Cloth Diapering

stardustskies

Any questions about cloth diapering welcome here. I cloth diapered my last and plan on doing so with the next one as well. If anyone else has experience, feel free to jump in to help answer questions for those who may be curious. 😊

runnergirl2018

Hi! Just on here to say we cloth diapered with our first and plan to again.  Happy to offer advice or answer questions.

moreamoozzarella

I'm going to need you two. I was gifted a ton of cloth diapers for my first but we didn't use them because our washer was awful. This go around we are wanting to use them. Any advice is welcome! I'll pull them out when it gets closer and ask more questions

inthewoods23

I love the eco-friendliness of cloth diapers but we are terrible about doing laundry regularly which just sounds like a recipe for disaster. But I'm all for learning about all the options as a FTM.

I wonder if I would find it easier if I was someone who used reusable pads that you wash. That's a somewhat similar concept right?

Can you get by being strictly a cloth diaper user? Or are there times where it's just best to use disposable for certain situations - like going on vacation or something.

LJMoon6

I love the idea of cloth diapering… but last time around I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Now that I’ve been potty training my toddler and have to deal with pee and poop in his underwear, I’m much more open to the idea lol.

stardustskies

@moreamoozzarella Feel free to PM me. There is a bit of a learning curve at first but honestly, it was so much easier than I was expecting. 

@inthewoods23 I washed them every 2-3 days. Getting a diaper sprayer to attach to your toilet helps, and I also did fleece liners for the really nasty poops to just toss so I didn't have to mess with it. Diaper laundry was always my favorite because I developed an emotional attachment to all the pretty prints lol. And yes, I did strictly cloth, even on vacation, and even with a tummy virus. I tried disposables during the tummy virus and after 2 blow outs, I quickly switched back. I very, very rarely had a blowout using cloth. Maybe twice, when it was just a really big poop.

@LJMoon6 I assure you, baby poops are much less gross and easier to deal with than toddler poops. And as I mentioned above, there are tricks to make it more manageable, such as a diaper sprayer or using liners inside the diaper. 

*Side note- Hardly ever had to deal with rashes. When I did, a little coconut oil cleared it right up. 

cmhme

We cloth diapered our first and plan to do the second as well. I love thirsties covers with padfolded prefolds. So easy to clean and "stuff".

A good wash routine is the hardest part to figure out but once you have that its smooth sailing! I am a member of two different facebook groups where everyone is super helpful in brainstorming solutions to your wash routine.

@inthewoods23 we use disposables at night (after he was sleeping through the night) and on vacation or when we are away from our setup for more than 24 hours. I can just not bring myself to rinse out diapers in a toilet that is not mine.

tuxielove93

I tried cloth diapering with my first and it worked great for us right up until we introduced solids. After that, it just became too much to deal with. I tried it with my second, but having two babies I really just couldn’t keep up. I still have all the diapers but I probably won’t pull them back out. They also stopped being as absorbent and I just don’t want to make a reinvestment 

stardustskies

Oh, as for brands. I went through so many before finding which works best for us. Tried Rumparooz pockets, Grovia (all 3 types), Blueberry AIO, and hated them all. In my experience, WAHM works the best. I've settled on Twinkie Tush (fitteds, but I use the ones with windpro outers for more water resistance) and Little Bunbuns (AI2 and fitteds) and have a nice sized stash now in those two brands. I've found that when I used the PUL covers, it would give him more of a rash since those trap moisture inside. I preferred the fitteds because of breathability and if a cover was needed, I like lanolized wool. 

lilirunning34

I cloth diapered all 3, but stopped with #3 around 9 months when we decided to sell our house and move. I’d like to CD again though at least until we start solids. I’m not sure how easy it’ll be with 4 kids. I do so much laundry these days. Soooooo much. 

