Cloth diapering and working FT?

maddie80 · March 2012

I am going back to work full time in April. My DD who was born in January will be staying home with DH.DH is hesitant about the idea of CDing because of the extra work and laundry. I did it with my older son, but I'm not sure how to persuade him it's really not that much work and the cost savings are huge. Anyone here work FT and still CD?

Julia_JJ · March 2012

I still think your husband is a doucher for even making an issue of it. How long does it take him to start a load of laundry?

We both work full-time. We take a wet bag and stuffed pockets to daycare in the morning, and every other day I toss two days worth of wet bags into the washer as soon as I get home - takes maybe a minute, including the time to grab the home wet bag from the nursery. I add a soak to my cycle and use the dryer on delicate to dry things (rather than hang dry - I don't care about resale and we're probably not having another kid, so they don't need to last forever), so the wash cycle takes a couple hours. I start an 80-minute dryer cycle as soon as its done - 30 seconds to switch the load. One cycle usually doesn't dry everything (especially the prefolds we use at home during feedings since that's when he pees usually and we don't want to "waste" a pocket), and I usually have to start a second, so I'll do that before bed. If we've got a load's worth of baby clothes and blankets and burp cloths etc., I might start a load of that in the wash while the diapers dry. We do our clothes on the weekends since we don't go through nearly as much.

I'm "on duty" for night wakings, although they're few and far between now. At 5 am, I get up to work out, and my husband takes over. Then I come upstairs and shower, and DS wakes up at about that time (6:30 am) so we both play with him while changing and feeding him. Then DH jumps in the shower, and I grab the diapers from the dryer, switch the baby clothes to the dryer (I'll fold those in the evening or during the day if I'm working from home), and stuff pockets while playing with the baby. We have four wet bags, and I put the fresh stuffed pockets into each one so I just have to grab one on the way out the door. Takes 10 minutes to do a full load. And that's it. The stuffing takes the longest; if you're using AIOs or prefolds, that step doesn't apply.

Being at home, he has the benefit of starting a load whenever he wants. If I don't start a load as soon as we get home, I'm screwed. So, he's got it easy peasy. Let me know if you need me to kick him in the jeans.

maddie80 · March 2012

I think he's freaked about what he's not familiar with and he's worried about being at home with one, sometimes two kiddos. But I agree - it's douchey. And I can tell it matters to me be because even though I sold off my old stash and returned the new stuff I bought and didn't use, I am still having 2nd thoughts/regrets. I did the math and we'd still save scads of money rebuying everything to CD.

Sunidaze · March 2012

I work FT as does DH (we work opposite shifts) so she is in daycare and we CD. DH was very reluctant about CDs from the beginning and really isn't totally on board with it, 5 months after I started. So I pretty much take care of all things CD. No biggie for me.

Ms.Jade · March 2012

Yes and DH and our nanny (my sis) are 100% on board. Here's an idea. Have a race to show him that cd'ing isn't that much slower than disposables. And show him the stats on the economic & environmental benefits. Maybe he'll agree it's worth an extra 30 seconds or so. We also have a service which is only $20 a week so we just toss the diapers in a pail and done. But even when we had to wash them the method was the same - just an extra load of laundry each week.

readyornothb · March 2012

We both work full-time and the 2-3 loads of laundry each week has never been an issue. Tell him that at least he'll never have to make any last-minute runs to the store because you ran out of disposables

Five Months to Plan · March 2012

I work FT and we CD. DD is home during the day with either DH or the sitter. DH was really hesitant about CDing. We did not start till DD was 4 months old. We went to a specialty store to see about a carrier, on the way I said they sell CD too. DH just gave me a look. When we left the store we were trying CD. I think it was showing him how easy it was. That being said DH does 99% of the diaper laundry himself. He keeps me on track sometimes even.

LadyXaverian · March 2012

DH and I both work full time and use CDs. Tell him that we pinky promise it's not that big of a deal.

maddie80 · March 2012

Love you ladies! Thanks for all of the encouragement. I'll give it another go at talking it up.

katie4253 · March 2012

It is actually a little bit of a pain once they get to solids. You have to rinse the diapers. We are glad we do it, but it takes extra time each week. Spraying off poop, washing (rinse then wash), drying (hang and dryer), stuffing pockets, etc. I'd say it takes 2 extra hours a week.

maddie80 · March 2012

So, once you hit solids, do you just run through a rinse cycle, or actually use the diaper sprayer, etc.?

CrazyToast · March 2012

I have friends who do it, so I know it can be done.

I didn't try hard enough to convince my DH, the SAH parent, to get on-board. I wish I had. GL!

katie4253 · March 2012

maddie80:
So, once you hit solids, do you just run through a rinse cycle, or actually use the diaper sprayer, etc.?

If the poop is plopable you can just let it drop into the toilet. We have been giving solids for 4 months and still no solid poop. We use a diaper sprayer. We still do a rinse cycle before we wash to rise out the pee before it gets washed.

Some people are lucky with poop, I have a feeling we'll be spraying for at least 2 more months.

katie4253 · March 2012

Wait a minute, I read this all wrong. Your H is going to be a SAHD (I thought you were both going to be working)? Uhhh, yeah. Tell him to suck it up. And, for the first 6 months before you startsolids you just throw the diapers in the washer.

Comet4658 · March 2012

I think your DH has a point about the extra work. In our house DH wanted the cloth diapers, so he does the majority of the laundry. I think if they are a priority to you that you should work out a system so your DH feels comfortable. I also had felt that we were doing laundry too much, so we bought extra cloth diapers so we only have to do laundry 2 times per week. Maybe in that case you do one washing per week and your DH does one.

Leap08 · March 2012

katie4253:
maddie80:
So, once you hit solids, do you just run through a rinse cycle, or actually use the diaper sprayer, etc.?
If the poop is plopable you can just let it drop into the toilet. We have been giving solids for 4 months and still no solid poop. We use a diaper sprayer. We still do a rinse cycle before we wash to rise out the pee before it gets washed.
Some people are lucky with poop, I have a feeling we'll be spraying for at least 2 more months.

My oldest didn't have plopable poop until we started whole milk at a year, but we did BLW and she really didn't eat much solid food until 8 months or so. I think rinsed diapers for maybe 4.5-5 months.

We both work full time and our girls go to a great daycare that doesn't have any issue with CDs. Our second child is now in CD full time (our first is potty trained). I've never found it to be a big deal. It takes no time to start a load of wash or to throw diapers in the dryer (I only line dry occasionally on weekends). My husband and I stuff pockets while we watch TV and unwind.

Mrs.Handy · March 2012

We go back and forth between ploppable poop and our son is 20 months. So a diaper sprayer is a necessity IMHO.

We both work full time. It is very easy and not really that time consuming.

astroMom · March 2012

We both work FT in tech. We do CD laundry 3x/week and right now are using sposies overnight. My DH was overwhelmed for a bit, too. (He stayed home the first month I went back part time...using vacation...) I found my stash was too complicated for him, so try to keep it simple.

Now, DH who was a skeptic, is the only one who ever uses the sprayer for poop, hehehe.

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