Cloth Diapering

kaitlyn592 · September 2015

I do not believe there is a thread devoted just to this subject...so I'm curious. All of you moms out there that have tried cloth diapering...what do you think? Is it worth the hassle for the savings? What are some of those scary stories you hear that just aren't true? Do you have any tips, tricks, or tried and true brands? What are other people's opinions, fears, concerns on this subject if they haven't tried cloth diapering?

I'm truly considering this route because of the savings. I'm financially stable but also want to save money where I can. I want my final decision to be educated so I'd love to hear from experienced moms!!

fantasticmrsfox · September 2015

There is an entire CD forum that could give you a lot more info.

We did cloth for DS for the first year and will with new baby as long as possible. We stopped with DS because as he began eating mostly solids his diapers were disgusting and I am not a huge fan of the dunk and swish method.
We did use disposable for newborn stage as to not add more stress to an already hectic time.
We also got all ours given to us so if you're a first time mom put them on your registry!
Also do a lot of research as far as brands and detergent. We made our own detergent which saved a lot.

pinottoparenthood · September 2015

We use cloth diapers with my son. It does save some money, but it's also WAY better for the environment... and his little tushy. I would say try a few different kinds. I love pockets, some people like the ease of AIOs (all-in-ones), prefolds with covers are very economical.... etc. FWIW I just shake the poop into the toilet and I don't dunk or swish or anything like that, and we haven't had any problems. I think the hardest part is finding the perfect wash cycle to avoid ammonia residue, etc. and be sure they get clean and aren't stinky! Overall I feel like it's the responsible thing to do for the environment that our children will be growing up in someday. WE still have to use disposables at preschool and we use them when we travel, but we use all cloth at home.

brie_and_almonds · September 2015

We part-time cloth diapered for a while with prefolds and covers. I was very happy with the prefolds I had (diaper rite), but I didn't put them through as much as a full-time cloth person. I tried several different one size covers and they fit my kiddo well, but she was older when we started. It wasn't too much of a hassle, but if I decide to do it again I will get a diaper sprayer. I think it would be pretty darn easy before they are on solids since breastmilk poo is supposed to be easy to clean, but I didn't start our cloth diaper adventure until after my LO was a year old.

mrstrax · September 2015

My daycare kiddo uses cloth. I do in home for just him, so it's not too big a deal to add the couple extra steps with cloth. However, if you plan to send your LO to a larger daycare, many will not cloth and require disposable while there.
His family uses flushable liners (like heavy duty Kleenex) now that he's eating solids, so no dunk and swish for me, just flip it over the toilet and then they have a special spray for any skid marks.
I obviously don't deal with the laundry, which is my main reason for not doing cloth with my daughter - the extra loads just aren't worth it to me. That said, they're super cute and I haven't had any more leaks/explosions with his cloth than my daughters disposable (one explosion and a few leaks each) so they can both be really good options.
As for brands, for his first 6 months they used Grovia but he's ginormous (25+ pounds at 12 mo) and the thighs just rubbed too much for his (super sensitive) skin. They have since re-stocked with mostly Chelory with a few Ragababys.

PeggyOlsonFTW · September 2015

We started cloth with DS when he was 6 months and we plan to with this LO as soon as the umbilical cord is healed. I love cloth. I don't think the laundry is hard at all anymore, but I did for the first 6-7 months. I found www.fluffloveuniveristy.com and followed their washing advice and have had the easiest time with diaper laundry since then. I highly recommend checking them out. There's also a Facebook group.

I second what others have said about starting with a small stash of a few different types and brands of diapers. Figure out what you like and build your stash with those. You can also look into a cloth diaper trial with a local CD store if you have one, or an online shope.

momofmanyinthemitten · September 2015

I just threw our CD load in the wash! I used pockets and overnight fitteds with DD1, sposies with DS (he has crazy horrible rashes and needs diaper cream all the time), and prefolds with covers for DD2. I love it. We're saving money and they provide way better coverage than sposies, especially in the nb stage.

jenniferamcooper · September 2015

We've CDed since our LO was 3 weeks (he's 19 months) and we will with #2. I echo a lot of the same advice - start with a smaller stash (18-24 is enough) and try not to get into the CD hysteria (some people pay $50+ for limited edition USED diapers), get a GREAT wash routine. Don't listen to diaper companies who say you need to use "cloth friendly" detergent. It's an upsell, and any mainstream detergent (that does not contain enzymes, optical brighteners and softeners) will work great. Don't be afraid to use detergent too, you're cleaning poop

I highly suggest taking a "cloth 101" workshop from a local store. You'll get a good overview of all the different types and some helpful suggestions.

We've found cloth easy once you get into a routine and the best part is that my son has only ever had 2 bum rashes and they both went away in less than 24 hours.

Waterdrop · September 2015

I thought we would cloth diaper too for environmental reasonings but as I did more research I am conflicted. It depends on what you think is most important to the environment. This article really breaks down both of the impacts of diapers.
https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=56347

PeggyOlsonFTW · September 2015

That article doesn't account for diapers washed by a service, which will use more water than someone washing at home. Also, I think that article accounts for non-HE machines, which use a TON of water and outdated washing advice which tells you to do two full washes and extra rinses, which is totally unnecessary. I can't find the article, but I did read somewhere that more water is used to break down wood pulp for one disposable diaper than is used to wash an entire load of cloth diapers.

