Cloth Diapering

GG620

Calling all moms who have / are thinking about cloth diapering.  Thought this would be a great thread to get going for people to ask questions, share advice, recommendations, etc.

I am a FTM and leaning toward cloth diapering. However, I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of options and accessories, etc. and no one I know has cloth diapered. Some questions I have:

• Could someone break down a newbies guide for beginners? 
• What is your plan with the cloth diapers once they are soiled? Do you toss them in a Ubi pail, in a wet pail, scrape them and put them in the laundry room? 
• Do people have a different night-time solution?
• Do you need to scrape them / rinse them before baby is eating solids?
• Do stains actually come out?
• What do you do if you are planning to return to work sooner rather than later - do some daycares allow cloth diapers, if so, what do you do?
• What brands do you recommend? I am seeing bumgenius recommended a lot
• Is there a better diaper bag for cloth diaper holding?

Cowboycorgi

I've been cloth diapering my DD since birth, and I plan to cloth diaper this baby as well. 

We use prefolds or flats in a pad fold, with a wool or water proof one size cover. 

We use disposables at night since she sleeps 12h straight and has sensitive skin. 

Currently my DDs poop is 'ploppable' which mean I turn the prefold upside down over the toilet and the poop just 'plops' off, then I flush. 
Back when she was milk and food fed during the peanut butter poop phase, I just dunked and swished around in the toilet until the poop came off. I've never used a scraper or a sprayer, but I hear the sprayers are awesome! I just never bothered. 

The only stain i have had trouble with is BLUEBERRIES! Those sucker stain fierce! Sun bleaching a few times gets ride of them. 

I have 32 prefolds/flats, and 12 covers. I run 1 load of laundry every night... which is exactly what I ran before cloth diapering. We have HE front loading washer and dryers. Only once have I had yeast in my cloth, and after I corrected the setting on my washer I was good. 

Cowboycorgi

Oh I forgot, we use a wet bag that I leave open and never zip. No soaking or closed lid pails for us. I just throw the whole wet bag in the washer every night, and hang a new one (we rotate 2 different wet bags) 

muggle621

As a FTM I don't have direct experience with my own child; however my best friend cloth diapered both of hers. I can attest to the sprayer being awesome, it just went right into the toilet and sprayed just the right amount so you didn't get water everywhere, plus it was easy to hook up to the toilet. 
She put her kids in daycare starting at 3 months and her daycares (she moved and switched ) only allowed disposable. They also slept in disposable at night. 

Cowboycorgi

@muggle621, great to know about the sprayer! I was also worried about spraying a watery mess everywhere which is why I never bothered to buy one. 

Maybe ill splurge with this baby as it would be pretty pointless at this time with DD. 

Thanks! 

GG620

@cowboycorgi do you find that the 32 prefolds and 12 covers is enough? Too much? Just right? 

HappyMonkey817

I've been using cloth diapers for over 2 years. I tried a few different brands before discovering that Best Bottoms work best for us. My daughter has always been a very heavy wetter, so we've always used disposables at night. We keep dirties in a wet bag. I scrape any poop that is not ploppable. Stains come out easily by sunning. 

lovesclimbing

*Lurker from June*. I just love talking cloth diapers!!

• Could someone break down a newbies guide for beginners? 

I recommend watching the Cloth Diapering 101 series on YouTube by Jaime Gleisner. Super informative! That's what I did to figure out the different options. Also, I wrote an explainer in this thread if you want to read it - https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12706275/rethinking-disposables#latest

• What is your plan with the cloth diapers once they are soiled? Do you toss them in a Ubi pail, in a wet pail, scrape them and put them in the laundry room? 

If you breastfeed, the poop is water soluble and does not need to be scraped or sprayed until you start feeding solid food. I have a diaper sprayer hooked up, but I don't use it yet because my daughter is only three months old and exclusively breastfed. I registered for a large wet bag to put them in before washing, but I didn't get it and decided I didn't want to spring for it myself. So right now, they go into a large trash bag that sits on the bathroom floor. Once she has solid poops, I'll spray them off and stick them in there. Then, I just carry it to the washer and dump them in. No touching for a second time required! I have 21 fitted cloth diapers and six covers to go over them plus a handful of Gerber prefolds. I wash about every 1.5 days. 

