Since the cloth diaper board is basically dead

DanandVan

Anyone planning to cloth diaper their newborn? I started when baby #3 was 4 months old, so I have no experience cd a newborn.
I would love to hear your experiences or what you first-timers plan to do. Specifically, looking for brand rec's and wondering if nb sized diapers are worth the investment? My son was 8 1/2 lb at birth and 12 lb at 1 month checkup. My daughters were smaller, so nb diapers might have been worth it for them, but probably only for a month or two, right?
I'm happy to open this thread to any/all cloth diaper talk as well! Its a shame no one is around the cloth diaper board anymore...

Charla1224

I know nothing about cloth diapers, but I'm defenitly interested in using them so I want to follow this thread. Hopefully I can learn some new things. A local store host monthly cloth diaper 101 classes I hope to catch too. 

countrygrl5533

Personally, we didn't start cloth diapering until our DD was 2 months. I wanted those first couple months to be just an adjustment to baby not adding extra laundry too.

gemini2005

I will be following this thread. I'm interested in learning more about cloth diapering but don't know where to start. I'm hesitant to invest money into them and then find out it's too much hassle to follow through. I am fairly good at sewing so I think I'm going to attempt to make some just so I can try them out. They don't look hard and will be adorable on a newborn!

lionstigersbears

Yay! We have cloth diapered DS since 1 week old so I hope I have something helpful to offer. Washing the diapers has never been a big deal to me, and I feel like people make a bigger deal of it than is necessary. Newborn diapers, are they worth it? It depends! Newborn diapers can definitely be worth it cost wise if you plan to use them for multiple kiddos. Since they are used for a short time you can often sell them for a decent return even after a number of kids. Plenty of people choose not to cloth diaper until their little one fits into one size diapers (usually about 12-15 lbs/2-3 months, usually when the legs bulk up just a little bit!). Covers and prefolds/flats are the least expensive route for sure, but more expensive (like all in ones) diapers can still be worth it when factoring in resale value and multiple kids. We used 8 covers, 2 dozen flats and some newborn prefolds for newborn period and it was about $150. Planning to use for multiple kids then sell so definitely worth it for us!

Kurrant

I have no actual experience here but We are thinking about using eco-friendly disposables for the first month or two then switching to the cloth diapers. I considered getting Newborn cloth or maybe the flats but being a FTM and not knowing what to expect I figured I would make the adjustment period a tad easier on myself by not swamping myself in more laundry than I need to. I will be a SAHM so I'd like the transition from 'Pregnant and Lazy' to 'Full Time Baby Maid' to feel smooth. DH will be taking a few weeks Paid Paternity leave off so that will help a bit. 

If we were 100% sure about a baby #2 then like @lionstigersbears said we would consider the Newborn cloth more. We both want a second but aren't sure yet.

While on the topic . . . Anyone have a preference for a brand of Pocket Diapers? I have heard great things about BumGenius 4.0 and that's what we are leaning towards. Keep in mind that we don't live in the USA and most brands need to be shipped which takes a long freaking time and costs quite a bit in shipping so the whole "try a few and pick one" doesn't quite fly for us. We are going with Pocket because of the dry time. Baby will be born in fall/winter for us and outside drying is annoying with all the rain. I've heard the dryer can damage the diapers and really we never use a dryer anyways. NZ tends to be *really* eco happy and almost everyone line dries everything.

lionstigersbears

@kurrant no experience with 4.0's but many love them! I have heard their elastics wear out faster than some, but line drying will prevent that for awhile and using them on one or two babies is much less wear and tear then 3-4.

The only pockets I've used are a handful of Sunbaby pockets that took a few weeks to arrive but not bad. I stuffed them with flats which are the best for dry time and could be used for a newborn in future too if you go that route! Sunbaby' tend to be the guilty pleasure of the cloth diaper world because while they are "China cheapies" they work well and have cute prints!

