Thinking about starting.. How do you..

kmdendy

My baby is 5 weeks old.  I purchased 4 BumGenius Freetime cloth diapers.   We haven't tried them out yet because I think they will be too big/bulky looking and I heard that newborn poop stains more than poop from when they are..say 4 months?  

The big thing holding me back right now is question #5.  What do you do with a cloth diaper if your baby poops in public?  You can't throw it away.....  It seems like a hassle. 

Questions..

1. At what age did you start cloth diapering?

2. How many cloth diapers do you have in your collection?

3. How often do you do laundry?

4. What do you think about the BumGenius Freetimes?

5. What do you do with a dirty cloth diaper when you are out in public????

kmdendy

6.  My baby girl is 5 weeks and poops a lot!  We go through 10-12 diapers a day.  Do they poop/pee less when they get a little older?

lunarrainn

1. 1 year old
2. An obscene amount
3. Every other day
4. Never tried the free times. one size diapers might be a little big for your LO.
5. I just put it in a wet bag and bring it home. It's not a big deal.
6. We have gone down to 6 or less diapers a day.
7. Cloth is worth giving a try

PipSqueak0313

1. I started when ds was about 2weeks old. I used prefolds and covers for the newborn period. 2. 24-36 changes is good for a newborn..... newborn sized diapers not OS diapers. 3. I did laundry every day because I didn't want to buy the number of changes needed for every other day laundry. 4. Freetimes are OS diapers and will not fit yet based on what I have read here. You will need newborn sized diapers. 5. The dirty diaper goes into a small wetbag which goes into the diaper bag and is then dumped into the diaper pail/washer at home. The wet bag contains the mess and smell of the dirty diaper so you don't even notice it in the diaper bag. It's so nice to not have to search for a trash can when changing in odd locations, such as the backseat of the car in a parking lot.

PipSqueak0313

kmdendy said:

6.  My baby girl is 5 weeks and poops a lot!  We go through 10-12 diapers a day.  Do they poop/pee less when they get a little older?

Yes, ds is 14 months and only goes through 5-7 diapers per day. 5 when he poops right before his regularly scheduled change and 7 when he poops shortly after the change.

jcwinsto

We started cloth when we brought him home from the hospital. For the first 5-6 weeks we used prefolds and covers. I had about 40 changes (36 is recommended). For one size I have several different kinds of diapers but I regularly use pockets and flats with covers. I also have about 40 changes (24 recommended) that I use regularly now.

I wash every other day. You don't wasn't to go much longer because of possible mold/mildew. You need cloth diaper safe detergent.

I don't own Freetimes but I know they are a good brand and well liked. But there are many other options out there as well.

For the diaper bag and daycare I have small/medium wetbags to put the diapers in. When you get home you put them in your diaper pail.

Hunter is 4.5 months old and we probably go through about 8 diapers a day. He is down to only pooping about once per day.

Our answers will probably raise more questions. Please ask us. The ladies around here are very nice and don't mind answering lots of questions. I hope you take the plunge!

mrshudson618

1. At 1 week.

2. About 45 nb size, and about 30 after that.

3. Monday, Wednesday, Friday

4. Never tried them, but they seem pretty popular for an AIO.

5. Like PPs said, just put it in the waterproof wet bag until you get home. This is no big deal. Until babies start eating solids you just toss all the poopy diapers as is into the washer, as EBF/EFF poop is water soluble and rinses away. After that the poop needs to be disposed of before washing, but if not convenient when you change, that can wait until you get home.
It isn't a hassle and is often easier than finding somewhere to dispose of a disposable.

6. Yes, 5-7 diapers a day becomes fairly normal after a few months.

Nb poop does but stain any more than any other EBF/EFF poop, it just may seem like it because they poop much often. EBF/EFF poop stain s come out very easily when hung to dry in the sun, after they start solids stains usually sun out, but not always as quickly or easily as before, but you won't have the mustard yellow stains from EBF/EFF.

ElleBeeDub

1. When we came home from the hospital (so about 3 days old?)

2. 43 newborn, ~70 OS, but I'm also gearing up for 2 in cloth.

3. Every other day or every third day 

4. I never could get a good fit with BumGenius, and I don't like AIOs. It's a great diaper, but it didn't work for us.

5. Stick it in my wetbag and handle it at home. As long as baby is on an exclusively milk diet (breastmilk or formula) you don't have to do anything special with the poo diapers. Once they're eating solids, they poo less and it's not as liquidy (unless they're sick) so it's not so messy.

6. They definitely go through fewer diapers as they get older. G is in the 5-7 range and has been for a while.

freezorburn

1. About 3 weeks. Would have started sooner but our home renovation ran late and we didn't have any place to store or prep diapers.

