CLOTH DIAPERING 101

Christinaruth74

alright ladies, it's come up in other threads, but deserves its own. 
Experienced CDers, come in and share your wise ways. Newbs come in and ask questions.

As long as it doesn't involve the words "nub" and "theory", there are no dumb questions. 

Let's start with the basics: 
why do you cloth diaper? / why do you want to cloth diaper? 

JEM525

Love my Bumgenius! Cloth diapers were an easy choice, but I think what made it easier was my DH was on board! He does all the washing

Christinaruth74

@JEM525 I'm a super control freak and NEVER let my H wash the diapers before... But now I can't go down to the basement to get to the laundry units without barfing, so he's been on laundry duty. So far only one accidental dryer sheet incident! 

bobbyflies2020

What I told the MIL the other day: It will make changing diapers more enjoyable for me, knowing I can reuse them and that it's saving us money. I am otherwise neutral on the subject. My goal is to try it in the beginning. I did the math and if I quit after 2-3 months, it will still have been cost effective. 

JEM525

I'll recommend putting cloth diapers and a toilet sprayer on your registry, but be prepared to answer lots of questions about Cloth Diapering. People will be amazed about how far the cloth diaper has come and how much you will save a year! 

juliehollz13

Hi! I'm a FTM and would like to cloth diaper because me and everyone else in my family was and we were potty trained much sooner than those who wore disposable diapers. I'm not opposed to using disposables when needed, but would like to primarily use cloth. 

phoenix870509

I don't plan on CDing (don't have a working dryer in my house and it would be our responsibility to replace and we just can't afford it) but my cousin did recommend getting some CDs, so when baby gets smart and starts taking diaper off it makes things more difficult. My other cousin is currently going through this. What are some brands that you would recommend for this?

Christinaruth74

@juliehollz13 I've heard that potty training comes easier with cloth! I have yet to test the waters with my DD, but I'm curious to see if there's any truth to that for us.
also, we still keep disposables on hand for a variety of things... Traveling, babysitters, the occasional  yeast rash (ugh).

@mbs427 Be prepared to stick it out for a while if it's something you really want to do. It took us probably a good 3 months to find a good system and rhythm. 

And yes, so many questions! When converted to cloth at around 9weeks and people were so appalled. The majority of people really have no idea just how far CDing has come and just how simple it can be. (Not to mention adorable)

Christinaruth74

So, here's a background on what we did. 

First we tried pockets. They were cheap and seemed simple enough. I had a hard time finding the best fit and learned a lot about how to adjust the rise (the rows of snaps on the front). Once we figured that out, we quickly learned DD was a heavy wetter and was needing to be changed so frequently that I was ready to throw in the towel. When we started we just used cloth at home and disposables when we went out because she was constantly peeing through. We tried double stuffing and then charcoal bamboo inserts but no luck. 
Next we went on to HappyFlute AIOs (All In Ones). They had the super absorbent charcoal bamboo inner, optional insert stuffing for extra absorbency, and even had handy Velcro closures that made them so similar to disposables (very daddy and grandma friendly!). Plus they were cheap and could be ordered in bulk via co-ops. These were a favorite and what ultimately turned us on to AIOs. 
Unfortunately, DD developed a reaction to the PUL (the water resistant layer on the outter portion) so we went back to the drawing board. 
This was frustrating because it also meant we needed to eliminate our fitted/cover night time routine. (Covers=PUL) 
then came Nicki's bamboo AIOs. We've been using these for well over a year now and have no complaints. The bamboo takes longer to dry, but they are so absorbent. I just ordered some of Nicki's Ultimate AIOs which use a fleece lined inner (no bamboo) that wicks away the moisture from their skin to help prevent rashes/irritation. We haven't tried them yet (still need to prep) but I'm excited! 
Night time we use bamboo fitteds, a fleece liner, and a fleece cover. I found some awesome ones on etsy that look just like regular covers, but are made entirely of fleece with a water resistant layer in the middle. Game changing. 
Sorry for the novel, I just like to emphasize to people just starting out in cloth that sometimes it isn't for the faint of heart... Sometimes it takes time to find what works and what you love. But once you do, it's smooth sailing! (For the most part)

Toller

We were super happy with our GroVia diapers. It actually ended up working great for us cuz DD has SUPER sensitive skin. We did end up using disposables after a year and while out and about. We also took a cloth diaper class which was SO helpful since it's all so overwhelming at first...

