CLOTH DIAPERING 101

maamawaabangi

I cloth diapered my 1st 3 (bios) nearly 100% of the time. I took Sunday's off and vacations... But that was about it. It saved us a bundle and I had an amazing system down.
Our "fourth" whose really our 2nd was almost five when he joined us... And our 5th had horrible giardia poos and I couldn't deal with poop nor did I want to risk spreading any parasites via laundry or even handling it!!! Gag!
I made an attempt to start again with our 6th but honestly the quantity of our regular daily laundry is so emense that I can't bring myself to add more to it! I feel guilty because I feel like a family of our size should try to minimize our "impact" but at the same time I justify it that I "did my time" and that three kids in disposables really isn't a huge deal... 
But the worst of it is that I miss the big fluffy booties and cute diapers! So sad! 

jandd2014

Where have you ladies found cloth diapering classes? Or even just a good variety in a physical store?
I went to Babies R Us yesterday expecting to see a selection of cloth diapers and was really disappointed that all they had was one kind of prefolds/plastic pants for covers. I'm interested in pocket diapers, but want to physically touch them to figure out if we really want to do that. 

Austenista

@jandd2014 I'm surprised your babies r us didn't have them. Ours does but they're not with the other diapers. Maybe call around to another one or two in your area and see if they carry them. Ours has like a wall of bum genius. 

ashleaf2018

@jandd2014 I haven't looked at BRU because we have a store near us that sells them and does the classes. You're most likely to find a class at a mom-and-pop type shop. I actually discovered ours through Facebook. Also, beware of certain pre folds. At the class we were told that the Gerber "pre folds" now are burp cloths, they have foam batting in them and are not actually absorbent for any type of diapering purposes. Also the plastic pants-type covers are not very breathable, I know as a baby I got a rash from those but we never figured out if I was allergic to PUL or if it was just all the urine trapped in the hot plastic pants. If you can find a local small shop, the prices may be more expensive but we get a lot of shopping support from them, we can always call with a question or a problem and they always have an answer for us. Our store also sells baby carriers and will let you try them on and come in any time if you have trouble with your carrier. It's a real blessing to this area, people come down from all over just to shop here.

penelope4612

@jandd2014 - there is a cloth diapering store near us and they have classes.  Try looking on google or Yelp to see if there is one near you.  Also, as a last resort, some of the online companies have programs where you can order several cloth diapers to try and then return the ones you don't like (used) after several weeks for a partial refund.

jandd2014

Thanks for your responses! I did some more googling and figured out there is a small baby consignment shop in my town (who knew?! ) and they are having a cloth diapering info/ diaper swap at the end of August. They don't have any in the store, but its a cute little store that I can see could be a good resource, now that I know about it! This is a relief because the nearest BRU to where we live is 30 minutes in one direction and 40 minutes in the other so I was a little annoyed that I drove so far for nothing. 

1MommyRunner

I just went to a consignment sale. I got mostly pockets with a couple AIO's. 12 diapers with 24 inserts (for $105! Woohoo!) We're planning to do disposables for the NB stage...would you experienced CDers recommend more? 

PensiveCrayon

Just wondering what opinions are on CD'ing with new-new-newborns. Does meconium wash out okay? Does it have to be hosed off before washing?

ashleaf2018

Not sure if meconium needs a rinse or not but laying in the sun gets most stains out. We are going to do disposables for the newborn size and then when baby is a little bigger we'll switch to CDing.

jennbaylor12

PensiveCrayon said:

Just wondering what opinions are on CD'ing with new-new-newborns. Does meconium wash out okay? Does it have to be hosed off before washing?

We had planned to do disposables for DS for the first couple weeks and then switch over to CD's; well, in the first 12hrs at home he soaked through his disposables 3xs resulting in us having to wash the brand new, never used, rock-n-play monkey liner repeatedly. Said screw it, popped him into CD's and never looked back! 

leksiL

1MommyRunner said:

I just went to a consignment sale. I got mostly pockets with a couple AIO's. 12 diapers with 24 inserts (for $105! Woohoo!) We're planning to do disposables for the NB stage...would you experienced CDers recommend more? 

I would also like to know how many CDs people recommend. does it matter on type?

BTW I saw a CD sale on zulilly yesterday, something to watch out for! 

PensiveCrayon

@leksiL FTM here, but I got 24 AIO's and 24 newborn CD's. From what I've read, this should put me on an every-other-day laundry schedule.

Christinaruth74

@PensiveCrayon we will be doing disposables for the first little while. Honestly, I just don't feel like buying NB diapers, so it's just a convenience thing for me. But I've heard a few CDing moms recommend starting after they've passed all their icky tar poops (the technical name, of course). Totally personal preference though. 

