I just don't like how aggressive they are and how much they push tide (and I use tide) and stripping on people and they use a lot of soap. I have a super old washing machine and weird water so my routine is diaper and 2 towels full water. Short cycle cold wash, hot wash with powdered tide to the 1 line. Then I do 2 extra rinses only because my son is super super sensitive. Inserts go in the dryer and shells go out on the rack. I do put the shells in the dryer with no heat to soften them up.
@C3Duffy I was in the group, and I've also seen numerous screenshots of horrible advice straight from the admins. Too much detergent was one thing I kept seeing, and really harsh stripping advice. Like I said, I'm also really not a fan of groups where the admins are power trippy and kick out people that question them, especially when they aren't being rude or overly persistent.
I use Country Save powder. We have a top loader. We do a cold rinse, hot wash with a half a scoop of powder, and then another rinse. Then we hang out diapers and throw the inserts in the dryer.
That's legit birdie, I've never heard of country save before, is it expensiceexpensive? @strlitemiss does only 1 line on full water level really clean right? I get barn yard stink with line 1 in the rinse and line 3 in the wash on large load. (Also old, top load)
Avid babywearing, breastfeeding, vaccinating, SAHM of M ~ 12/11 and S ~6/13.
Married New Year's Day 2013
Previously Clizh, bumping since 2009 and still mourning my platinum medal.
That's legit birdie, I've never heard of country save before, is it expensiceexpensive? @strlitemiss does only 1 line on full water level really clean right? I get barn yard stink with line 1 in the rinse and line 3 in the wash on large load. (Also old, top load)
We can only get Country Save at our local food co-op, I think it's $12-13 per box and we go through two boxes a year. We only use it for CDs and wash every 2-3 days (usually 3).
That's legit birdie, I've never heard of country save before, is it expensiceexpensive? @strlitemiss does only 1 line on full water level really clean right? I get barn yard stink with line 1 in the rinse and line 3 in the wash on large load. (Also old, top load)
We can only get Country Save at our local food co-op, I think it's $12-13 per box and we go through two boxes a year. We only use it for CDs and wash every 2-3 days (usually 3).
Oh okay! And dang... less than $30 a year on detergent?! I spend that much every month and a half.
Avid babywearing, breastfeeding, vaccinating, SAHM of M ~ 12/11 and S ~6/13.
Married New Year's Day 2013
Previously Clizh, bumping since 2009 and still mourning my platinum medal.
So I've noticed barn yard stink pretty badly the past couple of days... any advice then? (not from FLCS) I was just going to wash them about 2 or 3 times before drying with my normal routine but now I'm wondering if I'm effing something up and using way too much detergent or something.
Avid babywearing, breastfeeding, vaccinating, SAHM of M ~ 12/11 and S ~6/13.
Married New Year's Day 2013
Previously Clizh, bumping since 2009 and still mourning my platinum medal.
So I've noticed barn yard stink pretty badly the past couple of days... any advice then? (not from FLCS) I was just going to wash them about 2 or 3 times before drying with my normal routine but now I'm wondering if I'm effing something up and using way too much detergent or something.
Whenever I notice a stink I spend an entire day just doing hot rinses. Like literally 8-10 times. Then occasionally I will strip with a tiny bit of oxiclean and then a bunch more rinses, then dry in the sun. That does the trick for me! And I do think too much detergent can cause that? Pretty sure.
Aw fuq... I'll have to do a bunch of hot rinses tomorrow then. I already sent my diapers through two of my normal routines tonight. Which seemed like a lot of detergent... funny... hubs has been questioning the amount of detergent I use for a while now.
What's your water like guys? Soft? Hard? Mine is slightly hard, FLCS said the built in softners in the tide powder would be okay.
Avid babywearing, breastfeeding, vaccinating, SAHM of M ~ 12/11 and S ~6/13.
Married New Year's Day 2013
Previously Clizh, bumping since 2009 and still mourning my platinum medal.
I have funky half hard well water. I used to use country save but my son is allergic (his skin is special snowflake of an organ) also. I also do hot rinsed if I run into a problem. I wash every other day with a medium load and they are always clean. I might do half between 1 and 2 if I have a bunch of Ai0s in the load.I also ditched my microfiber inserts because I think they get stinky easily.
I have all cotton prefolds and inserts, except for like 4 bamboo charcoal. My NB stash will be split between all cotton prefolds and bamboo cotton inserts.
