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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
M/C Dec 2010 - 5w5d Missing my sweet angel baby.
For those who use prefolds and covers
What type of prefolds/covers do you use?
About how much do they cost?
How many do you have (of each) and how often do you do laundry?
I want to cloth diaper so so so badly. The only problem is that we don't have a washer and a dryer in our apartment. We take our laundry to my parent's house (3 minutes away), but I don't know if it is reasonable to do this with cloth diapers as well. Any info would be great!
M/C Dec 2010 - 5w5d Missing my sweet angel baby.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: For those who use prefolds and covers
Besides safer to the environment, What are the benefits of cloth diapering?
I've been thinking of giving it a try.
I use prefolds and covers which I bought from www.webunz.com. I bought the delux package which comes with 36 prefolds, five covers, four pocket diapers with liners and a wet bag, for a total of about $200. If I were to do it over, I would have gotten 2 doz of the prefolds in the newborn size and the other dozen in a larger size because I do not go through that many diapers by the time I wash again. I only cloth diaper during the daytime (now trying to switch to using pockets at night) and I also use disposables when I go out, so I really only use like 8 cloth diapers a day, and I only need to wash them every 2-3 days. If you cloth diaper around the clock, you would probably need to wash them every other day. Cleaning them is really easy; I just do a cold pre-soak in my machine (I use All free and clear) and then do a hot wash with a cold rinse. If it is nice out, I line dry them. Otherwise I just run them through the dryer maybe twice.
Pammi, my main reason for cloth diapering is financial. For that initial $200, I have a supply that will last me about six months. Since having my DD, I have maybe bought a small package of diapers every two weeks (for over night or going out,) so I am saving a lot of money that the majority of my diapers are washable. I found that they are actually not that hard either. They were intimidating the first time, but now I kind of enjoy using them. If you breastfeed, the poop is not really smelly and washes right out very easily. Also, the cloth diapers are better for a baby's skin. You need to change them more sometimes because they are not as absorbant as disposables, but she hardly ever gets a rash.
benefits:
Much less occurence of diaper rash
Much less occurence of blowouts/leaks
They potty train quicker
Cheaper. Much cheaper
Better for the enviroment
Cuter
Pammi- I want to do it for the environmental and financial reasons. I hate disposables. I hate that I am taking up so much room in landfills. DH and I plan on having 4 kids, and I want to be as earth-friendly as I can. And I really think cloth diapering would help that.
Financially- I read it costs about 1600 to diaper a child (in sposies) from birth until potty training. With CD, you can do it for about a quarter of the cost.
M/C Dec 2010 - 5w5d Missing my sweet angel baby.
this website is great for figuring out how many diapers to get.
https://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/RegistryChecklistPrefoldsCovers.htm
What type of prefolds/covers do you use?
We use Green Mountain Diaper (GMD) prefolds and Thirsties covers. We've tried other covers (Bummis) but the Thirsties really worked best for us. We initially went with the GMD pf's because they review so highly and maintain their quality so well (important because we plan on CDing for all of our children, and this is our first of (hopefully) 4).
About how much do they cost?
The GMD pf's in newborn size (orange-edge) cost $21/doz. We purchased 36 as we exclusively diapered with pf's and covers and didn't want to be doing daily laundry. So 3 x $21 = $63. Thirsties covers, brand new, run about $11/ea. We had 4 xs Thirsties for the nb stage and at times could have gone with 5, but made do with 4. 4 x $11 = $44. So, to diaper our newborn, who just this week has changed sizes in both pf's and covers, it cost us $107 in diapers and covers. Add in 2 wet bags for the diaper bag, 2 pail liners, and a package of Snappi's and we definitely diapered for $200 or less. Additionally, our son weighed 10 lbs, 7 oz at birth, so chances are pretty good that most other babies would fit the orange-edge pf's and xs Thirsties for longer than Ben did. For the post-newborn stage we purchased 24 yellow-edge pf's. They go for $24/doz, so cost us $48. We have only 3 Thirsties covers now (he poops less often, so the covers stay cleaner longer, as well as we're better at doing the different folds, so they don't get dirty due to user error), in the small size. Still $11/ea, so $33 for the covers. That's $81 for this next stage. No new Snappis, no new pail liners, no new wet bags. This pattern will continue as he grows and will stop once he's potty trained, but I'd say we're definitely going to CD for less than $500 total.
How many do you have (of each) and how often do you do laundry?
