**stringy** and maybe CT?

madisonpeas

I saw you said you took a cloth diapering class.  We did too.  We are CD'ing our little guy - I would say 70% of the time.  I'd be happy to tell you about our experience if you are interested. CT - you too?

JGY

Me too please!  We're planning on CD'ing exclusively (the daycare that we have chosen also CD's exclusively), but would love to be as prepared as possible.

 

madisonpeas

Welcome JGY, the more the merrier.  We took a class like I said.  We ultimately decided on Flip one size fits all.  They snap covers that grow with the baby and we used microfiber inserts that are either folded or laid out depending on the size of the baby.  E was 7# 5 ounces at birth, then shrunk but took until about 8-12 weeks to fit well into the Flips.  We just used NB disposables until then.  Even though people knew we were CD'ing, we got some and bought a few.    Mostly Flips have been good so I will tell you the pros and cons.  Pros:  Once we got to the right detergent, they get amazingly clean.  We started with some special CD detergent that came with our diapers and ultimately, Tide Ultra or Orginal powder was best.  Much trial and error before that, and I am glad to say we now use a brand that is easy to find and has coupons.  Thank goodness.  The covers dry overnight hung up.  I have used a bit of bleach to strip them but haven't done that in months.  At first day care said they wouldn't do CD, but then they did.  They can not re-use covers though, like we did at home.  So, we have 18 inserts and 10 covers - enough for 2-3 days at school before washing.  Our little guy is and has always been a heavy wetter so a size up overnight huggies has been the only thing that works overnight.  We totally feel like we got our money's worth out of the dipes.  We only have one type (with some varied doublers) so we never got tempted to buy others.

 

Cons:  we have had some leaking issues.  When I was home on leave (4-8months old) I finally started using doublers almost all the time. Otherwise he would not be able to even got an hour and a half or two hours.  Now, it retrospect, I blame it in part on the covers.  I don't know if they have changed, but ours don't have those double gusset leg openings. I wish they did.  He frequently leaked out the legs and then it would wick up his onesie.  Now that he is older (16 months) and not guzzling milk as much, they change him every 2 hours at school with not many leaks, and no doubler.  They just recently went back to disposables for his 2+ hour nap and that has worked.  I will say that we had trouble with smell and dipes at first, but Tide really helped.

 So, we used disposables for about 2 months, pretty much always overnight, naps at school, and sometimes for travel depending on where we are going.  We use Huggies overnights for nights and have had great luck with cheap Target up&up and all the deals I can get on those, for day time when we use disposable.

 

Any questions?  The people on the CD board are helpful too for the most part.

ball.and.chain

I would like to CD, but I am worried about it working out with daycare.  Daycare is super expensive here (supposedly the most expensive state in the country) and I have a long commute that would be even worse with an out-of-the-way daycare drop-off/pick-up, so choosing a place that is in the right location, affordable, and where we like the staff/facility seems like a tall enough order without also needing a place that will CD.  My wife isn't completely on board with it yet either, but we haven't discusssed it much yet and honestly I don't think she knows much about it.  If I can find a daycare that will do it, I believe I can get wifey on board too.

stringy -- am I remembering correctly that you are in the Boston area?  If so, can I ask where the class was?

madison -- thank you so much for all the details!

JGY

Thanks so much, madisonpeas!

It'll be an adventure, for sure, but we are lucky enough to have 2 awesome diaper services in the Twin Cities area.  So I figure all I need to master is the putting on/taking off/making sure it fits part of it and they take care of the washing/making sure we have enough/getting us the right sizes part of it. I can handle that.

I really appreciate the reality check though, that there will absolutely be times (maybe even on a daily basis) when we'll need to use disposables.  I tend to forget about that.

Again - thanks for the help and the suggestions!  You may end up getting PM from me at some point if I have other questions. 

ball.and.chain

stringy813:

  

Yes there is a place in Davis Sq in somerville called the diaper lab - (add .com and you'll have it) - they have a nice website and the class was 10 dollars for a couple, plus they give you a coupon at the end.  It is woman owned and everyone is really friendly, they encourage you to come in with your baby with questions, they'll do special order for you etc.  I've yet to buy anything but I see myself getting on a first name basis with some of the people there as we move forward.

Thank you!  This is good information.