November 2018 Moms
tinypikachu
member
CD Chatter
tinypikachu
member
I’m really interested in cloth diapering this LO but, tbh, I have very little knowledge of it. Any CD moms out there that can shed some light?? I used disposables for DD and I liked them okay, we stocked up on a bunch when I was pregnant with her and got a lot at my shower. I liked not having to deal with extra laundry but the amount of garbage they created has me rethinking it, along with many other factors. I hope it’s okay if I ask some questions!!
1. Have you cloth-diapered or are you going to do it for a the first time with this LO?
2. What kind are your favorites?
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with?
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here
1. Have you cloth-diapered or are you going to do it for a the first time with this LO?
2. What kind are your favorites?
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with?
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here
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Re: CD Chatter
- we cloth-diapered for both my kids and will continue it this time around.
2. What kind are your favorites?
- I love kanga care Rumparooz pocket diapers...though we do have a few others. These have just been the easiest for us to us. These are a one size adjustable diaper. Meaning you aren't buying a size "small" to then eventually buy a "medium" or "large" they have various snaps to reduce or increase the size of the diaper.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with?
Each brand of CD will have their own instructions on how to care for your diapers...in general you should wash diapers every 2 days--do NOT strip or soak your diapers. We have a bag from kanga care that we just put into a large trash can and use that as our "diaper pale"....we wash diapers every 2-3 days (it was more frequent when we had 2 in diapers). For Rumparooz you do a quick rinse cycle (cold water, no detergent--rinse & spin), then you do the wash (hot water, with detergent--normal wash cycle), then put them in the dryer. I should mention these diapers are pocket diapers so you have to pull the inserts out before washing. If your baby is breastfed there is nothing you need to do prior to washing. Once you switch to solids you need to flush the poop down the toilet (and scrape the diaper if there are remains--i also bought flush able liners to make this process easier)
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here
Um, with my first we did. With my second we went to CD much sooner--maybe a couple of weeks with disposables. This time around we'll probably do it around 2-3 weeks (depending on size of baby and how the CDs fit). We also use disposables while taking road trips or vacations (basically when we wont have easy access to a washing machine)...and we also use disposables at night--though with my first we used cloth at night--we just got lazy with the second. but i have a recommendation for a night time diaper too if you're interested.
also--just ping me with more questions, i could even show you my diapers and what not.
and lastly, i've managed to survive with only about 12-14 diapers per kid.
We'll still use disposable on occasion but I want to CD as much as we can. Also mostly interested in the one size snap style covers if anyone has any recommendations. They seem more durable than the Velcro style.
I've actually looked into sewing a few covers but not sure if I'll be quite that crunchy.
Obvi with CDing I was to use reusable wipes as well.
I did a lot of research online a few months back so I can TRY to help answer some questions, but keep in mind it's all theoretical/research based knowledge
@MouseMama817 yes, so long as it's ebf (entirely breastfed) even poopie diapers can go directly into the wash. Apparently BF poos are water soluble.
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LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
2. What kind are your favorites? We use bungenius pockets (one size) during the day but we changed to thirsties hemp inserts because microfiber was annoying with compression leaks, and we use thirsties natural all in ones (one size) overnight
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with? We have a hanging wet bag we put them in and a separate smaller one for poop diapers. We spray the poop diapers before washing, although like was said earlier, exclusive breast fed baby poop is water soluble and can just go straight in the wash. I follow the washing instructions from fluff love and cd science on Facebook and have had no issues. In general it’s one regular cycle with a small amount of detergent followed by a heavy duty cycle with a larger amount of detergent. We use tide powder.
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? We used up all the free diapers from the hospital and started cd around 3 weeks old. We used prefolds and covers until DS fit well in the one size diapers around 2 months old. But disposables were definitely nice while we were getting the hang of everything!
