All Moms Who Use or Have Tried Cloth Diapers

I have used Thirsties fab fitteds and an older-style fitted from Thirsties they no longer make...but I love love love Thirsties covers over my fitted, flats, prefolds and prefitteds. Brands we use are Bagshotrowbamboo, Thirsties, shortrounds, primm n proper baby, and I'm fixing to order some sustainablebabyish (s'bish) fitteds/prefitteds as my diapers have been through 3 kids already and many are just going to have to be tossed as they are soooo worn out. I really like flats at the beginning because they are so adjustable for my skinny babies, but to each their own...I HATE stuffing OS pockets and I don't find I get a good fit on my kids anyway.

I washed my own. I have only used the bum genius a handful of times and wasn't impressed. I Loved Pre-folds and I had a variety of covers although thirsties or regular old gerber cover were my fave. I have a diaper sprayer I still use for garbage cans cleaning buckets and the litter box (after I empty it of course) So the sprayers usefulness goes beyond diapers. My hubby built mine though. Found a video on you tube. Snappis are awesome for prefolds. Very fast very simple and easy to clean :) You can wash your own although if you could afford a service that woud be very cool I am sure. But I didn't really find it to be that big of a chore. I washed 2 times a week and just left the unfolded diapers in the laundry basket, just pulled them out as I needed them. GL happy Diapering!

I used a diaper service, too. washing diapers is a full time job, and a nasty one at that! I used cloth at home, disposables when out and about and an overnight disposable at night.

Yayyyy!!! Welcome to cloth diapering! You're gonna love it. At least I know I do...

I've been cloth diapering my son since he was three weeks old. (he came five weeks early, I wasn't prepared...) and I have tried nearly every brand. Here's my two cents.

My absolute FAVORITE brand is Sustainablebabyish (http://sloomb.com). The method is fitteds and wool. Which was intimidating for me at first, but once it took hold... Holy cow, watch out. Sbish offers fitteds and os snapless. I prefer the os snapless for a couple of reasons... They are softer, easier to put on (even with pins!), and they give you more life... considering they are one size. The wool is AMAZING. Easily the best on the market. Soft, thick... and will not leak even if it hasn't been lanolized yet. I use these with my now five month old son every night and I have yet to change a sheet in the middle of the night. They rock. The only bummer is they are a bit on the expensive side... but if money isn't a concern... This is easily the best brand/method on the market.

My second favorite diaper is the Bumgenius Elemental AIO... These are my diaper bag diapers. LOVE THEM. The only thing to be wary of is that they need a TON of washes before they are absorbant. I didn't know this at first and was very disappointed considering they are expensive! Now I have a whole stash of them... and love them. They are SUPER easy.

Gdiapers I used in the very beginning... They leaked ALL THE TIME. I got rid of them pretty quick. I liked them because they were one of the only brands that I could access at my local babies r us... but they are cheaply made and they don't fit that great.

Kissas are ok. I have a few in my stash but they aren't the first ones I reach for. In fact, they are usually the ones my son wears if I've been slacking on laundry.

As for laundry... Washing diapers is NOT a full time job. If you're a tad Type A like myself, you'll do one load a day. Not a big deal. Some of my Cd'ing friends do laundry every other or even every couple of days... and sorting and folding diapers? totally relaxing after a long day of babyness... I have used Rockin' Green Detergent... Not a fan... I'm using a regular ole' free and clear now... The Rockin' Green did absolutely nothing for ammonia... even with the "Funk Rock Ammonia Bouncer"...

Wet Bags... Get a TON... I use them ALL the time. I have one in every diaper bag and I agree with one of the previous posts that Planet Wise makes some great bags, but they can be a tad spendy as well. I have quite a few from Essie Designs on Etsy. Excellent quality and she'll ship your order super fast... Not to mention, adorable prints.

As for pail liners... I've been using the kissaluvs pail liner... Not doing so well right now... I'm currently on the hunt for new pail liners, but I may just settle for using door hanging wet bags... I have a couple from Fuzzibunz that are fantastic. They have zippered bottoms so I don't have to mess with them when I toss em' in the wash. Just unzip and toss the bag in. LOVE.