So I'll run like 5 hot rinses tomorrow and then do a cold rinse (do you use detergent in your rinse,either of you?), and a hot (or warm?) wash with way less detergent. See if that helps.
I also think my machine needs a cleaning, so that might be contributing to the problem too.
Avid babywearing, breastfeeding, vaccinating, SAHM of M ~ 12/11 and S ~6/13.
Married New Year's Day 2013
Previously Clizh, bumping since 2009 and still mourning my platinum medal.
we used cloth from the beginning with DS, looking to add to my stash for this baby! Currently have an assortment of best bottoms and alvas, a couple BG and a few fitteds. I would kinda like to try some newborn dipes like lil joey's, however if this baby also comes out 10 lb then that may not be possible.
I have cloth diapered all 7 kids. Honestly when I found out I was pregnant, thinking about getting to CD and babywear is the thing that talked me off the ledge. I prefer fitted and woolies for my babies with a little prefolds and flats thrown in for good measure. But my teens and hubby do not like touching wet fitteds so I have a whole second stash of embroidered pockets and AI2s with PUL outers for them. Heck, if that's all it takes to get help with diaper changing, I'm all in on having diapers they prefer! And it gives me an excuse to make and buy more diapers. I make a lot of my diapers, but I also buy a lot. I love medium Muttaqins (Mutts). I had made a lovely nb stash and my 10#6oz baby wouldn't fit in it. So the lovely lady who owns Mutts sent me her personal used stash of mediums and they fit him from birth to walking. I love hand knit longies and interlock longies the best, (love WCW, but have made my own) but also like upcycled woolies. I can sew about any type or style of diaper out there as I have an extensive cloth diaper fabric and notions stash and a snap press, but I just do them for myself. I'd be happy to help someone else DIY their own CD stash. If you upcycle and use free patterns you can do it pretty much for free.
Here's pic of my last one in my favorite nb longies.
Katie ~wife to my beloved, Scottfor 25 years mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
FTM but I've done some research and We're planning on going with best bottoms and only buying medium inserts. I know some people talked about using best bottoms, any advice or encouragement to go with this? We're strictly doing it to save money, so looking to invest in only one type of cloth diaper.
Also, any advice with newborn sizes? Like I side about saving money, should I try to just buy the one size and if it doesn't fit do disposable or should I invest in some newborns?
Thanks ladies!
Surprise BFP! 06/08/15
Nadine GraceMarie 02/10/16
Diagnosed with placenta increta post delivery:
emergency partial hysterectomy - cervix and ovaries still intact Gestational surrogacy or adoption TBD
FTM but I've done some research and We're planning on going with best bottoms and only buying medium inserts. I know some people talked about using best bottoms, any advice or encouragement to go with this? We're strictly doing it to save money, so looking to invest in only one type of cloth diaper.
Also, any advice with newborn sizes? Like I side about saving money, should I try to just buy the one size and if it doesn't fit do disposable or should I invest in some newborns?
Thanks ladies!
If you're only CDing to save money, definitely get newborn prefolds or flour sack towels and newborn covers. For such a small investment, you go through so many diapers in the newborn phase, and they have good resale value.
FTM but I've done some research and We're planning on going with best bottoms and only buying medium inserts. I know some people talked about using best bottoms, any advice or encouragement to go with this? We're strictly doing it to save money, so looking to invest in only one type of cloth diaper.
Also, any advice with newborn sizes? Like I side about saving money, should I try to just buy the one size and if it doesn't fit do disposable or should I invest in some newborns?
Thanks ladies!
If you're only CDing to save money, definitely get newborn prefolds or flour sack towels and newborn covers. For such a small investment, you go through so many diapers in the newborn phase, and they have good resale value.
Yes. This. Newborn prefolds and NB covers. Great resale value too. If you sell when done, you can nb diaper for just about free.
Katie ~wife to my beloved, Scottfor 25 years mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
I cloth diapered both of my children who are now 8 and almost 5, and plan to cloth diaper this one as well But as you can see it's been YEARS since I last used a cloth diaper, don't even own any anymore. I'll have a bit of research to do I guess to get up to date on all the "new" things happening in the cloth diapering world. I absolutely love wool (longies/shorties, etc) and make my own, so that will be fun. I'll probably go with fitteds and wool, and some all-in-two's or pockets.