2. What kind are your favorites? We used Soft-Bums mostly, which are adjustable. However, they have two styles: Echos, which are more suitable for teeny tiny babies, and Omnis, which fit a toddler more appropriately. I used the small dry touch pods for the earlier days and Super Dry Touch pods for later on.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with? I threw all soiled diapers into a wet bag. Once he started eating solids, I ordered a diaper sprayer from Amazon that my husband installed. It hooks onto your toilet so you can spray the mess right in. I would highly recommend a sprayer, because scraping it off isn't exactly a party. Then, when I was ready to wash, I'd detach and open all of the diapers up, throw them in the wash using a detergent with no fabric softener. Sometimes I would do an extra cycle with no detergent. I would switch detergents sometimes, but always tried to use something like Seventh Generation.
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here We tried to use the diapers we received from my baby shower and those the hospital sent home with us. After that, we cloth diapered exclusively until recently, as mentioned earlier, or sometimes if we were traveling.
ETA fixed the awkward formatting - sorry it posted so weird the first time!
I would think that wool (or fleece) shorties would work well as "pull ups". I've also heard they're wonderful covers for nighttime and also summertime when it's hot out and you're worried about LO overheating.
That's a good point about small fitteds they might be easiest with a NB since folding a full flat or even a prefold around something that tiny may be difficult especially with sleep deprevation and you wont have to fuss with a fastener.
Personally I plan to stock up on a few diff styles of covers, flats, a few prefolds, some additional inserts, and then seeing how big LO is at birth before deciding if newborn covers are necessary. Worst case we'll rock out disposables to start. Eta: and of course cloth wipes and breast pads!
As @erinmarie86 stated I plan to get some disposable liners to try for once LO has non-ebf poops. I've read both sides for the toilet sprayer. I've seen some people state it's irreplacable and is a MUST HAVE and I've seen some people state that it's not worth the hassle and is a waste of time and money. Honestly... As with most things baby it's totally up to you (well LO) on preference. Also a good pair or two of Rubbermaid gloves dedicated to laundry seem like a good idea sprayer or no sprayer
Did I mention I LOVE CD talk??
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LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
2. What kind are your favorites? BumGenius (I like their pockets) and Best Bottoms. Oh, and fitteds for overnight.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with? Wash every other day. It’s SUPER easy up until they start solids, because it can all just go in the laundry. Once they start solids, we have a diaper sprayer to spray off the poop. Diapers are their own load of laundry (there’s plenty for a whole load alone, believe me!).
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here. My kids were pretty little and had skinny little NB legs, so even the NB sized diapers didn’t fit until a month-6 weeks. We still got a lot of use out of the NB diapers.
Inserts:
https://www.kellyscloset.com/Thirsties-Hemp-Inserts-2-pack_p_3452.html
We did cloth diaper with our first from the time we brought her home from the hospital. Debating on whether or not we will go that route with our second, mostly because the day care we use now isn't cloth diaper friendly.
2. What kind are your favorites?
When DD was itty bitty, we used prefolds and covers and that worked really well at containing newborn breastfed poops which are liquidy. We never once had a blowout using them! When she got a bit older and so DH would help more (the prefolds were a bit intimidating for him), we used GroVia AIOs and a smattering of a few others that I wanted to try out for fit. For the penny pincher in me, I really liked the idea of prefolds and the laundry didn't bother me because they are easy to wash. DH liked the AIOs, obviously, and the day care we used at the time would only do AIOs. At night, we used the GroVia O.N.E. diapers which are really customizable as far as the absorbency... we just loaded it up since she was sleeping. It also can switch between snaps and velcro which was a nice touch.
Unfortunately, we didn't have the budget to flesh out a full stash of AIOs unless I stalked CD trading sites, so they were difficult to find used (and sometimes questionable quality at that), DD ended up with chronic ear infections and terrible diaper rashes from the antibiotics and needed more than cloth safe diaper creams so we used disposables for a bit. In the end, we ended up switching to a different day care that doesn't do cloth so that sealed the deal and we ended up sticking with disposables.
