Need Info on Cloth Diapers!

I found that my time is worth something. The time I spent doing laundry, the washing, the drying for the second time because they just didn't get dry yet, the rinsing the feces out each time, the smell from the pail in the laundry area everytime I opened the can to put another in, the mildew from then not being washed every day, etc...was way more stress than just takinga disposable off and tossing it in the trash. The diapers had to be washed seperatly due to the sanitary issue, I wanted then soft so I dried them in the dryer and that took forever, I just found it to be more time consuming and tedious than using disposible. I wanted to spend time with my family not doing laundry all the time.

I used cloth diapers on my daughter and would not have had it any other way.
I bought three dozen plain flat-fold diapers and pins and about half a dozen pairs of the rubber pants to go over them. I rinsed them in the toilet when I changed her so that they wouldn't smell until I washed them. The only expense was having to replace the rubber pants as she grew out of them.
Those three dozen diapers lasted me from the day she was born until I started potty training her.
As for the cost of washing them, I had to do laundry anyway, and I washed them with the other whites. I wash everything in cold water, and I didn't notice any increase in the water or electric bill.

Hi J.,
My personal favorite was the Fuzzibuns pocket diapers, that you use with inserts or wonderworks AIO's, I actually had a WAHM make some cute train ones for me off of ebay and they worked great. Also to get a stash going you can buy some diapers cheap on www.diaperswappers.com. Ebay lady her screen name is lmknoebel and her website is www.littlebeecreations.com. Again if you want to check out which ones work best for you go on diaperswappers and you can get diapers for cheap! We only cloth diapered for a few months I got tired of buying pullups and now my son is fully potty trained even at night. I so wish I would have started when he was born. We only cloth diapered at naptime and bedtime and I had like 12 for my son.

Happy Cloth Diapering,
J. from Oklahoma

I clothed diapered for 6-7 months. I should have used them longer--I just didn't want to dump patties in the toilet. I do think I'd reconsider if we had another one for the benefits.

I think I had 40+ diapers. I washed about every 18 hours--not because I was out of diapers, but because I didn't want any odor, (even disposables using those diaper champs are stinky). My baby's room never smelled.

I used Kushies All in ones (which I would sell if anyone is interested). I loved them...easy to clean, super easy to use--they are shaped just like a disposable diaper and have velcro I also have some others called Little Lambs and they have inserts. They are really nice too, and they are for older babies.

I would cloth diaper again--then I'd really see some savings. I think as far as cost...I broke even, but for the environment it's better, and I think they are nicer for baby. My husband agrees that cloth diapering was great.

We have 14 bumGenius 3.0s, and also 6 infant prefolds with 2 Bummis super whisper covers that we used during the newborn phase when he went through diapers faster. I don't remember the actual numbers, but I figure we broke even when he was four months old and we've been saving ever since.

For the first 6 months or so, I had to wash every day. His poops decreased in frequency about the same time the prefolds & covers were getting too small. Now at 9 months we are also having success with elimination communication, but we still have to wash every other day.

I do like the bumGenius, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the Velcro tabs curling out at the edge on a few of them, so that it sometimes rubs his tummy, and if he's not wearing a onesie-type shirt over it he pulls at them. We haven't had him open a diaper yet, but it does bother me. The laundry tabs are giving out too, so they all stick together in the wash, but they seem to get clean anyway. I think at least the curling could have been prevented if I had line-dried the pockets and only put the inserts in the dryer to finish if I needed them faster. I've always followed the washing directions as nearly as I can, but my diaper pail doesn't have a carbon filter as they say you need, so perhaps that's contributing to the laundry tabs wearing out?

A friend of mine has a blog http://www.theclothdiaperreport.blogspot.com/
I found it really helpful. She goes through all the kinds of cloth diapers and has used quiet a few brands.

Bumgenius 3.0 are the bomb. I really like the pocket ones with inserts, rather than the all-in-ones, but I guess it's a matter of preference. It's also nice to have a few fitteds with covers, too. That way, I can put a fitted on my daughter to let her "air out," since they breathe so well. After half an hour or so of her staying dry, I'll add the cover since I know she'll pee soon. But meanwhile, her skin has gotten a break from the whole diaper routine.

I have about 12 Bumgenius, 10 fitteds, and 6-8 covers (you can use the same cover for several fitteds, as long as there's no poop on it). I really like THirsties covers the best. You just have to make sure to cinch them nice and snug, or the top will rub that little tummy and irritate it.

Most people have a lot more diapers than that - maybe 25 Bumgenius and a couple of fitteds and covers, for example.

Bumgenius is great becuase baby never feels wet. It goes right through to the inserts. Wonderful for overnight and long days out on errands/whatver. But you still want to get that diaper off and changed for hygiene.