DanandVan

I've used bg 4.0 for 2+ yrs. Some I bought when baby was 4 mo, and the rest when she was 18 months. I cannot tell the difference between the older and newer. Elastic on all is still great, and they look and feel almost brand new. AND they are phasing out 4.0 now to make way for 5.0 so I just bought some 4.0 last week from cotton babies for $12.95 each. (Had to buy boy colors...just in case!)
For those considering cloth but on the fence, I will say the washing is so much easier than I first expected. I soooo wish I had jumped in and tried it with my 1st but I was too intimidated and also didn't want to invest so much $ up front. But even if cloth doesn't work for you, you can sell used and get a good amount of $ back! (Or try a cloth diaper 30 day trial!)

megnwingate

We plan on CDing. Skipping the NB dipes for those first few weeks, unless I can find a good deal on NB nappies!

rlworzalla

I would love to do cloth diapering.  I think I need to do a good amount of research on it, so I'm thankful for this thread.  However, as DH literally cannot handle wet cat food on his finger, I'm not sure he will be on board with the idea of cleaning them...

Unicorn522

We didn't start Cding until 3 months with DS. He had lean legs so it took some time until my pocket diapers would fit without leg gaps. I haven't given it much thought with this LO yet because I was a sahm with DS but I'll be going back to work after this one is born. I'm not sure if I want to ask our babysitter to use CDs or not.

lalala2004

We plan to CD, but probably not at first. They wear those sizes for such a short time, plus go through so many at that stage, it just doesn't seem worth it.

We're registering for Best Bottoms. We like the idea of a two in one system.

I am a little nervous about the extra laundry, but I intend to work from home, so that shouldn't be too bad.

helleebellee

I did newborns with my last and it wasn't a problem. She was tiny, though, and still is. On her first birthday, she could still fit into newborns. I lent mine out to a friend and I doubt I'm going to get them back. If I don't, I'll just do disposables until baby fits the one size I have. If I do get them back, then I'll use them.

araecasey

Kurrant said:

While on the topic . . . Anyone have a preference for a brand of Pocket Diapers? I have heard great things about BumGenius 4.0 and that's what we are leaning towards. Keep in mind that we don't live in the USA and most brands need to be shipped which takes a long freaking time and costs quite a bit in shipping so the whole "try a few and pick one" doesn't quite fly for us. We are going with Pocket because of the dry time. Baby will be born in fall/winter for us and outside drying is annoying with all the rain. I've heard the dryer can damage the diapers and really we never use a dryer anyways. NZ tends to be *really* eco happy and almost everyone line dries everything.

Not a fan of Bumgenius, especially from the start. We were in disposables until 3 months because they didn't fit my daughter's legs, who was on the long and lean side. This time we're going with Lalabye, which snap down very small, are so so versitile (can be used as a cover, all-in-two, or pocket), have four rows of rise snaps instead of Bumgenius's three, and come with bamboo inserts instead of the standard microfiber which are outgrown pretty quickly. 

We'll also do flats for the newborn stage for when we're at home because they're super easy to clean, and we'll be changing our newbie so often anyway. Can't! Wait!

araecasey

The laundry really isn't terrible. It's just an extra load every few days, depending on how many diapers you go through in a day. We've got about 40 diapers in rotation right now, and I do laundry about twice a week. It's not fussy. We use the dryer most of the time; line dry in the summer. Diapers are all in great shape. Except for my darn BumGeniuses. 

BlueJuice

We cloth diapered starting from when we came home from the hospital with DD. (Fun story: I actually had diapers packed in our hospital bags, so I could use them in the hospital too, but I was too self-conscious as a new mom to actually put her in them there with all the nurses and so forth 'evaluating' me. Haha. I would totally do it now.)  We did prefolds with separate covers, and they were super easy to manage. I do have newborn sized prefolds, but not very many newborn covers, because we went through them soon. Like others have said, the laundry is not a big deal. I think for the first few months I was doing laundry every other day, then over time it became more like twice a week. (I had 32 diapers I think.) I had it worked into my weekly schedule where I was always doing them on the same days at the same time, times I knew I would be home, so it wasn't a big deal to get it done. I've even done this on vacation, including two weeks of camping out, so it can be done! And they're pretty cute.

