Cloth diapering?

mrskimm09

Anyone doing cloth diapers ?? We are very much looking into this. We might need to start stocking up at the half way point to get everything we need and set for when baby arrives. 

nolemomma14

We started using them when DS was 7 months old and have loved it ever since. Much easier than it seems. There are a lot of different types of diapers and brands. We mostly use covers with flour sack towels which can be bought at Walmart, target, and similar places for cheap. I found different co-ops on Facebook that do buys for cloth diapers and you can get them for as cheap as $4/5 which I love because it can get pricey. 

Im looking forward to starting from the beginning with this new baby, because we saved so much money once we switched with DS. I'm thinking of starting out with some pockets, I feel like they might fit the nb stage better, but it's trial and error to see what works for you! 

ETA- Fluff love & cloth diaper science on Facebook is a great source of info!

susykat77

Yes!! I'll be a FTM so I'm starting from scratch. There are so many options but I definitely plan to cloth diaper. 

Wholesome

I cloth my son.  We use AppleCheeks with bamboo prefolds during the day and Sustainablebabyish OBFs with a Blueberry Coverall at night.  We also use cloth wipes.  Until I learn how to sew and can make my own natural fiber wipes, we are using Thirsties Fab wipes.

Jkp7749

I cloth diapered for the first four months. My baby had colic and I got overwhelmed so I stopped. I plan on doing it this time and hopefully sticking to it. Check Amazon BC they run specials where if you open a credit card you get $80 to your prime account. My husband and I both opened two throughout my pregnancyand got our diaper stash. We have the cards but have never used them, you can just cancel them.

Also, what kind of detergent do you ladies use?? I think mine made my diapers not very absorbent

MrsRahl

We've used cloth for 2 years now and still going strong. We exclusively use bumgenius just because that is what we decided to register for for our shower last time around. We still love them, but I've had to replace the elastics around a year in. I may go grovia for night time soon because no insert combo is working anymore for my 2 year old heavy wetter.

@Jkp7749 we use tide powder and haven't had any issues. Some "cloth diaper safe detergents" actually don't clean that well so they inadvertently cause build up anyway. Tide original powder is widely used now in the cloth community. 

@Wholesome we've just used those cheapie baby wash cloths and a travel spray bottle filled with water for wipes for 2 years now. I love them! Cheap and wash out well, and don't fray.

I'd be happy to answer any questions. I love talking about cloth diapers!  

britters314

**lurker**

@Jkp7749  If you use a detergent with fabric softener in it (such as Dreft), that can lower the absorbency of the diapers.  ETA: I use EcoNuts detergent for my cloth pads and it cleans well and hasn't affected the absorbency. So that would probably work well for cloth diapers too.

TinaBelcher

I want to! But I'm a little overwhelmed now with twins... I think I'll register for a bunch of covers and not prep ALL of them until I see how we handle it/ if it'll be too overwhelming... Then we can return if it doesn't work out? But I hope it works. 

Ladies who already do/did- did you install a toilet sprayer? 

ChaoticWolf

I'm planning on doing cloth diapers after the first week or so, just so that I can be a little less stressed early on and also wait out the meconium, which I'm not looking forward to lol. @TinaBelcher maybe you could get just a pack or two of newborn diapers for a back up for the first few days so that it's okay if you're overwhelmed and you can just grab a disposable? 

mjolk

I'm very interested but the different types have me a bit overwhelmed.

ashanne88

We did a mix of cloth and disposables for a year and a half.  Initially we had to wait until DS was big enough for the cloth.  We continued disposables at night because I could never get the cloth to be absorbent enough for him.  It's a lot easier than people think.  You just have to dedicate yourself to running them through the wash often.  We only stopped because DS refused to wear them one day.  Hoping this baby doesn't do that.

My only note is to make sure your childcare provider, if you use/are planning to use one, is open to using them.  Some providers will not deal with cloth.

