CDing vs Disposables with Twins

shanaynerz · February 2014

With DD we just use Pampers (never liked Huggies), but with twins coming I'm seriously considering CD. Do many of you MoMs use CD? Is there any advice you can give a newbie? DH sounded kinda on board, but he definitely wasn't when I mentioned it with DD, so hopefully I can get him on board! Also, we FF DD, and if we end up FF the twins or doing a mix, would CDing be grosser? I've heard with EBF it's not bad, but I know FF poops are a bit yuckier, so I don't know if this affects people's decision to CD or what type to use. I'll check out the CD board I guess, too, but thought I'd ask you guys for your advice first!

PurpleIris30 · February 2014

We cloth diaper, and it's saved us a ton of money so far. We did use preemie sized disposables until they could fit into their newborn cloth (prefolds and covers), and I also really like that we aren't producing so much garbage now. It's an extra load of laundry every other day, which is no big deal. We also haven't had a single blowout since we started using cloth. All in all, I'm a big fan and happy to answer specific questions if you decide it's something you want to do.

LittleLady77 · February 2014

We plan on CDing. I have everything I need from newborn through toddler years. I have no experience yet but I have come across tons of MoMs who CD in my research. As far as the BF vs FF thing, FF babies do produce poop that smells worse and is harder to clean. About half the ladies say they treat it just like BF poop and throw it in the wash like normal and the other half treat it like the baby had started solids and rinse, dunk or spray the diaper off before hand. If I have to FF I'm going to try it the simple way first and see how it goes.

shanaynerz · February 2014

Also wanted to say, my friends are all saying that I should use a diaper service, especially with a (will be) 20 month old and newborn twins. They think I'll be too overwhelmed and will have no time to really clean them. We plan on hiring a live-in nanny though, so maybe that would help?

katiebenes · February 2014

Do many of you MoMs use CD?

We do!

Is there any advice you can give a newbie?
Its only as hard as you make it. no fabric softeners is the main rule.

Also, we FF DD, and if we end up FF the twins or doing a mix, would CDing be grosser?

We are EFF here. We use liners (Alva bamboo, but you can use Viva paper towels)

I never BF, but I was told formula poop smells more. but, you'd be dealing with the smell anyways with sposies so I don't see the big deal there.

katiebenes · February 2014

AND I have no live in nanny. I also work full time. its not that much extra work in my eyes to have an extra load of laundry every two or three days.

SV917 · February 2014

We cloth diaper. We use a service so the only laundry related to diapers I have to do is the prefold covers. It doesn't save us a lot of money to do the service, but it's super easy. I'm slowly building up a stash to do it on our own, but I didn't want to have to buy a huge newborn stash and then a one size stash. That was my main motivation in using the service. We have a part-time nanny (who is on board with cloth and plans to use it for her own future children). She does the twins' laundry so the diapers would fall under that job responsibility.

bumpuser924057 · February 2014

I would love to get back into cloth diapers (I have SO many from DS1 just sitting around), but I'm up to my eyeballs in laundry as it is and diapers for three would send me over the edge.

PurpleIris30 · February 2014

shanaynerz said:
Also wanted to say, my friends are all saying that I should use a diaper service, especially with a (will be) 20 month old and newborn twins. They think I'll be too overwhelmed and will have no time to really clean them. We plan on hiring a live-in nanny though, so maybe that would help?

Well, doing one load of laundry every other day has been no big deal. It's not even noticeably extra work for me. Especially in the newborn stage, if you are doing prefolds, you have nothing to stuff or do that is time consuming. Just throw them in the wash, do a prerinse, then a heavy cycle wash. I'm sure if you have a nanny, that's something she could help with.

Some people like diaper services, but you lose the cost savings benefit as most services end up being similar to doing disposables. If you are calling for prices, I bought our entire newborn stash for $175. I've just recently purchased the next size up in prefolds for another $75, since we really like this system (had originally thought might convert into one size diapers at about 10 lbs). So from 6-15 lbs, which will last another couple of months, I've spent $250. If you had bigger babies, you might not even need to buy the smaller prefolds that I started with. We have not had an increase in our water bill.

I'm glad I didn't buy everything at once before they were born because this has given me the opportunity to try out styles first to see what I like.

DoublePortion · February 2014

@PurpleIris30 Did you buy your diapers from a website? Would you mind sharing, if so? The local stores in my area seem to be pricy and there are so many websites to choose from I feel at a loss!

kgs0505 · February 2014

I loved CDing my singleton. I would still be doing it if I could have gotten a wash routine that removed all the ammonia from his diapers and didn't leave him with a horrible rash (took a long time to get to this point). My issue was not enough water in my HE machine. If I could have overcome that without washing and rewashing so much, I'd be doing it with the twins too. If you have a traditional washing machine, or less hard water than I do (it might as well be solid it's so hard), or have a way of using more water in your HE machine (newer ones can do this I think), I'd go for it. My son was FF too, and I didn't see much of an issue with the poop. I don't think there is any great poop when you are swishing around in your toilet to remove as much as possible.