@leksiL
@1MommyRunner
the amount you want in your stash will depend on how often you plan on doing diaper laundry. I have a friend who kept a smaller stash and did laundry every day. I like to keep a larger rotation so I can do laundry every 3rd day. I also like the idea of having a larger stash because it increases the longevity of your diapers, if that makes sense? I figure if I have more available, I'll be using them in a pretty spaced out rotation so I will be able to get longer wear out of them before elastics need to be replaced or something. 

But it I would recommend starting off with a few different styles of diapers in the beginning just to get an idea of what each is like. I tried pockets at first but they ended up being a terrible fit for us for a lot of reasons. We also tried grovias and happy flutes and I loved those, but my daughter developed a weird reaction to the PUL. In time we figured out a good diaper in routine but it took some patience and trial and error.

if you haven't already, join some of the CD swaps on Facebook. They should be easy to search for. You can score seconds for pretty cheap and it will help you get a few different styles to try out. 

PensiveCrayon

@Christinaruth74 I already bought a stash of NB diapers, so I guess I'm committed, haha! I've also seen the idea of using diaper liners. Sticky tar poo seems like it will be fun stuff to deal with

Christinaruth74

@PensiveCrayon good call with the liners! I didn't even think of that... Duh. 

princesslockness

@PensiveCrayon It is difficult to remove from LO's butt - at least for me, it was - so If you plan on using cloth wipes, I suggest getting at least 1 pack of regular wipes for that stage.

PensiveCrayon

@Kate08Young Good call! I hadn't even considered the wipes sitch! I was planning on really slicking up baby's butt with oil to make it easier to remove. Luckily meconium is a very short phase. (It is very short, right? Like 1-2 days? A week at most?)

princesslockness

@PensiveCrayon L had is for like 4 days. After we got him cleaned we coated him in coconut oil. I had some 'large chapstick' containers of it  that worked really well. You might be interested in checking them out here. 

ashleaf2018

One thing you can do is go to a fabric store and get some fleece for cheap and then cut that up to use as a sort of barrier in the diaper. We will have to do that for our baby anyway if he has FI's skin condition, but that might help with the meconium staining. It's also good if you ever have to put any heavy creams that are not CD friendly on baby's booty. That's what they told us at the CD class, anyway.

princesslockness

ashleaf2018 said:

One thing you can do is go to a fabric store and get some fleece for cheap and then cut that up to use as a sort of barrier in the diaper. We will have to do that for our baby anyway if he has FI's skin condition, but that might help with the meconium staining. It's also good if you ever have to put any heavy creams that are not CD friendly on baby's booty. That's what they told us at the CD class, anyway.

You could also get (depending on type of CD) disposable liners. I just saw a box of 100ish on amazon for $10.

AmandaTerk

Hi ~ while reading over all of the replies I saw a recommendation for www.cottonbabies.com, which has a lot of useful information for CDing. 
They are also having a sale on BumGenius Original 5.0 cloth diapers = buy 5, get 1 free for $99 + free shipping!
https://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?products_id=7179
(BumGenius sells 6 for $113.72, not sure on s/h cost)

Also on promo at CottonBabies is a free flip cover with a $100 purchase (promo code COVERME).
We are wanting to CD (due Dec 2016) so I went ahead and bought the 5+1 BumGenius CDs and a package of fleece inserts, which got me the free flip cover, all for $121.75!

sreysaw17

Thanks for the heads up. If you want the cover but not the fleece inserts, just choose one of the fancy prints for +$2. That brings the total to $101.75. Just in case anyone wants to go down that route. I'm still pondering the idea of making my own fleece inserts.

Toller

Our local cloth diaper store recommends starting CDing (with regular CDs) around 8lbs, if that helps anyone. DD was 6.6 when born, so we did disposables until her CDs fit.... you can buy newborn cloth diapers but... why. Our store actually had a service where they deliver and wash the cloth diapers for you, so my mom bought us that for the first 8 weeks! was very nice.

ashleaf2018

Has anyone ever had any success with making their own CDs? We got a pattern for it from Hobby Lobby and I'm excited to try it out, just wondering if anyone else has made their own.

princesslockness

ashleaf2018 said:

Has anyone ever had any success with making their own CDs? We got a pattern for it from Hobby Lobby and I'm excited to try it out, just wondering if anyone else has made their own.

