Anyone thinking on cloth diapers?

Lunatinuviel · March 2014

I stop today at a local shop that sells tons a different cloth diapers, all in one, pocket, folding inserts etc. I would like to try them, I'm not super Eco friendly person but I was one of those kids that used cloth diapers as a baby, (I'm not that old). But my DH who went with me made a very good question, what would you do when you are out and about, in a friends house, what you do with the diaper? I don't see a problem when you are at home, but anyone considering this diapers? What do you think about it?

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shevaCC · March 2014

We CDed DD until potty training about 6 months ago. We would bring clean diapers with us when we went out and also a "wet bag." It's a zipper pouch you can put the dirty diapers in to deal with when you get back home. Other people buy disposables for when they're out but personally I loved never having to awkwardly ask people we were visiting where to dispose of a smelly diaper.

PecanSam · March 2014

We've been using cloth diapers for a little over two years.

When you are out and about:

You have wet bags to put the dirty diapers in. We use gdiapers, so there is a cover, plastic liner, and cloth diaper. If she just pees, I put the wet diaper in the wet bag and a clean diaper in the same liner and cover. If she poops, I flush the poop, put the dirty diaper in the wet bag, put the liner in a different wet bag. Snap in a new liner in the same cover, put clean cloth, in that new liner. I carry a plastic grocery bag to put the dirty wipes in and throw it out in outside trash, unless in public restroom then just throw it out.

It's super easy. You can find a diaper company that lets you do a trial, so you can figure out which type of diaper you like best. Look up Kelly's Closet website, you'll see what I mean.

We have used gdiapers from the beginning. I've tried a couple AIO, and don't like them at all.

I use Planet Wise wet bags and diaper pail liners. Rockin Green detergent. Visit gdiapers website just to read all their resources even if you don't want to use their diapers.

Robinischo · March 2014

I plan on giving CDing a solid shot.

I haven't picked any diapers yet, but I've already bought a couple of wet bags!

(edited b/c I left out a letter)

ladybuginl0ve · March 2014

I was just looking at them the other day. I'm definelty interested, but need to do a lot of research still.

Jennyfahh · March 2014

I cloth diapered for the first year. It was a huge money saver and honestly it's really not so different from using disposables except instead of throwing the diaper in the trash bag you throw it in a wet bag. That's all you would do if you're out- just keep a wet back and a fresh diaper in the diaper bag ready for whatever.

tamarar5 · March 2014

I also use gDiapers, but only during the day. I use Bum genius pockets overnight because my son is a super heavy wetter.

We use wet bags to transport the dirty diapers (I actually stuff my clean ones in so it's all in one package, them I pull out the clean and fill with the dirty). I also only use a hanging bag to hold the dirty diapers until wash time. We will be going cloth again, even with 2u2.

happylady07 · March 2014

We just use wet bags when out and about, and a trash can with a pail liner at home. I'm a fan of planet wise, we have been using cloth for almost 2.5 years and they have held up well.

I take cloth with me on trips as well as long as we will have easy access to a washer and dryer (not a laundromat, so not convenient!) we have used cloth flying as well, fairly simple.

HeatherHam10 · March 2014

We plan to CD and have started our stash. A good friend has a 4 month old and uses CD wherever she goes and also just brings her wet bag. Doesnt seem bad at all. We are using pockets.

Unknown · March 2014

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missmiss307 · March 2014

We CDed for a while with DS. When DH and I were both working and DS was in day care, it was pretty difficult to do, and day care was not very helpful with it (would not flush dirty diapers, so I ended up with a giant mess at the end of the day). DH stayed home with DS for about five months at the beginning of 2013, and it was incredibly easy to CD then. We likely will not try it again because we are both working full-time now. If one of us was staying home, we definitely would do it.

All that to say, just keep in mind what your limitations may be. If you are staying home, I absolutely recommend it. We used BumGenius 4.0s and loved them.

ungraceful13 · March 2014

We CD and love it. We both work full time and our DD is in daycare. When calling places to set up interviews we just asked if they would take CD's and most said yes. At home we store dirty diapers in a garbage can with a pail liner in it. At DC we take a large wet bag and they put the diapers in that and I take it home everyday and empty it into the garbage can. When we go out and about with DD I take a small-medium wet bag and put it in the diaper bag. To help with the poop situation at DC we use biodegradable liners so that way I just take the liner and the poop out of the diaper and throw it into the toilet. However since DD was a bf baby before she started solids I would just wash her diapers in the washer as is bc it was water taken care of. I don't find it too hard to do laundry. I have enough diapers that I only have to do laundry 2x a week. I'll do one load on the weekend and on the weekday I'll start a load of diapers after I pick DD up from daycare. If you have any questions let me know.

Adam-n-Emily · March 2014

We cloth diapered DS for a little over 2 years til potty trained. I even worked full time with daycare with them and they worked fabulously! We used a variation of different types of BumGenius Diapers (4.0 pockets, elementals, and free times). We only used the 4.0 pockets for daycare. We also used Kawaii goodnight heavy wetters stuffed with a prefold and bamboo for overnight. We loved planet wise pail liners with trash an for home and blueberry brand wet bags.