Out and about, I have two small wet bags and I'll take one with me to put them in until I get home. Then I just dump them into the trash bag. 

• Do people have a different night-time solution?

It depends on if you need it. The first few weeks, no. Now, she's such a heavy wetter that I put a Gerber prefold over the top of the fitted and a cover over that and she stays dry. She sleeps 8-10 hours at night. 

I have started using disposables out and about.  My daughter is an insanely heavy wetter so if I can't change her diaper extremely frequently or if I'm visiting and people are holding her (I don't want her to leak on people), I'll use disposables. They hold so much pee! They're bad for blowouts though. My cloth never blow out, but disposables do frequently.

• Do you need to scrape them / rinse them before baby is eating solids?

See above. I've heard of people skipping that step, but I probably will do it. Most people do. 

• Do stains actually come out?

Yes, so I'm told. Sunning is supposed to be especially good. Breastfed poop hasn't seemed to stain unless it sits for awhile. Like if it's only sat in the bag for 8-12 hours instead of 36-24. I have some poop stains but haven't bothered to try to get them out at this point. They're just diapers, for crying out loud! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

• What do you do if you are planning to return to work sooner rather than later - do some daycares allow cloth diapers, if so, what do you do?

I'm a SAHM. Based on what I've heard, some daycares will. Daycares are more likely to if you use easier systems that are more like disposables such as all-in-ones or pre-stuffed pockets rather than two-step systems like prefolds/flats/fitteds with covers. 

• What brands do you recommend? I am seeing bumgenius recommended a lot

My friend uses BumGenius pockets and loves them. I use fitteds I sewed myself and Thirsties Duos covers. The duos work great. 

• Is there a better diaper bag for cloth diaper holding?

Bigger is better. I don't have a specific diaper bag (it's a tote - not made specifically for diapers), but cloth absolutely take up more space than disposables. I'd say at least triple the space. 

ETA: I use our "nighttime solution" for naps as well. She'll soak herself even if it's just a two-hour nap without it!

becausescience

So we cloth diaper most of the time.  We use disposables at night and when we're out and about or out of town.  We're personally more into cloth diapers for the green aspects vs the cost savings.  

I do want to put out a word of caution for anybody that lives in an area with hard water (and doesn't have a water softener.)  We started getting mineral build-up around 6 months in and were getting leaks all.the.time.  It was super annoying.  I stripped the diapers a couple times and started using Calgon and we're doing much better.  You may need to play around with your wash routine or add extra inserts if something isn't working.

Also I highly recommend using cloth wipes if you're going to cloth diaper.  They have way more cleaning power and are super easy just to toss in with the diapers for washing.  I made my own with clearance flannel.

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Could someone break down a newbies guide for beginners? 
I second finding some YouTube videos to break all the different types down.  One where a mom is putting all different types on a stuffed bear comes to mind.  We use BG Elementals and BG Freetimes - both considered all-in-ones.  We have a few pockets too.

What is your plan with the cloth diapers once they are soiled? Do you toss them in a Ubi pail, in a wet pail, scrape them and put them in the laundry room? Do you need to scrape them / rinse them before baby is eating solids?
We use a diaper pail liner in a step trash can.  When she was just on breastmilk, we just tossed them in.  Once she started solids we sprayed them off and then put them in.  Now her poop is ploppable - so we plop and then put in can.  We've never had issues with smell, but I do keep a baking soda box in the bottom of the can.

Do people have a different night-time solution?
We use a disposable "overnight" diaper (Target brand) as she was leaking through nightly.  For naps we add a doubler to her diaper and have had success with that.

Do stains actually come out?
Like @lovesclimbing I've heard sunning is good for stains, but have never tried to get out stains - because, well... they're diapers, they get poo on them.

What do you do if you are planning to return to work sooner rather than later - do some daycares allow cloth diapers, if so, what do you do?
One of the questions we asked when touring daycares was if they allowed cloth diapers.  Personally, I'm not sure it is worth it if your daycare won't accept them.  I think more daycares are more open to all-in-ones and pockets.  We bring a wetbag and they just stick them in there and we de-poo once we get them home.  (Our daycare said no to diaper that require pins.)

