Cloth Diapers: Favorites? How many do you need?

the future mrs. slicks

CNYAmber brought up some really good conversation about cloth diapering and I have a couple more questions on this topic.  We're expecting our two in May/June and we're still not sure what we want to do.  I just picked up a few used CDs from a friend and I suppose we could start with these and see how much we like them? But if we decide on cloth, how many is enough supply for twins? This is one subject that makes us particularly nervous.  Neither of us have diapered a baby in our lives, let alone two at a time and in cloth! Your responses to CNYAmber's post included references to particular types of CDs and we're not familiar with these either. Can anyone recommend a particular style/brand and indicate why you like them? Thanks in advance for your help!!

Temp6313048411121614

How much do you want to spend, how much convenience do you want. 

I preferred Prefolds (pf's) b/c they're so cheap and versatile.  I started when DS1 was 6m and went straight to the premium pf's (those are the biggest).  Chinese pf's will hold up longer, but Indian pf's are much softer (and will still hold up a very long time, my vote is for Indian pf's).  You no longer use diaper pins, use a Snappi, it has hooks like an ace bandage and grips the diaper on each side and on the crotch.

You can get Fitteds that in short, are prefolds that are cut to diaper shape, have elastic in the legs and waist, and will probably include snaps or velcro to close (but some will need pins or a Snappi)

Prefolds and Fitteds both need waterproof covers.  There are as many if not more cover choices than there are diaper choices.  I've owned a few different covers.  One popular brand is Thristies.  I preferred the VERY cheap-o Dappi covers, and Wool covers (contrary to what you'd think, they're NOT hot in the summer b/c they actually breath and they're waterproof when cared for properly).  I have no idea why, but other than wool which was my favorite, I preferred the Dappi covers over any of the nicer covers (worst thing about them is when the get poop non them, they do stain easily). 

If you'll be putting them in daycare, you'll need it to be as easy as possible for them to even think about CDing.  For this you'll want Pockets or All-In-Ones (AIO's).  These both have diaper covers "included" (they have a waterproof exterior).  Pocket diapers need something stuffed in them for absorbency (you can buy inserts or even put prefolds in there). 

There are TONS of accessories.  Lurk on the CD board for a while and all of this will make a lot more sense in a short amount of time.  You can also go on diaperswappers.com, you can buy/sell/trade used (and sometimes) new cloth diapers.  It's really not as gross as it sounds, and you can save a ton of money (but IMO, don't bother buying prefolds on there, they're so heavy to ship that you won't save anything).  You can go to Cotton Babies and Green Mountain Diapers to see their inventory, GMD has the most popular pf's b/c of the range of sizes, I never tried theirs, but Cotton Babies is a local store in STL so it was much easier to pop in and buy what I needed versus buying online like most people have to.  If there are questions that you don't want to ask online or are hard to phrase, call a CD store, their customer service has always been exceptional when I was starting out.  GL.

kaiteedidit

It really depends on what you want to spend.

When our babies were little we used fitted diapers (Kissaluvs size 0), which require a cover (we used Thirsties xs). 

Now, we mostly use pocket diapers. Pocket diapers go on just like a disposable and are super easy to use. We have mostly Bum Genius 3.0's, and a few Bum Genius 4.0's. I also have some Fuzzi Bunz, Flips, and Rumparooz.

I think we have somewhere around 40 diapers, I wash every other day.

Kimmy08

I have 38 pocket diapers. I have never tried prefolds or fitteds, but I know a lot of the people on the cloth diaper board really love fitteds. My stash consists of FuzziBunz, gDiapers, Kawaii, and Alvas. I actually prefer my cheap-o Alvas to the others.

leviandlandensmom

You need around 40 so you only have to wash every other day. If you're going to use pre-folds and covers, get 4 dozen pre-folds and a dozen covers and you're good. If you're going to use pockets or all in ones, get 40. Brandwise my faves are Bumgenius, Kawaiis (cheaper version of Bumgenius), and Gogreen pockets. I have some Rumparooz but I don't think they're worth the $23.50 per dipe considering they are not going to last until potty training, size wise. I used Flips and I really liked them. I used indian pre-folds and Thirsties Duo Wrap covers in size 1 for the first two months with my twins and loved them.

Definitely post on the cloth diaper board or even the EFF board, they are really helpful. Also check out cottonbabies.com and look at their FAQs or theclothdiaperwhisperer.com.

AFaul

Our favorite brand is Bum Genius. We also really loved the Thirsties Fab Fitteds but I think those were discontinued. We probably have about 40 dipes and we wash every other day. If you aren't sure what type of cloth diapers you want I would suggest doing a diaper trial. It is an inexpensive way to try out a bunch of different kinds. I'm sure a bunch of places offer them but this is the one that I've heard the most about:

 https://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/tryclothfor10

You could also look into whether you have any cloth diaper stores in your area since they often have free classes on the different types of cloth diapers.

 If you are interested in Bum Genius dipes a bunch of sites are having 15% off sales this weekend.

 Good luck! We love cloth diapering!