Answered how many in the question above. We do laundry every other day or every day and a half (if we have time to do them sooner than the every other day mark then we do them). Mostly for the fact that 1. I'm afraid of running out and 2. The pail starts to get full.
A couple things I'd like to add...
PF's are great because of their simplicity. You don't have to worry about them getting "stink" issues and you don't have to worry about putting them in the dryer and ruining their outer layer (like on AIO's or pockets) or ruining their aplix. In your situation, if you want to make it work I think that you could. It would just be an extra 2 hours of laundry at your parents house, I'd guess (do a cold rinse followed by a hot wash cold rinse, then however long they take in the dryer) - even less if you took them home wet and line dried them at your place.
If you try out the GMD and Thirsties covers and decide they aren't for you, they resell for very close to what you paid for them (provided they're in good condition), so there's always that security. GMD's are a hot commodity in the prefold world, and Thirsties covers are kinda the big name in PUL covers as well. That being said, you could try to save a buck or two by going the used route. You may score some covers, but if you're searching for the GMD's they're tough to find - the people who buy them, love them. Plus they can be used and used and used because they're a "workhorse" diaper - they would probably be perfect for someone who is on their first child and hopes to recycle these all the way through a fourth
Saving $$$
Pretty much everything everyone else said...
But about laundering out of your house - it is totally reasonable
We do have a washer and dryer but my MIL (who lives a few houses away) doesnt think our washer is sufficient, so she washes our diapers some of the time. I just have 2 large wet bags - i load one up with dirty diapers, bring the laundry over, and i have another one to use while the 1st one is being laundered. I just bought detergent for her house and detergent for my house.
GL!
And P.S. - Cloth diapers are WAY WAY cuter. As if our babies need any help in the adorable department....
We have 6 covers (Thirsties Duo Wraps and Bummis Super Brite - around $13 each) and 27 prefolds ($14 per dozen). It's not nearly enough - I have to do laundry every.single.day. I need to get more.
You got some great answers already but I wanted to chime in.
We use Bummis covers with our prefolds. We got all the prefolds at our shower or as hand-me-downs from friends. Our pre-folds are therefore not sized, we just fold down in front to fit (which is great for our boy who might leak otherwise). We bought 3 NB size covers and found it was not quite enough. Now we're on 5 S covers and it's just right. We also have a full set of Motherease fitteds and covers that are big and bulky and we use them on laundry day (every 2-3 days) so that we can wash all the covers. We're still using the same batch of pre-folds so altogether through probably 6 months we'll have spent under $100 on diapering. We do keep some disposables in the house for random occasions and have been using them for nighttime lately because our cheap prefolds are not quite absorbent enough. We plan to invest in a few (less than a dozen) high quality prefolds for nighttime.
We love cloth diapering. Originally we did it for the money, but I also love the lack of diaper rash, lack of blowouts and lack of weird gel stuff on my baby's skin.
What type of prefolds/covers do you use?
Chinese bleached prefolds and Thirsties Duo Wrap covers
About how much do they cost?
Prefolds are about $1 each (new) and the Duo Wraps are $12.25. I bought them from JilliansDrawers.com
How many do you have (of each) and how often do you do laundry?
I have 3 dozen prefolds (infant size) and 5 covers. I do laundry every 3 days.
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For what it's worth, I don't find prefolds and covers to be a pain at all. It's no more difficult to put on than it is to put on a disposable diaper, imo.
Evelyn (3.24.10), Graham (5.30.13) & Miles (8.28.16)
Not sure about the prefolds, I bought them used. They might be Green Mountain. I use Thirsties covers, and a couple of Whisper Wraps.
I got a great deal on used diapers and covers on Swap Spot, so I don't know what they retail.
I have about 3 dozen prefolds, but I don't use them much any more. I prefer the pocket diapers and fitteds I have. I have about a half dozen covers.
I would get enough that you would only have to do laundry every other day or every 3 days. You can get a wetbag to keep them in until you do laundry.
I have 36 prefold hemp diapers, and 6 Thirsti duo covers. I actually need to reorder some new prefolds because LO has outgrown hers.
I do laundry every 3 days for the prefolds. It is rare for her to leak through to the cover. We do sposies at night because she wakes up when her bottom is super wet.
It is much cheaper to use cloth and they are much cuter. My LO has never had a diaper rash. My DD has only ever had a rash from diarrhea. I think most of that is due to not having chemicals next to their bottoms.