Cloth diapering?

Whittyone12 · December 2012

Talk to me ladies. I was interested in cloth diapering in the beginning, and originally wanted to do it, but was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up once back to work.

I am rethinking my decision now. Ladies that do it/ have done it pros and cons?

hooslisa · December 2012

i love it. the only cons i can think of are start up costs and laundry...although, i find the laundry to be a non issue. every other day i do a load of diapers. no biggie.

rp-chicago-mom · December 2012

We do prefolds and covers and some fuzzibunz. We actually need to do the next size up and are trying to decide what route to take.

We didn't decide what we wanted before he was born because H's aunt got us a month of diaper service as a shower gift. I had no plans of using prefolds but that is what the service brought so we got really good at folding them by the end of it. We decided if it ain't broke, don't fix it and kept with the prefolds. We use those all day and fuzzibunz at night with added inserts for extra absorbency.

We do laundry every three days or so and will use disposables if we feel it would be too much along with whatever we are doing. When he had a bad rash, we did disposables so we could layer on prescription cream and I think we will do them when we fly to DC to look at apartments.

It is definitely doable and will save you so much money especially if you have more kids.

abbyful · December 2012

We cloth diaper and love it!

We originally decided on cloth diapers to save money, but then we discovered we like them so much better than disposables. (We used sposies the first 4-6 weeks, and we use them when we travel overnight too.)

In addition to being cheaper, they are easier to put on (no having to pull out the ruffles and elastic.) And they work so much better too; we go through less diapers and blow-outs are virtually non-existent.

What's surprising too is how opinionated DH is on the diapers! When we are going to be traveling, he wants diaper laundry to be the last thing I do before we leave because he wants avoid using the disposables as long as possible; not for cost but because he hates disposables now! (When I first wanted to do cloth diapers, he thought I was insane!)

We use mostly BumGenius. I have a few oddballs I like too, a Kawaii and a few BumCheeks (the BumCheeks are bulky so I usually just use them at night). I wasn't a big fan of Fuzzibunz for our little guy, they didn't fit him well.

I haven't counted lately, we have probably in the range of 25-30 diapers. We do laundry every other day.

I am a working mom too, and it really isn't that much to get the diapers done. I spend more time cleaning bottles and pump parts than I do on our cloth diapers. AND you don't have to worry about stopping at the store to buy more diapers all the time!

JAO2011 · December 2012

We love cloth diapering! In fact this week I was trying to use up some disposables we had leftover for back up and I didn't even finish the package off as I kept going back to the cloth. We mostly use Bumgenius elemental, favorite. We have some other prefolds and random pockets as well. Getting our system down initially took some time but now it's no big deal, an extra load of laundry everyday or every other is nothing. Love them!!

JayandEmm · December 2012

Love cding! It's saved us a lot of money. We do a mix of prefolds and covers, aio, and pockets. I absolutely love BG and Alva Baby. Alva is super cheap and really easy to use. H actually prefers these over prefolds. I do laundry every 2 days, it's not a big deal at all, even H does cloth laundry sometimes!

HeartsOnABand · December 2012

Pros: no harsh chemicals on babies bum, environment friendly, money saver, not having to worry about running out of diapers, they are super cute....I could go on but these are the most important ones to me.

Cons: I guess the only con would be what Hoolisa said...the initial cost. I think my stash of 24 diapers, 12 prefolds, 4 covers, 1 fitted, and 2 wetbags cost a total of 380. If I could start over again and get Alvas and Sunbabys from day one my total cost would be half of that. I highly recommend Sunbabys. Awesome quality diaper for super cheap.

Bemyselfandi · December 2012

So up until about 3 weeks after I had Addy, I was totally against cloth. I honestly thought it was disgusting and there was no way I'd be able to do it.

Well...at 3 weeks I decided we were spending WAY too much money on disposables. I looked into all the options and I was way overwhelmed with what was out there.

I have a cloth diaper store in town. I went there and asked questions, and I looked at all the different types of diapers they had. I walked away, still overwhelmed.

I frequent the cloth diaper board here on tb. I love it. The ladies there are so nice and always try to help as much as they can.

