very bulky, so I need a new cover. I'm hoping to get some wool pull ons or side snaps to go with those (I just gave a pattern to a friend's mom, I'm hoping she can knit me a few).

I am in the "test drive" stage right now trying to figure out what works the best before diving right into one brand. Obviously because I'm only using them on weekends its going to be a looong process! LOL I'm hoping that once I get a good amount my dh and sitter will also be happy to use them. Right now when leaving the house I also put a sposie on her. Because my friend is selling the HH and it was free shipping over $75 I bought that first stash from her. I am looking at the heiny huggers (any thoughts on those?) for a fitted dipe. The LLs were on ebay and I got them for a decent price, and free shipping (so I guess you get what you pay for! LOL). I have already made up my mind that I will not be re-ordering from her just because I'm a bit upset about her handling time. Unfortunately I didn't actually review her feedback until I was having delivery issues and about 75% of her positive feedback included complaints about shipping time.

With the cd's I let her hang out in just her dipe & Tshirt so I could constantly check for wetness and when I found she was wet I put a new one on. I didn't try and do it the way I do with sposies. What is a realistic way to do this so you don't feel like you are feeling her bum every 15 minutes? I found one time she wet like mad and another time after a couple of hours she wasn't wet at all. I'm sure I just need to pay more attention to her intake too! Twice she poo'ed so those made for short runs in those dipes. I did use the rice paper, which is AWESOME!!!

1. So far I am keeping my hemp stuffins and happy hempys seperate from my regular happy heinys. I've washed them about 3 times each. Do I need to continue to keep them seperate? You didn't need to separate them in the first place. I've always washed all my dipes and liners and stuffings and covers all together without any problems. I've had hemp, organic cotton, etc.

I only do this part time, so it takes me a while to get a load and I really don't want to leave them sitting. Not to mention I really don't have too many dipes just yet, so I really can't.

2. Do I have to wash the dipes seperate from all other clothes? I'm guessing yes, but thought I'd ask. Nope. Some people do just because it bothers them to have poopy diapers rolling around with their clothing but in my mind, everything comes out clean anyway so what is the point???? Plus, you would wash diapers and clothing in the same washer but different loads anyway. Makes no sense to me. I wash all my stuff the same pretty much and if I don't have a huge load of diapers, I add some clothing to fill up the space.

3. What about "the pail"? Do I need to keep the dipes seperated from the regular dirty clothes? Once again, common sense tells me yes, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something unecessarily. Well, I always have but I''m guessing you dont' need to if you don't want to. I like to do diapers all in the same load because then I find all the missing pieces in that load(ie, doublers). Also, you wouldn't want to "lose" a diaper at the bottom of your clothing hamper and find it a week later. The smell would clue you in days earlier and you'd go crazy looking for it. I personally think it's EASIER to separate them but again, you'd wash in the same washer anyway and they'd come out clean anyway so if you wanted to do clothing and diapers in the same hamper and wash, GO FOR IT!

4. When using stuffins with happy heiny's does the "oval" go facing towards baby's bottom or facing away? I have no idea as I've never used them but check any Happy Heiny's retailer or email them. I'm sure they get that all the time.

5. For a 2 day supply (day time use for the moment), assuming I stick with HH pockets how many dipes should I have? And how many stuffings (and xtra ovals?) My dd is not a super heavy wetter, but she has her moments. I would say she is probably average. Again, I've never used them so I couldn't tell you how many stuffings you need. For number of diapers, it depends on your baby. Newborns typically go through about 2-3dozen diapers in a day and a half. My 15 month old does about 15diapers every day and a half. Depends on them, how often they nurse(or drink from a cup or whatever), and how often you change.