What brands do you recommend?
I love the style of the BG Elementals because it is a natural fiber diaper and not as bulky.  But we did end up needing to add a little bit extra absorbency to them.  I feel like our hard water may be the reason for needing this and also my kid seems to be a heavy wetter.  We also have BG Freetimes and 4.0s/5.0s - they are fine, but I don't love microfiber quite as much.  I bought some hemp and bamboo inserts to use with the pocket style and like them much better.

We have a couple Rumparooz pockets too, but don't like them as much because the fleece lining covers the leg gussets and we get wicking to her clothes because of that.

Is there a better diaper bag for cloth diaper holding?
I love my Ju-Ju-Be BFF.  I can fit so much stuff in there.

Cowboycorgi

@GG620, 12 covers is just enough because my daughter poops so often. Wipable covers can be reused if she only pees because they don't have a liner like pocket diapers have. 

32 prefolds is more than enough for 1 child

lovesclimbing

Cowboycorgi said:

@GG620, 12 covers is just enough because my daughter poops so often. Wipable covers can be reused if she only pees because they don't have a liner like pocket diapers have. 

32 prefolds is more than enough for 1 child

This depends on how big of poops and how well whatever is underneath contains poop. If you're using prefolds or flats, obviously they won't contain it well. I've found six covers to be enough for me. My fitteds have great elastic, and almost always contain the poop without any getting on the cover. 

GG620

@becausescience  @lovesclimbing oh my goodness, thank you for all of this info!! 

I have been reading that a lot of people do a combo of disposables at night, like you both indicated. Do you find that this is frankly, more work and inconvenient? Do you separately put the disposables somewhere after you change them? I am just imagining two diaper pails and that sounds annoying as anything ha

Cowboycorgi

lovesclimbing said:

Cowboycorgi said:

@GG620, 12 covers is just enough because my daughter poops so often. Wipable covers can be reused if she only pees because they don't have a liner like pocket diapers have. 

32 prefolds is more than enough for 1 child

This depends on how big of poops and how well whatever is underneath contains poop. If you're using prefolds or flats, obviously they won't contain it well. I've found six covers to be enough for me. My fitteds have great elastic, and almost always contain the poop without any getting on the cover. 

we use 6 covers a day, but with laundry over lap I feel more confident with 12. I've never had spillage with using prefolds or flats

becausescience

@GG620 I have a tiny trash can for disposables, that way we have to change it every other day or so. But I've also just tossed them into the kitchen trash if she had a stinky one, because that gets taken out pretty often. It really isn't more work, though I know many people do find nighttime CDing solutions. (Actually less work bc then she isn't leaking onto PJs, sleepsacks, and sheets.)

tiggywiggles

I cloth dispersed my son fulltime for eco reasons and he's insanely sensitive. Now he's only in cloth overnight. He's a very h
eavy wetter so finding what works took me some time.
This time around I plan to use covers and prefolds until the little one fits into some if our bigger stash. I'll be using thirsty duo wrap covers with green mountain organic cotton prefolds. 

lovesclimbing

GG620 said:

@becausescience  @lovesclimbing oh my goodness, thank you for all of this info!! 

I have been reading that a lot of people do a combo of disposables at night, like you both indicated. Do you find that this is frankly, more work and inconvenient? Do you separately put the disposables somewhere after you change them? I am just imagining two diaper pails and that sounds annoying as anything ha

No. I change her in the bathroom on the counter. Cloth are in a drawer and disposables are under the sink. I don't do anything special with dirty disposables. They just go in the regular bathroom trash. 

Honestly, disposables will always be more work and inconvenient than cloth. I don't think cloth are significantly more work than disposables, but they do require washing and putting away and that is extra steps. I cloth diaper to save money, and that's worth the extra work to me. 

LaurenAnn0405

Kudos to all of you moms cloth diapering, I'm sure it's probably more cost effective and its definitively more environmentally friendly.  I disposable diapered DD, DS, and now I'm going to disposable diaper this baby too.  I honestly don't have enough time for all the laundry now (I have 7 loads weekly and that's pre new-baby-who-poops-through-everything, so between working full time, taking care of 2 kids, one who is now in school (who knew they gave homework in kindergarten?!) and trying to take care of the house, I can't be bothered with anything else.

brettanomyces

Grovia makes a diaper called O.N.E. that many find to be a great solution for overnight or heavy wetters. 

