pregnant...would like advice.

Manda+panda

I want to cloth diaper, my husband...not so much. My entire family is chemical sensitive, I can't even use pads. Most people don't think about the chemicals that are in disposable diapers, but working at a nursing home, I honestly DO know. He thinks that it would be more expensive, that it's unreasonable. So, I thought I would ask you ladies if the extra work is worth it, and if it's really that much more expensive. Also, if you have any advice on cloth diapering, or brands that you think work best. TIA for all responses!

TJ1979

Actually it's much LESS expensive.  Especially if you plan to have more than one child and can reuse your cloth.  But even for one, it's a huge cost savings.  They say it costs an average of 2500 to disposable diaper a baby to potty training.  I realize that can vary greatly based on the type of dipes and the length of time they are in them.  Our stash cost around $750 total.  Maybe even less.  And that will last her through potty training.  You can do it cheaper if you do prefolds and covers, but I chose AIOs and AI2s. 
And the laundry isn't that bad.  It's 3 loads per week for me, and the only hard part is folding them and putting them away.  MH wasn't a huge fan of the idea at first, but now he shows them off everywhere we go, and has converted several of his friends.  There are online calculators to show you the cost comparisons, but I don't know the links.  If you scroll through the posts below, there was a post about this very recently.
Congrats on your pregnancy.

ETA: Here's the link to answers about the cost.

unaveragejane

It's honestly far LESS expensive that doing disposables, unless every single diaper in your stash is a custom-made collector's item. (Plus you can sell your stash when you're done with it and recoup some of your costs unless your diapers are completely worn out.) It's not really a lot of work, IMO. It's an extra load of diaper every other day for us, but I hang them to dry so the electricity bill isn't much higher. Investing in a diaper sprayer for when they start solids is very helpful in dealing with the messes. My DH was skeptical about using cloth at first, too. The cost savings and freedom from chemicals really turned him around. Now he loves them! As far as brands, different diapers work for different body types. You can do a diaper rental/diaper trial with places like Jillian's Drawers to try out several different brands and styles to see what works for you and your LO. When we did the JD trial last year, it only cost $10 (to cover shipping) plus the price of any diapers we decided to keep. If you return them all, you're only out $10, and you had 21 days to decide.

AlwaysForgetful

I just recently came back to cloth diapers. Yes, it can be a PITA at times. My diaper sprayer (hooks to the toilet, easy to install) is my best friend for poop. I rinse all my pee diapers (not everyone does) and it only takes a second. I have a pail just for diapers and undies that my autistic son poops in. So come wash time, I just dump it in the washer.

It can be expensive. It can also be addictive. I know many people love BG and some more of the other popular brands. I have a now decent sized stash from a no name in China that I got off ebay and I have had no issues (a few have been in use for 2 years already). I do love the few BG I have.

I did have one child that could only be in BG or he would break out. In the pocket diapers (which most of my stash is pockets with a few wraps) not all the inside is the same fabric. I am bad with fabric names, so I know someone will correct me, but many of my cheap ones and my Kawaii use a thin fleece? Yes, it pills as it gets older, but it is still usable. BG uses something else. So my youngest son could only use BG or any other brand with that type of inside fabric. He never did well with wraps either. The other son was fine with whatever I uses.

I am CD my 20 month old and she seems to use whatever.

I did buy my BG and most of my original stash (half is MIA) used off craigslist and off of a diaper forum. That kept down costs. I think I never paid more than $5 for a diaper. I bought some new no name Chinese ones for just under $4 a diaper for prints and under $3 each for solids, but those have to be bought as a lot. I bought my wraps new from a local child resale shop (new wraps) when she was clearing them out for $5 each.

I have seen some posts about people who have issues with the Chinese cheap ones. So I could just be an odd duck who has had no issues and loves them.

Even if you buy all BG or others that are $15-20 per diaper, in the end, yes, you do save money. It does take a little more work.

kjsmith9

I'm a FTM and have used cloth since the first day she came home from the hospital.  Overall we've spent just under $1000 on our stash, and I anticipate just needing 1-2 more wool covers for night time before she is potty trained.  

We will most likely have 2 or 3 more children, so I'm saving (on average), $1500 with her, and $5000-$7500 more with regards to future children.  We purposely bought 95% of our stash as gender neutral, so that we can use everything again if we have a boy.

I honestly don't feel like it's more work.  Yes I have to rinse poop out of diapers now that she's eating solids, most of the time they just plop out into the toilet.  I run 3 extra loads of laundry a week (so MAYBE 5 minutes per load including getting the diapers in the washer/starting cylces/adding soap/switching to the dryer).  15 minutes a week is not a big deal to me if I'm saving thousands of dollars.

Also, as far as the poop rinsing goes... I would say I SAVED time compared to moms who use disposable diapers for the first few months, because we literally never had a poop explosion using prefolds and covers.  I'm happy to say I've never had the "poop up the back" experience, or had to put her in the bathtub in the middle of the day, or spend time trying to get poop out of clothes/bedding/etc.  I would bet that 95% of parents who use disposables can't say that!

As far as brands go, I love my Green Mountain Diapers prefolds.  We started with 24 newborn (which she used until 9 weeks old), and now are using 24 smalls (still wearing them at 8 months old and 18lbs).  My favorite covers for the newborn period were Bummis Super Brites (aplix), Rumparooz Lil Joeys (aplix), and Thirsties Duo Wraps (snaps).  My favorite covers now that she's bigger are Blueberry Coveralls and Best Bottoms.

She wears pocket diapers at daycare, and the ones we have the best results with are BumGenius 4.0's and Tots Bots Easy Fit.

Everyone will say something different though with regards to brands.  Your best bet is to buy a few different brands or do a diaper trial.  I've been lucky in that DD has fit fairly well into every diaper I've ever purchased (however I think I'm in the minority on that one)...

Aurora_Borealis

Yeah, for starters CD-ing is actually *less* expensive than using disposables. I've spent $700 on my stash that will get DD to potty training. And then I will sell it for $350 - $400. For a net diapering cost of $300-$350. To use disposables it would easily cost over $2500 for me as I live in a very HCOLA.

And honestly I don't find it very much work. It is 3 loads of laundry a week. What was extra work was peeling a poop-covered outfit off of DD when she would have a poop blowout the few times she's worn disposables.

As far as advice, here's what I've got:
1. Get a newborn stash. Especially if you're planning to have more than one child. One size diapers do not fit most newborns, even if the manufacturer says they will. DD was a very average size newborn and did not fit into OS diapers until 6-8 weeks old. We got our money's worth having those newborn diapers. Fitteds and/or prefolds with covers are more absorbent and more forgiving with fit than newborn AIOs.

2. Lurk here to get info on specific brands and sales. And to ask questions.

ForeverEverAfter

I sold my reluctant DH with the cost savings. I had a newborn stash with fitteds and AIOs, and my one size stash is mostly pockets with some pricy AIOs and night fitteds-still under $1000 for everything up to potty training. My LO has my chemical sensitivities, and broke out with blistering, burn-like welts when I used a pampers swaddlers on her. To buy seventh generation sposies (free of the worst chemicals) til 2.5yrs would be $2900 here. I don't find it extra work, its really quick esp in the newborn stage when the poop can go in the washer. I also really enjoyed diaper changes. I recommend buying newborn diapers so you can try it right away. Do a trial or get a few different styles so you can try them out before investing in your one size stash.