I have thought about it, but can't ever find waterproof outside that I can afford. If I could find some, I would definitely try to make some.

ashleaf2018

@Kate08Young We've found PUL for less than $10 a yard on Amazon and Fabrics.com, we haven't actually got around to ordering but I'll let you know how it goes. I would think we could get more than 1 diaper out of a yard of that fabric but I will update on that as well.

princesslockness

ashleaf2018 said:

@Kate08Young We've found PUL for less than $10 a yard on Amazon and Fabrics.com, we haven't actually got around to ordering but I'll let you know how it goes. I would think we could get more than 1 diaper out of a yard of that fabric but I will update on that as well.

You should easily get at least one cover/outside from 1/3 a yard - depending on what type of diaper you are making. Once you get the fabric, I would cut out some pattern pieces of what you need for 1 diaper. Then try different arrangements before actually cutting the fabric.

Blockfour

Does anyone have any experience with Sun Baby diapers? The price on these has me seriously considering it and they have overall good reviews from what I can see... Any real life experience? Thanks.

leksiL

@Blockfour good find! I'm curious too - the prices for those are awesome. Since their sizing is based on how skinny or chunky your baby is I would wait until after birth to buy any.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017N7LGIM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

I just got this really cute skull one. I am buying one of a different type anytime I have an amazon order. 

jenlynne0624

My friend from my first bmb sold me 2 pocket diapers for a really great price and I am so excited to start my stash! They're kawaiis.

Christinaruth74

@Blockfour diapers like Sunbaby, Alva, HappyFlutes, etc are great places to start if you're interested in pocket diapers. Sometimes they are referred to as "China Cheapies", but they get the job done for a lot less money than other brands. 

I, personally, didn't have much luck with a lot of those brands just because pockets weren't our thing... Plus there are some awesome American-made dipes out there that are just overall better quality. But some build their entire stash with these diapers and LOVE them! Plus, with that price tag you can accumulate quite a few!

That got wordy, but i guess what I'm saying is they are worth purchasing to try out while you are figuring out the cloth routine that works best for you...  Great starting point.  

princesslockness

Christinaruth74 said:

@Blockfour diapers like Sunbaby, Alva, HappyFlutes, etc are great places to start if you're interested in pocket diapers. Sometimes they are referred to as "China Cheapies", but they get the job done for a lot less money than other brands. 

I, personally, didn't have much luck with a lot of those brands just because pockets weren't our thing... Plus there are some awesome American-made dipes out there that are just overall better quality. But some build their entire stash with these diapers and LOVE them! Plus, with that price tag you can accumulate quite a few!

That got wordy, but i guess what I'm saying is they are worth purchasing to try out while you are figuring out the cloth routine that works best for you...  Great starting point.  

+1 to they aren't bad diapers. I get the China cheapies off eBay for like $25 for 10 diapers & 20 inserts. They are all we have really needed, but we did have to get some bamboo, hemp, and charcoal liners as L pees like a firetruck sometimes.

Blockfour

@Christinaruth74 and @Kate08Young

So they're worth buying than?  I think I might bite the bullet just to give it a shot.  The cost isn't that high.  This is my first child and I didn't want to invest hundreds of dollars if I wasn't sure I would like going down this road.  Cloth diapers just save so much money I think I can put up with a little more laundry but who knows how I'll feel after Spencer is here.

princesslockness

@Blockfour I would. You can always practice using them on a pet or doll. My dally girl helped me practice sizing, and changing them. I would also use a measuring cup to see how much they would hold and how fast it was wicked away. They do pretty decent.

Christinaruth74

@Blockfour totally worth it! They are a great starting point, and you may absolutely love them!

Toller

I'm so sad- We've made the final decision to not cloth diaper the twins and sell our current stash of Grovia's (which we took SUCH great care of, doesn't even have stains!!!)

I just don't think that it will be feasible with 1 toddler, 2 babies, my job, and my husbands business to run. SO SO SAD.

Enjoy your CDing ladies!!

leksiL

They are having a sale on pocket diapers on zulilly today! 

Blockfour

@leksiL Thanks for the heads up!

MaggieG183

@Toller02 that is so sad! The decision was a difficult one I'm sure, but you will have your hands FULL! Remember you can only do so much and if a bit less laundry helps with that, be ok with that decision. You have to be able to keep your sanity! Consider keeping them until you see how everything is panning out for a while. You may find that it might not be as hard as you guys are anticipating.

On a side note: I will be using Grovia's and have purchased a full two-day system, but will be in the market for more.  

Toller

@MaggieG183 thanks   well I would love it all to go to someone who appreciates it!!!- not sure how much shipping would be (maybe I can find out?) but it's all in great shape and most of our covers are unisex. Message me if/when you're interested in the details.