@TinaBelcher we just used a spray bottle rather than installing anything.

spano41

We cloth diapered with my daughter for the first 9mo.  After that her physical therapist thought it was preventing her from crawling so we stopped (this isn't really a concern with typically developing babies).  We used prefolds with covers in the beginning and then moved to Flips and pockets.  I actually preferred the prefolds and covers.   I would recommend starting from the day you get home because I've had two friends who bought all of the cloth diapering stuff and were just going to use one box of NB diapers but then got used to them and never started with the cloth.  Obviously that won't happen with everyone, but just a warning.   Also, we use disposable wipes and diapers for doctors appointments and travel, it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  

ToBeMiller1921

We cloth diapered my first daughter. I loved it! We used regular wipes though. That made diaper pales tricky though. We loved pocket diapers and covers with prefolds. I bought them from sunbabydiapersDOTcom and cottonbabiesDOTcom

if you have any questions, let me know.

aels12

We are hoping to cloth diaper, I am just starting researching all the different options!

Wholesome

Jkp7749 said:

Also, what kind of detergent do you ladies use?? I think mine made my diapers not very absorbent

Tide ORIGINAL powder.

Wholesome

TinaBelcher said:

Then we can return if it doesn't work out?

Ladies who already do/did- did you install a toilet sprayer? 

Most places will only accept returns if they are still in the original packaging.

i purchased a sprayed but never installed it.  My husband didn't want poop water on the walls and now (2 years in, I think it was a good decision.  I just plop what will plop out and wipe the diaper with toilet paper for the rest.  Residue is okay for the washing machine, not clumps.

Wholesome

This is a little dated but I like how
she goes through each style.  It's very imformative if you are overwhelmed by all the choices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipMmpJkB8L4&feature=share

15caitlin

We started cloth diapers  but the inserts we have are so thick. It makes the diaper really large and his pants don't fit over. 

cjs260

@Wholesome Thanks so much for that! 

@TinaBelcher I babysat for a cloth diaper family and they just kept a plastic squirt water bottle beside the toilet that they would refill. 

ToBeMiller1921

We used a sprayer and it helped tremendously! I would put a stubborn poop diaper, poop down in the water, for about 15 minutes. It rinsed super quickly after that. 

Wholesome

@MrsRahl we use those when we've run out of our other wipes.  I love the double later wipes.  They hold the wipes solution so well, are very gentle on my babe's butt (I don't feel like I'm scraping him with scratchy material), and they are so sturdy.  I love em!  I just wish they were natural fibers because they tend to get the synthetic fiber stink that I hate.

ajmcarroll

We have been cloth diapering since DD was 2 months old.  She's 6 months old now.  There's so many options and brands with cloth diapers that it can be overwhelming.  We have Apple cheeks,  Bumgenius,  Thistles,  Alvas,  Rumparooz,  and some no names.  We use mainly pockets or All in Ones for day time and prefolds with covers at night.  We have over 60 diapers and I generally do laundry once a week.  
Things to consider before going cloth: are you using a daycare and will they do cloth?  Some states have regulations on licensed daycares and cloth while others simply refuse to consider cloth. Will your family use cloth when they babysit?  Do you gave relatives with Arthritis? You may have to get Aplix or hook and loop (velcro)  diapers.  What's your price point? Honestly think you can initially start out with Alvas and good inserts (cotton bamboo blend or hemp,  microfiber sucks) and they're just as good.  Can you resell them? My city has two cloth diaper FB groups that moms  sell used or slightly used diapers.  
Good luck and happy researching! 

@TinaBelcher we have a diaper sprayer and a spray pal. I highly recommend both.  It was easy to attach and the spray pail prevents splash back. Yuck. 
@CJS72410  I can't imagine a spray bottle should actually spray poop off well.  Maybe if they were strictly breastfed.  