RaquelFry

We are planning on cloth.
My sister used BestBottoms. She had such a positive experience, that's what we're going with.
The shells can be reused until soiled. And the liners snap in. The liners come in 3 sizes based on weight. My sis went from smalls to larges, since there is only ~4lbs difference between with the mediums. Save you some monies there.
Then, the best part I learned, when you potty train, you use the liners in reverse order!
BestBottoms have a website that offers package deals. Based on her experience, she found if you buy the large and medium package of shells and liners (getting small liners), then a separate order of liners later on of larges, that can get you through doing laundry every other to every 3 days!
I'm in WI, there is a diaper co. in WI that does bestbottom packages, and offers free shipping, (something not offered by bestbottoms, and you want to save a few bucks.)

PivotMT520

We did cloth with our first, using mostly fuzzibunz pockets. He was 10lbs+ at birth so we were able to use the one-size almost right away. We used them until he was about 2.5 without any elastic issues or other problems. We'll probably try to do the same with this one as well!

Unicorn522

Kurrant said:

While on the topic . . . Anyone have a preference for a brand of Pocket Diapers? I have heard great things about BumGenius 4.0 and that's what we are leaning towards. Keep in mind that we don't live in the USA and most brands need to be shipped which takes a long freaking time and costs quite a bit in shipping so the whole "try a few and pick one" doesn't quite fly for us. We are going with Pocket because of the dry time. Baby will be born in fall/winter for us and outside drying is annoying with all the rain. I've heard the dryer can damage the diapers and really we never use a dryer anyways. NZ tends to be *really* eco happy and almost everyone line dries everything.

We did some of the cheaper pockets, my favorite by far are sunbabies. I joined a coop and was able to purchase mine for very little.

countrygrl5533

No, the laundry isn't a big deal. I just didn't want to start dealing with it right away since DD was our first baby. Plus, I didn't want the added expense of smaller diapers.

We also did part-time cloth. We did cloth when at home. At night and when we were out and about, we did disposables. This worked so much better for us than full-time. We are on the road a lot in the summer with lots of long days and a very full van. And she constantly leaked at night. It just made more sense for us to do cloth only at home during the day.

josie12367

We did flats, and prefolds with covers for the newborn stage. We also had a few nb aio/pockets for going out and about so DH wouldn't have to learn how to fold flats...lol. I think it was actually the cheapest stage to cloth diaper personally, and you get the most bang for your buck since you use anywhere from 15 or more diapers per day.

As she got older we used bumgenius pockets (I really liked them) and Rumparoozs (which are $ but I LOVE). We still used prefolds and covers as well but not that often. I also made my own reusable liners out of microfleece to prevent stains and keep the moisture off her bum a bit more, and it worked wonderfully. It's so much cheaper to cut up your own liners than to use the disposable liners they sell.

I love cloth diapering. It really can save some serious cash if you're going to use them for more than one baby.....even if you buy the occasional cute one that is a bit pricey

nsouplynn

We did cloth-diapering with my first but we started late. She was about 5 months old when we started and this was right around the time we started solids. I eventually build up my cloth diapers and inserts stash by joining online co-ops. I was able to get a bundles of CDs for an affordable price. They were about the same materials that most of the name brand companies uses.

We did bamboo, cotton, microfiber and charcoal inserts. I personally preferred bamboo and charcoal inserts because they held up more. Especially for the evenings. 

Some suggestions: 

Diaper Sprayer. This thing is great to remove poop over the toilet - https://www.amazon.com/Bumkins-Cloth-Diaper-Sprayer-Chrome/dp/B00A65YN8E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1447344697&sr=8-3&keywords=diaper+sprayer

For wet and soiled diapers, I stored them in a trash can container with a lid. Buy a few reusable liners:  https://www.amazon.com/Kissaluvs-wpail-Kissas-Liner-White/dp/B0037NXP18/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1447344790&sr=8-5&keywords=pail+liner

Cleaning? The CD laundry detergent was SOOO expensive but I had the best experience with just regular ol' Tide detergent. I would often try to wash the diapers every 2-3 days. 

Also, I would try to soak the inserts and diapers once a month and sun-dried them to bleach them. 