FTM very interested but like you said @dbautista88 I get overwhelmed by all the types and everyone's different recs! Anyone know a good website that lays out exactly how many of each item you should have? Also I see a lot on craigslist- anyone bought used before? Thoughts?
FTM very interested but like you said @dbautista88 I get overwhelmed by all the types and everyone's different recs! Anyone know a good website that lays out exactly how many of each item you should have? Also I see a lot on craigslist- anyone bought used before? Thoughts?
Very few of mine were bought by new. Kellyscloset has a nice clothdiapering 101,there's a cloth diaper board on here, and they're helpful.
Looks like most of you do your own CDing - awesome!
But I thought I should mention another option that my hubby and I used for our first baby - a cloth diapering service.
For a monthly fee, the company drops off clean diapers (prefolds) and will pick up the dirties. No washing required - they do all the cleaning. We had to buy the snappis and diaper covers. We tried multiple brands and just bought more of the ones we thought worked best.
The first delivery of diapers was 2 weeks before my due date and then they waited for a call from me to let them know the baby had come so that they can start weekly delivery; so we cloth diapered from the outset. The only time we used disposables was the couple of times we went to the newborn club (dr. follow-up after birth). They let you choose how many diapers you want delivered (I believe they suggest starting with 80/week) and you can lower in increments of 5 as your baby uses less diapers. The costs go down as you lower the amount delivered. When you put the dirties out you just write how many clean you have left on the outside of the bag and the next week they deliver the balance. Also, as baby grows you just call and let you know you need the next size diaper. And, if you use compostable wipes, you can just throw that in with the dirties and they take those too.
If this sounds like a good option, search for diaper services in your area - I have found some all over the US for our friends. Each company may do things a little differently, but the basics are the same.
Right now our little one is 22 months, and we still cloth diaper (we weren't able to find a daycare that would use the cloth, so he does use some disposables). We are in the process of potty training, so the number of diapers we use has dropped dramatically. We will CD again using this service for the new baby.
You experienced moms have really given some great information here, thank you SO much for sharing all your advice! (I now have a document started with your tid bits of wisdom and 13 brands/types to further research.)
Im first time mom & definitely will CD for economic benefit too but mainly to do my small part in respecting both the earth and my baby girl as much as possible. As for CD being more time-consuming (I work, am in the Army Reserve, and am finishing a doctoral dissertation, so trust me I get the "time" thing!) or a hassle, I figure if moms throughout history and around the world can handle it, I surely can too!
We love CDing! I was intimidated at first but we started when DS was 3 months old and we're so glad we did. We like pockets the best, our fave brands are Charlie Banana and Kawaiis. I also like BumGenius 4.0s. I'm pretty sure he won't be potty trained before new baby comes so we are going to have to expand our stash (oh darn!).
For great videos on CDing I recommend the YouTube series by ObbsAndLala. She has a video for every topic and explains things in a way that makes it easy to understand!
Agreed! My baby is actually the model in her how to cloth diaper a newborn video!
Looks like most of you do your own CDing - awesome!
But I thought I should mention another option that my hubby and I used for our first baby - a cloth diapering service.
For a monthly fee, the company drops off clean diapers (prefolds) and will pick up the dirties. No washing required - they do all the cleaning. We had to buy the snappis and diaper covers. We tried multiple brands and just bought more of the ones we thought worked best.
The first delivery of diapers was 2 weeks before my due date and then they waited for a call from me to let them know the baby had come so that they can start weekly delivery; so we cloth diapered from the outset. The only time we used disposables was the couple of times we went to the newborn club (dr. follow-up after birth). They let you choose how many diapers you want delivered (I believe they suggest starting with 80/week) and you can lower in increments of 5 as your baby uses less diapers. The costs go down as you lower the amount delivered. When you put the dirties out you just write how many clean you have left on the outside of the bag and the next week they deliver the balance. Also, as baby grows you just call and let you know you need the next size diaper. And, if you use compostable wipes, you can just throw that in with the dirties and they take those too.
If this sounds like a good option, search for diaper services in your area - I have found some all over the US for our friends. Each company may do things a little differently, but the basics are the same.
Right now our little one is 22 months, and we still cloth diaper (we weren't able to find a daycare that would use the cloth, so he does use some disposables). We are in the process of potty training, so the number of diapers we use has dropped dramatically. We will CD again using this service for the new baby.