Wholesome

One thing I recommend is flushable diaper liners.  We call them poop catchers.  This is great for the in between phase - when your child is going from being breastfed to eating solids and their poop isn't plopable yet.

cjs260

@ajmcarroll That very well may be the case. They always had LO in disposables when I would sit (one night a week), so I never actually changed the cloth diaper. 

AmyKDuffy

This woman is a friend of mine and has two wonderful boys that I used to babysit. She's got tons of info on cloth diapers! https://naturalbabymama.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/cloth-diapers-my-wool-cover-obsession/

azwildcat62

This is great! Thanks for sharing. I'm such a newbie at all things baby! Where can we find part 2?

nan814

We already CD our 15 month old and will continue with this baby. My husband loves Charlie banana, they're ok. Changing the rise is a pain in the ass. I love thirsties AIOs and plan to add more to our stash before this baby arrives.

kellybean1988

This is my first LO but I absolutely plan on cloth diapering. I've done a lot of research and have settled on building my stash with "SoftBums" and their all-in-two/pod insert system. Does anyone have any experience with these? The reviews are fantastic.  I am just trying to figure out if I want the Omni vs. the Echo shells. It looks like Echos are made with more of a "trim" fit--so are better for newborns-- and "Omni" are made with more of a "full" fit, for older babies- so I will probably purchase 5 of each to start with, and then a bunch of pods. The cool thing about these is that they have a built in "grow with your baby" feature, so theoretically, they will last you a long time.

https://www.kellyscloset.com/  is an excellent resource for cloth diapering purchases (they have a great rewards system) and https://thegreennursery.com/  is also great! Both places, I believe, sell all sorts of "green" laundry detergent that they recommend for use with cloth diapers. "Rockin' Green" laundry detergent comes pretty highly recommended.

We will probably do a mix of cloth/disposables at first because I know that we will get tons of disposables from family and friends--people are kind of reticent sometimes to purchase cloth diapers for new moms if they don't have any experience with them, so a lot of times they just buy disposables. Those disposables will definitely be used, though!  

annettelauren

We have been cloth diapering our twin girls since they were big enough to fit in the newborn sizes.  I love it and it really isn't as hard as it seems.  In the beginning we did a load of laundry every night but once they fit into the regular sizes we were able to do one load a week.

We have the spray pal  with a diaper sprayer but you don't need that until you start solids (or if you formula feed). BF poop is water soluable so it can go straight in the wash. 

We use All free & clear and it works great on the diapers & inserts.

canavara

Can anyone with experience using cloth diaper services explain how the disposal and collection of the dirty diapers work? I'd really like to try it but I'm just imagining the smell of a week's worth of soiled poopy diapers sitting fragrantly in a bag outside my front door for an entire afternoon waiting for someone to show up in a car to collect... how do you deal with the smell? Is the container they give you for disposal odor-proof?

ETA: What happens with cloth diapers when you're out on the go? Do you just carry around the dirty diaper with you the whole time you're out?

ETA: Totally answered my second question on my own googling and finding this for anyone curious: https://theparsimoniousprincess.blogspot.dk/2013/04/adventures-in-cloth-diapering-on-go.html

cjs260

So with prefolds (if anyone uses them) did you get a one size fits all or go with baby's weight? H and I were both big babies (9 and 10 lbs respectively) so I'm sure our little bugger will be a beast as well. I'd like to buy some diapers here and there once I get out the 1st Tri, so just trying to plan ahead (AKA get everything pinned on pinterest). 

TinaBelcher

Oh god, Pinterest! My MIL and SIL knew I was pregnant before we told many people because I freaking forgot that some people actually pay attention to who pins what on that damned site  oops!

cjs260

@TinaBelcher I totally had to do a private board because so many of my high school friends and my mom's friends from my hometown follow me, and I definitely don't want them knowing before 1st Tri is over. I only remembered to do that because my friend was called out by our other friends for being pregnant, when she was only just doing a board for the future and was actually not pregnant. 

ajmcarroll

@CJS72410  I used osocosy prefolds that came with sizes similar to sposies.  (Size 1, 2, 3, etc.)  plus with prefolds you can fold them several different ways to get an accurate fit.  I'm fond of the newspaper fold. 

