Cloth diapers?

JackieN524 · July 2013

Anyone going the cloth diaper route? I know a few people who love them, and the earth friendly factor is awesome, but I'm just not sure how well they work in the messy newborn poop stages.

sarah0632 · July 2013

I am definitely looking into cloth diapers. It just seems to make sense for me. From what I've read, soft newborn poop is easier to deal with as it can go straight into the wash I think if you use a wet bag. It's when they get older and the poop is solid you have to first scrape it off into the toilet.

littleviolets · July 2013

I'm really interested and starting to do some research. I think I might use disposable at first until we get the hang of things, then transition into cloth.

CaityA83 · July 2013

I am. This will be number 2 to cloth diaper. The newborn messy poo stage IMO is the easiest and best time cloth diapers usually don't leak and if you are breastfeeding then the poo is water soluble. So you just toss them in the can like a sposie and the instead of carrying them to the trash you just dump them in the washer. Super easy! The little boy I nanny for wears disposables and it drives me crazy bc he has at least one blowout a week! Yuck. DS never had a blowout. It always stayed in!

natleilynn · July 2013

I'm not. I'd love to, and if I was staying home with the baby, I would probably be more likely to do it. But DH and I both work and we want the convenience of disposable. Not to mention we have had a really hard time finding a daycare/sitter who is willing to take cloth diapers. Most of the ones we've contacted will only take disposables. If we're going to have to buy disposables anyway, I'd rather just do them full time. We'll look into it again if we're lucky enough to have another LO, but this time, it just doesn't make sense for us.

sarah0632 · July 2013

hercules03:
I'm pretty much a full on attached/natural parent. Nursing until baby weans, bed sharing, ergo carrying, baby/table led weaning, med free birthing, all of it I love but I've never been able to get on board with cloth diapers. Lol. I think it all seems overwhelming... I have a fav store "cotton babies" in STL and they have a huge selection but it seems really expensive and complicated. Maybe if I had done it with number one and reused the diapers? Got my money out of them? Who knows. Good luck though. I wish I could do it.

Cloth diapering is usually more cost effective. About 550 dollars one time fee for cloth, and the same for disposable per year.

ermimac · July 2013

We did with DS and will with this baby too. As someone else said, buy a few different types to try because I had friends swear by Fuzzibunz and they were AWFUL for DS. If the baby is EBF, then it is super easy to clean up, you don't have to rinse you can just put it right in the wet bag or washer. It's as the baby gets older and starts eating solids that the poop gets a little harder to cleanup and we found a diaper sprayer to be good to use.

MEP923 · July 2013

I've known people who have tried clothes diapers but none of them made it past a few months. I don't know much about them but my only advice is don't rub your decision is people's faces. The people I knew swore they would stick to it and almost came off like they thought they were better than you. When they realized it wasn't for them at about 2-3 months they got some side eyes from annoyed people. As a PP said, there is a Cloth Diaper board. I would check it out and see if it's for you.

JackieN524 · July 2013

Thanks for all the helpful advice! I am definitely going to research it some more and check out the CD board for more information.

daisydaisy23 · July 2013

I've been CDing DS since he was 3-4 weeks old, and I love it. As pp have said, the newborn poo stage is the easiest (especially if you BF) because you can throw the whole dipe into the washer (vs when they start solids--you have to put the poo in the toilet first...not that hard, just an extra step). We have saved sooooo much money in the last 2 years with CDs, and the added laundry isn't hard to adapt to. Highly recommend!!

backoffunicorn · July 2013

I'm not going to. I babysat for a friend's baby when she was about 2 and I was turned off from it when they told me to just throw the diaper in the toilet if she pooped and put down the toilet seat. Do you clean them in your toilet before throwing them in the wash?? Not my thing. If I were to do it, I would use a laundering service but I'm not planning on it.

amichael89 · July 2013

We are going to CD. I've heard different things about newborn poo and some people use disposables for the first month just so they avoid it but I have heard (as well as what PP have said) that it is super easy with the newborn poo stage. I'm looking forward to saving a TON of money. We already have a full stash of dipes.

kittyh8r · July 2013

I love cloth diapering, but to be honest, I don't think I will ever cloth a newborn. They go so often and I am just not up to that challenge. We bought huggies until my daughter wasn't pooping every time she farted.