I second @JEM525 on the toilet sprayer!! This is KEY to success! And a toilet shield (to stop spray from going everywhere).

We also have a local place that does a diaper service, where they wash all the diapers for you and drop off clean ones. We did this for the first 3 months with DD and are planning to do it again! (She was small and didnt quite fit into the GroVia diapers at first).

*edited because I can't spell

Christinaruth74

@phoenix870509 that's interesting! Also, you can totally air dry the dipes.. It gives the elastics some longevity! *come to the dark, fluffy side...*
but, in all seriousness, you could probably get away with putting a cover over a disposable and it would be effective. Plus, covers can be re-used so you wouldn't need to invest in a whole stash just for that reason. Flip covers are a great option and they are reasonably priced. 

phoenix870509

@Christinaruth74 lol, I will not fall to the dark side, I am a Jedi like my father before me.

We have feral cats that roam our townhouse complex and they like to sun in our backyard area (it's a small fenced in area). We can't hang anything outside for fear they'll knock it down/off. Also DH has an allergy to cats, so baby might too.

If circumstances were different I would definitely consider CDing. Maybe when we get our own house with no outdoor cats or a working washer/dryer. But thank you for the tip on flip covers. I will look into them!

tinattt23

FTM 90% sold on going cloth. FI is on board. But family thinks we're nuts (why sign up for more work, it's the 21st century, etc). 

We're moving back to expensive ass California, cloth is looking better and better to ease the financial burden. How much do you think you really saved? I've seen from eh not much to thousands. 

Best friend nannies/babysits for lots of families. She had a few cloth diaper kids. She hates them. And she said the few she's had have been her biggest potty training problems. But, she's in person with only a few kids. 

Despite the the negativity around us, pretty sure we're going for it. I've got a list of Rumparooz pockets, Fuzibuns pockets (because Costco has them for cheap), Flip hybrids, and some bumgenie AIOs. I can see different styles being useful for different situations. Do other people switch out based on if they're going out, leaving kids with family, long drive, etc?

Christinaruth74

@tinattt23 people will always have an opinion about everything. Ugh. 
As far as switching different styles, I think it's easiest to streamline your stash to one kind that works best for you. The only variation we have in our stash right now is for our nighttime routine, but other than that I've recently streamlined to all AIOs. It also makes it easier to manage. Different brands/styles have different fits or different drying times or different prep (stuffing, folding, snapping in) so it made things simpler to stick with one thing. 
I mentioned it earlier, but we keep disposables on hand for traveling / babysitters. 

jennbaylor12

DS turned 2 in March and we have been cloth diapering since we got home from the hospital (Bungenius!!) and we absolutely Loooove it!! Very briefly the reasons we chose to, not necessarily in this order, were:
- Cost effectiveness
- Great for kiddos with sensitive skin (disposables can be Awful for this) 
- Makes potty training easier (due to the fact that they know when they are wet or dirty much sooner and easier in cloth than disposables)

Since then we have both had him full-time in daycare as well as have had many babysitters and family members watch him and, truthfully, there is no difference for care providers watching a baby in cloth than disposables. They take them off, clean their bottom, put a new diaper on, put it away. The only difference is they put it in a wet bag (or whatever you choose to hold your dirties) instead of a trash can. Now, for the parents there is the washing factor but that definitely is not something that outweighs the benefits, in our household. 

princesslockness

Someone asked about cost(stupid mobile won't let me tag). I started out with the super cheap China knockoff pockets. Like 10 covers and 20 inserts for ~$40. Until L started to pee like an adult those worked just fine. Now we have some charcoal bamboo liners that we use for going out as they can typically handle 1-2 rounds. With having our 20d40i we have yet to finish using all the 12 packs of diapers we received at our shower. Babysitter, long trips are all done in disposables and I have 2.5 packs left. It is definitely worth looking into especially if you can go with the knockoffs.

ashleaf2018

I really want to cloth diaper, but I told my MIL about it and she said I may not be able to if baby inherits FI's skin condition. I think we will still try it with the mindset of if it works, great, if not, we'll move on and be happy for having tried.

mysteryship

I'm definitely going to try, and DH is mostly on board. We're moving before the baby comes, so hopefully we end up with a good laundry situation. Right now we have great new machines but they're down a narrow staircase that makes it a pain.