We did a diaper service with my 22 yo. It was a shower gift and it was great! It was a great way to get started in CDs. After her diaper services kinda disappeared (plus we live in the boonies). But now they are back! I would highly recommend it as an easy way to get into CDs.
Katie ~wife to my beloved, Scottfor 25 years mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
Just curious... (I'm not planning on cloth diapering) but what are the benefits to it? Besides monetary since that's obvious...
Yes it can be so much cheaper. CDing is also environmentally friendly (disposables take several hundred years to decompose in landfills). They are cuter for sure! Also, not meaning to judge other people's choices, but I'm also not comfortable with fake perfumes, dyes (some change color when wet), and general contents of disposable diapers on my baby's skin. When my son was born in the hospital, the put a pampers swaddler on him and he got a horrible rash. I'm just so much more comfortable with cloth.
My son decided to start tearing his diapers apart around a year old. That was our big turning point. Have you ever had to clean up the goo inside disposable diapers? It is not fun. LOL It didn't matter what we did, if he was in pants he would shove his hands down and tear the diaper apart from the inside. It was the strangest thing. He was fine in disposables, we used up&up brand, and then one day we ran out and we couldn't get to target so we grabbed some luvs and he HATED them. Even once we switched back to Up&Up, it's like the habit was so instilled after even a pack of luvs, he couldn't help himsef.
Hahaha so that was a major benefit for us. Cost is a biggie too. Never worrying about running out of diapers, miscounting and having to rush out to the store, is also awesome! Is so nice to never worry about whether we have enough diapers on hand or not.
They're super cute, and convenient for us. There's bits of "wow its nice not to have empty diaper boxes/diaper worms (diaper genie long narrow bags) stacked in our mudroom" but for the most part, the green aspect isn't really a big one for us.
Avid babywearing, breastfeeding, vaccinating, SAHM of M ~ 12/11 and S ~6/13.
Married New Year's Day 2013
Previously Clizh, bumping since 2009 and still mourning my platinum medal.
Just curious... (I'm not planning on cloth diapering) but what are the benefits to it?
Besides monetary since that's obvious...
Besides the money and better for baby's skin and the environment, there are no late night runs to the store because you ran out of diapers, you just tossa load in the washer, or in a pinch diaper you kid in an old tshirt or receiving blanket. IMHO they are tons cuter and my biggest reason is almost no poop blowouts. Whenever I have used disposables, it seems like every poop diaper was a blow out.
Katie ~wife to my beloved, Scottfor 25 years mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
Just curious... (I'm not planning on cloth diapering) but what are the benefits to it?
Besides monetary since that's obvious...
Yes, everything everyone else said. And the money saving cannot be overstated, at least in my experience. We bought most of our CDs new (you can buy them used and save even more money) and we still have spent less on diapers in the last year and a half than we did on disposables in the first three months of his life, before we started CDing. That's not an exaggeration. And we'll be able to keep using these diapers until he doesn't need them, and then for future kids too. So, so worth it. Plus they're really adorable.
Cloth diapers were not an option at our daycare. I'm afraid I remember my mom washing them for my siblings...I'm really turned off by the washing part. The Honest Company ROCKS!
I CD'd DS1 for 14 months, then used sposies with DS2 out of laziness but honestly we do still CD when we run out of diapers lol! I will probably CD this baby because this is my last and we have the stash so why not? Also now that this is my third, I feel like I have streamlined things enough to not be overwhelmed with the extra laundry. AKA my husband will do it, lmao!!!
I'm just beginning to think about this kind of stuff and my main info at the moment is my mum who used cloth with me because that's all there was, and she still complains about how it was crap and wrecked her washing machine. So, ignoring the environment and cost, what is the difference for parents and baby? Some people mentioned chemicals, and others mentioned not running out. Is there anything else good or bad? Are they easier or harder to use? Do you get poop in your washing machine? (sounds yuk). Do they leak more or less? If you had a smack down with a disposable who would change the baby first? Do the babies actually know or care? And anything else interesting you didn't know until you tried it :-)
Re: Who's planning to cloth diaper?
I was in the group, and I've also seen numerous screenshots of horrible advice straight from the admins. Too much detergent was one thing I kept seeing, and really harsh stripping advice. Like I said, I'm also really not a fan of groups where the admins are power trippy and kick out people that question them, especially when they aren't being rude or overly persistent.