Savings: You might spend, oh, $300 on cloth diapers for your baby's entire diapering needs, till she potty trains, while disposables will cost you about $2,500 till she potty trains. Not only that, but if you get cloth wipes and water (keep the water warm in a thermos, refresh about once every day or two), that saves you God knows how much more. Cloth wipes will run you about $30. Sposie wipes? Oh, I don't know, since we rarely use them, but I imagine they cost you about $500-$800 from birth to potty. Just calculate how many you used on your first baby per week, multiply that cost by 52, then multiply *that* number by 3, if 3 is when you potty trained.

For errands/being out and about, we still use cloth/wipes and use a wet bag, which you can find at any cloth dipe site. I like cottonbabies.com.

As for laundry, I recommend Country Save. The best deal I've found is for $60 at amazon.com for some unbelievable number of loads. Will probably last you till your daughter potty trains! Esp. because you only need like a tablespoon per load.

I have used bum genius one size fits all diapers for over a year now, on my son. I have had no problems- except some wear on velcro. I got 18 diapers and I wash a load every couple days. I would suggest getting atleast 18 but maybe even 24. The only thing is my son was small, 5 lbs, and couldn't fit into the diapers at first.
Good luck!
Try cottonbabies.com

I'm expecting baby #2 anytime now, and while I used disposables with DD #1 I am going to try gDiapers (www.gdiapers.com) and see how they work. They are flushable (you can also compost the "#1" diapers but not those with "#2"), which I think is pretty cool, but I don't know anyone personally who's used them.

So I'm not totally recommending them because the baby's not here to use them on yet. And I'm not trying to sway you from using cloth, if that's what you've decided. But to me, it's an interesting concept and just wanted to mention it in case it happened to interest you as well!

We use some FuzziBunz pocket diapers which are nice but mostly we use cotton prefolds and either wool covers, Mommy's Touch covers, or Bummis Whisper Wraps covers. The wool ones are great (yes, even during summers in the South) because they are natural fibers and therefore cooler in the summers. Plus, the wool covers are really soft, not itchy at all. The prefolds are inexpensive--I'd recommend getting 15-18 to start with and about 6 covers. And yes, cloth diapering in the long run is definitely cheaper than disposables.

I recommend going to www.greenmountaindiapers.com That's where we ordered our diapers and covers. You can spend some time reading through their products plus other diaper information they have on their site.

Also, for detergent we use Charlie's Soap (which we do have to order online.) *** I just read online that some people with hard water have found that Charlie's Soap causes rashes--we have never had a problem but I did want to alert you to this. We might investigate Country Save--I've heard that's a good one. Also, as far as washing goes we wash a full load every other night. On the no wash nights we do a quick cycle for about 20 minutes and then take them out of the washer to wait for the next batch the next day (this way the bacteria doesn't fester for 24 hours.) When we do a full wash, we do one wash cold with a presoak, the second wash hot with an extra rinse and the third wash just a rinse and spin with an extra rinse. (We have a front loader btw) We only use 1/4 cup of Charlie's one time--during the first wash. Too much soap is not a good thing. We wash the diapers at night--if we start the load around 7 it's done by 10 and all we have to do is remember to press the buttons to start the wash cycle again. We leave the diapers wet overnight and line dry in the morning. Honestly, it really doesn't feel like it's too time consuming at all.

One more thought... you might look into a sprayer system that can be attached to your toilet. I've heard these are extremely helpful. We just use the dunk and scrape method to clean solids but if we had another baby, I would definitely invest in a little sprayer.

Best of luck to you!

J.,

We used cloth diapers with all three of our kids and I have no idea how much money we saved...it had to be considerable considering even cheap diapers are $10-12 a bag.

I used a whole different types of diapers with the first child, just trying out the different kinds. I found that all-in-ones, while convenient, were a devil to dry. The pocket systems were too much trouble. The prefolds seemed scary at first because I was nervous about stabbing a wriggling baby with sharp diaper pins but I quickly found another solution. Something called a Dappi (?) which you stretched across the two sides, pulling them together, then another piece went between the legs to draw that part up. I also used a form of diaper that was shaped like a T; you used these with diaper wraps.

By the 2nd child I used prefolds with plastic pants or diaper wraps, and the T-shaped ones with diaper wraps. All of these components were easy to wash and hang out on the clothesline to dry. Also, they were relatively inexpensive. I got all of the prefolds from a Mennonite company called FAMILIES.

As far as how many, it depends on how often you want to wash them. I bought enough that I had to do a load of diapers only about every week. Actually, when the five-gallon bucket I threw them in was full. I had about 6 dozen (bought them from my sister who bought them in the Y2K hysteria) but never had more than 2 or 3 dozen out at a time.

Hope this helps!

K.

Shop at www.bargindollardays.com and www.barginshopping.dollardays.com for you diapers in bulk and other baby items,great deals and savings. Good luck and for your husband, we are proud of him. In today's world everything is disposable. If you can do it, just do it. You go my family vote. One Love D.