If I do it again, I would probably look at some of the hybrid/AI2 systems. I had just started dabbling in GroVia's hybrid diapers and really liked them but that was about the time we stopped. As far as the prefolds go, we went with the GreatFit prefolds from Nicki's Diapers -- a mixture of cotton and bamboo. I also got cotton cloth wipes that we still use today. Green Mountain Diapers are the "gold standard" for PF but again, used is pretty much the same cost as new, but from my understanding, they last forever. All of my PF are still in great condition, also. Another site I ordered from was Diaper Junction so you can compare... sometimes one is running a sale when the other is not, etc. The cool thing is that most of them offer "sample packs" or return policies if you order a diaper and it doesn't work out.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with?
Breastfed babies are easy because the poop is water soluble. I just put them in a wet bag and washed every day or two. We started off using Country Save detergent which I found at a local Sprouts grocery store (or also buy on Amazon) which worked really well. That ran out and I couldn't find it locally anymore but the Sprouts had Charlie's so I went with that next. Both worked well with our water (which is really soft because it comes from a local nearby lake). There is a site called Pinstripes and Polkadots which has a detergent chart and rates tons of detergents for how cloth diaper friendly they are, so we just picked off of that list. Generally, anything scented, with added fabric softener or brighteners are out.
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here
We used disposables for the first day or two just because I was still in the hospital and didn't want to pack up cloth diapers and such to use while we were there. We started using the cloth once the diaper pack the hospital provided was gone and we were home. Honestly, you can go either route, you just have to be careful with the cloth diapers and make sure the covers or AIOs are the "newborn" ones which usually have a button down for the umbilical cord until it falls off.
2. What kind are your favorites?
i have different favorites for different reasons and stages. Bum genius 4.0 all around fav (with snaps-Velcro wore out or she could pull off). Flips (covers and inserts for trim fit, cost, ease of use and diaper bag. I used sustainablebabyish bamboo fitteds with thirstiest covers for overnight when she started soaking at night. For newborns I liked prefolds and thirstiest or bummis covers and fiteds and having a few all in ones for dr. Appts and sometimes.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with?
I put them in a wet bag or basic trash can with a liner and do laundry every 2-3 days. I use cloth diaper safe detergent but just a large load and then in the dryer. I didn’t have a complicated routine. I stripped maybe 2 times.
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here. I didn’t. I actually brought them to the hospital. But I could understand if you want to. Your partner has to be on board or have help, especially if your laundry is in the basement or sonething, because you can’t be doing things like that right after birth. The meconium comes right out with no issue. You need newborn diapers for the first 1-3 months before one size fits. I used a mix of types and had a few dozen prefolds so my newborn stash wasn’t too expensive and they work great for newborns because you get such a nice fit and then the prefolds can be used for inserts, burp rags, anything for a long time.
My best advice is to get variety and build a stash as you go. You can even sell ones you don’t like. You don’t know what you’ll like or what will fit your baby best. Good luck!
YouTube Series:
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LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
2. What kind are your favorites? i started with flats and flips covers which was great for a long time. then my friend talked me into trying aios and i ended up with a large stash of those, my favorites being smartbottoms and blueberry aios.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with? my laundering system evolved with time, but in the first year i washed them in 2 full cycles, warm/warm with scant sensitive skin liquid detergent, then hot/cold/extra rinse with normal amount detergent. at first i hung to dry, but eventually started just drying them in the dryer on medium and they survived just fine. no dryer sheets or softener, just wool balls for all household laundry. never stripped, just ran through another warm/warm cycle no detergent if i thought there was still some detergent left. rarely had issues. absolutely no soaking, dirty diapers went into wetbags and washed every 3-4 days. sprayed bm after dd started solids and those went into their own seperate lined pail with lid.