Since my son was born five months ago... We've traveled out of state twice for extended periods of time all the while cloth diapering. I didn't use disposable inserts or anything. It can be done. It's a tad overwhelming the first time... but it just gets easier.

Please feel free to message me if you have any other questions... and seriously, welcome! I hope you have as much fun as I do... I never thought I'd be so into changing my kid's diapers!

S.

Oh and p.s. some other brands to check out... GRO-VIA (fabulous AIOS)... Fuzzibunz (excellent starter diaper)... Rumparooz... All excellent options...

One more thing... Grandma El's Diaper Cream is excellent. No more rashes and it smells AWESOME...

oh and we do have a sprayer.... The best thing about the sprayer is it has gotten my husband involved... He loves using it. Boys and their toys I suppose...

hate to jump on the bandwagon - I used a service as well. I just knew my washer couldn't handle the crud or get the water hot enough to sanitize.

In the end I felt like it was cheaper or a break even as I didn't have to invest in the diapers or the washer

I don't remember all of the brands of dipes I used. I was buying all of mine 7 years ago. I mostly used organic cotton prefolds with wool covers. Besides those, I used a diaper pail with a large waterproof liner (PUL lined) that I'd prinkle baking soda that had tea tree oil in it & lavendar to help with smell etc. (easy to make yourself). Just remember, if you use wool covers, don't ever wash them w/ your dipes, especially if you use baking soda with them! It aids in the felting process. While felted wool covers may be awesome and work really well, if you didn't want that in the first place, your cover will be too small to cover your little ones bum. :) I learned the hard way here.

I would just wash every couple of days, as the sack grew full. I have used kissaluves and gdiapers both. I LOVED the kissaluvs and they were so cute and colorful. I still remember the day the box came in just before my daughter was born and both my mother & grandmother were cooing over them! LOL I did go and look to make sure I was thinking of the right diapers. The only difference is that mine had the terry cloth soakers while it appears they now have the microfiber soakers. I don't think that will make a difference. I used bought some diapers from WAHM's that used microfiber and those worked well.

As for gdiapers, I liked that it was easily flushable or compostable. When I was using them several years ago, they had a leakage problem but it came and went so sometimes I wondered if it was the batch I happened to get. My local co-op stopped carrying them for a long time because they were getting too many complaints & returns but they started again about a year ago so I'm assuming that the leakage problem has been fixed.

As I've been writing this, I also recalled that I've used fuzzibunz! I LOVED those diapers. http://www.fuzzibunz.com/ They're pocket diapers lined with PUL (waterproofing) and I used whatever to line them with as well as the liners that came with them. They could be bulky but they rarely leaked on me. This is also where I got my big waterproof bag.

So really, if you plan on washing your diapers at home, you just have to figure out how often you want to wash them, how many you're going to need (to wash every two days, you'll need to plan on 10 -14 diapers a day but I always had way more than that), what kind of soap you're going to wash them in, tea tree oil & lavendar oil (they both help with scent, and both have antimicrobial, antibacterial etc. properties), baking soda (Optional, helps keep down the smell. You could also use a wet soak and just shake some into the water each time you add a diaper. The waterproof bag really came in handy for that.), a diaper pail or large bucket with a lid, and a good washing machine. If you do wool covers, you'll need to get some lanolin to lanolize them every once in a while but if your covers are felted, they're naturally water proof and you don't need as much lanolin. You might need diaper pins but I never used them. I just folded the diaper and held it in place with the cover. Depending on how you want to dry them, you may want to invest in a really sturdy wood (or otherwise) drying rack. These are easily moved around and they really will save you a lot of money on utility expenses, especially during the summer. A friend of mine doesn't even have a dryer and she worked at a system to not only have enough clean dry diapers on hand for 2 little girls, she also does that for everyone's clothing.

It's really so easy and while at times I dreaded it, it saved us sooo much money in the end and I knew that they were not only better for my daughter's bums but also the landfill. The diapers I bought lasted through two children, I gave them all away in a fit of purging (I'm still sad I gave away my kissaluvs, especially now my sis just had a daughter.) and the last I heard some of them have made it to a third child. The only time I used disposable was if we had to go on a road trip or they were having diarrhea.