If you plan to fully cloth-diaper FULL-time and you need something to store your diapers while you are out and about: Wet Bags are your friends. https://www.amazon.com/Alva-Baby-Cloth-Diaper-L0910/dp/B01268UR74/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447344992&sr=8-2&keywords=wet+bags

I have been fortunate to participate in a co-op that sold all the wet bags, reusable liners including the CDs and inserts. I built my stash really fast after that, lol.

AdorkablePixie

I really want to cloth diaper. I showed DH the yearly savings when you CD and I think I might have convinced him!! I need to do more research and figure out a brand we would like to use. He is worried about cleaning the poopy diapers, but with a sprayer it wouldn't even be a big deal. Plus cloth diapers are SO CUTE when you get the little designs.

scarletangel2006

I was on the fence. I didnt CD my son but now i was interested in trying. Went for our first ultrasound and my SO who was leaning more to the absolutely not jumped into well i guess we will be CDing after all. He was not prepared to spend the money on diapers for two. After tons of research i know i will be staying away from pocktet diapers. They are just not for me....stuffing and un stuffing them doesnt sound awesome and then you still have to change them as if they are AIOs. I will be doing prefold with covers and grovia with the snap in inserts. The grovia ones have disposable snap ins too so it eliminates our original plan to need AIOs for simplicity while out and about. From what i have read the prefolds are great cause you can get a great fit regardless of skinny, chubby, short or lanky.

katxattack1212

I CD'd with my daughter from about 8 weeks on. She was so tiny thatveven nb prefolds were huge. What did fit were nb fitteds.
This time I am set to start from day 1. I bought nb fitteds used, made multiple wool covers and converted nb prefolds into fitteds. Later, I'll use a combo of fitteds, wool and pockets.

Copernicus08

We didn't start CDing until 4 months with DS, but I am planning to start in the hospital with this babe. I have a stash of orange edge prefolds, GMD workhorses and a couple of PUL covers to get started with. I'll probably grab some more prefolds in the next size up, and will invest in a few select pieces of wool once we know the sex.

I'm a fan of sbish and TT fitteds, but have a ton left from DS so I don't think we really need many more, even if this baby is a girl. Prefolds will be easiest in the first few months, so that's where I'm growing my stash.

H0neyC0mb

We plan on cloth diapering after the initial tar poop stage. I still have no idea which brand to get though. I'd also like to rewatch cloth diapering 101. It's a 7 part series on youtube I watched over a year ago when we had a cloth diaper baby at the daycare. I learned so much from that! Definitely will be following this thread.

mumbolino

I don't really know much about this topic, but I am very interested. Can someone perhaps name good links that explain the ropes, the pros, the cons, etc? 

What do you really need? (Like a starter's shopping list) 

How much do you save? 

Is it really more environmentally friendly? 

Is it messy (storing messy diapers sounds a bit gross, initially) 

Maybe someone knows a good resource (or is is a resource) :-) ?

AdorkablePixie

@H0neyC0mb There is a series on YouTube for cloth diapering?? I will have to look for that, I bet it would be useful.

lionstigersbears

7 part series is called Cloth Diaper 101 on YouTube, it'll be he first hit or two. Obbs and Lala has some good cloth diaper info too.

I also find Green Mountain Diapers website to have tons of good info if you're going super crunchy with only natural fibers like cotton and hemp

Edited because YouTube links were weird

H0neyC0mb

@AdorkablePixie It's very helpful! Here's the link to the one we're talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVo6SMebcX8

Edit: didn't know the video would pop up. The word "link" is also a hot link that will redirect you when clicked on.

AdorkablePixie

Thanks!!

amaseya

I've cloth diapered my son since he was just out of newborn stage and have tried all the diapers I really liked the two steps (esp. Ragababe) but found it tricky getting the absorbency right after about 9 months. Pockets are nice, and we use those with Velcro for daycare, but for this baby we're going with the Best Bottom system because they're so customizable and I've had less leaks with those than with other brands. For night time, if the overnight best bottom inserts don't work, will do fitteds with covers.