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here with dd, i did at first because originally we were oad, and i didn’t want to spend money on newborn diapers i thought she’d only wear for a few weeks. unexpectedly she was born iugr at 37 weeks weighing about 5 lbs and very slow to gain; we ended up spending a few hundred dollars on newborn disposables until she was big enough to fit into os cloth diapers. now i’m expecting twins, and expecting them to be on the small size like her when they’re born, so i’m definitely getting newborn size cloth diapers this time.
adding another point-
this weekend, a few of the major “small business” online retailers will be having their earth day sales, and aside from black friday-cyber monday, it’s the second best cloth diaper sale of the year. if you already have an idea of the systems you might want to try, it’s going to be a good time to buy. i’m not sure what the rules are for mentioning specific retailers, so if anyone would like to enlighten me, i’d find it helpful for future discussions.
I second the YouTube video @purelex posted above. That series is great for an explainer of the different types of diapers. We use Thirsties Duos covers, fitteds I sewed myself and Gerber prefolds as doublers (worn on top of a fitted) for nap and nighttime. We used disposables for the first 5 days or so before switching to cloth. We still use disposables on occasion. Vacations and such when we don't have good laundry. And occasionally when we're out and about for a long time.
I don't soak or strip. Soaking is generally not recommended anymore. Stripping was HUGE for awhile that everyone did, but it's now moving away from that. If you have decent water (not hard) and a good wash routine, you should never need to strip. I have never stripped my diapers. When I put the smaller size away when she outgrew them, I washed them with a little bleach. That's it. I do a warm rinse with no soap followed by a hot wash with Tide powder. The amount of diapers I wash at a time is a small load. However, I do both the rinse and wash on the medium setting so they have plenty of water to agitate around in.
I bought all my fitteds on Earth Day last year. I got my wet bags as a free gift from shopping that day.
I CD with DS for roughly a year. I plan to do the same with this baby.
2. What kind are your favorites?
I loved Bum Genius OS 4.0 pocket diapers and Sunbaby pocket diapers. Sunbaby is a really affordable and great CD. I did use Green Mountain prefolds with Thirsties covers when he was littler because they were cost effective for needing so many diapers in one day. Plus they just fit better so little.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with?
I did strip mine when I got them because I purchased used and stripped them once while using because they started to smell. I was using a different detergent early on and I don't think it was effective at cleaning so thats why they smelled. (My friend was using it to with no problems but she was in a different state. Just depends on your water & kid.) I started using original Tide and had no more issues. I washed about every 2-3 days. We had a CD and cloth wipes bin with a wetbag.
I would do a quick rinse cycle first with no detergent then a regular cycle with detergent. I dried in my dryer because I didn't have time to hang them to dry. We didn't have very many.
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here
We did use newborn disposables until he grew out of them then started the prefolds and covers. We just didn't have enough in our stash to accomodate 14ish a day. Plus he was 8lbs when he was born and gained quickly so he was 10lbs by month 1. We didn't use newborn long. I didn't feel it was worth the investment for newborn CDs but he was good size. We will do the same with this one but may start prefolds earlier since I know more now.
We did continue to use disposable at night because I couldn't find a cloth that was absorbent enough. I tried several kinds and insert combos. He was a heavy night wetter.
my earth day sale haul! 10 newborn rumparooz covers and 4 newborn aios (for twins).
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LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
We are currently still cloth diapering our 15 month old son. My DH Loves it just as much as me. We already have a newborn stash.
2. What kind are your favorites?
GroVia!!!! AIOs for daytime, ONES for overnight.
3. Tell me about how you care for them. Do you strip? Do you soak? Just leave them in a pile and wash at the end of the day? What do you wash them with?
We use GroVia pail liner in our Dekor diaper pail. I wash every two days with tide detergent only. I strip with GroVia mighty bubbles pods every month because they make my diapers smell so fresh. I use liners for solids and do the swish and rinse method.
4. I’ve heard some CD moms use disposables for the first month or two, did you? I’m thinking of the 10+ diapers/day with a newborn here
I did use disposable for the first 3 weeks with my son but I will not with this baby. I have a large newborn/prefolds stash that I will start cloth at the hospital.
