Cloth Diapering Pros and Cons? What are they?

acethebase · December 2013

So I'm sort of on the fence with CDing but I want to start. I know absolutely nothing about it so I would like to know the pros and cons, cost, absolute necessities. Basically what I need to know and what i would need if I wanted to start right away. So CD mamas why do you CD?

Skyjewell23 · December 2013

We JUST started.

Pros: cost effective, adorable butts, and good for the environment

Cons: time consuming is the main one.

I pay $8 a diaper and I just use a wet bag to hold them in before washing. You need detergent without fabric softener to wash them.

Necessities: 15-20 diapers (to wash every other day), Something to hold dirty diapers in (I have a friend who uses a small trash can), and detergent.

At least thats all I have needed so far.

acethebase · December 2013

@Skyjewell23 do you prefer a certain brand/type and do they have a start up package or something?

Lee81 · December 2013

Jilliansdrawers.com has a try cloth diapers for $10 deal. They send you a variety of different cloth options. You use them for three weeks. After that, you can return whatever you don't like for a full refund.

acethebase · December 2013

@Lee81 that's awesome, thank you

blondolphn · December 2013

Mixture is a good policy

Ajoyd · December 2013

Cons: I've touched more pee and poop then I'd ever care to while cleaning them.

Pros: not buying diapers. In the long run we'll save a ton of money, especially if we have more kids.

We use Flip and Bum Genius diapers but we have mostly Flips. We have maybe 10 covers and twice that many inserts. It's enough to wash them every other day. You wouldn't really need enough to last you longer than that because they start to get pretty stinky.

We have diaper pails and sprayers on both floors of our house plus washable liners. Also a wet bag for the diaper bag.

emmylou78 · December 2013

Pros: cost savings. Cute diapers. It makes changing less tasking and I don't cringe every time she poops in a diaper I just put on.

Cons: start up price. And don't fit in pants as well.

I use bumgenius and prefolds.

There is a CD board with great FAQs stickies at the top.

Lhand11 · December 2013

YouTube cloth 101. It's a seven part series and it's how I learned about cding.

The best part is never running out of diapers, saving money, and not having to run to the dump as often due to overflowing trash bins.

The worst part is troubleshooting. It seems like I had to go through a lot of troubleshooting before I found a routine that worked for us.

Necessities: approximately 15-20 diapers, 2 large wet/dry bags, diaper pail/trash can, 2 small wet bags for the diaper bag, cd safe diaper cream, cd safe detergent (I use original tide powder)

Nice to haves: cloth wipes, diaper sprayer, liners, bac-out

I use bumgenius 4.0s for DS and flips for DD. Ive tried a bunch of different diapers and kept coming back to BGs. I will never stray again.

Overnight, they are both in disposables. I killed myself trying to find an overnight solution for DS so I threw in the towel and use disposables

Lee81 · December 2013

acethebase said:

@Lee81 that's awesome, thank you

No problem! I posted before I had a chance to add that I'm a big fan of cloth diapers. The only cons I see are the extra laundry and all the space they take up in the diaper bag. Neither one is inconvenient enough for me to negate the cost savings, cuteness and environmental impact of cloth. Additional benefits of cloth that I can neither confirm nor deny are that supposedly, cloth diapered babies have less diaper rash and potty train earlier. I will say (while knocking on wood) that so far, we've not had any major diaper rash issues. I think I currently have about 30 or so pre-fold and flat diapers and six covers. I went the cheapest route for the newborn stage. I'm in the process of ordering the next size up and I'm going with pockets and all-in-ones since they're more convenient. The only other accessories I have are two Snappis and four Planet Wise wet/dry bags. I have two large bags that I use as a diaper pail (one in the wash, one in use) and two small that I use for travel.

Mama2be12345 · December 2013

Totally worth it!

Pros: never have to run out and buy diapers, save money, cute butts, decreased diaper rash because fewer chemicals, my babe seems to prefer cloth!

Cons: I have a tiny LO so the diaper is half her size, makes clothes fit weird and securing the car seat strap harder. Have to do laundry but I was really worried about that and it's truly NBD.