2. Including NB, probably 7-8 dozen.

3. Every other day. Sometimes stretches to 2.5 or 3 days, but I try to keep that rare.

4. Bulky and take a long time to dry. BG also fit funny on my DS, who is a skinny beanpole. So I sold all my BG and kept only one 4.0 in case I start to like it one day. Still waiting.

5. Fold/roll it over on itself and put it in the wetbag. Like PPs have said, NB poo (milk/formula fed) will come out in the wash. After solids, if poo is ploppable and the toilet is in arm's reach, I'll drop it in the toilet. Otherwise I'll just deal with it when I get home. Sometimes it's actually easier to get off after it's been sitting in the diaper for a little while.

6.  We went through 18-19 diapers a day at that age, because DS pooped at every feed and was also sensitive to wetness. They will eventually be able to hold pee for longer periods, and I think DS's poo frequency started to change when we started solids. At 2 years old we are now using 6-8 diapers a day.

km_md

1. We started when DD was about 8 weeks old. I didn't buy any newborn diapers and she has skinny legs so I waited as long as I could.

2. We have 26 changes.

3. Every other day but I have gone 3 days before.

4. I use a couple of different kinds of BGs and I really like them. Durable, cute, and they fit my DD really well.

5. I just stick them in the wetbag in the diaper bag. DD is EBF so those poops come right off in the wash.

Kelly11235

I'll just chime in and say "it doesn't have to be all or nothing".

Why not start by using the Freetime diapers that you already own and washing them when you've used all four?  You can still use the disposables when you've run through the cloth dipes.

A large ziploc bag can serve as a travel wet bag when you're on the go and at home you can use a small trash bag as a "wet bag".  Heck with 4 diapers you could just use a ziploc bag if you've got a really big one.  Most people will end up buying a proper wet bag because they are reusable and cute, but you don't need one right away, especially if you've only got 4 diapers.

I personally don't care for the freetimes.  I'm not a fan of microfiber in general.

I'd encourage you to try a variety of different styles and brands to see what you like.

km_md

Kelly11235 said:

I'll just chime in and say "it doesn't have to be all or nothing".

Why not start by using the Freetime diapers that you already own and washing them when you've used all four?  You can still use the disposables when you've run through the cloth dipes.

A large ziploc bag can serve as a travel wet bag when you're on the go and at home you can use a small trash bag as a "wet bag".  Heck with 4 diapers you could just use a ziploc bag if you've got a really big one.  Most people will end up buying a proper wet bag because they are reusable and cute, but you don't need one right away, especially if you've only got 4 diapers.

I personally don't care for the freetimes.  I'm not a fan of microfiber in general.

I'd encourage you to try a variety of different styles and brands to see what you like.

These are all great ideas. I started out with much fewer than 26 changes and used disposables when I did a load of CDs. It still saved us money and was better than using all disposables. I just continued to buy a few diapers here and there until I had my 26 changes.

TJ1979

Kelly11235 said:

I'll just chime in and say "it doesn't have to be all or nothing".

Why not start by using the Freetime diapers that you already own and washing them when you've used all four?  You can still use the disposables when you've run through the cloth dipes.

A large ziploc bag can serve as a travel wet bag when you're on the go and at home you can use a small trash bag as a "wet bag".  Heck with 4 diapers you could just use a ziploc bag if you've got a really big one.  Most people will end up buying a proper wet bag because they are reusable and cute, but you don't need one right away, especially if you've only got 4 diapers.

I personally don't care for the freetimes.  I'm not a fan of microfiber in general.

I'd encourage you to try a variety of different styles and brands to see what you like.

I would just hate for her to try the Freetimes, realize that OS don't fit on a NB, get leaks all the time, and give up.
Freetimes are great diapers, and make up the majority of my stash.  But they will not fit until at least 10 lbs.

karenhorning

1. At what age did you start cloth diapering?
Within a day of getting home from the hospital.

2. How many cloth diapers do you have in your collection?
18 OS(or size 2) Pockets/AIOs & 16 AI2 changes (snap-in inserts in OS/med/large),  plus 12 infant prefolds from the newborn stash that still work trifolded if I need them ( 7 OS AI2 shells & 3 OS covers).  I originally planned on 12 pockets/AIO and 12 AI2 inserts with 5 shells to have the recommended 24 OS changes...but yeah cloth diaper shopping is addicting.

3. How often do you do laundry?
Every other day...sometimes on the 3rd day.  (I have enough diapers to go longer, but I don't like the idea of waiting any longer to wash).

4. What do you think about the BumGenius Freetimes?
They are pretty easy to use, but I'm paranoid about the flaps bunching up and exposing the MF to skin.  I bought 1 to try and decided not to buy anymore.  I do like the fit and stretchy snap tabs of Bumgenius and have several 4.0 pockets, Elemental AIOs and Flip covers in my collection.  I started using Bumgenius 4.0 pockets at 1month and haven't had any issue with the suedecloth staining.