Also, I would be more than happy to give any and all advice on cloth diapering. I just don't want to type it all out if it isn't going to be read. So if you, or anyone else has questions, PM me and I will answer all that I can. (:

daisydaisy23 · July 2013

lorlor681:
I'm not going to. I babysat for a friend's baby when she was about 2 and I was turned off from it when they told me to just throw the diaper in the toilet if she pooped and put down the toilet seat. Do you clean them in your toilet before throwing them in the wash?? Not my thing. If I were to do it, I would use a laundering service but I'm not planning on it.

That's weird, IMO. When we have a poo diaper and someone is babysitting, I either ask the person to place the diaper on top of the pail (I will deal with it when I get home) or if they are comfortable, dump the poo in the toilet and throw the diaper in the pail (which is what I do with it anyway). I do occasionally have to dunk a diaper in the toilet just to get all the poo off, but I've never left one in there.

And honestly--if dealing with poo is the only reason you're not considering it, I'd encourage you to look into it some more!! I think I've dealt with more gross poo situations when we use disposables than cloth.

daisydaisy23 · July 2013

We bought one-size diapers...30 of them...DS is using the same dipes he did as a newborn, and they fit just as well because they are adjustable. Haven't had to buy a single thing for his diapers other than detergent since we started using them 2 years ago!

hfitz · July 2013

I plan on cloth diapering. A lot of times poop and pee gets on clothing anyway so you're dealing with soiled clothes no matter what. I think it will work well with our lifestyle but I understand why a lot of people don't want to do it.

JackieN524 · July 2013

EmmaBoBemma:
I love cloth diapering, but to be honest, I don't think I will ever cloth a newborn. They go so often and I am just not up to that challenge. We bought huggies until my daughter wasn't pooping every time she farted.nbsp;Also, I would be more than happy to give any and all advice on cloth diapering. I just don't want to type it all out if it isn't going to be read. So if you, or anyone else has questions, PM me and I will answer all that I can. : nbsp;

I am on mobile so I'm not sure how to pm you but I am very interested in learning more. My one big question is what you do when your out and about? I know they make wet bags for the icky diapers but lugging around a newborn and all the accessories seems cumbersome enough. Also have you had any issues or funky residue in your washer from the poopy diapers? And last how often do you find yourself laundering them and with the extra detergent/water do you think it's still an Eco friendly/affordable option? Thanks so much for you help this subject out just so overwhelming!

HereWeGo2014 · July 2013

daisydaisy23:
We bought one-size diapers...30 of them...DS is using the same dipes he did as a newborn, and they fit just as well because they are adjustable. Haven't had to buy a single thing for his diapers other than detergent since we started using them 2 years ago!

This. I CD'd DD from about 4 wks until she potty trained and will be using them again for this LO, hooray for not having to buy more diapers!

As for daycares, I got 2 different daycares to switch from saying "no" to accepting them, and commenting at how far they'd come and how easy they are. I'm surprised to hear how many places still say "no".

Honestly, it SOUNDS so much worse than it actually is. DH was completely against it at first, wanted a washing machine just for the CD's and such, but realized its just not that big a deal. Plus, he loved not having to run to the store in the middle of the night because we ran out.

And, they are so much cuter than 'sposies!