Start up: I got my start up set of diapers and small wet bags for the diaper bag for $175, that was for 25 diapers and inserts, they've worked great for us. Check out alvababy.com I've been super happy with them so far. I got 2 planet earth wet bags off amazon and a large trash can. I use Charlie's detergent which I also got off amazon. I can go 4 days without having to run a load and when I do I just dump the bag into the wash, then throw the bag in and wash in a regular cycle. She's bf and I haven't had to presoak diapers yet. I also use cloth wipes with a spray bottle instead of disposable wipes, makes it simpler because I just wash everything together then. Oh I do use a disposable diaper at night still because LO is STTN and I don't trust cloth for a 10 hour stretch.

Good luck, definitely worth a try!

EmJ&B · December 2013

I really really wanted to CD but disposables are required for daycare ... sad face.

Gwyneddlesliegrace · December 2013

I have a few posts under cloth diapering in my blog, link is in siggy.

Pros- your kid is not sitting in chemicals, no risk of said chemicals harming your child. They are so much better for the environment, and are much cheaper. Plus, they are pretty freaking cute. Cons-you have to wash them, to me it is really nbd. Also, people will think you are a dirty hippy.

I use mainly covers and/or flats/prefolds. I also use flip inserts and have some pockets. I have about 15 covers and a ton of choices for the inside. I also have about 100 or so cloth wipes. Flats are probably the cheapest route, you just have to learn how to fold them.

pandaglitter · December 2013

I love cloth diapering. I love that she's not exposed to chemicals in diapers (I've heard about kids getting burned from them), I never go buy diapers, and they're cheap! You can sew covers if you're so inclined (my mom made mine as a present). She made eight covers and I have 30 prefolds. She also made two pail liners with PVC that I wash and I have one wet bag.

Cons are that you often touch pee. And they're bulkier than disposables, but that means cuter when they're on

overall not as convenient in some ways like space...but money and time are worth it. It takes like an hour and a half to get 20 diapers clean...but less than five minutes of my effort including putting them away.

huntjul · December 2013

DH and I both are glad we chose to CD our LO. I like the cute diapers--I mean, whoever said "wow, that's a really cute disposable? Where can I buy one?"--and I like that I'm not eating through environmentally unconscious and relatively more expensive disposable diapers. We also have never had a rash and extremely rarely have any leaks, though I won't say it never happens. I like not having a diaper pail in the room or having to find a garbage pail when we're out.

Cons- start up cost, depending on what you choose. PFs and covers are really cheap, pockets and all in ones that go on like a disposable can get expensive (but not all are). I had no interest in learning origami, so I chose pockets (inserts slide into a pocket in the cover, the whole thing must be changed when wet or dirty) and all-in-twos (inserts snap into the cover, only the insert must be changed unless the cover gets dirty). I spent about $150 on our newborn stash, which you probably wouldn't need because your LO is now big enough for one sized diapers. I spent another $100ish on accessories incl 4 wet bags, 2 big for the changing table and 2 small for the diaper bag, CD safe diaper cream, diaper sprayer for once we start solids, and detergent (we use Tide original powder). My one size diaper stash was about $200-250. I bought more expensive types than I could have, but I bought many of them lightly used on the Cloth Diaper Swap on Facebook. This is enough diapers that I can wash a load every 3 days and should last until LO potty trains. I could use them on another kid or sell them when we're done and probably get over half what I have in them.

Another con is teaching caregivers to use them. It just takes a little bit of effort, but it is something. Also if LO goes to daycare, you have to make sure they're on board with them.

