Cloth Diapering
amandoza23
member
Over ambitious?
amandoza23
member
So I've been doing my research and lurking here for a couple of weeks. DH and I are expecting our first and I would love to use cloth diapering instead of disposables. When I mentioned it to a few friends at work they said I was really over ambitious to try this with our first which kind of discouraged me a little bit. We are hopefully going to a class next week when we are on vacation to learn a little more but my question is: Is it worth it to buy a lot of diapers up front or just use a rental newborn service to try it out? And also, about how many are recommended to start out with? I've read anywhere from 2440 and that seems like a fairly big gap to me. And last question, about how much should we expect to pay to get our initial stash of cloth diapers? I know the profolds are the most cost effective but we will probably lean more towards the AIOs or AI2s just for my husbands sake lol
TIA!
TIA!
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Re: Over ambitious?
I'm a FTM as well, and we've been using cloth since we got home from the hospital. It's not over ambitious at all, especially if you've taken the time to know what you're getting into (as you seem to be doing). As for your questions:
1. We bought our whole stash up front. We're in rural Germany, so a rental service wasn't a realistic option. We bought prefolds, fitteds and covers for the newborn phase. All of our covers were purchased 2nd hand, and we still use some of the prefolds for stuffing for our pockets and Flips.
2. The amount you want to start with depends on how often you want to do laundry. We had 36 newborn diapers and did laundry every other day. You could get by with less if you washed every day.
3. Our stash (excluding our wool) cost around $550 (the newborn diapers were about $100 of that). Once he started fitting OS diapers, we switched to a mix of AIOs, pockets, and AI2s. Most of our diapers were purchased 2nd hand or on clearance. Currently I do laundry about every 3rd day (I could go longer with the amount of diapers we have, but that's a bit gross).
Wow, sorry for the long reply, but I hope it helps
I was going to do something similar, buying just the prefolds/covers, that way if I ended up giving it up, I wouldn't be out much. Then I picked up about 15 pockets on the BG B5G1 free and seconds sales. I've spent about 300 for pockets and 2 dozen newborn,1 dozen small prefolds and about 9 covers. I'm due in the fall! I feel like people think I'm crazy to do it too, but hopefully I'll stick with it!
I'm a FTM and we've been using cloth since the day we came home from the hospital. It's not hard. We started with 24 newborn prefolds and 4 covers... Washed EOD and never ran out. We've probably spent at least $800 on our stash, which includes those newborn diapers, plus 24 small size prefolds, a handful of OS covers, 25-30 pockets/AIOs, a few wool covers, plus all the CD accessories (liners, wet bags, diaper cream, detergent, etc).
And your DH won't know what he likes to use til you try them. DH has the baby at home right now during the day since he's a teacher and is on summer break, and he reaches for prefolds and covers before the pocket diapers.
I don't think it is too ambitious at all...like pps, I'm a FTM and we've been diapering (including at daycare) for going on 10 months. And every time I use a sposie, I think they are so gross and I'm so glad DH and I decided to go this route.
i think one of the biggest problems with first timers is that they go out and buy an entire stash of one brand before figuring out what works for their family and their kid. Different brands fit different babies differently, so don't go out and buy a boatload of BG 4.0s because your BF loved them...they may not work for your LO at all. Some people stash up in advance to save money and shop sales, but if you go that route, try to get a mix of styles.
We used a NB rental from kissed by the moon and loved it - it ended up being about 60 for two months. For the last two weeks of that, we did a OS diaper trial (we used diaper daisy because we got a good mix of pockets and AIOs, most trials include some prefolds and DH was totally against them) and then bought more of the brands we liked best.
Cost will totally depend on the system you want to use. Cheapest is always going to be flat or prefolds and covers, but you can get an inexpensive stash of pockets if you use alva or sunbaby or kawaii.
BFP #1: 10-25-11, MC: 11-1-11 @ 5w5d
BFP#2: 12-29-11, DS born September 2012
TFAS: July 2014, BFP#3: 12-29-14, EDD 9-9-15
There will always be naysayers, especially regarding cloth diapering. Don't let them discourage you.
For our newborn stash we had 26 aio and pocket diapers which allowed us to go about a day and a half between washing to start out.
What you pay will really depend on what you buy. Some we bought new, some were used. I have had good luck with diaperswappers for used diapers. If I had bought a full stash of my favorite nb diaper all new (blueberry/swaddlebees simplex nb) it would have been $520. I know we didn't spend that much. I also plan to use my newborn stash for subsequent children.
Forget what people say, do your research, and dive in. If it's not working for you, use disposables.
Over ambitious? Certainly not. I am a FTM and really it has been no big deal. They are just diapers.
I had 36 newborn diapers which was a great amount. Newborns go through 12-15 diapers per DAY, so to not have to wash every single day you need 24 as an absolute minimum.
For us it was totally worth it to buy a newborn stash up front. I bought mine used and then sold them to another mama for about what I paid to begin with. If I was planning to have another baby, I would have just kept them to use again.
I was slightly nervous about cloth diapering...mainly worried about the laundry routine. However, it has seriously been the best decision...and probably the easiest part of having DD.
I would definitely concur with all the previous posters that you should try different brands and styles. I know that I thought DH and I would want AIO or pockets after the NB phase but it turns out we really dislike pockets and I don't own a single AIO...Instead we have fitteds with covers and AI2's. For the newborn stage we used prefolds with covers as well, but for our next child I will be investing in more NB fitteds because that is what we really liked.
Also, I purchased prefolds and a few fitteds before DD was born, but waited on covers and post NB cloth diapers and I am sooo glad I did. So much about cloth working well is getting a good fit, and good fit is very dependent on cut and your child's build. DD is tiny and has always had thin legs. She was born 5 weeks early and stayed in NB diapers until she was almost 5 months. I ended up purchasing more size NB diapers, and XS and S covers than I would have had she been a larger baby.
ETA: All totalled we have spent about $500. I have purchased all new, but have caught some good sales. I will most likely need to spend another $100-200 to get DD thru potty training, and if we have a bigger baby/faster growing kid next time around I may need to spend about $200 more on diapers/covers for that child.
THIS! If it wasn't CDing that you were overambitious about...they'd have found something else. Cding is easy.
AIO's and AI2's are the most expensive option for CD's, so keep that in mind. A lot of our stash was gifted from the ILs and parents. Our NB stash included 12 prefolds, BG aio's, Imagine aio's and 3 or 4 Kawaii PNs. We washed every other day
I would be more overwhelmed with purchasing a pack of sposies every week as opposed to what we do now....add an extra load of laundry EOD.
You wouldn't believe the number of people who said that they wish they had done cloth now that they see what it is like from my DD. Most people expect that you will be using diaper pins and rubber pants.
I actually find some aspects of cloth easier... for instance bundling up DD in the middle of winter to do anything was a big challenge. Not having to buy diapers or wipes eliminated so many trips!
Plus not having to clean the carseat from blow outs... elastic can hold anything.