5. What do you do with a dirty cloth diaper when you are out in public????
I always have a medium wetbag, or a wet-dry bag (has a dry zipped section that I keep the clean diapers, wipe bag & diaper cream in, so I can just grab the wet-dry bag) in my diaper bag.  I think having it immediately contained in the wetbag and carrying it with you in the diaper bag is much less awkward than trying get a dirty diaper to a trash can when you end up changing in your car or someplace not equipped for it, or having to put a stinky diapers in a friend's or extended family's household trash.  I've never smelled a thing from a zipped wetbag (and even when opened again it hardly smells)

6.  My baby girl is 5 weeks and poops a lot!  We go through 10-12 diapers a day.  Do they poop/pee less when they get a little older?

It varies child to child.  For us we had poops at almost every change and then during week 6 she changed to only pooping 1-2 times a day (still had 8-12 total diapers a day).  She has stuck to the 1-2 poops a day so far (almost 6 months old now).  As she has gotten better at sleeping longer at night the number of changes has gone down a little, and I expect as she gets older and able to hold it we'll be able to go longer during the day between changes (currently still changing at least every 2 hours while she's awake)

Kelly11235

TJ1979 said:

I would just hate for her to try the Freetimes, realize that OS don't fit on a NB, get leaks all the time, and give up.
Freetimes are great diapers, and make up the majority of my stash.  But they will not fit until at least 10 lbs.

Good point.  I forgot about that.  We actually didn't start cloth until out son was 2 months old, so I tend to forget about the newborns not fitting into OS.

kmdendy

Ya she is over 10 pounds now! What is a cloth diaper safe detergent?

jcwinsto

There are lots that people use around here. Generally a safe detergent is clean rinseing and free of scents and brighteners. Although it is generally not listed as "safe" a lot of us use Original Tide Powder. When you wash just make sure that there are not bubbles in the rinse cycle with whatever detergent you use. There is also Charlie's, Nellies, Tiny Bubbles, Country Save, what else ladies? Rockin Green is sold as a cd safe detergent but a lot of people come here asking what is wrong with their diapers and it ends up being the Rockin Green. Don't use fabric softener or sheets of any sort. Bleach is only used in certain special cases when you are having a problem and then you have to rinse A LOT. A normal wash cycle usually looks like (cold or warm)rinse & spin, heavy duty cycle on hot, and another extra rinse at the end. What kind of washer do you have?

jcwinsto

Also, the new thread reminded me, you will need a cd safe diaper cream. You can't use Desitin or Boudroueax's or anything like that with cloth. They will build up on the diapers and make them repel. For general redness a lot of people use coconut oil, Earth Mama Angel Baby, Grovia Magic Stick, or CJ's. For an actual rash Grandma El's or Waxelene is usually recommended.

Aurora_Borealis

1. 3 days old
2. I had 36 newborn diapers, then about 36 medium and/or one size diapers. We are training now and I have about 18 diapers in rotation.
3. Every other day. Sometimes every 3rd day.
4. Never used them because a) my kid peed through every other AIO I tried so I didn't think one that was microfiber would be worth trying and b) I hate microfiber.
5. Put it in a wetbag like this: https://www.abbyslane.com/Thirsties-Wet-Bag_p_757.html
6. Yep - my newborn pooped 10-12x per day for like 3 months. Then the pooping slowed down, but we still went through ~10 diapers per day because you need to change every 2 hours.
*7. EBF poop stains but the stains disappear when you dry the diapers in the sun. Even old stains. I promise.

mrshudson618

kmdendy said:

Ya she is over 10 pounds now! What is a cloth diaper safe detergent?

Don't get discouraged if they still don't fit right now, even though LO is 10 lbs. At only 5 weeks LO could still have skinny nb legs that make a good fit hard, even at a heavier weight. Definately try though!

TJ1979

jcwinsto said:

There are lots that people use around here. Generally a safe detergent is clean rinseing and free of scents and brighteners. Although it is generally not listed as "safe" a lot of us use Original Tide Powder. When you wash just make sure that there are not bubbles in the rinse cycle with whatever detergent you use. There is also Charlie's, Nellies, Tiny Bubbles, Country Save, what else ladies? Rockin Green is sold as a cd safe detergent but a lot of people come here asking what is wrong with their diapers and it ends up being the Rockin Green. Don't use fabric softener or sheets of any sort. Bleach is only used in certain special cases when you are having a problem and then you have to rinse A LOT. A normal wash cycle usually looks like (cold or warm)rinse & spin, heavy duty cycle on hot, and another extra rinse at the end. What kind of washer do you have?

And you'll use less detergent than you normally would.  (Although I learned that if tide to the 1 line can clean pee and poop off of diapers, tide to the 1 line is plenty for my normal clothes.)