We used cloth diapers on our little boy. I don't think I saved any money, but I know it was better for our baby. I bought Kushies Ultra diapers. They were all in ones, and were awesome. I used them until he was 6 months old and started eating solids. I should have used them longer, but at the time, didn't want to deal with solid waste. He never had a rash while using them. I think you need about 25 diapers. I washed diapers about every 18 hours. I had about 40 diapers at a time, but still washed them frequently. My son's room never smelled like dirty diapers, and I think its' because I washed them frequently. I think I spent about the same $$ on cloth as I would have disposable,but if we would have had another, it would have been a savings. I also think that if I sell these, I will come out ahead.

All the best!!

i used cloth diapers with my 1st baby --a girl-- I couldnt do it with my boy he was too messy lol. I had 3 dozen to start with and they were the plain large rectangle or square that you fold yourself I did not use the pre-folded ones as they were a mess to clean. i washed almost all her diapers by hand and they dried quikly they were very cost efective but make sure you get a good quality rubber pants to go over them and dont worry you prolly wont stick the baby with the diaper pins!!! the non folded diapers are a breeze to wash if yu can get to it as soon as you can i always washed mine within a few hours of soiling --like i said iwashed them by hand and it took 5 mins even for the worst poo hang it over the shower rod in winter and it was dry in an hour outside in the summer dry in 15 minutes

Hi J.,
Welcome to the wackiness of the CDing mama! You will find that you are so excited about your diapers that you can't talk about anything else for days after you have received a shipment of diapers... it's sick, but it's fun! :D

A note on price - you can cloth diaper (CD) for as little or as much as you'd like... the flat Chinese prefolds with covers are the cheapest option, you can look into a diaper service if you have the budget for that and you are choosing that kind of diaper. You don't have to use pins anymore, they have rubber ties that work with them now so no more worries about sticking your little one!

If you don't have the budget for a service, but you have the budget for a bit more than the basic cloth diaper, then definitely look into the pocket diapers - these are the most universally loved as far as I can tell... Bum Genius 3.0 is awesome, but runs a bit smaller and has some issues with the Velcro... Fuzzibunz one size is awesome, runs a bit larger, but has snaps which are a bit harder for support personnel (babysitters, grand parents, & etc) to use because you kind of have to know what snap you're currently on... my dad put one of these on my son improperly (too loose) and the poo exploded all over his shorts. He'll never let me forget it!

I have somewhere between 25 and the recommended 30 pocket diapers, and am usually good for 2 days before I have to run a load... I spent about $600 total on the diapers and a variety of wet bags and wipes and assorted 'stuff'... the reality of this was tough at first (especially for the hubs) but now my son is 6 months old and we haven't had to buy diapers in the last 4 months... we're almost to that point where the cost of disposables would have been comparable, and we're proud of the decision we've made. Even if you do like I did and splurge on the husband/grandparent friendly pocket diapers, you look at saving at minimum $2000 over the life of your diaper use for one child... you're looking at significantly more savings if you are planning more babies later.

The reality of laundry... if you go with pocket diapers, know that you will have to wash them separately, and you will need to look into the proper detergent - can't use the standard Dreft, because it's actually packed with chemicals and softeners and fragrances (Please just don't use Dreft anyway - it's a rip off and not good for baby's skin!) I use Purex free and clear, because it's the only free and clear detergent I could find that doesn't have softeners or the organic compounds you're told to avoid. You ARE going to use some more water... one load of diapers is actually 2.5 large loads - you wash them once on cold and once on hot and then one last hot rinse to make sure that the soap is completely rinsed out.

I would definitely say that you should purchase one or two of a few different kinds at first... when your baby is new born, most of these diapers will be larger than the baby, so you'll want to just use disposables for the fist couple of weeks. You can use one or two cloth diapers a day when your baby is little and find out which ones you like the most, and THEN you invest in a stash.

Good luck, and sorry I got so long winded! Seriously, this gets to be an obsession - it's so fun!
-H.

I just wanted to add on the cloth diaper discussion regarding wipes, you can make your own out of all those millions of receiving blankets very easily and cheaply. Thats what we use and they work great. Soft flannel on baby's rear just seems so much better than the sposie wipes.

I have a bunch of fitted's that my mom made for me,24 prefolds, and 6 covers. My favorite cover is blueberry bums and the bummis super whisper wrap. For overnight you will need to get a heavier duty diaper. A lot of people use a pocket diaper with double stuffed inserts. I use a bumgenius all in one with a prefold laid inside it like the all in one is a cover.

It seems VERY overwhelming at first but once you are doing it, its so much more simple than it seemed at first. Prefolds and covers are the cheapest way to go and its nice to have a few all in ones or pockets for outings, or for grandparents or babysitters.

I haven't heard of the brand babyland though.