Cloth Diapers vs Disposable

pjo79

HI...

with my 1st child we used disposable diapers and disposable wipes. This time around we are debating cloth diapers and cloth wipes. Don't really know much about either or too many people that have used.

I am looking for some feedback on using cloth diapers/ wipes. Pros/cons/does it really save money etc...

thanks

smushi

I copy.pasted from an email I sent a friend with the same question.

With cloth diapering, I pretty much researched for a few months figuring out what all it entailed, what I'd need to be successful, and how to do it all.  It's a little daunting at first, with all the crazy lingo, but there are some great resources out there.  I started with youtube videos on all the different kinds and opinions, as well as how to care for the diapers/wash them/prep them.  So many useful videos.  I think some of the best ones are made by this crazy bug eyed red headed lady.  I also got on The Bump, and they have a whole cloth diaper forum where I read through lots of what ifs and horror stories and how to fix this problem and that.  It really helped me get comfortable with everything and also know the lingo and what roadblocks people hit and how they got around it.

One big thing I will say, my friend Lauren cloth diapered for a year (and kept them for her second).  The worst thing for them was having a front loading washer.  With cloth diapers, the ticket is to pre soak them, plus you want the washer full with water to really get things clean, and since front loaders are so efficient, she found it harder to get the diapers as clean.

In building my stash, I registered for some, bought some online, and also bought some used from craigslist (you really want to wait until you know a lot about CDs before you do that though, since you can end up with some that might not work as well and then mess up how you feel about them altogether).

With newborn stage, we had a few adorable bumgenius all in ones (I've read mixed reviews on their newborn ones, and I wouldn't get any again, just not worth it), plus some super cute Blueberry all in ones (they're made in USA and come with gussets for the umbilical stump).  I also had two little rumparooz diaper covers in newborn size (with Velcro) to try along with some prefolds that would go into those.  I ended up liking those the best, because you get a few uses out of the covers before you need to wash them. 

You don't want to get a bunch of newborn, since you don't know how big the baby will be or how long they'll fit them.  For the next stage, I had more bumgenius and Blueberry all in ones since those are really easy, plus about 6 Thirsties diaper covers in snaps and more prefolds that fit into them. 

Pros:  Super cute, cost effective, really not that difficult to use or care for

Cons:  J was a really heavy soaker, and so no matter what I tried, he would always pee right out of them, even in 20 minutes.  Plus his little circumcision would burn when he would get wet, and he'd wake up instantly screaming.  Also, when you CD, they call the babies fluffy butts for a reason.  They are reallllly poofy.  Some clothes won't fit over them.  That's why a lot of cloth diapering moms also get baby leg warmers since some pants won't stretch over the diaper. 

So we tried them for a few weeks, going back and forth, and in the end, his sleeping better and keeping dry clothes was more important to me, so I sold my stash and all my extras on craigslist and made more money than I spent.  I pretty much just treated it as, everything with parenting is an experiment.  Some things work for your situation and some don't.  There are no failures in parenting, just different routes.

Some good websites for purchasing:  www.kellyscloset.com, www.greenmountaindiapers.com (where I ordered all my prefolds from) - I really had wanted to try some of those workhorses you'll see on there, but we switched to disposable before I bought any, and amazon (and FYI if you didn't know, you can get an amazon button on your browser that lets you add things to your amazon baby registry from any website, even etsy!).

pjo79

thank you so much! Maybe I will post same question on the CD board.

yodapup

Check out the website fluffloveuniversity.com for all the resources you'll need for cloth diaper lingo, wash routines, detergent info, diaper creams that are cloth safe, and so much more! I just started cloth diapering my 2 yr old and I'll start with my new DD when she can fit in one size diapers and this website was a ton of help. They also have a fb group fluff love and CD science. 

pjo79

thank you

jess9802

I started using cloth diapers when DS1 was about eight weeks old, and we never looked back. With him, we used flats with covers (Thirsties ended up being my favorites), which were great since they were easy to clean, it was nice to customize folds and absorbency, and we could use diaper rash cream for the rare occasion he got diaper rash. They were more intimidating for DH and my MIL to use, however, so I had a couple of pocket diapers/all in twos for them.

