Thanks a lot...

martha919

...whoever posted about cloth diapering!!! I'm super cloth-curious now, haha. I have yet to bring it up with DH because I know he'll be grossed out and resistant so I want to have my facts down but OMG. As if I needed another baby thing to be obsessed with, haha. 

My main concern at this point is spending money on something I think I want to do and wasting it (er...brestfriend and Moby come to mind). Somebody tell me it won't be a waste! I know no one really knows that for me, but tell me: what are your favorite and least favorite things about cloth diapering? 

holly52

I just ordered my first set to try and am still waiting for them.  I'm excited to try it out and hopefully save a lot of money! I have heard that if you try it and don't like it that they have pretty good resale value

lifeisbetteronthered

I was worried about that when we decided to go for it and invest in our stash. We bought about 400 worth while still pregnant. What convinced me was the resale value. Having checked out the buy/sell/trade boards I saw that used dipers went for about 70 to 80 of their original cost.

Now, 4 months in we love it. DH was a little hesitant at first, but when I showed him the cost of CD vs sposies he was sold. Now he is as "on board" as I am. We actually seem to enjoy diaper changes because it means picking out the next cute bum.

Last month we figured out that we had broken even around week 9 and have been diapering for "free" since. I wanted to go buy a couple of cute diapers in honour of this milestone, but got vetoed.

CDing also introduces you to a new community of parents. Those who CD, love their CD.

portentosa

Favorite Thing... saving MONEY! I've bought 2 big boxes of sposies since DS was born (for MIL to use when she watches DS and as backups/just in case diapers) and I can NOT imagine having to spend that kind of money on a regular basis! OUCH! ...for me I have plain all white Real Nappies brand cloth so I'm saved from the trap of cloth diapering which is all the cute designs! I'm tempted sometimes but have resisted so far. Many mamas find they are buying covers as additively as you can buy clothes...so beware! lol

Least Fav Thing... the bulkiness I guess. The brand that I have is 100% cotton insert that I fold up myself. It works GREAT! No leaks or blowouts... but it is bulky. DS looks funny in some outfits or flat out doesn't fit in some onesies when he's wearing cloth, when he would wear them fine in sposies. I've read that hemp is much slimmer and have been meaning to get some hemp inserts to try... but it's not THAT big a deal.

Overall I LOVE cloth! The laundry is really not scary... REALLY! My least fav thing isn't even that big of a deal and no where near a deal breaker. Start out small if you're worried about not liking it. Starting small will also help you not get overwhelmed. Tip: Cloth during the day at first... then get into overnight cloth when you're ready. I sposied overnight for the first 2.5 months with diapers I got at the baby shower because I wasn't ready to jump into cloth all the way at first.

 

sbevmc09

I was kind of hesitant to introduce the concept to MH as well, but once he really heard about the benefits he was on board with it and now he loves it too.

I honestly like everything about cloth diapering.  I guess sometimes it would be easier to throw a dirty diaper in the trash, but seriously I could put soooooooo many things in the pro column that I can't come up with any benefits of disposables that makes me even somewhat interested in using them instead of cloth.  No blowouts, you save money, no mountain of stinky trash, they're so cute, better for baby, better for the Earth, they don't have a funny smell like disposables, no running to the store when you run out accidentally.

When we started I just got a few diapers to see how I liked it.  One day in and I was sure we were making the switch for good.  DS hasn't had a disposable diaper on since 7wks old and DD only wore disposables while her belly button was healing because the newborn diapers we had didn't leave her belly button exposed.   

martha919

Okay, follow-up: how do I wash? I watched the cloth diapering 101 videos and she said to do a cold rinse spin, hot wash, cold rinse spin...um, I have no idea how this works. My washer has cold, warm, and hot settings. Period. Any ideas? I just joined a cloth group on FB so I can ask there, too. :-) Y'all are awesome! 

ohiodoxiemama08

DH was not a fan at first either and I was scared to bring it up to him but we are both hooked now!

Saving money is a great benefit! We probably have a total of 500 dollars invested but if you look at statistics they say that you spend over 1500 dollars in disposables. Also, cloth diapers are SO cute. Also, if your husband is skeptical have him research the chemicals in disposables.

I agree with PP, I was hooked from day one!

ohiodoxiemama08

martha919:

Okay, followup: how do I wash? I watched the cloth diapering 101 videos and she said to do a cold rinse spin, hot wash, cold rinse spin...um, I have no idea how this works. My washer has cold, warm, and hot settings. Period. Any ideas? I just joined a cloth group on FB so I can ask there, too. : Y'all are awesome!nbsp;

I have a simple washer too. I just turn it on cold, turn the dial to the rinse and then when that's done switch it to hot and use the longest cycle. Then you repeat the first part with the cold rinse. Hope that helps some!

brachysira

My favorite part is that they are cute.  I honestly don't think we save much money because I'm deal-getter and we can get sposies for about the same budget as we used for cloth.  I am also convinced it's not much better environmentally because the materials used to make the diapers are more energetically intensive to grow than paper and it is energetically intensive to wash.   When cloth becomes really good economically and environmentally is if you resell or use for multiple babies, and don't use sposies half the time, which we sometimes end up doing.

The key to not spending a lot is not becoming an addict.  Just buy what you need and stop shopping  Try different kinds to see what you like before getting a whole stash.  Prefolds and covers are the least expensive, but you can do okay if you get pockets as seconds or on sale, and I really hate how wet my baby gets in prefolds so I like to alternative with pockets.

 For washing, I run a cold cycle large cycle, then I go back and put it on small hot with detergent (tide original powder, or you can use some special CD detergent), and then every other time I wash I run a 2nd cold rinse after the hot to reduce detergent build-up.

martha919

Thanks, everyone! We're hoping for three more kiddos so I'm thinking cloth is the way to go, lol. Also, thanks for the wash tips!

this decaf life

Favorite - saves me money.They're cute and they don't smell. I hate that chemical smell of disposables.

Least - that they don't really work on vacation/traveling. Some people make it work, but it just doesn't work for us. We're on vacation this weekend & next weekend we're moving so no cloth but it's not the end of the world. 

runlong3

I have a core stash of ~2 dozen or so diapers I rotate through (washing every other day-ish) that I'm pretty sure I've spent less than $300 on brand new. I think 13 of those are BG Freetimes or 4.0s (if you're patient they run B5G1 sales on them), then I have a mix of Kawaii P&Ns, Blueberrys, nb Alvas, a couple I made myself, and a CB. 

Now I say core stash because I've ordered a bunch more through a co-op which haven't arrived yet (although they're not necessary to have enough -- it's just because I wanted cute prints). You could easily spend hundreds on a full price name-brand stash, or less than $200. It's really kind of what you want.

We originally went with cloth for money reasons, but ever since doing more research and using them for over 3.5 months, even if that weren't part of the equation, I don't think I would switch to disposables. 

I will say I agree with this decaf life -- they are very hard to travel with. Any time we go anywhere we pretty much have to bring an entire extra bag just for diapers. Which really sucks when you have to fly.