We will cloth diaper this next baby too!!

missmiss307 · March 2014

I will add to my previous comment: I live in an area of the country where CDing isn't really popular, and the day care where DS was is the only one in town that would even do CD. And they still weren't happy about it, with mutterings about how "unsanitary" it was. It was only unsanitary because they refused to dump the poop in the toilet! So it sounds like other folks had a better experience with it than we did.

Valancyy · March 2014

Pretty much what everyone else said. One thing to add (didn't see this mentioned, but I may have missed it), definitely use cloth wipes as well. Wipes are so expensive, and cloth ones clean so much better. We just have a little plastic covered container with water in it (and sometimes a little witch hazel and/or "lotion potion"). We dip the cloth and ring it out, then use it. We have a little wet bag to bring the cloth wipes with us (already wet).

When we're out and about we either bring the cloth and wet bags, or we just use disposables. If we go to a restaurant or the mall, we usually bring disposables. At our parent's houses we may bring cloth.

mcculloughe · March 2014

I plan on CD. Friends that have cloth diapered have told me they did use disposables for the first couple of weeks, because baby was still too small even for the newborn cloth diapers. It never hurts to have some disposables on hand just in case, but all in all, it is pretty easy. My friend said she flushes the poop and does a load of cloth diapers every other day in the laundry. She started off with about 30 cloth diapers.
My other friend saved a ton of money buying gender neutral dipes and has been able to reuse all she had for her second baby.

tamarar5 · March 2014

If you are going to CD, it can be a problem if daycare. Most daycares won't clean of the mess for sanitary reasons (or at least that's what I was told). But you can find daycares willing to CD. It's just a question that you need to ask when interviewing daycares. I was a ft working, single parent until dd was five. I had the most luck cloth diapering with home daycares.

tamarar5 · March 2014

funnibunni80 said:
I'm planning to CD. I used disposables on all three kids because I was afraid of pins (and vinyl pants, yuck!) which are no longer necessary!

DH pointed out that disposables would be so much easier on the go, but I don't see it. I mean, you out and about, you change the baby, just like normal the only difference is tossing it in the trash or butting it in a wetbag. I think if I was going in a trip, like camping or something. That would be a different story. I think I'd use Huggies then.

Question: I was thinking of keeping moistened cloth wipes (just water?) in a standard disposable wipes travel case in my diaper bag. Good idea or bad idea? Or is it a better idea to have dry wipes and then a spray bottle with a solution in it?

I use regular cloth baby wash cloths. We have two styles. The kind with the nice hem you buy at BRU we use as body and bath cloths. The super cheep ones you can get at Walmart with just a surged edge we use for diapers (so no chance of cross contamination, lol). We moisten with water, but I also have a wipe solution that is tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract, and soap. I was having rash issues so I got the soap. But really a touch of hand soap is usually enough.

Another note to mention is make sure you use cloth diaper safe rash creams if you need it. I love the list pinstripes and polka dots has. Http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/diaperrashcreams.htm (sorry if it's not clicky, I'm on mobile).

Valancyy · March 2014

funnibunni80 said:

Question: I was thinking of keeping moistened cloth wipes (just water?) in a standard disposable wipes travel case in my diaper bag. Good idea or bad idea? Or is it a better idea to have dry wipes and then a spray bottle with a solution in it?

I would say it will depend on how often you use up the wipes. If it's just plain water the wipes can get moldy pretty fast. I think you have to use distilled to avoid this? I could be wrong. If you change them out every few days that should be fine. Otherwise, I would use the spray bottle.

shevaCC · March 2014

Valancyy said:

funnibunni80 said:

Question: I was thinking of keeping moistened cloth wipes (just water?) in a standard disposable wipes travel case in my diaper bag. Good idea or bad idea? Or is it a better idea to have dry wipes and then a spray bottle with a solution in it?

I would say it will depend on how often you use up the wipes. If it's just plain water the wipes can get moldy pretty fast. I think you have to use distilled to avoid this? I could be wrong. If you change them out every few days that should be fine. Otherwise, I would use the spray bottle.

exactly this...we stuck to the spray bottle since I didn't like dealing with mildewed wipes if I (or DH) left them for too long.

SLMckinnon · March 2014

We are planning to cloth diaper as well. As everyone else has mentioned we will use a wet bag when out. The only difference being if we go on vacation and there is not easy access to a washing machine. Then I guess we will use disposables? Haven't really thought that far ahead yet

NSAbby · March 2014

trawas01 said:

TamaraR4 said:

If you are going to CD, it can be a problem if daycare. Most daycares won't clean of the mess for sanitary reasons (or at least that's what I was told). But you can find daycares willing to CD. It's just a question that you need to ask when interviewing daycares. I was a ft working, single parent until dd was five. I had the most luck cloth diapering with home daycares.

I was going to mention this. Most home providers we talked to haven't had an issue as long as it was an AIO or pre stuffed pocket.

This. I know most of the affordable day cares in our area have an issue with cloth diapers.

We already have our daycare lined up (an in-home), and she is all for CDing!