BoothBaby · July 2013

We plan to CD. I don't know anyone locally that is doing it, so I've been doing lots of research online. There are a couple stores in our area that sell them, so DH and I are planning to make a trip to one or two soon to see the diapers in person.....reading about them online is getting a little overwhelming, so I'm hoping feeling them in real life will help us narrow things down!

mestills · July 2013

We did with DS and will with #2. We had all in ones and they didn't fit him well until around 1 month so we began at that point. When we first started out I was going to wait until his umbilical cord fell off and he was past the meconium stage. My experience was his many poop explosions were always better contained in cloth diapers versus disposable diapers. We used disposable when we traveled a couple of time, the first time being around 2 months. We had so many explosion that week versus with cloth diapers.

kittyh8r · July 2013

JackieN524:
EmmaBoBemma:
I love cloth diapering, but to be honest, I don't think I will ever cloth a newborn. They go so often and I am just not up to that challenge. We bought huggies until my daughter wasn't pooping every time she farted.nbsp;Also, I would be more than happy to give any and all advice on cloth diapering. I just don't want to type it all out if it isn't going to be read. So if you, or anyone else has questions, PM me and I will answer all that I can. : nbsp;
I am on mobile so I'm not sure how to pm you but I am very interested in learning more. My one big question is what you do when your out and about? I know they make wet bags for the icky diapers but lugging around a newborn and all the accessories seems cumbersome enough. Also have you had any issues or funky residue in your washer from the poopy diapers? And last how often do you find yourself laundering them and with the extra detergent/water do you think it's still an Eco friendly/affordable option? Thanks so much for you help this subject out just so overwhelming!

I bought the Weekender bag by Vera Bradley, it's a bit bigger for everything. I also bought a wet/dry bag for dirty diapers. It's also handy because I can keep a clean one and wipes in it and take just that into the bathroom if H is with me, that way I don't have to take my whole diaper bag in there and dig around in it.

I haven't had any bad smells in my washer, but I have dealt with the stink staying in my diapers because we have hard water. I just use vinegar and bleach when that happens.

I wash the diapers every 3 days. When we switched from sposies to cloth our electric bill went up 10 bucks a month and our water went up 3 bucks. So obviously better than buying disposables.

If you want to find out about all the different kinds of diapers out there, check out the youtube series called cloth diapering101 it's a 7 video series. very helpful!

Joy+BabyNumber3 · July 2013

Long time user over here! Fell in love with them with my first, reused half my stash with my second (yeah cloth!) then ended up sewing and selling my own cloth diapers and he wore those for a year (now he's potty trained). Cloth is fantastic, I can't say enough great things about it! I am excited to sew a new little stash for this baby!

TeamAwesomeBaby · July 2013

I'm planning on giving it a go, though I'm nervous how we're going to negotiate with our nanny/daycare about it since we both work. The cost savings are too good to ignore, honestly, and I feel like I'm going to be doing laundry all the time anyway.

One other idea that I'm sure is all over the CD board: they make diaper liners that are flushable, so if you get poo, you can wrap it up in the liner and flush the whole thing without doing as much scraping. I'm sure that, just like panty liners, they get bunched up and don't always eliminate the need for scraping/spraying, but I've heard that they help.

I'm looking into getting one of those sampler packs so I can start figuring out what works best with my little dude/ette while he/she is new, but I plan on using disposable until he/she fits into the non-newborn sizes.

Now...off to the CD board to figure out everything I don't know (which is, well, everything).

JackieN524 · July 2013

EmmaBoBemma:
JackieN524:
EmmaBoBemma:
I love cloth diapering, but to be honest, I don't think I will ever cloth a newborn. They go so often and I am just not up to that challenge. We bought huggies until my daughter wasn't pooping every time she farted.nbsp;Also, I would be more than happy to give any and all advice on cloth diapering. I just don't want to type it all out if it isn't going to be read. So if you, or anyone else has questions, PM me and I will answer all that I can. : nbsp;

I am on mobile so I'm not sure how to pm you but I am very interested in learning more. My one big question is what you do when your out and about? I know they make wet bags for the icky diapers but lugging around a newborn and all the accessories seems cumbersome enough. Also have you had any issues or funky residue in your washer from the poopy diapers? And last how often do you find yourself laundering them and with the extra detergent/water do you think it's still an Eco friendly/affordable option? Thanks so much for you help this subject out just so overwhelming!
 
