more ?s for CDers

HSartteach

So, I don't know why, but I am suddenly intrigued by cd-ing.  I wouldn't be able to switch completely as I am pretty sure my daycare won't do cloth diapers, but I am thinking at nights (possibly), weekends and during the summer.

What brands do you like?  Why?  All-in-one?  Pocket?  Other?  Pros/cons of cd-ing?  Is when I am wanting to cd worth it--financially?   Am I totally crazy in thinking about this now considering L is 8 months? My husband thinks I am crazy and that I need to factor in time and water/electricity of washing them...do any of you do this?

TIA for any help you can give me.  

lyndamf

We use Bum Genius One Size diapers and I like them a lot.  The only con is that D is starting to get interested in the velcro so I'm thinking about converting them to snaps.  I like that they've grown with him and will continue to until he's out of diapers. He also has sensitive skin and they've been great for that.

Honestly, I don't know if financially it will be worth it to you to just CD on weekends and nights but it will definitely cut out the amount of disposables that you use.  Plus they will be great to already have if you have another child and decide to CD.   I honestly haven't seen much of an increase in our water/electricity bill but they do take time to wash/dry/stuff, etc.

I would recommend talking to m_m as she can really educate you about all the different types so that you can find what is best for you.

mcurban

we use bumgenius one sized and fuzzybunz (medium). both pocket.

i like the one sized b/c well, they were one sized  but ditto lynda about the velco. jack never tried to pull them off, but the velcro wore quickly. 

for us, c/ding in the evening/weekend only would have made sense (financially) but that is mainly b/c jack has been in the medium size fuzzybunz since he was 6 months old. basically, from there, he grew taller- not wider. he and tommy still wear the same sized diapers. 

my favorite thing about cding is that my house doesn't smell like poop. we don't have diaper pails to empty. all the poop from diapers gets flushed down the toilet immediately so it's not sitting in a pail or in our garbage. 

i also like the way they look in pictures  

kiarox2002

I love me some cloth diapers!  We do Bum Genius AIOs, but this is because I am fundamentally lazy and hate stuffing diapers.  There are certainly cheaper options.  I love them though!

I have no idea how much disposables cost, but the diapers I use are $15.99 a piece or $179 for 12.  I have 20 right now, but just ordered the next size and I think we can get by with 15.

 Or you could try something like this for $100 and that would get you through to potty training.  (So they say, I haven't used these personally.)  https://www.cottonbabies.com/index.php?cPath=138   

If you did something like prefolds, I think that you could recoup the cost over the summer.  Also, your daycare might surprise you!

AmethystBride

We use BG 3.0s.  They work really well for us.  When DS was a newborn, we used prefolds with covers, and we plan on doing the same for Baby Boy #2 (GMD prefolds with Bummis covers). 

I have noticed a slight increase in the water bill, but it's so small it's negligible.  The savings outweigh that by far. 

:-)

mcgee

We use one-size FuzziBunz, one-size Rumparooz, and Bummis covers with prefolds. I also have a Babyland diaper, which is a Chinese knockoff of a FuzziBunz, purchased via Ebay, along with some G-diaper pants, which I use with cloth inserts I made. I prefer the FB and the Babyland to the Rumparooz. I initially really liked the Rumparooz double gusset, but it's harder to wash the poop off the diaper because of it. The Babyland diaper is actually pretty nice, although the insert is a little on the thin side. It's wide though, so I can easily fit two Rumparooz or FuzziBunz inserts in it, and it works great for overnights.

Gerber prefolds from Target suck. Don't waste your $ on those. Get some decent ones from m_m via Diaperlicious.com or go to Baby Earth in Round Rock. 

Yes, cloth diapers require water usage for the washing and rinsing and electricity for the washing machine and dryer (if you dry the inserts in the dryer). However, a LOT of water and electricity goes into the manufacture of disposable diapers, not to mention the resources used to get those diapers to the stores and for you to drive to a store and buy them. Then said disposable diapers sit in a landfill for years.  

HSartteach

What about the time factor?  I know many of you are sahms, so, do you wash during the day?  Am I totally being unreasonable about this being a working mom and all?

AmethystBride

I do a lot of CD washing in the evenings.  I toss a load in before I begin getting dinner ready, and pop them in the dryer after we've put Little Man down.  Sometimes I don't get to drying them until the morning. 

:-)

kiarox2002

I think you could totally do it!  I only have to wash diapers every 2 or 3 days.  

HSartteach

totally off topic, but I just noticed that Kate is 1 day older than Logan.

mcgee

I usually wait until I have only a few clean diapers left. Then I wash the dirty ones in the evening, hang the diapers to dry, toss the inserts in the dryer and go to bed. Clean diapers are ready in the morning.

HSartteach

Thanks for the advice ladies.  I am going to think it through.  I have to talk with daycare and see what they will do.  If they won't do it, we are not sure it will be worth the money to recoup what we put down initially if we only do it in the summer and weekends.  I also have to weigh my commitment to the washing...we don't do laundry everyday in this house, so, that's something to consider.

MrsMillerTime

Chiming in a little late....

I totally understand your concerns about the initial costs...you could easily look into a diaper rental package (I know m_and_m has one as do several other diaper retailers) which would give you a great trial run at a fraction of the cost.  Not to mention that you could try out a bunch of different diapers to see what you like best.  Once you decided that CD-ing was a go for you, you could easily look into buying used diapers.  I bought a bunch from a nestie at a great value and I know there are lots of sites (diaperswappers.com) where you can find great deals.

The laundry factor really all depends on how many diapers you have to begin with.  I would say I have about 20 diapers and I do laundry every 4-5 days.  It does take up more time than my regular laundry, but it isn't something that would be impossible for you as a working parent.  Plus...if you were only going to CD part-time, it's not like all hell will break loose if you get behind on laundry because you're already "prepared" to use disposables anyways, KWIM?

Anyways - just wanted to throw in my two cents.

atlantic

Hey there -- I have a really great post saved in a word doc where the ladies here told me their favorites and why.  If you want to see it, i can send you an email.

Based on that feedback and my own research of ratings I tried the following:

 Fuzzinbunz OS: Too bulky and I can never get the snaps lined up right...frustrating.  Also, the adjustable legs i think are more of a pita then they're worth.

 BG All in One -- My favorite.  They fit really nicely and are the cutest.  Drawback is that since the insert doesn't come out which means they can take forever to dry.  However, I discovered that if I turn them inside out to dry, they are pretty dry by one cycle -- I just leave them laying out for a bit to finish drying. Oh, and they also only come sized (so I'd probably wouldn't invest in a whole series of them)

 BG Pocket One Size - second favorite.  Just a bit more awkward because of the extra snaps in front.  definitely more bulk than the AIO.

Flip (made by BG) - liked it because it seems versatile but it just has an insert that doesn't go into a pocket.  Feel like it moves around and have had this diaper leak more than once. 

All this said, we still have not made the switch fully to CD's.  V is in daycare and we use disposables there.  I don't think it would really be worth the investment to buy a bunch more CD's and, while they're easy now because they just go straight in the wetbag - the concept of having to shake off the poop when we start solids may be a bit too much for us.  On the positive side, even though I work full-time, I think I could totally manage the laundry side of it.

kiarox2002

HSartteach:

totally off topic, but I just noticed that Kate is 1 day older than Logan.

Fun!  They can be birthday buddies.