Hi there,
I'd love to use cloth diapers for our 9 month boy, but don't know where to start. Any suggestions?
When our daughter was born almost 4 years ago we had the cloth diaper starter kit all ready, but with the frequency of newborn poop, and the shock of being first time parents, we returned them and used "environmentally friendly" disposable ones.
Our son is 9 months old and his pee always leaked through the "green" disposable ones when he was a newborn, so we've been using Pampers (the only ones that contain his pee). ...sigh...
Someone gave us a huge bag of what I think are traditional cloth diapers and covers. But my son is rather big (9 months old, but wearing 12 month clothes) and the covers are all too small. And I can't figure out how the darn things work, looks like the cloth part goes into a pocke in the cover. But that would mean changing the cover with each diaper change.
A friend has a kind where the cloth inside wraps around the baby and snaps on the same way the cover does, so it seems not to leak. I tried the traditional ones I was given, and the folded cloth part leaked and moved around right away.
Is it too late to go cloth? Another friend said it's too late because cloth aren't as comfortable and our son will not like them after using Pampers. But I'm thinking: we have about 2 more years in diapers, better late than never!
So, any suggestions?
http://www.cottonbabies.com/
http://www.luvaboos.com/
http://www.diaperswappers.com/
http://local.mothering.com/The_Joy_of_Cloth_Diapers_San_F...
Here are a few links to look at. I didn't fully look at the last one, but looks like it has lot of good information for cloth diapering in your area.
Its not too late to do cloth. Its so much better on their little bottoms. I started my daughter on them at like 11 months. diaperswappers.com is a good place to find some. My friend uses fuzzi bunz and she loves them. I started with Gdiapers and they were not good. They come with a plastic liner and you insert a cloth. My daughter was constantly leaking in them. Also be sure to pick up som Rockin green detergent. Its amazing on cloth diapers!
It's never too late to do cloth diapers. (Well, maybe starting at 2.5 years old, might be a little on the late side, lol).
I would strongly suggest that you go to a natural baby store (google "cloth diapers" + your city/state). Contact the store(s) and ask if you can come in for a one-on-one to see the different styles and options. That way, you'll be able to see the various options & try them out (on a doll, not on your baby :). You could probably also take one or two of the diapers & covers you have and ask them how to use them.
In terms of ease of use, All-in-ones are probably easiest to use---the cover & the absorbent diaper part are sewn together, so when it gets dirty/wet, you just toss it into the diaper bin. However, they are the most expensive option and they take a long time to dry (mine often have to go through a regular dry cycle plus another 20-30 min additional dry).
Pockets, which are a cover with a permeable layer next to the baby's skin & into which you slide an absorbent material in the pocket, are really easy, take way less time to dry. You do wash them after every wet/dirty one. They are about the same or slightly cheaper than AIOs.
Fitted diapers are the absorbent part, sewn into the shape of a diaposable, and fastened either with snaps or velcro. Over the fitted, you need a cover. The cover can be reused for more than 1 diaper change (my rule is: if the diaper cover smells bad or it's a poopy, it goes into the diaper pal; otherwise, I rotate it out & use a different one to let the just-used one air out a bit). If you can sewn or have a friend/family member who can sew, then these are also very economical. I made some before DS was born, and it cost me $3 to $5 per diaper (that is the cost of materials, not the cost of my time); flannel and good velcro and thread were the only supplies I needed.
The most versatile, imo, is the prefold. You can fold it into a variety of shapes, and they are very very absorbent (go with ones that called "diaper service quality). Over the prefold you use a cover.
I like Green Mountain DIapers, which has a lot of really good info on their site, as well as good prices. I got a lot of my diapers from myuseddiaper.com and diaperswappers.com. I also snagged some from Freecycle (free!) and Craigslist (cheap!). Some of the fitteds I made (back when I had free time, LOL). The rest were prefolds from Pro Raps, which offers really good quality prefolds diapers and a good deal on covers ($5.25 each for the "seconds").
It's not too late, I used cloth most of the time with both my kids but used disposables at night so I wasn't up changing diapers past the first several months.
We just used a prefold inside a prowrap cover - this is the cheapest cover out there but very durable and reliable - never had a leak! And if you use prefolds or flats inside a cover/wrap, then you don't need to change the cover with each diaper change, just the inner diaper.