I bought the Weekender bag by Vera Bradley, it's a bit bigger for everything. I also bought a wet/dry bag for dirty diapers. It's also handy because I can keep a clean one and wipes in it and take just that into the bathroom if H is with me, that way I don't have to take my whole diaper bag in there and dig around in it.
I haven't had any bad smells in my washer, but I have dealt with the stink staying in my diapers because we have hard water. I just use vinegar and bleach when that happens.
I wash the diapers every 3 days. When we switched from sposies to cloth our electric bill went up 10 bucks a month and our water went up 3 bucks. So obviously better than buying disposables.
If you want to find out about all the different kinds of diapers out there, check out the youtube series called cloth diapering101 it's a 7 video series. very helpful! 

Thank you so much for your help and taking the time to answer my questions I really appreciate it! I am going to look up those You Tube vidoes tonight and take lots of notes so I won't have to keep bothering you and the other bumpies about it! :

glowpoint · July 2013

I love them! And they are especially good for the newborn poop, since they tend to fit more snugly than disposables, which means fewer blowouts. Our only real big bad ugly blowouts were in disposables, actually. I was a little afraid of the transition to solid food poop, but even that wasn't bad at all. Cloth diapers are awesome!

sarah0632 · July 2013

hercules03:
sarah0632:
hercules03:
I'm pretty much a full on attached/natural parent. Nursing until baby weans, bed sharing, ergo carrying, baby/table led weaning, med free birthing, all of it I love but I've never been able to get on board with cloth diapers. Lol. I think it all seems overwhelming... I have a fav store "cotton babies" in STL and they have a huge selection but it seems really expensive and complicated. Maybe if I had done it with number one and reused the diapers? Got my money out of them? Who knows. Good luck though. I wish I could do it.

Cloth diapering is usually more cost effective. About 550 dollars one time fee for cloth, and the same for disposable per year.
But that's not necessarily that cut and dry. As a baby gets bigger, you buy bigger sizes. What if you've bought one brand and they get bigger and that brand isn't working anymore? Or you buy it all and move and the new daycare won't take CD's?  Just a big gamble.  
And like another PP said, the toilet poop scrapping is just, ummm, different. When my dd's potty trained, if they got poop in clothes or underwear, it went in the trash. I didn't want it in my washing machine. Eww. 

Well I think when ppl choose to CD they look at how it can benefit economically. Most CD fit from infant to toddler so no need to buy new sizes. And they are meant to last through the years.

I guess the nurse in me really isn't that put off by poop. Especially my own child's...

insertclevername · July 2013

If you are interested in CD'ing I recommend doing a lot of research in advance. The CD board here has a lot of great information as does the diaperswappers website. Also make sure that your partner is on board 100%. Lastly, I recommend doing a cloth diaper trial through a company such as Jillian's Closet to see which type of diapers will work best for you and baby.

I spent an obscene amount of money on a newborn and one size stash as well as a diaper sprayer and wet bags. DS hated cloth because he could feel the wetness as soon as he peed. DH also hated cloth. One afternoon I woke up from a nap and DH was spraying a poopy diaper into the toilet. He looked at me and said he was done with cloth diapers. I am glad that he was willing to give it a chance for a few months and when he said he was done I respected that. I still wish that cloth would have worked for us but it didn't.

katmb2013 · July 2013

I thought that this blog was really helpful and gave me the confidence to try them out. I'm a FTM and, as of right now, I plan to use CDs. I will start out slow and only wash a couple of the diapers that I buy ahead of time to make sure it works for our family, so we will be using both cloth and disposable for the first few weeks so I can see if the extra cost for disposables is worth it. Anyways, check out this blog, it might answer a lot of your questions - it did for me.

https://alphamom.com/parenting/baby/lazy-moms-guide-to-cloth-diapering/

Leannebahuaud · July 2013

I just bought 22 AMP small dipes and 38 hemp and bamboo inserts. I hear small fits little ones better than one size. I'm planning to register for the rest one size and larges. I've spent 500 on my dipes, pail, liners and sprayer which should pay for themselves in 34 months.

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