FWIW - NEVER had a blowout in a cloth diaper. Only in disposables. I was really missing CDs when both girls were having multiple bouts of diarrhea which it exploding up their backs.

PurpleIris30 · February 2014

DoublePortion said:

@PurpleIris30 Did you buy your diapers from a website? Would you mind sharing, if so? The local stores in my area seem to be pricy and there are so many websites to choose from I feel at a loss!

Hi @DoublePortionI actually just ordered from Amazon, since it was convenient while we were in the NICU. We don't really have a lot of options for local store cloth diaper purchases, unfortunately.

Here is what I ordered for our newborn stash (because most one size cloth diapers don't fit until babies get to be about 10 lbs or so):

8 total covers - Thirsties duo wrap size one

https://www.amazon.com/Thirsties-Wrap-Snap-Meadow-Size/dp/B003AJXY1U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391805837&sr=8-1&keywords=thirsties+duo+wrap+size+1

I had intended to order more of a different brand to try others out, but these worked great and I've never needed more than 8 total, although the cloth diaper board usually recommends 5-6 per baby. The cloth diaper board also really likes to buy diapers.

4 dozen of the osocozy newborn 4x6x4 size prefolds:

https://www.amazon.com/OsoCozy-Indian-Prefold-Diapers-Newborn/dp/B005Z3GPCY/ref=sr_1_3?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1391807161&sr=1-3&keywords=osocozy+prefold+newborn

I've recently purchased 3 dozen of the infant 4x8x4 size.

I use a "jelly roll fold" and use a snappi.

4 dozen was sometimes cutting it close for every other day washing, and 5 dozen might have been a bit more comfortable, but you can always order more.

A lot of people recommend Green Mountain Diaper's (GMD) prefolds, but reviews seem to say there isn't any difference in quality between those and osocozy, and the osocozy are cheaper so I went with those.

https://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/cloth-eez-prefold-diapers.html

The cloth diapering board FAQ has lots of good information about the types of diapers (all in one, pocket, all in two, etc.) There are some newborn size pockets and other types of cloth diapers that are made for newborns until they fit into the more well known one size diapers. I just decided for the newborn stage, we would do prefolds with covers because it was really affordable, and then I would experiment more with pockets or other types of one size diapers once they could fit into those and wear them for longer. My method is very bare bones -- with the intention that I could supplement once they were here, but I just found that I didn't more. I hadn't intended to continue with prefolds, but I'm really liking them -- they are easy to wash and clean and do a good job.

I've recently ordered a couple of Best Bottom diapers with the inserts -- these are all in two diapers, meaning I can use them as a cover with my prefolds, or I can snap in the inserts:

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Bottom-Cloth-Diapers-Giraffe/dp/B005BEKUIW/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1391806296&sr=1-1&keywords=best+bottom+diapers

You'll also want some wetbags, and a package of snappis, which I didn't include in my total above.

DoublePortion · February 2014

Thank you so much for sharing @PurpleIris30!! I always forget about Amazon. I'll have to start an Amazon registry so I can keep track of what I need.

shanaynerz · February 2014

Thank you so much ladies for all of your advice! It's all just so overwhelming and I didn't wanna buy a bunch, then hate them and be screwed. Was wondering if I should just try some on my DD and see how I like it.

LittleLady77 · February 2014

It helped me to watch the YouTube series "cloth diaper 101" and join a few chat groups. It seems like getting a wash routine that works for you is the key part. If you can do that then you're golden.

ballygirl · February 2014

I just started CDing and like it a lot. I find I do baby laundry every other day anyways so putting load of CDs in first is nbd. We ff and washing hasn't been an issue. I use the flushable liners which catch most of the solids and the rest wash out easily. I tried several different brands of CD- they all fit differently. I've gotten a lot of used ones too on CL and ebay. If you have a specialty store around you I recommend going in and looking and asking questions. Our store even had a workshop that we went to which was really helpful. It was an hour away but worth it.

Nikkdam · February 2014

Definitely the way to go especially with twins. Cost saving and environmentally friendly! Plus it's easier to stick them in the wash rather than running to the store every time you run out! Not to mention they look good too!

CaliCarly77 · February 2014

We tried cloth diapers with a service and I quit - it was too much work and the build up of smell was overwhelming in our 2 bedroom condo. Back to pampers for us. I have a lot of guilt about it but I am also not a martyr. I didn't realize how poopy the covers would get and how miserable the girls would be in their soaking wet diapers.

SV917 · February 2014

CaliCarly77 said:

We tried cloth diapers with a service and I quit - it was too much work and the build up of smell was overwhelming in our 2 bedroom condo. Back to pampers for us. I have a lot of guilt about it but I am also not a martyr. I didn't realize how poopy the covers would get and how miserable the girls would be in their soaking wet diapers.

@CaliCarly77 I almost gave up because of how wet they got and the horrible leaks (everything seemed to get wet, not just he babies), but once they were around 2 1/2 months and got out of newborn size prefolds, it has been great. There have been no leaks. Sometimes a cover gets a little poopy, but it stays in the cover as opposed to a poop explosion in a disposable. You should give it another try when your girls are older.

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