Cloth Diapers

[Lindsay112]

Okay Ladies, I need your help. I am thinking about doing cloth diapers. This is our first baby, and I've never changed a diaper in my life....I figure if I don't start down the disposable track I won't miss the convenience. I'm looking at bumgenious. What do you think?? Any advice? Has anyone tried bumgenious diapers and gone to disposables??

[gostomskiart]

I'm also going the cloth diaper route (am due in Jan with my first). I bought online a couple diaper covers from Thirsties and couple from a WiggleWormBottoms.com. The Thirsties look easy to wipe out with a cloth until you can throw them in the wash. The WiggleWorms look very durable but have different liners so I'm not sure how they will work yet.

I'm doing the diaper covers so I bought chinese fold cloth diapers which I will fold into thirds then place in the diaper cover. The cover velcros or snaps into place. The covers can be reused a few times before needing a wash.

There are also all in one diapers (a little more expensive and the whole thing goes straight into the wash).

Here are a few websites that I found helpful. They sell stuff but I used it more for reading about the different options.

www.greenmountaindiapers.com
www.diaperpin.com
www.cottonbabies.com

[lena241]

Sorry,
I have always used disposables. Convenience and cost were big factors im my decision.

[KSamarco]

I am also going with cloth diapers for my baby. This is my 2nd pregnancy so I've used disposables before. The convience is great but the cost and environmental costs are greater. We have found some really great sites where you can buy diapers from WAHMs or make them yourself. They look very easy. My sister in law has used them with 3 of her 4 children and swears by them. Here are some more sites to check out. darling diapers.com zanyzebra.com diaperjungle.com Good luck and happy diapering!!

[brandie1127]

I bought my prefolds off of ebay and got a great deal!

[gostomskiart]

Yes, e-bay has great deals! Also, Thirsties diapers website has an "outlet" store where the covers are cheaper b/c they had too many or there may be a slight defect. I bought two that way and they look fine to me (we'll know how they work in Jan).

[shanmac]

Hello Ladies,
I am soooo glad to hear that cloth diapers still exist!!! I am expecting my first baby in June and I've been talking to several people about wanting to use cloth diapers because that's what my mom used on me. I always get weird stares and no responses. I will check out these websites you all mentioned. Thanks alot and good luck everybody!!!

[katiej23]

They do exist! :) Also you can check out diaperswappers.com they have a forum for cloth diapering moms. I'm due in May with my first child and it was always my thought to cloth diaper. Just personal preference... people will definitely look at you a little strange. I told my sister in law and she just looked at me with a blank stare and said "Good luck with that." To each his own.

There's definetely a learning curve, I've been researching for a few months and I still have a lot to learn. But you learn a lot by reading forums and articles on cloth diapering sites. Bumgenius are probably the cream of the crop, and if you get one-size-fits-all it'll last until you babe is potty-trained. Then there are prefolds which are cheap! but take a while to get used to folding (from what I've read, no experience here yet). I'd also check out Fuzzi Bunz, too. I've heard a lot of great stuff about them. The website that a pp gave diaperpin.com has reviews on all the major diapers so you can see what moms really think of them. Anyways, good luck!

[Liana]

We've done cloth diapers with both our girls since birth. Our oldest is now 3--and fully potty-trained since 2 1/2, so no diapers for her, yay! The youngest just turned 1 last month.

I started off with Chinese prefolds and Bummis wraps for daughter #1. We re-used pretty much everything for daughter #2, but I decided to treat myself to some all-in-ones (Kushies and BumGenius). I really like the feel of the BumGenius. The prefolds and wraps is still our primary system, though, since we have more of those.

I agree that diaperpin.com is a good starting point because it links to so many other sites.

Good luck!

[marvyndt]

I mentioned cloth diapers to my pregnant wife, and she made the "eww" face. She said why would I want to put diapers on our baby that he already pooped/peed in? Obviously you wash them after they've been used, but do you cloth diaper users have a lot of staining, need multiple washes, etc?

__________________
marvynandmary.com

[Jordyn]

I use disposibles.. sorry. I comend you and everyone else on here for having the guts to use cloth. But it's not for me. I use parents choice from walmart and they are actually very affordable. :)

[mtnmama1]

We did cloth for the first 6 months, but once DD started solids, my DH quit on me. Light weight.

In answer to a few posts, cloth diapering can be significantly cheaper than disposables. It is entirely possible to cover all your diapering needs from birth to potty training for about $300 and if you have a second child, there's no additional cost (my CD'ing mentor spent this much for 2 kids. She amazes me). You can choose to spend thousands, but you don't have to. Bumgenius dipes are really nice. I had 2 hand me downs and I liked them, but they're not necessary.

The most like spoisies are AIOs (all in ones) and they function just like sposies because the cover, soaker and diaper are all contained in one diaper. These are pricey and most people just use them for trips out of the house. Next closest are pocket diapers (like Happy Heinies) which are covers that you stuff with liners. If you get a bunch, you can stuff them in advance and use them like AIOs.

Next in line are contour diapers where the diaper itself works like a sposie but you need to add a cover on top. Personally, I didn't think these were worth it because if you just learn how to fold a pre-fold, you get the same level of convenience.

I started with a dozen small chinese pre-folds, 2 pro-wrap covers (you can get factory seconds for about half off) and 2 wool covers (which you can knit or you can get free patterns for converting wool sweaters online). Buy a yard of fleece and cut yourself some liners and look for something called a "snappi" to use instead of pins.

The best washing advice I got was to go for the cheapest detergent on the market because they don't spend money on dyes and perfumes for cheap detergent. We used All.

In response to Marvyndt's wife, you're going to put your baby in clothes that he already pooped and peed in, so that's a bit of a moot point. If your diapers get stained, I do a vinegar rinse and hang them to dry in the sun (what CD'ers call "sunning" your diapers). Takes out everything but iron supplements. As near as I can tell, nothing takes out iron supplements. You can't use things like stain treaters because they irritate the baby's skin. Sunning does wonders. Nature's bleach.

[imablondedah]

Hey Ladies! Hubby and I are planning on getting pregnant in 6-18 months depending on how his job goes (military). However, we think the sooner the better so we are trying to prepare as much as possible. We know we want to go with cloth diapers but I have a few questions. I have learned a lot from reading this thread alone but still have a few unanswered. We are going to buy pre-folds and pockets. I think this is a good idea. You can stuff the pre-folds into the pockets right? That's my understanding. Also, assuming this is correct, are the pockets one size fits all, are only some of them, or no?

I've calculated that if this is right we only have to spend around $300, maybe a little more, in diapering. That's a lot better than $50 in disposable give or take every month, besides other positives. Also, in time we are aiming for five kids (we'll see how the first one goes and then I'll keep you updated lol) for I figure in the long run that's still $1,000 or less because of being able to reuse, plus we will be adopting at least one or 2 children so we may not have them from birth.

Am I on the right track here or am I totally off or in between. I have had many cousins come after me that I helped take care of but not a single Aunt chose Cloth Diapering (sad) so this part is new to me.

Thanks in advance!

[nellie401]

Cloth diapers have new modern options! They are easy to use and clean and can save you A LOT of money! They are just as easy as disposables to put on the baby.
I wrote a cloth diaper tutorial that will let you know everything that you need to know about using cloth. You can find it at www.nellsnaturalbaby.com