Cloth

foxaírt

I know there is a specific forum for this but it seems all the forums that aren't birth months are inactive and i thought it would fun to discuss here 
Those who do/have/will use cloth
And any insight to other reusable alternatives like wipes, pads, kitchen towel...
Reasons ,  preferences,  washing...

TeacherMama7

We cloth diaper and love it. We use bum genius pockets. I love that I can customize what I put ito the pockets. 

As far as cleaning, we use norwex products without chemicals. I love them!!

smrome

We cloth diapered as well, also primarily with Bum Genius pockets. We tried a few others but I liked those the best, they seemed to hold up better, and just work better. We used reusable flannel wipes as well, kept them in a wipe warmer. They worked great! 

pawcall

I cloth diapered my son until insurance started paying for the disposables when he was 3. I still used disposable wipes though. I used mostly kawaii and bumgenius pockets although I did like the thirsties aio's too. 

For this one, we'll hybrid diaper (gdiapers) but I do plan to use disposables for meconium

bcashaw

Kudos to you ladies. I am WAY too lazy to cloth diaper, and sadly, environmental reasons aren't enough to make me not. 

cottingham3

I will cloth diaper when at home which will include the entire first year. I, like the rest of you prefer bumgenius! I sold my entire stash after ds#3 except 2 pockets that we used as night diapers until he was completely night trained. This is what I love...the longevity of cloth diapers!! I lucked up on a set of 80 inserts for $5 in excellent shape, almost new! Now I am working on buying up covers as i come across them. But, i need to build a new born stash too! Glad there are others here!!

foxaírt

This is our first and we are looking at prefolds or flats for the nb stage as they are usable as boosters or elsewhere later or we can keep for #2 with 2 or 3 fitted for grandparents or helpers who are only used to disposable (even tho both hubby  myself and siblings were in cloth )
Then we are looking at AI2 mostly but we'll get a few and see what we four before ordering/making a bigger stash. Hubby is super on board with it and he pretty much likes the look of them on ease of wash and customisability bit also convenience of the aios. Also he is thinking about biodegradable disposable inserts for the all day outings where it's not convenient to carry dirty nappies all day like the zoo . I love how keen he is and how he doesn't just expect I'll do the washing.

I use cloth makeup remover pads and kitchen towel anyway so seems natural to go with cloth nappies . We even use cloth cage liners for our bird cages. Easy to change daily since we feed him out of the cage 
I'm also looking at pads for after bub. I don't get heavy periods typically 4 days with only 1 medium day if 5 or 6 days there's still only one or one or two medium days at the most so I use organic cotton and sea sponge with occasional cloth liner . I haven't bought disposable sanitary products for nearly 7 years and haven't really had containment issues without them .I'm a little intimidated by WEEKS  if bleeding ...

slaven

I'm a FTM so no actual experience but we're cloth diapering. I already have my whole NB stash that I bought used from a mom here in Korea. They're all pockets or AIO which DH prefers and also a good mix of brands. My thought with that is we will see which brands we like and can then get those for the one size stage. We'll use cloth wipes too. We'll probably use disposables when we travel and the meconium stage but that's about it. 

I'm looking into cloth pee pads for my Maltese but would wash them by themselves in a small load. I also want to get into using "paperless towels" instead of paper towels in our kitchen and in other areas around the house. Currently we don't use a lot of paper towels but I bet that will change with kids. I'd rather have a good supply of cloth rags/wipes to clean up with. 

BayCamp

We've got a good stash of cloth from my cousin that I never got around to using with DS. Things got really hectic his first 6 months and I just never started. I fully intend to use them this time though! 

sarahunderthesea

Currently cloth diapering with DD and plan to do the same with this LO. We have Charlie Banana pockets and g-diapers. Both have their benefits. For the new moms, get a diaper sprayer. Makes solid cleaning soooo much easier once LO starts solids.

CubsFan7

I did a combo. I cloth diapered at home with DS1 but if we went anywhere, he went into a disposable diaper as most pants aren't made to fit around cloth diapers. I will cloth diaper this little girl as well. 

I mostly used Kawaii, Alva, Sunbaby, and wahm diapers. The wahm diapers were my favorite as they're all customized but they are also more expensive. I used disposable wipes though. 

Karrotelle

We used cloth for two kids so far but I don't plan to use them for the twins. We live in the country now and have our water trucked in, and can't be doing laundry every day. 

