Cloth Diapering: Yes or no?

kbgregoire · June 2011

I am a teacher, so I have the summer "off", but when I go back to work, I am going to have 4ish hours at night to do all the typical night things, and I don't want to spend every minute laundering diapers. However, I really love the idea of being more environmentally friendly and saving money that comes with cloth diapers. I thought about trying a hybrid and now that her poo has become less runny and less frequent, I thought now would be the time. What are your experiences with cloth diapering. I just know if it gets to the point where I am doing laundry every night in order to have clean diapers, I will just stop using them and that will be a waste of money.

daenikoffre · June 2011

From birth to about 2.5 months I did laundry every other day, and now it's every 3 days. We have 24 diapers. This is pretty typical.

mommabear530 · June 2011

Go for it! I just started and it is quite addicting. There are lots of places you can get discounted and seconds sales for cheap, or you can try all different types of cloth diapers at Jillian's Drawers.com for just a $10 program fee. If you don't end up liking it, you can resell the diapers. Its still cheaper than disposables.:) Check out the cloth diapering board's FAQs

LadybugPicnic2011 · June 2011

I work full time and run my older kids everywhere. For us it is a load every 3 days or so. We love it!

kbgregoire · June 2011

Go for it! I just started and it is quite addicting. There are lots of places you can get discounted and seconds sales for cheap, or you can try all different types of cloth diapers at Jillian's Drawers.com for just a $10 program fee. If you don't end up liking it, you can resell the diapers. Its still cheaper than disposables.:) Check out the cloth diapering board's FAQs

I didn't even know that existed! Thanks!

You all made me feel better about the whole thing. I just really didn't want to become a slave to my washing machine.

dNoodle · June 2011

My husband and I have talked about this a lot - we feel like cloth diapering is the single best decision we've made for our son. It's the only thing we can say that we KNOW we made the right choice. We love it! Give it a try over the summer and see what you think.

chardonnay24 · June 2011

It's really easy - I do a prewash in cold and then a regular wash in hot/cold. This takes about 1.5 hours but less than 5 minutes for me. Then I throw the inserts and wipes in the dryer and hang the pockets and wetbags on the drying rack - another 5 minutes. H stuffs all the diapers at night, which takes another 5 minutes.

So 15 minutes total - it's really not difficult or time consuming at all! I am a part-time student and part-time SAHM, but I do all my diaper stuff at night when H gets home from work.

Oh, and we have 26 diapers and I do a wash every other day.

amanicen · June 2011

When LO was first born we washed every other day, now we're down to every 2 1/2-3 days (and that's mainly because I didn't make enough cloth wipes to go longer). It's so much easier than I thought it would be- one quick wash cold, restart it on hot, & then hang everything on the drying rack or line to dry. It's even easier when we pop things in the dryer occasionally.

We absolutely love it and can't imagine doing anything else. When you consider the time spent buying disposables and hauling them out to the trash you're not spending much more time than that washing CDs. I've been surprised by how addicted I've become to it and how much DH loves it. I've even caught him telling his cousins & friends about how easy and fun they are.

The CD board has great info & everyone there is super helpful. Definitely give it a shot, it's so easy & a great way to save money.

MrsStreff · June 2011

I love cding, we do wash ever other day or every 3 days. It just depends.

RunningGal900 · June 2011

My time spent doing laundry is minimal. I gather up both pails,walk to the basement, dump everything in and set the cold rinse. 10 minutes later I add detergent and set the hot wash. An hour or so later (or whenever I remember) I separate the shells and inserts and line dry the shells. A few hours later I stuff the pockets. My total time actively doing laundry is maybe 30 minutes. Good luck!

Aviee · June 2011

I just started getting into CDing and convinced H yesterday that it's a great idea, money wise. We have prefolds, but I'm getting some other kinds off of ebay so that H isn't overwhelmed with them. In fact, I have to go put the prefolds in the dryer now..

kmlevine04@gmail.com · June 2011

Go for it! We love it...her skin is always so good - I'm so proud of how rash free I keep her bum! The laundry isn't bad at all - I do them every 3 days and its an easy load to wash/fold etc...plus they're so cute!

drea_raye · June 2011

We use mostly pockets... so the most time consuming part is stuffing them. But really, that is no big deal, I usually do it while watching a tv show in the evening.

I love doing CD laundry... not sure why... I am at about every 3 days now. Some tips - it is usually recommended to do a second rinse (so cold rinse, hot wash, cold rinse). I think the trial is a great idea... since you might find LO is sensitive to a particular fiber. Your diaper pail will be less stinky if you leave the lid off (most people find sposies way worse.)

I also love leaving the store without buying diapers (or formula) every time it makes me feel like I have saved money...

Five Months to Plan · June 2011

I am a teacher and we CD. Once we got into a routine it was fine. We love it. We use pockets. I used to have to wash every 2 days now i have enough that if it has to go to 3 we are ok. We love it!!!! I just put a load in when i get home sometimes i let them dry over night in stuff in the morning or if we have enough wait until i get home from work. That babysitter I'll also stuff the pockets again too if i need her too.

AggieBeth06 · June 2011

Double post

AggieBeth06 · June 2011

Do it! Cd laundry is easy peasy. Set a few cycles and 5 min to fold or stuff every other day!

alyssa44 · June 2011

Definitely go for it! I would never have thought I would have CD, but I love it now. It is so easy-you will have less trash and less hauling around with LO in the store buying diapers.

jolynn326 · June 2011

Another vote for CDing here, too. And remember, if you have a larger stash, you have to wash less. So if you can afford to invest in more than say 20-25 diapers, maybe that would work better for you?

kbgregoire · June 2011

Sounds like everything is positive! Thank you!

ALYEATS84 · June 2011

Yes go for it. I do warn you it is quiet addictive. I have about 40-50 diapers not sure exactly how many, but I only have to do laundry every 4 days and that is with plenty of diapers left clean I just don't like them to sit too long unwashed.

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