You can also add extra inserts to whatever diaper you have for extra absorbency. 

Also, I like to either use a diaper with a microfleece insert (like the Grovia O.N.E.) or put a microfleece liner in for bedtime. Microfleece wicks moisture, so it'll keep baby feeling dry over night, as opposed to cotton which just feels wet. I made my own liners by buying a meter of fleece from the fabric store and cutting it into strips. 

LeahS927

I've been cloth diapering my 21-month old since she fit into one-size diapers, which was at about 6 or 7 weeks. (We used disposables until then.)

We use BumGenius Freetimes (the All-in-One diaper). We originally bought DiaperRite AIOs (cheapy brand), but they started leaking out the stitching after about 4 months of use, so we found a lot of 35 BumGenius ones on Craigslist. Despite being used for a while before we had them, they are still holding up great, even now.  We have 37 total, and it is plenty. I wash diapers every 2-3 days.

We have 2 Planet Wise wet bags that we use on rotation. (We really like these bags. They hold up great and are really quite waterproof. I also purchased two travel bags - Damero brand - which started leaking after about a year's worth of use. For next baby, we will purchase some new smaller Planet Wise wet bags for travel.)

Wet diapers and wipes (baby washcloths) get tossed straight in to the bag, while poopy diapers/wipes get sprayed off with a diaper sprayer before getting tossed in the bag. Then on wash day, I empty the bag straight into the washer (the bag gets washed, too, obviously). We use Rockin' Green detergent - they have different formulas for hard, soft, or regular water, which is really smart, and helped fix our biggest problem with the diapers.  The diapers and the bag get hung to dry, and I just grab them the next time I wash diapers.

For naptimes, we add a hemp insert, but we've kind of given up on finding a good nighttime solution, so we just use disposables.

Breast-milk poop can go straight into the washer, but formula-poop should be rinsed off.

Some stains come out, and some don't. It depends on what your kid ate.

Cloth diapering's biggest 'secret' is that you shouldn't use most diaper rash creams with them. (I've heard you can use them with pre-folds, but not 100% sure about that.) Anything petroleum-based (which is most traditional creams) will stick to the fibers and not wash out, which damages the absorb-ability of the diaper. (This can be fixed by stripping the diaper, but that's a big process.) We use coconut oil and aloe vera as diaper creams, and there are some natural creams out there that are also safe to use with cloth diapers. Anytime my daughter gets a bad rash (usually from something she ate), we just switch to disposables with Triple Paste for a day to clear it up fast.

Sorry if that's too much information!!

mdfarmchick

I use gdiapers and plan to use them with this one. I don't think it really causes much extra laundry--we toss a load of diapers in before bed and then dry them in the mornings. It works for us. I like that gdiapers are fitted and go on similar to a disposable diaper--makes it easy for family, church nursery workers and friends to feel comfortable changing them. My biggest resource for all things cloth is Fluff Love University. I had friends who cloth diapered with gdiapers and all in ones so I got to see options in person and we went with what worked for us. I doubled up my liners for overnights, a regular g microfleece with a charcoal bamboo on the top. It worked pretty decently up until 10 months--at which point we spent two and a half months with my parents and my diapers had build up and needed to be stripped. My dad insisted on buying disposables for us because he hated having diapers around and we've just been using disposables because we travel to their house regularly and for longer visits. I want to try to get back into cloth diapering DS since I have the diapers and it would be easier and cheaper to have them both in cloth. 

lifeisbetteronthered

We've been CDing for over 4 years now, across 3 kids so far.  With each new kid we have had overlap, and so have had 2 in cloth for a couple of months twice.

We use half AMP One-Size Duos with bamboo inserts and half Maplebean hybrids.  We love the hydbrids around the house as they are so easy, but prefer the AMPs when out and about as they are more water proof (the hybrids don't have a water proof layer so that they breath better and our babies stay rash free, the AMPs have a waterproof PUL shell).  Once baby is eating solids we use disposable liners, and wash them if they are only pee soaked, and toss them if they are pood in.  No scraping or spraying.  Breastmilk poo diapers just goes straight into the pail (no cover).