I'm definitely in it to save money, and to avoid waste. I know myself, and throwing away so many diapers would make me upset (but I'm keeping an open mind and will definitely switch to disposables if we need to).

I'm really interested to hear as much as possible about what brands and types worked for everyone.

jenlynne0624

I really, really want to try with this one because it's so much more cost effective and it's adorable. I hate how many disposables we go through and how awful it is for the environment. I am just stuck as to which route I want to take. I like the idea of pockets and reusing covers, but AIOs seem so much  more convenient. I've heard good things about FLIPS too, but I need to do more research. What I really need to do is convince DH that this is the way to go. He's worried about getting poop in the washer... men.

Toller

@jenlynne0624 The pockets pretty much feel like AIOs? Especially if you only have one kind of diaper (could maybe get crazy if you're having to match inserts to covers all the time because of different brands....)

the only thing prominent I remember in our cloth diaper class is that AIOs can take FOREVER to dry, and air drying is best because a dryer really wears them out quickly ... (all diapers, not just AIOs).

littlebirdie28

jennbaylor12 said:

DS turned 2 in March and we have been cloth diapering since we got home from the hospital (Bungenius!!) and we absolutely Loooove it!! Very briefly the reasons we chose to, not necessarily in this order, were:
- Cost effectiveness
- Great for kiddos with sensitive skin (disposables can be Awful for this) 
- Makes potty training easier (due to the fact that they know when they are wet or dirty much sooner and easier in cloth than disposables)

Since then we have both had him full-time in daycare as well as have had many babysitters and family members watch him and, truthfully, there is no difference for care providers watching a baby in cloth than disposables. They take them off, clean their bottom, put a new diaper on, put it away. The only difference is they put it in a wet bag (or whatever you choose to hold your dirties) instead of a trash can. Now, for the parents there is the washing factor but that definitely is not something that outweighs the benefits, in our household. 

Your daycare providers didn't have a problem with CD? I really want to do this, but if the daycare won't do it I don't see the point of having baby in a CD for only half the time. I wasn't sure how open daycares would be to it. 

BenNSarah

FTM planning to use CD.  Primarily for financial reasons.  DH is mostly on board (especially after I bought one to show him that it was not the old type he was picturing) whenever you put a dollar amount with it he buys in much quicker.  His biggest concern is that it grosses him out.  Putting them in the washer where other clothes are washed, storing dirty diapers without the whole house smelling like dirty diapers, etc.  Any input on this? Do the wet/dry bags help keep out most of the smell? Especially to go in the diaper bag?

We are planning to use disposables for some social occasions but I think most people can learn to deal with the cloth as long as our diaper bag doesn't reek, and we find a daycare okay with them.  However, we are probably going to use disposable for newborn size.  Baby's go through them so quickly I am worried we won't have enough and a friend pointed out with her daughter, the CD's were so thick she was worried about it hurting her newborn's back when she was sleeping.

I had planned to register for one kind of diaper, I did a ton of research and talked to several people and I wanted to try the Bumgenius pocket diapers.  But with people that had problems with different diapers working for their babies should I register for different styles or just cross that bridge if we need to?

Sorry so long!

tinattt23

As for smell, I planned on ordering something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0053Y2B6E/ref=pd_aw_fbt_75_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8T8KBEAVNSPA8S58ESY4. My intuition is the filter with kid should do a good job, but I've read that no lid is actually the way to go?

Another question I thought of, what about the changing more often gripe I hear? Call me niave FTM but cloth or disposable, would you want to change your baby any time they're wet or dirty regardless of how much more the diaper could soak up?

1982Babies

I have tons of brands.  I bought a lot of China cheapies when I started, but I ended up building up a stash of Grovia and Bumgenius.  We are 2 years in and I have a ridiculous amount of diapers.  I also did newborn sizes, which were actually too big for my daughter when she was born!  I can't remember why I decided to cloth diaper, but I am glad I did.  Actually, I need to go fold a basket of them.

