Curious - Why do you love CD's? Did you CD from day 1?

brissiegirl

Hi!  This will be my first baby and I'm mostly clueless about everything else - but I know I want to use cloth diapers.  I have been finding this board really helpful and I'm so impressed by the enthusiasm you ladies have for cloth diapering.  I have a couple of questions:

 - What are your reasons for using cloth diapers?  Why do you love it so much?

- Did you CD from newborn stage or did you wait a few weeks/months?  What would you recommend?

Thank you  

tokenhoser

I like cloth diapers because I never run out and have to go to the store, my garbage doesn't stink of diapers (and my dumpster doesn't overflow with garbage bags), and they're cute.

We  started when we got home from the hospital. It worked well for us. I've lent my newborn stash out to a friend, will use it again with #2, and  then it will still have some resale value. It didn't save money on using it for one baby, but overall, it will.

belladonna11307

I hate the idea of how many disposable diapers get thrown away, especially those that contain material that shouldn't go into a garbage can.  Maybe I've just been lucky, but we've never had a major blowout where we had to change DD's clothes and all of my disposable diaper using friends have, multiple times.  I love the cost savings.  I've spent less than $400 for diapers from newborn to two years, and it's looking like we might not have to buy any more.  I'll be able to re-use those diapers for any siblings we give DD and then either sell them or give them to a friend.  Per diaper, you can't beat that price!  That's how I got DH on board by the way.  We used some disposable in the beginning becuase we bought newborn sized diapers and then had a premie who was way too small for them.  So we waited until she was big enough, probably about month old.  We've used disposables for long vacations where we couldn't wash and couldn't stand how they smelled.

sarenu1

Money was one of the biggest factors, at least for my husband.  I've spent a good amount on cloth daipers, but probably less than $400. I just wanted to reduce my impact.  It was disturbing how many diapers we were tossing out in the first few weeks.  Not only that, but when I go to changer her and find out she hasn't really "used the diaper" I don't feel bad. 

I started at 2 months.  It was a big step for me since everyone I know did disposables and never even considered cloth.  With our next I will be buying prefolds and covers and starting the day we get back from the hospital.  I had this thought in my mind that it was just too complicated to start with.  Now it's a breeze, and I actually love using prefolds and covers on the weekend.  I find them much less complicated than pockets.

zaraceligon

In my case, my mom did it with all of her kids,also my sisters did it with their kids,so I never tough on using disponsables. 

plus I'm agree with the pp,you never need to go to the store to get diapers and you don't have to trow them on the field. 

KatelynEA90

I didn't start CDing until DD was 7 months old. I wish I started from day one! I'm going to CD from day one with the rest of my kiddos. 

The main reasons I CD are the cost savings and how well they contain poop. DD poops out of every disposable, it's ridiculous. She was getting poop on everything and we both would have to change outfits. She hasn't blown out of a CD yet.

I'm addicted to how cute they are now. 

MoFree

I CD for both ecological and health reasons. Good thing saving money was not the deciding factor since I just spent 45 for one diaper. I feel good about the toxic waste not going into a landfill. I don't wear chemical undies so why should my baby.

We started using CDs once LO came home from the hospital. She was tiny and GMD prefolds were the only ones that fit her.

jesstellina

We started as soon as we got home from the hospital. What I love: cheap, ridiculously cute, nothing to throw away, no chemicals on her bum, will re-use for future babies.

hpoff33

 - What are your reasons for using cloth diapers?  Why do you love it so much?

Initially it was a decision based on finances and environmental impact.  These are still important reasons for us to CD.  We have had to use disposables during treatment of a nasty stubborn rash and I couldn't BELIEVE the amount of trash that was created it was gross.  Not only that, almost every single time my son pooped, the disposable leaked.  It was disgusting.  I NEVER have this problem with CD.  So those are the practical reasons why I love CD.  Now for the impractical reason - I love it because my son looks so darned cute in his diapers!!  I can't wait until it's warmer here so he can pretty much just rock the diaper all day. 

- Did you CD from newborn stage or did you wait a few weeks/months?  What would you recommend?

We started right away.  I think it just made it easier for us.  The quicker you can learn what works and what doesn't for you, the faster you can troubleshoot and get into a groove.  A lot of CD is trial and error. 

 Good luck!

DiannaVB

Initially we chose to CD because I thought they we so cute and wouldn't be difficult at all. My husband agreed because it was something I really wanted. Now after one month I know it was the best decision ever. Washing is easy to manage every other day. There is no stink sitting in a trash can. We haven't had a single blowout or rash yet. Even my husband has come around to loving them.

 We started CD the first day home and it's been great. None of the diapers seemed to irritate his umbilical stump even if they weren't designed to stay below it.

The only problem I have is the desire to buy more cute diapers. Particularly now that the one size diapers fit. 