With 1 in cloth we do laundry every 2.5 days on average, with 2 in cloth it's basically every day.  We compared our annual water bill before and after diapering and there was basically no difference (~$15 for the year).  We use Tide powder and so that is cheap, especially if you watch for sales.  Inserts and hybrid diapers go straight into the dryer, the PUL covers (AMP) are hung to dry on a rack beside the dryer.  Yes the stains come out.  Some require a bit of sun (blueberries and beets).

We invested about $800 in our diaper stash but we have larger stash then needed.  I will easily sell it all for $200-300 when were done.  So we will have diapered 4 kids from birth to potty training for less then it would cost to have 1 kid in disposables for 6 months.

runsoncoffee

I had every intention to cloth diaper full-time and have a full stash. I use them once in a while (I used them more from birth until 5 months when we introduced food because the poop could just be tossed in the washer as is). We have an exclusive Grovia hybrid (all in two) stash. I find them to be super easy because you can reuse the shell a few times if it's just pee and you can stock up on the inserts. They are fairly trim too. 
Like @becausescience we live in a hard water area. I use calgon with the cloth diapers and haven't had any issues. If you have a local cloth diaper boutique I'd highly recommend going there in person! Ours was so helpful and able to show us the different styles of diapers and some even offer classes. 

thucks

I do alot of the same stuff as @LeahS927.
I had twins in 2013 that we used cloth diapers on and had a stash of 40 and washed aprox every other day. I am now pregnant with the next baby and will have a stash of at least 25. I'm super addicted to the cute designs and will need to stop myself at the 25 lol. We use Just simple baby cloth diapers with tide free laundry soup and once a month we use Rockin Green laundry soap as a stripper. I love the smell of Rockin Green so I'm going to try and stock up and always use it. 

• Could someone break down a newbies guide for beginners? I would defiantly use youtube for visual breakdowns. 
• What is your plan with the cloth diapers once they are soiled? Do you toss them in a Ubi pail, in a wet pail, scrape them and put them in the laundry room?  Poopy diapers I clean in the toilet or shower. All soiled diapers go in a trash can lined with a large Planet Wise wet bag. When I do laundry I just turn the bag inside out to get the diapers out and then toss the bag in with the wash. We have 2 that we switch between. 
• Do people have a different night-time solution? In the beginning we would double stuff our diapers but when DD became a heavy wetter we would use disposables at night only. 
• Do stains actually come out? Yes. I love to hang mine outside and let the sun do the work. 
• What brands do you recommend? I use Just simply baby cloth diapers. We love the pocket diapers with bamboo or charcoal inserts. I love these because they have a double gusset to prevent leaking and blow outs. 
• Is there a better diaper bag for cloth diaper holding? I don't have a specific diaper bag that is cloth diaper friendly but we do carry a travel wet bag to put soiled diapers in. 

fatstagnation

Did any of you also use reusable wipes? And how many of those would we need? 

Thanks to everyone who's shared info. This is all so helpful. 

Cowboycorgi

fatstagnation said:

Did any of you also use reusable wipes? And how many of those would we need? 

Thanks to everyone who's shared info. This is all so helpful. 

Yes, I made 50, and use them for spills and different baby related clean ups. It only cost $10 to make the 50 wipes, and I use a spray bottle with water and a few drops of soap and oil for washing baby bum. 

becausescience

@fatstagnation I made way too many. But they are nice for any cleaning up misc messes. I'd probably estimate needing about 2 per diaper (as how many you need will depend on how often you wash). We use one for pee and maybe 2 for poo, unless it is really messy. We do a squeeze bottle of LuSa solution to squirt on wipes as we use need them.

I cut clearance flannel into 8" squares, layered two, and did a zig zag stitch around the edge. I actually like cloth wipes way better than disposable wipes. I feel like they have more cleaning power. 

stardustskies

I'm planning on cloth diapering and appreciate all this information. My sister in coming into town for thanksgiving and giving me her cloth diaper stash. I'll update everyone with brands and suggestions from her, etc.

HappyMonkey817

Yes to cloth wipes. 36 seemed like enough for us.

HappyMonkey817

Possibly TMI, but I started using cloth wipes for myself, too. I feel like they do a much better job of cleaning. It seems sort of luxurious. Lol. I already get teased for being a hippie, so idgaf.