Even now two of my children are still in cloth pull-ups because they wet the bed (my 6 yo daughter & my 8.5 yo son) and I deal with them the same way I did my cloth diapers with the exception that of course I don't need as many! I have 6 per child on a rotation basis so there's always at least one hanging up to dry while another one is washing and there are clean dry ones in the cupboard.

When my daughter outgrew Pampers Swaddlers we had to switch to cloth as she was allergic to all other kinds/brands. We use cloth full time and I wash them myself. I am also due anyday now with baby #2 so both of my girls will be in cloth diapers.
I have tried gDiapers briefly and they are alright, my 2 year old is tiny but a heavy wetter so I think that might have been why they don't work very well for us.
We use the Flip diaper system and I love it. I just ordered 18 newborn so I know I will probably be washing those everyday for the first few months. We will not be using cloth in the hospital or until the meconim is gone. :)
I like the Flip because it is one size and you don't have to order any extra sizes. With disposable diapers we were spending $150 a month in diapers easy a month, with cloth I have spent $250 and that will last both girls the entire time they are in diapers.
A friend bought me a diaper sprayer when we found out we were expecting baby #2. It is amazing!!! I don't know how I lived without it! It makes everything so much easier. Wet diapers go right into the pail, but now the dirties just get sprayed into the potty and then into the bin. I usually wash diapers every 3 days. I bought 4 Flip one day packs. which is 8 covers and 24 inserts. We double inserts at night.

PM if you have any other questions that I didn't answer here. I think it is worth a try for everyone. So much better for babies bums and for mommies wallet. :)

The one thing I will say that got my DH on board was using disposable diaper liners. They are like toilet paper, and when the baby poops, you just put the whole thing (liner & poop) into the toilet---no sprayer needed, no scraping with a spatula. It adds a tiny bit to the cost, but we saved a lot by buying used.

I did a lot of research on the brands & such, and have heard good things about Kissaluvs & bumGenius. However, since we went with buying used (via http://myuseddiapers.com and http://diaperswappers.com, as well as local "green baby" store's swap), we've gotten a mishmash.

I've used Kushies fitteds (like), I Love Cloth AIOs (like), Motherease one-size (like the these, but didn't start using till after he was 6 months or so; they are supposed to fit a newborn, but I have hard time visualizing it!).

I mostly use the prefolds. DH uses the AIOs/pockets/fitteds. We just found the prefolds to be so much more economical than fitteds, pockets or AIOs. However, for breastfed babies, whose poop tends to be "liquidy" you might want to get really good fitting covers (we mostly used Proraps, which you can get "seconds" of, at a cost of $5.25 per cover--way cheaper than other brands and the seconds are just as good as the first quality-wise; sometimes they are slightly off in color or whatever, but function just fine).

Also, I sewed some fitted diapers and those have been a lifesaver. I was able to sew good fitteds (used the free Mama Byrd pattern online) with flannel from the fabric store, as well as doublers, for half what it would've cost, even buying 'em used. If you have anyone who can sew, ask them to do it for you--they are easy to do (you need to order good hook & loop stuff--don't use the "velcro" sold at the fabric store because it just won't hold up).

Also, post on the Freecycle forum and/or Craigs List for cloth diapers--I got a bunch that way.

I was pretty overwhelmed by the all the choices, when I first started out CD'ing. But I've used such a mishmash of different kinds that to me, it doesn't seem like there is a lot of difference.

We use Charlies Soap for diapers (actually, almost all the laundry), and occasionally Biokleen laundry powder.