She is the reason my niece was CDed.

enigmasara · March 2014

This may be a stupid question, but what do you do with the poopy diapers before they are solid enough to flush? I have thought about doing CD but we don't have a laundry sink to rinse them out in prior to throwing in the washing machine.

happylady07 · March 2014

enigmasara said:
This may be a stupid question, but what do you do with the poopy diapers before they are solid enough to flush? I have thought about doing CD but we don't have a laundry sink to rinse them out in prior to throwing in the washing machine.

If baby is exclusively breastfed, the entire thing can just go in the diaper pail, no need to rinse because breastfed poop is water soluble and will rinse out in the wash (yes really, it will!). I was bummed when we has to start feeding solids because we actually had to deal with poop then, hahaha!

Once they are on solids, or if you are formula feeding, if poop isn't "ploppable" you can either use a diaper sprayer connected to your toilet, or I have always just used the dunk and swish method. Yes, it can be unpleasant, but guess what? I'm pretty sure all poop is supposed to be flushed regardless if you are using cloth or disposables, because if it goes into the garbage, well yuck! Even when I use disposables I plop the poop in the toilet and flush it. Yes, I realize no one does that, but I think it's better than sitting in a landfill.

tamarar5 · March 2014

enigmasara said:
This may be a stupid question, but what do you do with the poopy diapers before they are solid enough to flush? I have thought about doing CD but we don't have a laundry sink to rinse them out in prior to throwing in the washing machine.

@happylady07‌ Is right. But I got the sprayer that connects to the toilet water supply and still sprayed my bf poo diapers. Now I spray/rinse all diapers because it helps cut back the odor, lol! I spray the poo really good, and give the pee ones a quick squirt.

I did the dunk and swish method with DD's diapers, but I like the sprayer better. More than once I accidentally flushed a diaper doing the dunk method and clogged the toilet, lol! Got to hang on tight.

PecanSam · March 2014

With the gdiapers at night, we just double up, putting two diapers back to back. Works great.

For people mentioning vacation. We still use cloth. I take some disposable inserts along with me, just in case I run out if cloth and can't wash.

And we have never had a blow out. When our baby was a few days old, we were using both, disposables and cloth. The blow outs in the disposables is what made us switch full time to the cloth.

Gdiapers make a newborn size that will fit a tiny baby and is specially designed to not hit the cord.

tamarar5 · March 2014

We had our first blowout ever last night. He was in a disposable from grandma.

I CD on vacation too, but like I mentioned before, we use gDiapers, and they are a hybrid diaper that you can use either cloth or biodegradable inserts with. But then again, we never get to go on "cool" vacations, either.

. If we went to Europe or on a cruise, I might change my mind.

Valancyy · March 2014

On vacation we use disposables. If there was ever a time to use them, that is it. We also use disposable bibs on vacation or when we go out to eat. Just so much easier.

Lunatinuviel · March 2014

Quick question. After you use the water sprayer where did you put the CD? Back on your wet bag at home or straight to the washer to do laundry?

tamarar5 · March 2014

@Lunatinuviel‌ I have a hanging laundry bag right beside the toilet. It's lined with PUL, so waterproof. I put the sprayed wet ones right in the bag

.

I have two bags, one to hold and one in the wash, so I rotate. One is the Large (xl maybe? Can't remember, whatever is their big size) hanging Planet Wise bag, and I also have the gDiapers laundry bag.

I prefer the PW bag in use, but the G bag while eating, lol. The PW bag is a little longer and narrower, plus it had AWESOME sturdy straps. But it is double thick because it had a pretty outside and a heavy duty pul Inside. It takes a while to dry. My G bag is really light weight, so it dries quickly, but it doesn't have handles, so it took me a while to figure out how to keep it on the hook.

Adam-n-Emily · March 2014

We used the BumGenius cloth wipes. We started with another brand but the serging on the edges did not hold up. We would fold the wipes a certain way (SUPER EASY) so they come of out a wipe warmer like normal wipes. I bought "Ruby Moon Wipe Bits" and disolved on "bit" in water and pour over the wipes in the warmer. I also would use my travel wipe case WITH wet wipes when out and about. Worked great!

missmiss307 · March 2014

Another good resource for cloth diapering is the blog Dirty Diaper Laundry. She has reviewed just about every cloth diaper out there.

shevaCC · March 2014

mrswoods0913 said:
Quick question for those of you that work and therefore your babies go to a daycare...how many diapers did you need to have for a newborn? I mean you can't send them all to daycare as you would need some at home in case you unexpectedly had to stay home for some reason so you must have to have more than say a SAHM would?

Also, do you have to do laundry every night in order to have fresh ones to bring to daycare?

I brought a tote bag back and forth to daycare every day. I had to send breastmilk daily anyway in a small cooler bag and I needed to bring home the dirty diapers each day so it wasn't hard to keep track. I put diapers in the tote each evening/morning while getting ready. I usually sent 6 to daycare plus a small wetbag for the dirties. I needed more wetbags (4) but probably not more diapers than a SAHM, I'd imagine. I had 20 total and washed every 3-4 days.

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