Everyone has their own system that works for them. Personally I like my pockets. I love my Kawaiis and Sunbabys. They are some of the cheapest out there, but I feel like they're quality is amazing. Flips are my husband's favorite. I'm going to buy some prefolds this week. I have a feeling those will be my favorite.

I do laundry every day and a half. Sometimes daily, but usually every day and a half so I get my nighttime diapers in the laundry. I have enough diapers to last three days, I stuff my pockets every three days.

I made my own wetbags and pail liner. I got a cheap open kitchen trash can for her bedroom. Total I think I've spent around $300 and I think that's pushing it. I honestly don't think I spent that much. I bought diapers from a co-op, saving tons of money. I also bought from craigslist. They were brand new diapers, but someone just didn't want them since they were doubles of the colors they already had. You can easily buy used diapers. They have great resale value!

Pros: I never have to worry about running out of diapers for Addy. We always have them. I do worry about running out of diapers and being low on cash for Dax (since he is in sposies). Another pro: I *usually* don't have to worry about a sposie accidentally going in the laundry. Somehow, though, since Addy is in sposies right now because of a really really nasty rash, one ended up in the laundry...I blame Dax because he's been such a great helper lately.

Cons: The only con is I have is my front loader. It's hard to get a lot of water in there so the diapers get really clean. However, my mom has a top loader and I just figured out a few days ago that all I have to do is go there once a month, strip my diapers (you can/will learn how to do this if you decide to CD), and everything will be perfect.

If you have any questions, I am by far an expert, but feel free to PM me. Also, stick with the cloth diaper board. They're amazing!

oprastr · December 2012

I'll jump in on the lovefest! CD's are the best. My pros are that they save money, work really well, are better for the environment, and we haven't had rash or blow out issues. I think the cost of specialty cloth diaper laundry detergent is the only con I can think of but we just switched to homemade detergent so hopefully that's no longer a factor.

We used hemp prefold exclusively for 3 months. Loved them, super absorbent and soft. We have 24 diapers and 6 covers. We used snappis to keep them tight and either the jelly roll fold or the bikini twist. We've added BumGenius 3.0 in to our rotation now, they are our daycare diapers and I also love them, we have 16.

I know it isn't for everyone but I bought all the BumGenius diapers used. The 16 I have, purchased new, would have cost about 350 dollars and I got them for 200. Something to think about.

Bemyselfandi · December 2012

Oh....also, it's totally not disgusting. I find the disposable garbage smells worse than my open can of cloth. I have always taken the poop off, but you don't have to unless they're on solids. Now that she's on solids it plops right off into the toilet completely clean. It's awesome! I touch more poop if shes in disposables...somehow...it's disgusting. I never thought I'd like cloth more than disposables, but, this rash can go to h-e-ll...I miss using cloth.

Oh, and I agree with Heartsonaband. If I could do my stash all over again, I'd stick with Sunbabys and Kawaiis. They're cheap...the sunbabys are great for daytime, and Kawaiis are great nighttime diapers. I also have some "bumboo" fitteds I use with a cover for overnight. I love them. I never get a leak...ever.

mrs mosby · December 2012

I CD both my girls and work FT. It's definitely doable. You just need to come up with a system that works for you.

elle40 · December 2012

Prefold liners and Grovia covers at our house. Still do disposables when we are out of the house and overnight.

Use Charlie's laundry soap to clean them, line dry outside.

aimee1899 · December 2012

DD is always in cloth and DS is in them only half the time. We put him in Huggie night timers too.

We were using gDiapers exclusively for a few months, then I received some BumGenius for Christmas.

Pro: like pp said, I never have to worry about running out of diapers for DD,

Con: We have to buy two different laundry detergents. Liquid for clothes (DH's preference) and powder for CDs. It really isn't a big deal.

Whittyone12 · December 2012

Thanks ladies sorry I kind of abandoned this thread, Keith had shots yesterday and wasn't feeling good today. I ordered a couple alva's and sent DH to our cloth diaper store for a couple flips we are going to give it a try.

Want a personalized experience?

Cloth diapering?

Re: Cloth diapering?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards