January 2013 Moms
holly52
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Question for the CD'ing moms
holly52
member
I received a ton of disposable diapers for my baby shower and I am about to run out, so I am now looking into cloth diapering in hopes I can save some money in the long run. I was thinking of ordering from alvababy.com so my first question is has anyone ordered from them? If so, how do you like them? Otherwise, what kind of diapers do you use? Do you find it to be more cost effective than buying disposables? There's so many options it's getting overwhelming looking at them. TIA!!
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Re: Question for the CD'ing moms
That said I would have been royally screwed if I didn't like them. Most people I know have an assortment of CDs so they have options. Other then the learning curve figuring out how to best fold them to avoid blowouts at the gussetts I love the and know I'm saving tons of money!
I reccomend doing some research online and also checking out cottonbabies.com. They sell lots of brands as well as seconds.
Good luck to you!
I have not used Alvas, but I do know that they have a good sized following. I get the impression that they're the best brand out of the "cheaper" diapers.
We have tried out several different brands/styles and we're fans of bumGenius pockets.
They are far more cost effective than disposables. It's not even comparable.
It is easy to get overwhelmed. There are SO many different brands and options and price points. My suggestion would be to just buy a couple and try them out, see how you like them! There are also trial packages available, but I don't know that Alvas would be included with something like that.
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I've used Alvas. Honestly, I hate them. I think I got some duds or something but mine leak out of the leg stitching. I've done everything I can think of and I think they're just poorly made. Not everyone has that experience though, a lot of people like them.
They're ridiculously cheap though, so if you want to try a few out it's not pricy if you decide you don't like them. I suggest ordering from superstash.net, the woman who runs it is a WAHM, she ships suuuuper fast and always sends free CJ's BUTTer samples. She also carries Kawaii, another very cheap cloth diaper, which I think is slightly higher quality than Alva.
CDing is absolutely cheaper than disposables in the long run.
My favorite brand is BumGenius, I also really like Rumparooz. One thing to keep in mind is that the more expensive diapers have a great resale value. The cheap ones like Kawaii and Alva have essentially zero resale value.
HTH!
We have 6 Fuzzibuns (slimmest, but only for day, not absorbant enough for night), 6 BumGenius all-in-ones (bulky, but easy-peasy all in ones, and very absorbant), and 20 prefolds with Flip covers.
Once you get the hang of the old-school prefolds, which are also easier than they look (I think), they are the absolute cheapest and I think contain the mess the best (though leaks in general with cloth have been more rare than on the occasions I throw 'sposies on). Prefolds are $2-$3 each, and then you just need 4-6 covers, which are $10-$15 each. The natural fibers of prefolds just instantly hold on to all the liquid better than any other material. But sitters aren't often the biggest fans of prefolds, as they 'appear' difficult to put on.
But I agree with others, buy a couple from a few companies and try them out for a week or two to see what kind of fit and stuff you like.
I haven't used Alva diapers, but I love, love, love cloth diapering. We primarily use Bumgenius (4.0s and Freetime), but I also have a couple of Kawaii, Fuzzibunz, Rumparooz, Bummis, and Charlie Banana. Love the Bumgenius diapers, by far the best and easiest of what I've tried.
The Kawaii, Rumaprooz, and Charlie Banana are good (got them because of the cute designs that Bumgenius doesn't have) but the snap system on them is a bit annoying. Instead of the 2 snaps per side that the Bumgenius have, it's 3 snaps of varying distance/height that need to be done. Not so easy on a wiggly baby.
I love the fit of the Fuzzibunz, but hate stuffing them! They are so hard to stuff compared to all of the others.
The Bummis, I haven't been able to get them to not leak. They don't even leak at the seams, waist, or legs. It feels like the PLU is bad and they leak right through the cover! I've exchanged them, but still the problem persisted.
Cloth diapering is sooo much cheaper than disposables. We still use disposables when we travel and I hate it! I think I've spent about 300$ on cloth diapers, and we're on kid #2. All of the diapers are still in perfect condition, so I know that they'll be good for #3 too. That's 100$ per kid on diapers. Try to do that with disposables!!
Yay! GL!
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I second sbevmc09 on starting out with a few (the 10 you ordered will easily get you through a day) to see if you like CD. It will also help you figure out the washing routine and do some problem solving when it comes to getting the right fit.
As for the price comparison, it is pretty obvious. DS was in daycare for four weeks last month when my work schedule changed temporarily and they would not use cloth so we had to buy disposables and went ahead and used them at home, too, for that time. Our cloth diapers are a combination of BumGenius and Rumparooz so the price of one cloth diaper is about the same as one big box of cheap disposables - but that box only lasts a few weeks - that cloth diaper will last years and you can resell it! As it stands now, I have spent about $250 on cloth diapers and would have spent about $150-200 on disposables by this point.
One other tip: if you find that you do like CD, do not be afraid to buy second hand. All of my Rumparooz are new, about half were gifted, but all of my BumGenius were purchased through Craigslist.
Ok I see that everyone put what diaper they like on here but I have a question. Is your baby petite, average or chunky? I ask because every diaper fits differently. Similar to why there are so many different disposables there are many choices in cloth too. This is my personal experience with the following brands:
Bumgenius: Average or chunky size baby
Kawaii HD2 and fun prints: Chunky baby
Kawaii Pure and Natural: Petite baby
Fuzzibunz: Average baby
Rumarooz: Petite to average size baby
Thirsties: Petite baby
Little Smudgeez: Petite to average size baby
Charlie Banana: Average size baby
Swaddlbees/blueberries: Petite baby
Grovia: Average or chunky baby
BabyKicks: Chunky baby
Applecheeks: Petite baby
Best Bottoms: Petite to Average size baby
Gdiapers: no personal experience with these but I know many CD moms that do not suggest this diaper
WAHM: You will see negative and positive reviews about these
I have a few that I have purchased on ETSY that I love and others that I do not like so much. Plus all diapers are made differently.
I also strongly suggest you go on youtube and watch cloth diapering 101, I think there are 3 videos in the series and it is VERY informative. This helped me out a lot when I was trying to figure out what diaper I wanted to go with.
Cost wise: prefolds with covers are your cheapest route. Pockets are most like disposables and tend to be "a dads favorite" but not always the cheapest route. You can PM me with questions if you have any
I would be happy to help!
Good luck and don't get too overwhelmed! Figuring out what you want can be the most overwhelming part lol. But actually diapering the baby and caring for the diapers is the easiest part.