Honestly I don't find LO's clothes fit much differently except that she went straight into 0-3 pants instead of NB. I also don't find that I'm constantly handling urine or feces. I don't know what others are doing differently... But I rarely have that problem. I use cloth wipes (baby wash cloths) also, and I use the wipe to pull out dirty inserts and then dump the diaper in the wet bag, so my hand never touches anything gross. When laundry day comes, I dump the wet bag in the washer and again never touch them.

huntjul · December 2013

I should mention, CDing isn't necessarily all or nothing either. You can do the diaper trial or buy a few and give them a go. Just be aware that if you don't love the first ones you get, it doesn't mean all of them will fit and work the same. It's ok to dabble around and find what you like best.

slh6363 · December 2013

Totally worth it! We spent about $600 start up cost but after the first week of using disposables ( bc LO didn't fit in cloth yet) we quickly realized how worth it it really is! The washing doesn't really bother me, it's easier than I expected. Some people think Im nuts and don't understand, my family is constantly saying he must be uncomfortable since they are bulkier than disposables lol...but we are very happy with our choice! We went with pockets and love Kawaii PN right now. We also love Blueberry and Bumgenius, they fit really well. Fuzzibunz do not work for us bc the leg gaps are large, but it all depends on your baby. Def YouTube cloth diaper 101 and Obbs and Layla.

kimbo1216 · December 2013

For us the biggest pro is saving money once you build a descent enough stash. My friend says her water bill went up too much. But I personally haven't noticed a big difference at all. I do wash twice a week (light wash, no detergent/super heavy wash with/light wash without again--all on super load size).

The biggest con: washing and stuffing them. But it's on the same level as regular laundry for me.

acethebase · December 2013

Thank you ladies for all your advice and responses. After we run out of the diapers we do have, we are going to invest into cloth diapering. Thank you so much, I'm so excited about it..... I'm such a dork. Lol

asilwhite · December 2013

A lot of people have mentioned these already but since I'm obsessed with CDing here are my pros/cons

Pros: no chemicals on my son, no diaper rash, better for the environment, cost savings, adorable prints and gives my son a butt!

Cons: laundry (although CD laundry is my fave, it's soothing to me), pants don't fit as well, take up more room in the diaper bag, touch pee more (I don't mind), harder to get others to catch on.

I have a bunch of different types: pockets, AIOs, AI2s, prefolds and covers. My fave dipes are the BG 4.0s. We have about 36 dipes for him now and I wash every other day although I probably could do every 3 days. Accessories we got too are wet bags, pail liners, cloth wipes, wool dryer balls, CD safe detergent, hemp and bamboo doublers (for nighttime), diaper sprayers (when he starts solids). Start up cost was about $200 for NB diapers and probably $3-400 for one size. If you go the prefolds cover route you can do it a lot cheaper.

Lee81 · December 2013

huntjul said:

I also don't find that I'm constantly handling urine or feces. I don't know what others are doing differently... But I rarely have that problem.

@huntjul You probably don't have the handling urine problem because you use pockets and AI2's. I bought prefolds and flats for the NB stage. If I'm taking a soaked prefold/flat off my baby and putting it in the wet bag, I've got my hand on a cloth full of pee. No big deal, but not something I'll have to worry about as much when all the pockets, AI1's, and AI2's I'm ordering come in

The extra poop I get on my hands isn't from diaper changes, it's from rinsing the diapers before throwing them in the wash. We're combination feeding so the poo diapers get rinsed before washing since I'm not so sure formula poo is water soluble.

blondolphn · December 2013

@lee81 until you start solids all poo is water soluable

Lee81 · December 2013

blondolphn said:

@lee81 until you start solids all poo is water soluable

@blondolphn It seems like it should be, and I'm sure you're right, but when I rinse the diapers off in the sink, it doesn't seem like it's all that water soluble. This is gross but when I'm rinsing the diapers that are formula poos, the poo comes off in a sheet. It breaks up into smaller clumps on the way to the drain, but there are always still some clumps that are big enough that I have to force them down the drain. I kind of worry that if I toss them in the washer, I'm going to pull them out to find stray clumps of poo.

tbug082810 · December 2013

I love Best Bottom diapers--only need about 8-10 shells and insets in the appropriate size. They are very cost effective. Check out Nickis diapers website for lots of advice and info. The whole best bottom system from birth to potty training is approx $450 which is a great value. And they are made n the USA!

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