Maybe it's because I don't like using a lot of disposable products, like paper towels, plates, etc.  I also like the prints.

PensiveCrayon

Thanks for starting this thread! I'm also a FTM planning on CD'ing. I guess because I'm crunchy? I mean, I was raised in cloth diapers, so disposables have never really been the plan for me. I do have a couple questions, though.

First, I've been eying the BumGenius Freetime AIO's and BumGenius Littles. Anyone have experience with these? Positive? Negative?

Second, what do you guys think about starting CD's right out of the womb? Would you recommend waiting a few weeks to get the hang of having a kid before adding something that requires a little bit of thought into the mix? I'm afraid if I keep disposables around, I'll fall back on them just for convenience sake.

jennbaylor12

***holy crap!! This was a really long reply and the bump ate almost all of it :-(  @littlebirdie28 - I had written a long statement about our daycare experience and why it was not a problem, I'll come back when I have time to re-write it!! ***

@ashleaf2018 - if you don't mind my asking, what skin condition? CD's are generally much better for almost every type of skin condition

emisi

I CD'd my now 3-year-old, and loved it, so I plan to do it again.  In the beginning we did prefolds and covers, and that actually ended up being a favorite method of ours.  If they just pee, you put the prefold in the can and reuse the cover.  If you get lucky and the poop doesn't go all over the cover, ditto.  We also used GroVias, TotsBots, the velcro Kawaii for daycare... basically we used a ton of different kinds.  I also loved the Blueberry AIOs.  But for younger babies, prefolds and covers are the way to go.  Also, my favorite part - no poopsplosions up their backs in cloth!  That's a HUGE drawback of disposables.  

littlebirdie28

@jennbaylor12  haha no worries! 

ashleaf2018

@jennbaylor12 I don't mind at all! Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. Newborns with the condition start out with severe blistering, but as they get older the blistering goes away and it turns into severe scaling, I want to say it's like very severe psoriasis. FI has it everywhere except his palms and the soles of his feet.

MIL explained it as babies with EHK need to have that moisture wicked away from their skin immediately because them sitting in a dirty diaper will irritate their skin more, but my understanding of CDing is that you change their diaper as soon as they've soiled it, so they really aren't sitting in it for long. Ideally, we would CD at home during the day and do disposables at night and when leaving for long periods of time. It really sounds to me cloth is the better option, but she told me that is not the case. However, this was 25 years ago and my understanding is CDing has changed quite a bit since FI was a baby. There's also no guarantee baby will have the condition. There is a 50/50 chance, relatively the same as baby's gender. 

penelope4612

We are interested (basically I want to do this and DH is reluctant but willing to consider).  We will probably get prefolds and covers for the newborn stage and then decide.  We will probably register for some CDs for the older ages but hold off on actually purchasing any until we see how the newborn stage goes.  Also, I want to take a CD class... Gotta convince DH.

jennbaylor12

ashleaf2018 said:

@jennbaylor12 I don't mind at all! Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. Newborns with the condition start out with severe blistering, but as they get older the blistering goes away and it turns into severe scaling, I want to say it's like very severe psoriasis. FI has it everywhere except his palms and the soles of his feet.

MIL explained it as babies with EHK need to have that moisture wicked away from their skin immediately because them sitting in a dirty diaper will irritate their skin more, but my understanding of CDing is that you change their diaper as soon as they've soiled it, so they really aren't sitting in it for long. Ideally, we would CD at home during the day and do disposables at night and when leaving for long periods of time. It really sounds to me cloth is the better option, but she told me that is not the case. However, this was 25 years ago and my understanding is CDing has changed quite a bit since FI was a baby. There's also no guarantee baby will have the condition. There is a 50/50 chance, relatively the same as baby's gender. 

Gotcha!! Well I certainly cannot speak to your husband's condition in particular, I would never dream of doing so. However, I can say that my husband has severe asthma and allergies and in newborns that typically exhibits itself in skin conditions. DS had really Really bad eczema his entire first yr which is also exacerbated by moisture and cloth diapers were absolutely a godsend in keeping that condition at bay for us!! CD's have come a long way, baby

ashleaf2018

@jennbaylor12 I think at this point we are going to CD *cautiously* with the understanding that it may not work for us, but we would love to do it. Hopefully it goes well whether baby has the skin condition or not, fluffy bums are just too cute to pass up! Not to mention cost effective, environmentally friendly, etc.

