Cloth Diapering

Jaspertheyoungturnip

Hi everyone!
So, when I was reading through the post for STMs+ to give advice and recommendations on diapers, I realized a ton more moms on here cloth diaper than I've happened to meet in my life. My fiance and I have felt so in the dark about it (until today) because we didn't know anyone knowledgeable about them! There's a cloth diaper boutique about half an hour from my house, and when we went earlier, it lifted such a weight off our shoulders! We decided on the Sustainablebabyish brand fitteds with Thirsties covers. I was really impressed with them and they seem really quick! 
We're really glad we decided to do cloth diapers. Who would have thought diapers could be so exciting? Did anyone else have this moment of extreme relief?? Also, if anyone has any real life experience with these (or any other brand to brag or bash), what have you loved and hated about cloth diapers? (:

Sekerambo

Absolutely love sloomb (Sustainablebabyish) although I've only used them under wool, not tpu/pul. Through trial I've narrowed my favorite cloth diapers down to sloomb, smart bottoms, and Lalabye.  I didn't start cloth until my daughter was 6 months old but plan on starting right away with this one.  Switching to cloth was a huge relief.  As crazy as it sounds I no longer had to deal with poop.  We went from blowouts 3+ times a day and poop everywhere (blankets, car seat, people holding baby, etc) to poop contained in diapers and it was amazing.  I definitely recommend buying a spray pal and diaper sprayer.  They are definitely worth the money.  Diaper laundry is the easiest wash I do but after the first 6 months stuffing pockets was a pain.  You won't have to worry about stuffing though.  Also, I recommend staying away from the fluff love group. They are heavy on bleach which will deteriorate your diapers. When it comes to wash routines, always go by the manufacturers recommendation. Enjoy cloth diapering but be careful because it can be addicting!

bananers

I was dead set on CDing DS1, but we couldn't find daycare that would accept them. And then it turns out we got a terrible sleeper and he woke up even more in cloth than in sposies because he could feel the wetness, even though he never leaked. So we gave up on nighttime cloth because sleep is oh so valuable. We still did cloth in the evenings and on weekends, but I was bummed it didn't work for us full time like I had hoped! Still, I tell myself it's better than nothing!

We really liked one-size pockets. They took us from about 2 months to 2.5 years when we potty trained. My faves were BumGenius and Rumparoos. I liked the Fuzzibunz at first because they had a trimmer fit and DS was always a little on the small size. But then they changed their pattern and when I bought more they were so bulky that even at 2.5 they were enormous on him (the snaps fit, but they gave him such a huge butt he barely fit in any of his pants!!)

I'm in the minority, but I didn't like the diaper sprayer. I could never get it to stop leaking, and I always felt like I was spraying poop particles everywhere with the backspray. Instead, I preferred to dunk and swish the poopy diapers. The awesome part about exclusively breastfed poop, though, was that you didn't even have to do that! Everything is water soluble so you can just toss them straight in the wash.

We had a diaper pail with a carbon filter under the lid and that kept the smell out of his room. Sometimes if we went a few days between washes there would be a strong ammonia smell when you opened the lid, but it never permeated his room aside from that initial whiff when you'd open the lid. We used PlanetWise liners and would just toss the whole bag in the wash. We also had PlanetWise wet/dry bags for outings. 

Another thing that was great for outings were bamboo liners. They're flushable so you can just peel the poop out and flush and not worry about rinsing diapers in public restrooms or packing poopy dipes back in your bag. We never used them at home because we're on septic and because I didn't mind rinsing poop at home. But they were great when out and about. 

Jaspertheyoungturnip

The shop by us (its called Itsy Bitsy Bums) has so many options, but we went with fitteds just because of the ability to really adjust your absorbency easily, and the brand has nighttime specific ones. I agree @bananers, sleep is valuable! So i hope it works out for us. I was introduced to cloth diapers when I worked in a daycare and one of our families used them (part of tuition was that we provided disposable diapers, so they were allowed to bring whatever diapers they wanted). I am a tad concerned about the butt bulk, but they seemed fairly slim to me?? Maybe I'll be wrong, but they have a great return policy.

bgrace44

I am FTM, and am completely novice to the cloth diaper thing. I have thought about to save $, but my biggest concern is what do you do with dirty diapers when you are away from home? This may seem like a silly question but it's probably the biggest thing keeping me from trying it. Also, any advice appreciated!

kiwico14

Our newborn stash consists of 24 pre-loved GMD prefolds that we were gifted, along with a handful of covers and some AIOs/pockets that we bought. I've never tried fitteds, but I might break down and get some because DS's nighttime diapers just aren't cutting it anymore. 

@Knottie1442786653 The extra padding on the butt ends up not being a huge deal. You can splurge on special pants to accommodate the fluff, but we found that we really just need to size up the pants a few weeks earlier and roll the cuffs up until DS is done with the growth spurt. 

Sekerambo

I never had to size up early when it came to pants but I was selective in what I bought. Pants with some stretch tend to work better, though. Sloomb makes some amazing wool pants that can be lanolized to use as a cover or just worn over pul/tpu.  Sloomb obf's tend to be a bit bulkier but their hlc and snap-less aren't too bad. 

@bgrace44 - they make small wet bags that zip and keep smells in.  When out for the day I put the dirty diapers in the wet bag and take care of them when I get home. For long trips we used disposables.

@skelly70 - obf's and wool are amazing for nights.  Definitely worth the investment to not deal with leaks.

kiwico14

@Sekerambo I REALLY want to try wool, but I'm a little intimidated by the maintenance. DH has been doing all things diaper (changes and laundry) since the smell of DS's urine/BMs makes me sick. As soon as I can take over some of the responsibility, I might just go for it. 