With DS2 we used disposables until the meconium was cleared from his system and it's been cloth ever since. Right now I'm using prefolds and covers and LOVE them. However, we'll have a different child care arrangement, so we will be using a mix of pocket and all in one diapers for him. I haven't bought my full stash so I know what will work for him, as it really can vary from baby to baby. 

As far as saving money - cloth diapering absolutely saved us money. Our diaper stash was worth about $600 total (and many of those items were gifts), and that got us through more than three years of diapering plus potty training. Many of the diapers and accessories are going to be reused for DS2. We've had to spend more money on DS2 due to the switch in childcare, but if we get two to three years use out of his diapers I still think we will come out ahead. We did not notice an increase in our utilities due to washing and drying, but with disposables we did have to increase our garbage bin size to accommodate the trash. The first eight weeks of disposables cost us $75/mo. We have had very few blowouts in cloth, minimal rash, and they're cute. I never had problems with the fit of clothing, though I did have to troubleshoot an overnight solution for DS1. As silly as it may be, I've really enjoyed cloth diapering. 

FutureMrsCaesar

I started cloth diapering when ds2 was 6 months old and ds1 was potty trained. I liked it until he started eating solid food and then the poop became gross and a lot of work.  You don't have to pre-clean breastfed poop but once they start eating solids you do. I had a toilet sprayer and everything but I still hated trying to get them clean. And i hated being out in public and having to bring a poopy diaper home in my wetbag to deal with later.  There were also times he'd poop at night and I wouldn't know until morning and I swear I never got the smell out of those diapers. I stuck with it until he was about 2, then he began peeing out of almost all my diapers quickly even with hemp inserts in them and one day I just decided to go back to disposables and felt so relieved ha!  I still have all my diapers (mostly all in 1s and pockets) because I always thought I'd give it another try with another baby but to be honest I already have so much laundry to do with 6 people in our house I really just don't think I'll ever use them again. Although if I can't get Evelyn's rash from her pampers allergy to go away I may have to give them a try again. 

swimflipper

I started using cloth diapers when my son was around 7 months old. At 6 months he started pooping on the toilet mainly. He does go in his diaper occasionally but not often so we just have pee diapers to change. I think it does save us money but anytime family watches him we have to put him disposable diapers because they don't get the cloth thing. I do use disposable when he has diaper rash though because we know that destin clears him right up and they say not to use that with the cloth inserts because it'll wear out how absorbent the inserts are. 
We have tried prefolds-didn't like them and didn't like how puffy they made his butt. They stretched out his clothes and such. We tried different inserts and end up loving the flip inserts. And we used the planet wise and blueberry Capri covers. The planet wise seem to leak now so we really only use the blueberry ones. At times the covers start to smell but I just do more spin cycles and that helps. We sold the inserts we didn't like on clothdiapertrader.com. There's a lot on that website I would check them out. Also go into a cloth diaper store. Most of the time the staff is extremely knowledgeable and will help explains things to you. We don't use cloth wipes. Was just easier to stick with disposable wipes. Also at times the can we keep the dirty ones in ends up stinking horribly. We're still working on figuring out what to do about that. 

RosieMommy2016

I just started cloth diapers yesterday (was waiting DS's stump to fall off) and I like them a lot better than the disposable diapers. I've been using cloth wipes since we got home from the hospital, so we pretty much already had a diaper pail set up. I just cut up a few of the receiving blankets we kidnapped from the hospital and soaked them in a solution of 2 cups water, a cap full of gentle baby wash, and a cap full of baby oil. Some are kept in a warmer, some are kept in a diaper bag case.

nicole103109

We started Saturday, he was born fri morning, having different styles to find what works for you is ideal. I have a heavy wetter so I have more on the way lol. Fluff love is great they have a Facebook group as well theyre very helpful just remember every baby is different so the trick is just finding what works for you