We used pocket diapers because I preferred them. I preferred either bamboo liners or charcoal liners. I used Alva, Sunbaby, Kawaii and EllaBellaBum (my absolute favourite ones!). I used homemade wipes. I cut up soft receiving blankets and made my own wipes and my own wipe solution. They make cloth diaper liners you can use but they aren't great for your plumbing to flush with the poop so I never used them. 

Make sure you get a few good wet bags and a good dry pail. 

You will need about 25-30 cloth diapers per child if you want to have a decent sized stash and not have to wash every day. I had 65 diapers lol Mostly because I was addicted to the adorable prints and had to have holiday themed ones lol (oh and you Wouldn't want to let them sit in your dry pail more than 2 days though). Bamboo inserts should be washed daily as they can mold and smell faster. 

I would drop the poop in the toilet or use a diaper sprayer that attached to the toilet and clean them in the toilet. Then I'd rinse in the sink, treat with a Buncha Farmers stain stick and toss in the dry pail. Wash daily or every other day at most. Hang outside to dry. Sun will eliminate staining. 

Damnit now I want to cloth diaper the twins

mariposa_767s

I used cloth diapers with DS and loved them.  Unfortunately, we have an older septic system at our new house and we can't wash too many loads of laundry in a day or it doesn't work efficiently.  For that reason, we will likely use disposables this time.

For moms who haven't used them before but plan to, I would recommend getting a couple of different kinds to see what you like.  I did pockets and loved them, but sometimes it was a nuisance to stuff them.  Prefolds and covers would've been much, much easier.  If you know someone that sews, they are fairly simple to make and patterns are sold online.

cottingham3

Question for those of you who have used pre-folds and covers....Do they stay in place well. I think this is what makes me lean toward pockets and all in ones..they seem easier to keep everything in its place -especially with toddlers. Am I crazy? Some of the used things I have bought are covers and I will used them and see how it goes. Thanks!

CubsFan7

@cottingham3 I used them when my son was younger. The covers I used had a little pocket to stick the ends into so they didn't move around. I didn't try it on a toddler though. I only used them until about 4 months. 

TeacherMama7

Lol, I misunderstood the cleaning part... you were asking about cleaning the diapers not in general! We use diaper liners so he poo can easily fall into toilet. When the child is older and poo is more real, I spray the diaper off, poo flops in toilet and I separate the inserts from the pockets and put both in cloth bag from Blueberry (in a diaper dekor pail.) wash every two days. We use disposable sometimes if we'll be at the zoo or gone all day, and overnight.

in regards to nb diapers.... I use used disposable until he fit into bum genius. In my opinion, the nb stage is already hard with lack of sleep and a lot of other things, i could barely keep up with cooking and cleaning (and I had a lot of help from mom mom) let alone take care of extra laundry. My recovery from vaginal birth took about a month, there was no way for me to do extra laundry in that time. 

CrunchyMidwife

Currently building a stash of mainly aio's ai2's and fitteds. And working on building up a cloth wipe stash as well. 

foxaírt

I dont think I'd have issue keeping up with the laundry since hubby will be home in that early time and he is more than willing to keep on top of it. I think because we are both very set on it or on our aversion to disposable living that it shouldn't  be too hard to stay motivated . Defiantly something to think about .we are at least willing to try . Just need a good routeen and I'll be happy if success means I washed today  ha ha .

I think the attraction to AI2s is the reduction in bulk you can use 2-3 nappies with one cover if just wet meaning you can get away with only washing 3 or 4 covers for a days worth I like the way that sounds for storage too reduced bulk as I notice AIO seem to dominate the space in a nursery when looking for storage options . 

In general we'll get a few samples and then I'll probably make more of what we like best . 

@TeacherMama7 re cleaning yea around washing reusable items in your home so nappies and any other things you opt out of disposable for . Products . Wash schedule anything helpful 
Also totally intimidated by this recovery time 
And what I'll do while bleeding 

Airynn Chica

I used sunbaby pockets with both DDs and loved them! I couldn't use them until about 2months since I have little babies. And I couldn't use them at night past a year as my girls leaked through double stuffed. Now they seem to need stripping and I haven't found a method to work this time-my last attempt is dawn dish soap. We will cloth again with this one as it's super easy!!