--------------------------------
LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
As far as type microfiber is pretty easy to spot. Hemp is kind of thick/dense but also plush feeling like a really thin memory foam feel. That and bamboo is most likely a natural off white color because it's more expensive and people dont want bleaching chemicals on it.
Eta: good call on the cover, thanks! I have a few just covers but the majority are pockets. I plan on getting a few more just of the covers for that type of use.
@bqtmom25 thanks! I have a bunch of brand new prefolds from my MIL so if we do the non stuffed pocket route when at home I'll likely do a prefold and if we're out than stuff the pockets.
I'll post some pics a little later.
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LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
5 pockets
12 more pockets
6 covers (gonna get a few more of these preferably non-velcro)
@highsteaks
This is what most of the inserts look like. Used microfiber? I haven't stripped/bleached them yet. Honestly I might donate the inserts and get new ones?(or used in better condition)? A lot of them STINK. After I do the wash/bleach soak/wash cycle how do you test absorbancy? Im trying to determine if it's worth it to try and use these inserts or not.
--------------------------------
LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
--------------------------------
LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
now we’ll have to convert you to a kitchen-cloth system too
I know a friend mentioned that extra receiving blankets make good flats too
--------------------------------
LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------
as far as extra absorbancy, what worked for overnights for me was hemp-cotton blend flats, specifically hemp babies brand flats: https://www.cottonbabies.com/products/hemp-babies-flat-weeds-hemp-flats?variant=34623871681 they have the highest hemp to cotton ratio i’ve seen so far which meant best absorbancy, also they are single layered and so so trim. downside, they are expensive, but since i only used them for overnights i didn’t need more than a few, and also they didn’t shrink consistently, so a couple are extra rectangular-y which annoys me slightly.
you likely will not need to worry about too much extra absorbancy for awhile though, as that only becomes a concern when babies start sleeping through the night (unless you’re one of the lucky few whose kiddo does that almost from day 1). i’d say you get what you pay for, so spending a little extra for better material in the beginning may mean that you spend less in the long run. but yes, at some point you will need a better insert system for more absorbancy as no regular day use diapers will be good enough.
kitchen cloth: almost exactly the same cleaning system as cloth diapers. keep a stack of flats/prefolds/cloth wipes handy (mine are half-size flats folded in a basket by the paper towels) in the kitchen. use them like napkins for cleaning mouths, hands, counters, spills, whatever else is not a big greasy mess. then, put them in a wet bag until you need to wash them. i only have to wash mine one cycle a week as a separate load because they’re never as dirty as diapers and i have enough for their own load, but you can absolutely wash them with diapers if you have the machine space. sounds yucky at first, but i don’t find it gross because the diapers really should be cleaned well enough to be sanitary in the end anyways. we have saved a decent chunk of money with our kitchen cloth system because they cut back on one time use paper towels and napkins, and i imagine probably more than i imagine because my kid makes sooooo much mess that i’d probably otherwise have to use a ton of paper towels for daily spills that a single half flat easily handles.
I will look into/register for a few of the hemp/cotton ones for over nights. I already have 2 packs of brand new cotton prefolds from my MIL. So flats and fasteners are all we need for baby butts until s/he's bigger (which I'll worry about then). Good to know about the receiving blankets being bulky although I love knowing that if we're in a bind essentially anything absorbant will do
So I tried soaking a few of those inserts after doing a wash/bleach soak/rinse/wash and most of them are non-absorbant. The bright white/newer ones are still good (and actually super absorbent so I'm glad a few are still good so I could compare) so I'll keep those and then toss the others. Or maybe I'll try stipping and soaking a few then worst case i dunno... Find some use for them? So I have about 10 decent microfiber inserts now lol. Out of the like... 35 to start with.
--------------------------------
LO arrived 11/9/2018! We have a baby!
--------------------------------
Me: 33 | DH: 41
Married: March 2016
TTC #1/IUD out January 2017
PCOS dx January 2018
Medicated cycle 2.5mg Letrozole CD3-7 February 2018
BFP 3/10/2018!
-------------------------------