Ok despite what Wendy said, IT IS NOT A FULL TIME JOB!!! I do two extra washes a week. Two, that's not 40 hours! If you are looking to save money, using a service is not the way to do it. In the long run it costs about as much as using disposables
Ok off that high horse. I haven't tried those brand but I know they are super popular. I use Fuzzibunz mostly and love them. Most cloth diapers are the same so washing is similar.
For most newborns the one size diapers usually are to big for a couple months and so most end up using a cheaper option of prefolds and a cover (which are not hard at all. Super easy since you can just lay the prefold in the cover instead of having to use diaper pins. But you can use snappi's which are super nice too). I use prefolds a lot and I like them. Most people will buy about 24 diapers for a day or two of diapering before having to wash. More is nice so that you have some cushion times.
I love my diaper sprayer. I got it on ebay for $20 bucks. The company sells them there and they are great. I loved it because my son was constantly had pooping issues so we often times had horrible diapers to clean, but it was 10x easier with a sprayer.
You have to have a wet bag to be able to go out of the house. I have a friend that uses grocery bags and she hates it. I am going to be buying her one because it's just so much easier. A wet bag is where you put your dirty diapers when your out and about.
I also like my pail liner, it's like a garbage bag but it's washable. I like it because I have a cheap plastic pail and it hurts to lug it up and down stairs full of diapers. I then can just pull the liner out and toss it in the washer along with the diapers. LOVE IT!
Washing I do a cold rinse to get rid of any gunk still on it, hot wash with Rockin Green detergent, and an extra cold rinse. It has worked well for me, and I have only had to strip the diapers once or twice in the 10 months I have been CDing.
I have a blog you can check out. It has a several diaper reviews and some more tips on cloth diapering. I actually will be buying a bumgenius or two just to try them out. It might not work because my son is almost to their weight limit in sizing. My son is a chunk! One more reason why I like Fuzzibunz! Theirs goes up to 40lbs so that your child can stay in them if they don't potty train by 35 lbs.
largebummies.blogspot.com

I used a service.
They came once a week, left a fresh can full of clean diapers, picked up my nasty can full of dirty diapers. I was always pleased with their service. It was a great convenience.

In fact when the third and last child was completely potty trained, it was sad to cancel my service as over the course of 8 or 9 years, I'd developed a nice friendship with my diaper lady!

:)

We started with the BG 3.0's w/ hook & loop and had nothing but issues with the velcro--it began to fray & wear out after 3mo use & proper washing. Cotton Babies (parent company) was great took 2doz of our 3.0 diapers back & exchanged them for the new BG 4.0's with snaps. What a difference, love the snaps! Going on almost 12 mo. with the 4.0's & highly recommend product & company.

Washing:
We do one load each night wet bags, wipes, dipes & all. We have had great luck with Charlies Soap http://amzn.to/hi0ZL6 (natural & cheap!) also Ecos Free & Clear (http://amzn.to/g2JeFR). Less detergent the better. 2 cycles: cold rinse & hot wash. Machine dry (no softeners) microfiber lining & hang dry covers. Sun out any stains. FYI, drying the BG covers will reduce their life so air drying is the best option.

Wet Bag & Pail:
Dry Pail is so simple & no odor. LOVE our Safety First Easy Save Diaper Pail (http://amzn.to/ehL1VM)
Planet Wise Wet Bags Rock!! We have two diaper pail liners (http://amzn.to/h5IkTg), 1 small zip top for diaper bag & 1 large for overnights (http://bit.ly/gkUdFU). We have tried other brands of wet bags but Planet Wise have washed & held up the best not to mention they have AWESOME customer service!

Diaper Cream:
Aquaphor Healing Ointment (http://amzn.to/hoQTvz). Not one rash!!!

Wipes:
2 doz Cheapie Gerber Washcloths (http://amzn.to/ik0l1h) store wet & ready to use in a wipes container. After washing soak washcloths in sink of water + 3 drops lavender tea tree essential oil (http://bit.ly/iag2wL). Oil lasts forever and is both antiseptic & soothing.

Sidenote: BG are awesome diapers to get comfortable cloth diapering. We started with a dozen of the one size (xs) BG. We have since switched over to prefolds with Thirsties covers for our everyday use & love them! With baby #2 we are planning to use chinese prefolds & thirsties duo snap covers. Reason: prefolds are a bit smaller & less bulky on a newborn baby. At first prefolds seemed overwhelming but SO much easier (& cheaper) to take care of than BG or other AIO's. We are now a prefold family and still love our BG's for when DD is at grandparents. If you are nervous about how to use/fold the prefold diaper lots of great videos on youtube.

Happy to PM with you if you have more questions. It can be so overwhelming at first but really SO easy & no stinky odors!