Christinaruth74

@ashleaf2018 oh man that sounds rough  

I just ordered a bunch of Nicki's Ultimate All in Ones. They are lined with fleece on the inside that wicks the moisture away the skin so they're not sitting in it.  Like you said, CDing has come such a long way and there are so many great options for sensitive skin. 

HairBossMama

im very interested in CDing and a lot of my friends are doing it already. Everything im reading says bumgenius is one of the best. But holy cow expensive! Im planning on getting some through a swap but still. I was looking at Alvababy they look similar to bumgenius but way cheaper. How do you know which brand? My friend who cds with both her boys is going to give me an intro class so hopefully that will clear things up for us soon!

Christinaruth74

@PensiveCrayon I know loads of people start cloth right away! We will probably wait a little bit just because I don't feel like investing in newborn dipes or dealing with cleaning the newborn poop. But it's all personal preference. 
Even 2 years in to CDing, the temptation to fall back on the convenience of disposables creeps up every now and again haha but it really is so worth it. Even my H says he misses her fluffy butt when she's in disposables. 

brittnic86

Well I'd like to cloth diaper, because it'll save money, and we're having twins, so saving money is a must. But, we're having twins...that's a lot of diapers to wash...

DiFazette

@brittnic86 - and a really big upfront expense, especially since our babies will likely be small to start and won't fit in the long term diapers.  The options I've heard are start with disposables if you need preemie/newborn size then switch or buy a whole different set of CD's.  Nope.  Any opinions on that ladies?

Also, every accredited daycare on my area says absolutely not to CD.  I'm interested in hearing what you CD moms do for child care if you work outside of the home. 

Toller

@brittnic86 you'll probably want to plan on disposables until they gain a few pounds- the cloth diapers are pretty bulky on them and depending on the baby- they may poop constantly!

@DiFazette we started with a diaper service that had newborn size pre-folds... then we moved up in sizes until she fit into the diapers we purchased. we didn't want to make the investment for tiny ones- i feel like you'd need SO MANY since they go so much!

we did a home daycare, who was fine with the cloth diapers (as long as she didn't have to do any of the cleaning!) I would imagine centers would be on a case by case basis... you should be able to prove to them that its JUST as easy for them to use cloth as it is disposables (as long as you provide clean diapers and a wetbag)

tinattt23

@DiFazette Not sure what state you live in, but I ran across this link a few days ago I found interesting: https://diaperwrecker.com/2013/09/cloth-diapers-in-daycare/

Depending on where you are, they might legally have to accept them.

DiFazette

tinattt23 said:

@DiFazette Not sure what state you live in, but I ran across this link a few days ago I found interesting: https://diaperwrecker.com/2013/09/cloth-diapers-in-daycare/

Depending on where you are, they might legally have to accept them.

Thanks @tinattt23.  My state does not have a specific law on this, so my guess is that centers choose not to allow.  I toured 5 local 5 star centers before DS was born 3 years ago.  All were a hard no. 

jennbaylor12

It's way too long for me to rewrite everything that I wrote regarding our experience with cloth diapers and daycare but the shorter version is this:

DS was in daycare from 10 weeks old until 20 months old when I stopped working and it wasn't a problem at all. However, we were looking to move him from one center to another to have him closer to home and initially they said a hard no. We live in Texas and, according to the TAC (the Texas Administrative Code which governs the rules and regulations for all Child Care Facilities of every shape and size) they are not allowed to say no as long as certain specific regulations are followed for cleanliness. I asked the director to review the TAC and when she did, agreed that they would allow the CDs as well as thanked us for bringing it to her attention. All states have a code regarding the standards that child care facilities have to follow, so I would definitely look into yours before I put my child in child care at all, not just in regards to cloth diapering but just to familiarize yourself with everything that should be in place. It's very informative! Specifically regarding cloth diapering, a lot of people just aren't aware of how far they have come and how easy they really are and so they are intimidated or grossed out when that is unnecessary