Help?

BabyMorrissey

Ladies,

I'm a first timer.

Help me start this cloth diapering process! I have read so many blogs on what you need and what laundry schedules work best and I feel like pulling my hair out.. I want the simplest, most realistic outlook!
I am thinking the disposable wipes are the only way I can keep others helping with diaper fun times which is a bummer but it is what it is.

So what's the best one size snap diaper for all day/all night wear?
How many diapers would the average stock pile be for doing laundry 2-3 times a week?
Is there a diaper that you would recommend more for a boy?

definitely don't see myself remembering/feeling the need to nag DH which diapers are overnight diapers etc.. I'm looking for a one stop shop here.

By the way, my budget will be $200 to get started to see if I really can get down with cloth.

Lets hear the opinions

Aurora_Borealis

With a $200 budget, I would say either Kawaii snap pockets or prefolds/covers.

Kawaii pockets will definitely not fit a newborn - probably won't fit until 8 weeks or so. And you may find that as your LO gets older they are less great for overnight (some LOs will leak out of a pocket ON no matter what you do), but may be fine if you use hemp inserts.

Prefolds with snap covers will give you a lot more flexibility with fit and be much easier to launder. You can tri-fold the prefold in the cover to make it pretty easy. You could probably get away with buying 3 dozen infant (7-15 lb) and 2 dozen medium (15-30 lb) prefolds to use from birth to potty. Add in 6-8 size 1 covers and 4-6 size 2/one size covers and you're good to go.

As far as how many, for the first 3 months DD used 12-15 diapers per day. Now she uses 6-7. In any case, I would *highly* recommend doing diaper laundry more than 2x per week.

ElleBeeDub

I agree with PP. With your budget (and other specifications), I would say go with prefolds and covers. They seem like more work, but they really aren't. My DH didn't want to "deal" with anything beyond what would be required from disposables, and he was completely on board with prefolds and covers (in fact, he has a harder time with some of our pockets and AI2s than he ever did with prefolds). 

For newborn, we really loved our Thirsties Duo covers. For OS, I like our Blueberry and Best Bottoms covers. The big thing for little boys is to make sure you put their member pointing down. It won't be uncomfortable for him, and it really cuts down on your leaks. If he's pointing up, he'll pee right out of the top of his diaper.

I also agree that you might want to consider doing laundry more like every other day (every third day if pushed). You can get mold and other yuckies if you leave them longer than that. 

Also, has anyone said specifically that they won't use cloth wipes? I've always found it's easier to use cloth with cloth since it can all just go in the wet bag that way. If we use disposable wipes, we have to find a trash can for those and a wet bag for the diaper. DH was against cloth wipes too, but as long as they're wet enough, he's on board with using them after seeing what a pain it was to throw away the disposables.

freezorburn

During the newborn stage, since they are a round-the-clock eating/sleepign schedule, you don't need a special overnight diaper. You change diapers so frequently that there is no point to having a super absorbent diaper.

Definitely look into prefolds. They are probably the most cost effective. Also, you might think about doing a diaper trial. We had a good experience with Jillian's Drawers. I thought I was going to really like pockets and AIOs but prefolds and fitteds worked best for us, and DH mostly uses prefolds when he does a diaper change.

You really only need to consider an overnight diaper once your LO is STTN, especially if he turns out to be a heavy wetter. Some people just use a pocket diaper but they add extra inserts. But that doesn't work for everyone. DS is a beanpole so we have a hard time getting the right amount of compression with a pocket to avoid leaks. Also, he is a side/stomach sleeper, and pee tends to run out of the sides of pockets, since all the absorbency is down the middle. So we use fitteds at night.

Last night DS was coming down with something so he fell asleep a bit earlier than usual. He was wearing a Swaddlebees Simplex OS, and I thought I would rather just risk putting him down for bed rather than disturbing him by changing him into his ON diaper. Bad idea -- he woke up at 4am, having peed through the diaper and leaked all over his bedding, and he was pissed. 

Let me say that before last night, the last time I had to completely change his clothes and bedding in the middle of the night, was probably many months ago, while I was still in the experimenting stage of what would work for longer stretches of sleep at night.

You will find that the simplest solution is the one that works.

flummadiddle85

Everything PP have said. We tried a variety, and we have ended up using prefolds almost exclusively. I also wanted to mention the Assunta diapers. They may be worth a try. I just got my covers yesterday, and they are drying outside right. I'm really excited to try them. My friend is due any day now, and she got a fitted and I think a pocket to try out as well. Granted, neither of us have tried these out yet, but they are way cheaper, seem to be good quality from what I can tell so far, and it helps support a charity.