6. Anything I should know to help maintain my dipes and prevent all of the issues other's have mentioned? I've been doing the washing soda and sg solution for washing with a vinegar pre-rinse once every 3rd washing or so. Remember, no bleach or fabric softener. Detergents with enzymes(arm and hammer for example) can cause BAD rashes so watch what you use. I've had excellent luck with Sun and Gain. Some people really really love their minishower for spraying poop off diapers to reduce staining and the effort their washer needs to do later on. I personally don't find it necessary even though dd is still about 50/50 on breastmilk and solids and her poop is gross. My wash routine is very very simple. We do a cold wash with 1/2 the recommended amt of detergent and either hang to dry or dry in the dryer(depending on the weather) and we've never had stink issues and I've only had to strip twice in 15months. It seems to be working great for us and we are full-time cloth, no sposies since birth.

Meg

Quote:
With each costing around 15, plus inserts, that's not out of any range of normal pricing...

Anyway, I figure if you've washed the hemp enough to get them really absorbent, you can wash them with the fleece of the Happy Heinys now.

If no one in the house minds you washing the dipes with their clothes, I see no problem with it. I might not wash them with jeans, but I don't know if that would actually DO anything bad, it just FEELS weird to me.

The ovals...I used these for awhile (so bulky!), and I'd put the oval where I needed it. With DS that meant it was up in front. If I had a daughter I might situate it elsewhere. Maybe halfway in, halfway out, so it's sort of in the middle?

Yeah, please don't expect too much from the LLs. We have two and they are OK, but I think they might be an older design, b/c they work FAR better than what people say now. But still, if he wets enough and I don't realize it, the outside will be wet, far sooner than the other dipes.

If you like pockets and want to check out others than HHs, I just "discovered" Swaddlebees. You can stuff them with JoeyBunz (I experimented, and though I thought they'd be too wide for the SBs, the JB fit perfectly), if you like hemp inserts rather than microfiber. They are VERY trim.

I'm not exactly partial to the hemp inserts, just so happens to be what I tried first. I read some place that they were super absorbent, so I thought I'd start with them. I would like to try some other stuff as well and welcome any and all suggestions/feedback. I found the review forum a bit tough to navigate. I think someone should do a poll of the most common dipes (like maybe top 10 most popular - if its possible to narrow it down to that many...LOL). I'm also now a bit more scared of hemp since reading all of the "HELP-STINKY HEMP" forums! LOL

I've learned what works for some doesn't work for others, so I guess its going to have to be a personal journey with dd and mama! I'm not crazy about all the bulk and dd is a bit of a chunky monkey so I have to be careful or her pants don't fit over the dipes very well!

Initially I washed the hemp seperate because I read someplace something in (new) hemp stuff can screw up what the fleece is supposed to do. You should have seen my face when I looked at one of the little soakers I had that had fleece stitched to hemp! I was so absolutely puzzled on if I should wash those with my stuffins or my pockets! LOL Sorry it doesn't take much to confuse me! Its probably much more simple then I am making this, I just want it to work for us because I really think these cloth dipes are the cutest things and though I stumbled onto them late in dd's young life (at 10 months old) I really hope to be geared up and ready to do 100% cd for #2, who is currently a twinkle in my mind at the moment!

Hey, don't feel alone in your confusion. I think we're ALL a bit lost at first!

LOL at the fleece/hemp insert you got. You're right about the hemp having oils on it, and I washed seperately at the beginning, but once I figured they were absorbent enough to use, I figured they were OK to wash altogether!

Since you're in the experiment mode, I would suggest checking out the Swaddlebees pockets! We've used Rumpsters, FuzziBunz, a couple LittleLambs, Kissaluvs fitted, Kushies AIOs (they are our nighttime dipe), and Bumkins AIOs...and the Swaddlebees are absolutely the trimmest diapers. Some have a problem with the absorbency, but I haven't had that problem yet, and DS likes to save his pee for hours nowadays (he's 22 months and is thinking about the potty).

I had stinky hemp (we have a few JoeyBunz, and before our Rumpsters disintegrated we had four of them) for awhile, but ever since starting the WS/SG program, NOTHING has been stinky (except for our week with rotavirus)...