ThisisNumber3

Yes!  I was so excited to CD with my first and found a great daycare that accepted them.  Our new daycare doesn't but I really wish they did.  I will have to ask/bug them about it again! 

MamaKSquared

I'm a FTM and I don't have any first hand experience, but we decided that we would cloth diaper before we even got pregnant. I'm building my stashed based on recommendations from others. I'm trying to get a little bit of everything so we can see what works best for us. I have some NB AIOs and some NB and small fitteds, along with some prefolds. From what I've read, most people seem to prefer fitteds or prefolds with a cover at the newborn stage. I think we will use mostly one size pockets when the baby gets a little older. 

Cloth Diaper Trader is a great place to look for used diapers. 
Green Mountain Diapers has a great selection of diaper products and even if you don't purchase from there, they have lots of information. 
Pinstripes & Polkadots is a great resource for researching detergents, etc. 

runsoncoffee

I'm also a FTM and decided long before conceiving that we would be doing cloth. I am so excited about it! We've decided to go with the brand Grovia and will be doing some newborn all in ones, hybrids, and ONE's (a heavy duty one we'll use for nightime). I know most people say not to buy just one brand, but this brand sold hubby on cloth diapering and I've heard lots of good things so we are taking our chances and praying it will be a good fit for our little one!

charmedlifex3

We decided to CD. I've been buying and stripping a bunch of used. So far I have 13 fitted "Mother ease" brand, 24 pre folds (2 sizes) 12 fuzzi bunz, and 5 or 6 "Bumgenius" Plus a few covers, (I think 10 in total?) made by a variety of brands, including flipz and bum genius. If nothing else, pre folds make great burp cloths / a bunch of other mess catcher for the little mess maker.

I spoke with a couple CD moms who said what worked varied kid to kid, age to age, so I didn't buy a lot of any one thing. I figure if I hate one brand over another, I will strip them and resell them on ebay or craigslist. Since I bought them all used, I should be able to make back what I paid for them in most cases, and buy more of what IS working.

Not having a baby, I think I like the fitted + cover the best. My husband's family has a distinctive build with a lack of bottom, and keeping diapers on has been a battle since his dad was a baby, through multiple generations. My FIL actually taped a diaper on my husband he was so frustrated. (It was the 70's...? Still terrible!)  I am hoping even if the diaper slides / blows out, the cover will catch it to some degree. It may be futile, but my mil thinks it will work...

We did buy one case of the seventh generation disposables (120) and aren't planning to CD until he is big enough to fit into the one size / mediums, which is about 8 lbs. We'll also keep a box on hand for outings, or JIC.

Luckily our day care is super supportive of cloth diapering, and the owner actually gave me a ton of advice on it.

ThisisNumber3

Allisun85 said:

Not having a baby, I think I like the fitted + cover the best. My husband's family has a distinctive build with a lack of bottom, and keeping diapers on has been a battle since his dad was a baby, through multiple generations. My FIL actually taped a diaper on my husband he was so frustrated. (It was the 70's...? Still terrible!)  I am hoping even if the diaper slides / blows out, the cover will catch it to some degree. It may be futile, but my mil thinks it will work...

You may want to look at brands like Thirsties and Applecheeks that have ruffles or a double leg gusset.  Also make sure there is tight  elastic along the back to keep it on.  Tight legs is key for blow outs.  

charmedlifex3

We have some thirsties actually! I'll keep that in mind about the elastics.

Sekerambo

@skelly70 - wool is actually a lot easier than I thought since it doesn't have to be washed as often as diapers.  If you get a few covers you should only have to do wash every couple weeks.  The most intimidating part for me was the lanolizing but that ended up being way easier than I thought.  I also was nervous about felting the wool so I bought a few covers that had some felting and they work like magic.  

Also, for those that don't mind used diapers, check out the b/s/t pages on Facebook.  A lot of brands have their own community and b/s/t pages.  If you do buy off the pages make sure the purchases are PayPal backed- meaning they send you an invoice for goods and services not through friends and family. I have found some great deals for diapers that were close to new.  At the same time be ready to see some diapers go for hundreds (yes, hundreds) for a specific print that has been discontinued or is hard to find.  

kiwico14

@Sekerambo do you have brand recommendations for wool? I'm fond of shopping at Kelly's Closet (lots of points to redeem!) but I'm also totally open to used or other shops, and I do like to support WAHMs. 

Sekerambo

@skelly70 - I have only used Sloomb as of now.  My favorite retailer, Dream diapers, is big on Sloomb so I went with it and haven't had an issue. Nicki's diapers makes wool but it seemed pretty thin and wasn't as soft.  I did get a Wild Coconut Wool interlock cover for this next baby but don't know how I like it yet.  If you are okay with used I would buy off of the Sloomb b/s/t Facebook page. I've seen some covers at great deals lately, though you may have to keep an eye out.  Sloomb also has a great community of moms that are really supportive of one another and are so knowledgeable.   

charmedlifex3

We managed to snag a print in a cover (which is popular, and discontinued) which my husband was in love with. It's the first baby thing he got really excited about, and I was like.... of course!

Luckily it was not LONG discontinued, so we were able to get one for only a little above normal.

KMeredith82

We used BG freetime with our first and were able to use them at daycare as well.  Unfortunately we moved when he was about one and had to switch daycares, and the new one does not allow them.  We still used them in the evenings, nights, and weekends up until recently.  Our son will be 3 in June so now we're in potty training mode and in pull-ups instead.  Having to buy disposables for daycare, I know we saved so much money when we were just in cloth.  We never used the sprayer, I got the flushable liners once he was on solids, which made it super easy to just dump in the toilet.  We are planning to use them again with this baby, although will still need to do disposables at daycare.