I use Country Save powder. We have a top loader. We do a cold rinse, hot wash with a half a scoop of powder, and then another rinse. Then we hang out diapers and throw the inserts in the dryer.
Bunny: 10.9.13
Jellybean #2 Due: 2.1.16
F16 July Siggy Challenge: Favorite Summer Activity
Hiking and Baseball Games with the Fam
Bunny: 10.9.13
Jellybean #2 Due: 2.1.16
F16 July Siggy Challenge: Favorite Summer Activity
Hiking and Baseball Games with the Fam
Bunny: 10.9.13
Jellybean #2 Due: 2.1.16
F16 July Siggy Challenge: Favorite Summer Activity
Hiking and Baseball Games with the Fam
What's your water like guys? Soft? Hard? Mine is slightly hard, FLCS said the built in softners in the tide powder would be okay.
Eta: typo
Bunny: 10.9.13
Jellybean #2 Due: 2.1.16
F16 July Siggy Challenge: Favorite Summer Activity
Hiking and Baseball Games with the Fam
So I'll run like 5 hot rinses tomorrow and then do a cold rinse (do you use detergent in your rinse,either of you?), and a hot (or warm?) wash with way less detergent. See if that helps.
I also think my machine needs a cleaning, so that might be contributing to the problem too.
Here's pic of my last one in my favorite nb longies.
mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners
K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
Also, any advice with newborn sizes? Like I side about saving money, should I try to just buy the one size and if it doesn't fit do disposable or should I invest in some newborns?
Thanks ladies!
Surprise BFP! 06/08/15
Nadine GraceMarie 02/10/16
Diagnosed with placenta increta post delivery: emergency partial hysterectomy - cervix and ovaries still intact
Gestational surrogacy or adoption TBD
mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners
K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
Surprise BFP! 06/08/15
Nadine GraceMarie 02/10/16
Diagnosed with placenta increta post delivery: emergency partial hysterectomy - cervix and ovaries still intact
Gestational surrogacy or adoption TBD
But as you can see it's been YEARS since I last used a cloth diaper, don't even own any anymore. I'll have a bit of research to do I guess to get up to date on all the "new" things happening in the cloth diapering world.
I absolutely love wool (longies/shorties, etc) and make my own, so that will be fun.
I'll probably go with fitteds and wool, and some all-in-two's or pockets.
DD - Aug 2010
DS2 - Feb 2016
But I thought I should mention another option that my hubby and I used for our first baby - a cloth diapering service.
For a monthly fee, the company drops off clean diapers (prefolds) and will pick up the dirties. No washing required - they do all the cleaning. We had to buy the snappis and diaper covers. We tried multiple brands and just bought more of the ones we thought worked best.
The first delivery of diapers was 2 weeks before my due date and then they waited for a call from me to let them know the baby had come so that they can start weekly delivery; so we cloth diapered from the outset. The only time we used disposables was the couple of times we went to the newborn club (dr. follow-up after birth).
They let you choose how many diapers you want delivered (I believe they suggest starting with 80/week) and you can lower in increments of 5 as your baby uses less diapers. The costs go down as you lower the amount delivered. When you put the dirties out you just write how many clean you have left on the outside of the bag and the next week they deliver the balance. Also, as baby grows you just call and let you know you need the next size diaper. And, if you use compostable wipes, you can just throw that in with the dirties and they take those too.
If this sounds like a good option, search for diaper services in your area - I have found some all over the US for our friends. Each company may do things a little differently, but the basics are the same.
Right now our little one is 22 months, and we still cloth diaper (we weren't able to find a daycare that would use the cloth, so he does use some disposables). We are in the process of potty training, so the number of diapers we use has dropped dramatically. We will CD again using this service for the new baby.
mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners
K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
Besides monetary since that's obvious...
Was just curious.
Hahaha so that was a major benefit for us. Cost is a biggie too. Never worrying about running out of diapers, miscounting and having to rush out to the store, is also awesome! Is so nice to never worry about whether we have enough diapers on hand or not.
They're super cute, and convenient for us. There's bits of "wow its nice not to have empty diaper boxes/diaper worms (diaper genie long narrow bags) stacked in our mudroom" but for the most part, the green aspect isn't really a big one for us.
mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners
K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
Bunny: 10.9.13
Jellybean #2 Due: 2.1.16
F16 July Siggy Challenge: Favorite Summer Activity
Hiking and Baseball Games with the Fam