LeahS927

@fatstagnation
Yes, we just use baby washcloths. You can get a pack of 24 for about $10 (or less) on Amazon. I think we have around 40. 

bb3vj3n

 as a FTM I really appreciate the wealth of information on this thread. I already have SO MUCH to learn that I think I'm going to start with disposable .... just seems easier.... but once I get this mom thing down - I may just try this!

lovesclimbing

fatstagnation said:

Did any of you also use reusable wipes? And how many of those would we need? 

Thanks to everyone who's shared info. This is all so helpful. 

I do. I took a pack of cheap washcloths, cut them into four pieces and then zigzag stitched the edges. They wind up pretty small. I believe it was a 12 pack so I ended up with 48. That's plenty. 

I'd say you need somewhere around 1.5 per diaper you have. If it's only pee, I typically just use one. But with poop, I'll often use two, sometimes even three. Mine, however, are pretty small. Picture a standard washcloth cut into fourths. Each one is roughly 4.5" square. 

I don't love these wipes. Someone above mentioned cutting up flannel. That would be much softer, and I might make new ones someday with clearance flannel. With washcloths, I make sure to be gentle. 

Cloth wipes, regardless of material, tend to be quite a bit more skookum than disposable wipes.

My cloth wipes go in the same wash bag with the diapers. 

fatstagnation

Thanks for all the answers, everybody! I hadn't thought to make the cloth wipes. I'm not good at sewing, but zigzag edges I can probably do. It's not like they have to be perfect anyway! 

@HappyMonkey817 people get confused when first getting to know me - I dress like a punk and act like a hippy LOL Do you use resuable pads? I normally use sea sponge tampons, but I guess that's a no-no for post-partum. any recommendations there? 

stardustskies

@fatstagnation You could try "period underwear"? I have a couple pairs that I usually just use for light days but they have versions made for heavier flow. I'm a diva cup user myself.

edit: the brand is THINX

Cowboycorgi

@fatstagnation, depending on flow I either use a menstrual cup and/or mama cloth. I made mine from a very simple pattern and have had them for 7yrs now. 

My only complaints are that they are bulky, and in the summer they are warmer than disposable pads. So compared to the numberous pros, I'm very happy! 

GG620

Follow-up for my cloth buddies. I think I am going to go with BumGenius's all-in-ones. Its the  most convenient option and most like disposables for DH and family members unfamiliar with cloth. 

Question is 2 fold. Bumgenius' newborn size only comes in velcro - do you think this is fine vs. snaps? Second question is how many newborn size do I need? I hear everything from my baby didn't need newborn size at all, up to my baby was in newborn size until 4 months. HAALLP!!

thucks

@GG620 Unfortunately that's a hard decision about newborn cause it really depends on the weight of the baby.  My twins were a little over 5lbs so we chose not to use cloth until they were in regular size cloth diapers. We got a lot of disposable diapers as gifts so used those vs investing in newborn diapers that would only last a few months. As far as velcro we did well with that until the twins realized how to pull it off easily. The snaps took a great deal longer to figure out.  Check out justsimplydiapers.com they have all-in-ones and are alot cheaper than Bumgenius. 

mdfarmchick

@GG620 I bought newborn sized cloth diapers but we used disposable diapers until the meconium was gone. I have heard that is hard to wash out/stains. DS was 7.5 lbs when born and under 7 when we brought him home. Even with using the disposables, I still got enough use out of the newborns that I thought they were worth it. If you had a larger kid, it might not be worth it, I guess. 

stardustskies

@GG620 Look into Lil Joeys by Kanga Care. They are newborn cloth diapers. The only downside is that you will only be able to use them for the first month or so. I think they only work to 12lbs maximum.

HappyMonkey817

fatstagnation said:

Thanks for all the answers, everybody! I hadn't thought to make the cloth wipes. I'm not good at sewing, but zigzag edges I can probably do. It's not like they have to be perfect anyway! 

@HappyMonkey817 people get confused when first getting to know me - I dress like a punk and act like a hippy LOL Do you use resuable pads? I normally use sea sponge tampons, but I guess that's a no-no for post-partum. any recommendations there? 

Luna Pads have special pads for post-partum. They worked well for me.

fatstagnation

@happymonkey817 Thanks! I thought there was something out there, but haven't had time to search yet.