Wholesome

kelseyh62 said:

This is great! Thanks for sharing. I'm such a newbie at all things baby! Where can we find part 2?

Hmmm.  Try this.  It should load her playlist.



if you want to open YouTube and find it, search for Cloth Diapering 101 or NaturallyThriftyMom.

Wholesome

kellybean1988 said:

This is my first LO but I absolutely plan on cloth diapering. I've done a lot of research and have settled on building my stash with "SoftBums" and their all-in-two/pod insert system. Does anyone have any experience with these? The reviews are fantastic.  I am just trying to figure out if I want the Omni vs. the Echo shells. It looks like Echos are made with more of a "trim" fit--so are better for newborns-- and "Omni" are made with more of a "full" fit, for older babies- so I will probably purchase 5 of each to start with, and then a bunch of pods. The cool thing about these is that they have a built in "grow with your baby" feature, so theoretically, they will last you a long time.

https://www.kellyscloset.com/  is an excellent resource for cloth diapering purchases (they have a great rewards system) and https://thegreennursery.com/  is also great! Both places, I believe, sell all sorts of "green" laundry detergent that they recommend for use with cloth diapers. "Rockin' Green" laundry detergent comes pretty highly recommended.

We will probably do a mix of cloth/disposables at first because I know that we will get tons of disposables from family and friends--people are kind of reticent sometimes to purchase cloth diapers for new moms if they don't have any experience with them, so a lot of times they just buy disposables. Those disposables will definitely be used, though!  

I tried the Omni with Velcro.  We didn't like it.  It's the emergency diaper in our stash, when all they of the good ones are dirty.  It took 3 times as many washing prep than they said before it wouldn't leak and the lining isn't very soft.  Even though it's the diaper we hardly ever use, it's very pilley and a little on the scratchy side.  It doesn't seem very comfortable.  I really really wanted to love this diaper but it just didn't do it for us.

Heres a pic of the Omni on top of our AppleCheeks so you can see what I'm talking about.

When I first started, I used DiaperJunction.com and did their cloth diaper trial.  I ended up not going with anything I tried through the trial (Blueberry, Moraki, BumGenius).  I also tried SoftBums Omni but had to buy it as it wasn't in a trial.  I ended up finding out a local store carried AppleCheeks so tried one and ended up building my stash of primarily those.

one purchase I didn't plan on was the inserts; we have to use 2 inserts with each diaper now.  That was an unexpected expenditure.

ive tried all the cloth detergents and Tide Original Powder works best for us.

Wholesome

Another tidbit.  synthetic fibers tend to get stinky very easily aka "microfiber stink".  Natural fibers (cotton, bamboo, hemp) generally don't have this problem.  We use bamboo.

kellybean1988

@Wholesome  that is incredibly helpful, thank you so much!

nolemomma14

For those who have cloth diapered since the newborn stage, did you buy newborn diapers or just wait until baby fit the one size fits all? Debating whether we should buy newborn diapers. Also how big were your LOs when they fit the one size diapers?

cjs260

@nolemomma14 I was wondering the same thing. Looking around other sites, a lot of people using prefolds seemed to buy the larger sizes, then use different folding techniques depending on baby's size. I'm not sure about AIOs or pockets. 

ashanne88

@nolemomma14  We waited until DS fit into the one size diapers.  I think he was somewhere between 2-3 months before they fit him (DS is on the smaller side so this could absolutely be different for other babies).  I just didn't want to buy the newborn sizes for such a short period of time, but that was just me.

ETA: we used AIO and pockets so not sure if the prefolds would have fit sooner as @cjs260 mentioned.