starting cloth diapers advice -xp

thatsmary · May 2011

Both my husband and I are teachers. He goes on break in 2 weeks and I go on break in 4. We are looking to start part-time cloth diapering. The daycare that DD will go to starting in September uses a diapering service so we won't have to provide those. So essentially we are looking to have diapers for the other part of the day, 4pm-7am.

DD is 12 lbs. 4 oz. and is currently wearing Huggies sizes 1-2 or 2. We're running low on the big box we had and rather than buying more, I would really like to buy some cloth.

Everything I've found on starter kits are for newborns and full time. Over the summer we could wash extra to make the part time stash function for full time use.

I don't know very much about CD, but both my mom and mil are very supportive of it. What would you buy if you were me?

SoDoMojo · May 2011

We used prefolds and Thirsties covers til DS was almost 20 lbs. Then he was big enough to fit into large Bumgenius.

My kid grew crazy fast, so I'm glad I didn't spend money on "fancy" CDs at first.

ETA: I CD full time. I've got a whole mess of diapers, but really only use 20 Bumgenius'. And I do laundry every 2 days.

kapereasd · May 2011

I use pocket diapers and love them. I have mostly BumGenius 4.0s that will grow with Kelsy...that way I don't have to keep replacing them as she grows. I got a bundle here:

https://www.bananapeelsdiapers.com/catalog.php?category=55

Keep in mind that if you get fitteds, you will need covers too. I have about 30 diapers and CD full time. I wash every 2-3 days. HTH!

JordanB23 · May 2011

I like my Best Bottom diapers. They are a hybrid so you would only need about 4 covers for part time. They are pretty cheap and never leak! It's my go to diaper if DS is going to be in it for a while running errands or napping.

Mama2Nico · May 2011

As some others mentioned, I also use the BumGenius 4.0s (they're a pocket diaper) and I love them. We CD full time, have 22 and I do a wash load about every other day and dry them on a drying rack out back. It's been a great investment and really easy. If you need tips on laundering or want other opinions, I'd go to the cloth diapering board if I were you.

drea_raye · May 2011

My go-to are BG 4.0... DS is between 16 and 17lbs, and no longer fits in anything newborn. I think that BG currently has the buy 5 get 1 free sale until the end of May. We also have some FB Perfect Size small which are okay, although I have heard a lot of people not like the FB OS. And we have fitteds and covers, since that is what DH likes.

You might consider doing a trial... Jillian Drawers has one...

BrittRMere · May 2011

If you want to try some out, but don't want to spend a lot of money until you're sure it's right for you, I highly recommend prefolds and Econobum covers. Those covers are much cheaper than most others, and they work great. We've been using them for a couple of months, and have had no problems with leaks.

mittensonkittens · May 2011

We use green mountain prefolds and Thirsties covers. I actually prefer the prefolds to the fancy diapers (we have a few pocket diapers that we hardly ever use but are good to have for babysitters) because they are so absorbant and easy, they hold up better for multiple kids (anything with Velcro gets worn out), and they're cheap. Our daycare requires disposables, so we just CD part time too. We have 24 prefolds for the baby and 5 covers (although 2-3 would be enough). When he's not in daycare this is enough that we do laundry every other day. Washing diapers takes 3 cycles then dry time, so you'll get burned out trying to wash them too often. I'd suggest trying prefolds because they are cheap enough that you can buy more, and that would make your life easier on weekends and school breaks.

RouensDream · May 2011

The CD board is a great place to get more info on CDing. They even have a faq section that can help answer any questions you have. When I started to build my stash I looked around for "seconds" sales. Swaddlebees has them in their clearance store fairly often (they just stocked recently and may still have some stuff) and Bum Genius has "seconds" sales every now and then as well. The seconds I bought are all new and in pretty good condition.. but might have some dirt on them or whatever. I bought a few of different brands just to see what we would like. Also Kawaii diapers are really cheap and I like them just as much as my other pockets. Right now I really like fitted diapers with wool covers. They cost more, but they fit my little one better. Prefolds and covers are also good to have on hand. (easy to use and cheap) We use Green Mountain Diapers prefolds with thirsties covers. HTH.

Mrs.Jocelyn2007 · May 2011

Hi thatsmary - definitely go with cloth, it is so easy and the little bums are so cute in them!

We have been using Kawaii diapers (all-in-one pocket diapers) and have been really impressed with them. They are a lot cheaper than the other brand names, but they seem to be very good quality and our son loves them. We bought 10 newborn size (up to 15 lbs) and 20 normal size, and basically for the first three months we only used the 10 newborn diapers. So we have washed them every single day for 3+ months and they are holding up very well (although they are velcro so it's not absolutely as perfect as the snaps on the larger ones). If you are cloth diapering part-time, then I don't think you need more than 10. I would recommend getting some of the Kawaii heavy wetter bedtime diapers, because those are the ones we use at night.

Other things you need for cloth diapering: a diaper pail with a good cover, some washable anti-bacterial pail liners (Kissa, I think, is the brand on Amazon that we got). Our diapers have been getting perfectly clean with normal baby detergent. I recently started adding a little white vinegar to the wash. Good luck!

sklein625 · May 2011

I've tried a few different brands, but found that Fuzzi Bunz work the best for me. Like PP said, the one size was really bulky, so I use perfect fit. He's been in size Medium since he was about 15 pounds and will probably be in them for a long time. Some people really prefer velco and some really prefer snaps though. I feel that the snaps hold up better after tons of washes.

I'd recommend buying a few used of different brands until you find one that you like and then build your stash up with that brand! Good luck! It's definitely an easy process once you get started and I LOVE how cute he looks in them!

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