Charla1224

After binge watching those YouTube videos I feel so much more informed.
But where should I buy these cloth diapers? I've heard there are great Black Friday deals... Anyone want to point me in the right direction for those?

emma+karen

We CD'd for my son's first year or so.  We had a tough time getting started because we bought a ton of one brand (from a church friend who kind of pushed us into it) and it leaked EVERYWHERE, every time.  We eventually started using Blueberry all-in-ones.  They are pricey, but for a good reason--they WORK.  I loaned them to my SIL when she wanted to try cloth with my niece, and she agreed they were the only ones that didn't leak.  So we'll be registering for some more and probably investing in some ourselves, too for this time around.  We may do disposables for the first month or so, especially since we'll be taking a family vacation in early July.

yodasmistress

I didn't start CD'ing my first kiddo until 6 weeks.  Used cloth with him all the way through PL'ing.  He was a big kid and a heavy wetter but with fitteds and wool it all worked out.

With #2 I started CD'ing her immediately.  Within a few days she started developing rashes.  I used cloth save creams and then non-cloth safe creams with fleece liners and then she got yeast.  It took like 3 months to get it cleared up.  When we went back to cloth she still got rashes off and on, some pretty bad (although not yeast).  Eventually we switched over to disposables with her. 

We have also battled eczema with my daughter's skin (outside the diaper area) and I am fairly sure those early rashes were due to her sensitive skin moreso than any problem with the newbie CD'ing.  As such, we will try again with #3 (since we still have a stash) but if rashes start to pop I won't be as stubborn and will (at least temporarily) switch to sposies. 

araecasey

Charla1224 said:

After binge watching those YouTube videos I feel so much more informed. But where should I buy these cloth diapers? I've heard there are great Black Friday deals... Anyone want to point me in the right direction for those?

I personally buy all of my diapers on Cloth Diaper Trader, eBay, or swap groups on Facebook. I buy 90% of my diapers used, then strip and bleach them (Strip: 3 Tbsp each of washing soda, borax, and calgon plus 1/2 C detergent in hot water, soak for 2-8 hours, one wash cycle with water only. Bleach soak: cold water + 1/2 C bleach + diaper laundry, soak 30 minutes, hot rinse, then do a few hot washes with detergent) before using them on my daughter. Used cloth is waaaay cheaper and holds its resale value better than buying new.

JoMunson

Does anyone have experience cloth diapering in daycare? I want to cloth diaper but my baby will be going to daycare at about 4 months. I've heard daycares won't do cloth and insist on disposable.

lionstigersbears

JoMunson said:

Does anyone have experience cloth diapering in daycare? I want to cloth diaper but my baby will be going to daycare at about 4 months. I've heard daycares won't do cloth and insist on disposable.

Ours was very open! I recommend taking a diaper and wet bag with you when you go to ask and showing it to them, and using pocket diapers or all in ones so that it's very straight forward. We've had a great experience. At first I sent them snapped to the correct fit so they could look before putting them on but they learned fast!

AdorkablePixie

DH and I watched the you tube videos earlier and decided on a couple were going to try out. I'm excited he's on board with this! I think what won him over is the money we will be saving.
Anyone know of some good places to get them? I know Cotton Babies has a Black Friday sale, but I feel like their website doesn't have many options or maybe it's just because I am in my phone?

mhc13

I cloth diapered my daughter from 1 month till a year old about 95% of the time. I used disposables when not at home. As far as diaper types I'd try several types and see what works best for you. We ended up using pockets and hybrids like Flips and Best Bottoms. My husband preferred the pockets and me the hybrids.

For the detergent I used EOS which runs around $10 at Walmart. Poop diapers weren't a big deal since I exclusively breastfed my daughter and BF poops are water soluble and really don't stink. I just dumped what I could into the toilet and tossed the remainder in my wet bag. As for laundry (about every 3 days) I did a rinse cycle before a full wash cycle and never had an issue with getting them cleaned.

Honestly if my kid was formula fed or more into solids I probably would have stopped CD'ing sooner because the poop cleaning would have taken more effort.