runnergirl2018

@inthewoods23 we found pocket diapers the best because we just threw in and they dried well , although mildly annoying to stuff but hubby and I just got into a routine every 2-3 days. I kept one small pack of disposable diapers in each size for if we were going to be out all day or on air planes or vacation kinda stuff. We did once do an air bnb with a washing machine and did cloth for most of that trip but you can definitely primarily do cloth and then have disposable for occasional stuff 

runnergirl2018

Also we did disposable for the first month or so because of e knee we would be exhausted and it wasn’t worth it. I don’t like my newborn cloth so we might do disposable until new baby fits into the CD we have 

tsh2021

So far this has been one of the most overwhelming parts of getting ready to bring this kid earthside (other than the actual birth process :-/). I really want to cloth diaper. It is cheaper (in the long run), better for the environment, and the diaper covers are just so cute. My mother used them on us and swears by them.  But I feel like I need a chart(insert laughing emoji).

There are so many different brands. People say "I loved _____." But why do you guys like that brand over a different one? I looked up some groups on facebook. some of them even ban mentioning certain brands. I have yet to figure out why. 

Then once you choose a brand you have to choose what goes inside the diaper cover. From what I can tell there are prefolds, which look a lot like the cleaning cloths I use- just a square of fabric. Then there are flats which look the same as prefolds. How are they different? Are the prefolds "pre folded" to fit in the diaper? It looks like the flats are also maybe one size fits all? Then there are inserts, which I'm guessing you insert into a pocket in the diaper. 

Then you have to decide what you want the above to be made out of.

Then you have to get the covers (the cute part ). Do all covers match all stuffing types? Do all brands have all stuffing/cover types? 

I'm so lost. When my mom did it 30+ years ago, there were much fewer options. I don't want to start buying things without having a direction, but I don't want to wait until right before she is born either as mail times are unpredictable. Help?

cmhme

@tsh2021 you are asking great questions so you definitely can do this!!

Now i am not an expert since ive only been doing this for 18 months but this is my experience so far. I loved thirstie covers with prefolds because they were super easy. I have a relatively smaller stash of no more than 36 at any of the sizes i have been through so far so that required a quick turn around time from laundry sometimes. (I wash every 4 days usually) I liked how quickly the prefolds dried on the line (usually just overnight) and were ready to go the next morning. That is why i choose not to do AIO etc. I also choose prefolds over flats due to finding it simpler (less folding but very absorbent). I snappied in the newborn sizes to try to keep the poop in as much as possible but once we started solids i just pad fold in the liner. Stuffing takes 30 seconds that way. Also with thiristie covers and their double gussets i very rarely had any leakage and never a blowout. With that being said, they are watertight and thus not breathable (as mentioned above) and we did have a couple rounds of diaper rash due to that so if your baby was super sensitive to wetness they might not be a good option for you.

One thing you did not mention that i will add is closure style: velcro vs snaps. I preferred velcro in the newborn sizes again just because it was easier and they grow so fast it makes for a slightly better fit in my opinion but now in the medium size i prefer the snaps because you pretty much use the same setting everytime. Velcro does not hold up to washing as well but you use the newborn sizes for such a small period of time i didnt see that as a major concern.

How i decided which brand/style i was going to go with is just reading why other's liked or disliked them and then going with what i felt would be my biggest concerns/conveniences. Luckily i hit my mark and didnt need to change brands but if you do need to change after you have purchased there are good resale markets on-line.

stardustskies

@tsh2021 I researched some main brands and talked to people I knew that did cloth. I settled on one brand of pockets originally but the fit was never the greatest on my guy. I ended up trying 3 brands before I found the right one for me. Unfortunately it really is just trial and error at first, but you may get lucky and the first brand/ type you try works wonderfully. Thankfully there is a good resell market for cloth diapers via FB groups (selling is really slow right now, which means you should be able to get really good prices). 

stardustskies

Also- I suggest going bamboo over microfiber or other synthetic fabrics. Bamboo is overall more absorbent and antimicrobial so less chance of irritation and not as bad of a smell/ retaining ammonia.