Aurora_Borealis

- What are your reasons for using cloth diapers?  Why do you love it so much?

It started as a cost thing. I don't know how people afford disposables. Now it's also an effectiveness issue. Disposables pretty much suck at containing poop. 

- Did you CD from newborn stage or did you wait a few weeks/months?  What would you recommend?

DD was in a CD as soon as we got home from the hospital. I do not recommend waiting for the following reasons:

1. It's easier to do a load of laundry than leave the house with a newborn when you're running low on diapers.

2. Disposables were terrible at containing runny, explosive newborn poop.

3. I have a couple of friends who spent a fortune on fancy OS diapers thinking they would use them once their LOs fit into them but use disposables until then. Guess what? They are still using disposables 18 months later.

4. We diapered essentially for free during the nb stage. I bought my stash used and then sold it when we were done (we are not having more children).

this decaf life

 - What are your reasons for using cloth diapers?  Why do you love it so much?

I love that since she's gotten rid of her rash she seems to be doing great with cloth. Even though they're bulkier she doesn't mind at all, I love not spending like $10 every 3 days for diapers [she goes often] and they're way cute. When we're living in the Philippines and it's HOT all the time I will probably never put pants on her.

I hate to be that person because while the ecofriendliness is a bonus that's not why we did it, I love that for a couple hundred bucks we have what we'll need through potty training. Plus if we have another kid we're all set... unless I have a boy, then I'll probably swap out my pinks & purples. 

- Did you CD from newborn stage or did you wait a few weeks/months?  What would you recommend?

We started when she lost her umbilical cord at 7 days. I wish we'd started right away though because she got an awful rash from disposables and it took forever to clear up meaning we were using flushable liners for a while which I learned is just annoying. I totally don't mind throwing the poop in the washer vs. using a liner. 

this decaf life

kiraliz2:

MoFree:

Good thing saving money was not the deciding factor since I just spent 45 for one diaper.

What kind of diaper did you buy that was $45? Genuinely curious. 

Someone posted about Twinkie Tush like 2 days ago and they were SUPER expensive. 

Into+the+Kitty

My main reason for starting to use CDs is that I think it's better for DD's skin and health. After she got here I also realized how much sposies would never have worked for us in the first place. DD is a monster pooper, and any time she's ever pooped in a sposie after the first few days of her life it's come right out of the diaper.

We started CDing when she was around four days old, I think. My next baby will hopefully be CDed from just a few minutes old.

MrsRiceARoni

I was initially interested in CDing because of the cost savings. We can afford for me to SAH but I figure anything I can do to save money will make my not working less stressful on us financially. I figure I'd rather do a few extra loads of laundry and still be able to do things like eat out on occasion. I was still only considering cloth when our friend's daughter was born and seeing her baby's diaper explode on her own clothes and her mom's clothes, furniture etc I figured I'd rather deal with poop on diapers where I'd expect them then have to deal with it on everything.

We planned to cloth from the day we got home, I even built a pretty decent newborn stash over a month before our little girl was born but we didn't realize just how tiny she was going to be and our nb diapers were too big. We were using disposable (fortunatly between the hospital freebies and grandparents buying us a few boxes we haven't purchased any ourselves) while I frantically searched the used diaper market for some tiny diapers and for the last few days I've been diapering part time with as many diapers I have, using fewer disposables each day as I got new daipers in the mail (unfortunatly we have "peak hours" for electricity so I am limited to only washing diapers from 7pm-12pm on week days). Last night we only used one disposable and I'm hoping with the last shipment I got yesterday that we will now be able to make it without any disposables if I wash every day. We'll be prepared for future los incase they end up being tiny like our little girl so we can diaper as soon as we get home.

moosebaby2011

I love that my son's diapers aren't ending up in a landfill.  I love how cute the diapers are.  I love that I'm saving money (even if I have a little bit of a CD buying addiction).  I love that I never run out of diapers.

I did not CD from day 1.  I thought it would be too difficult to manage CD's with everything else that goes along with being a FTM.  I started DS in his OS diapers at 3 weeks old (it was a little early so we had a lot of leaks at first but we had run out of disposables and didn't want to buy more) and it was a lot easier to manage than I thought it would be.  So, if and when we have more kids they will be in CD's from the start.  I'm planning to do prefolds and covers with a few AIO's and pockets for DH to use.

lydswashere

We just started CDing about a week ago. My daughter is 14 months old, but I'm pregnant and fairly certain we will cloth diaper him from pretty much the start.

I just absolutely love it already! So far we have only used BG 4.0s, but I have zero complaints and am really happy with them.

I love it for the money saving aspect, the environment, and I'd be lying if I said my favorite part isn't the super cuteness of a fluffy baby bottom. : )

brissiegirl

I love all the CD love!! Thank you everyone for your awesome and helpful responses!