This article points out a few other issues: https://www.greenamerica.org/livinggreen/diapers.cfm

jenniferamcooper · September 2015

Ehh I'm not likely to agree with that article. Hubby is my go-to science guy (finishing up PhD in physics/atmospheric chemistry so not talking out of turn) and the UK article is legitimate but doesn't really take into account using cold water to wash, and hanging to dry. They also include using softeners which is both terrible for the environment AND cloth diapers and should never be used.

They also don't take into account the fact that multiple children can use the CD system when one is done. So those enviro impacts alone led us to chose those. The cost savings were just a bonus.

runlong3 · September 2015

We CDed DD as soon as she was done with her nicu stay. We actually had her in them right from the get-go, but then she ended up back in the hospital. No, meconium does not stain them.

We used fitteds for the newborn stage with covers, as cost was a big factor for us at the time and over about 8 weeks (for nb diapers), cloth won out by a very small margin so we skipped disposables for that part. We then transitioned to pockets for the rest of the time she was in them.

There are a few things - cloth diapers are better at preventing blowout vs. disposables. They have actual elastic around the legs and across the back that keeps everything locked in. Yes, you may have one or two blowouts, but definitely less if they fit properly. That said, you will be changing more frequently than with disposables. Disposables have gel in them which helps absorb liquid, allowing kids to go hours on hours in the same diaper. Obviously cloth doesn't have that, and there is only so much even the best fabrics can hold until there's just no more room for liquid and they leak. This is typically 2-3 hours (though some will argue you need to change as soon as the kid is wet).

I agree with everyone on taking a CD 101 class, there is also a 7 part series on the different kinds of diapers on YouTube which is very helpful. Though I'm not sure it goes into hybrid fitteds (too old for them) that are currently all the rage in the WAHM world. You can go as cheap as $4 (or less) for a China Cheapie or spend $50+ on one of a kind embroidered diapers. Many store bought ones range from $15-$25+ (it's been a while since I looked). We started out with lots of Alvas (one brand of China Cheapies) in our stash, but I just gave them to a friend starting on their first time. I will be replacing with either my own (I sell them) or other WAHMs. Luckily, I am now able to let my manufacturing location preferences drive my purchases over cost this time (I would much rather support other WAHMs than a large Chinese company, or a company who pushes all their work overseas). But that's also the beauty of doing cloth - you can pick and choose what you want based on what factors are important to you.

AliSummer · September 2015

I cloth diapered my son, but that was 12 years ago when cloth diapers were all the same: a square or two of cloth, a couple of big ducky pins, and a plastic cover. I really wanted to do it again, but I'm starting to think it's not worth it. There are so many different kinds of CD, and combinations, it's too confusing. I'm afraid I'm going to buy the wrong insert for the wrong cover, it's hard to tell what goes with what. This "helpful" chart only makes it worse:

queen_frostine · September 2015

I'm a first-time mother so I don't have any advice on using cloth, but I am devoted to using cloth at least part-time based on my experience switching to cloth menstrual pads. It made such a huge difference to me even though it was only a few days a month - I can't imagine the difference it makes to a baby.

PeggyOlsonFTW · September 2015

@AliSummer https://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/learn-about-cloth-diapers/cloth-diaper-cheat-sheet-the-essential-information/

AliSummer · September 2015

KDHB13 said:

@AliSummer https://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/learn-about-cloth-diapers/cloth-diaper-cheat-sheet-the-essential-information/

Thank You! Much better than what I've been looking at.

mojomama6 · September 2015

I've done cloth at least part of the time with four of my five. Each time I've given up and switched to disposables, it's been because unforseen circumstances meant I no longer had a washing machine, and there is no way I'm hauling dirty diapers to a laundromat. I'm pretty old school- I use prefolds or flats with ducky pins and a cover. They're by far the cheapest option.

cmerribury · September 2015

We exclusively cloth diapered our son. We used all in ones from Bummis. We loved them. We used paper liners to catch the poop and used a sprayer for what was left over. I honestly don't know what the fuss is about for some people. It was super easy. He was in them until he potty trained and we had no issues. Love them and will be using (the same ones) them for #2, so even more cost savings there! I'd recommend buying a few and giving it a go. I highly recommend the all in ones, but you'll need to find the brand that works with your little one (some brands fit better with skinny legged babies, etc). You will need to do a load of diapers every few days, and will need specialty detergent. We use Rock n Green. Good luck!

cosmobella · September 2015

We did cloth full time with my oldest and loved it. We started with prefolds and covers, used some fitteds but mostly used pockets as he got older. We wanted to do the same with our second boy since we had such a big stash but things were different with him. The prefold stage went well but he was too heavy of a wetter for our pockets even with extra stuffing. Also when he started daycare at 8 months, they changed the rules and would no longer do cloth (even though they did with our first). He was in sposies mostly after that since it didn't make sense to sporadically do diaper laundry and battle heavy wetting part-time.

We still have our stash and will try again this time but I'm nervous about the extra laundry. Things that work when you have one or two kids may not work as well when you have three (the regular laundry will multiply infinitely!).

pinottoparenthood · September 2015

cmerribury said:

We exclusively cloth diapered our son. We used all in ones from Bummis. We loved them. We used paper liners to catch the poop and used a sprayer for what was left over. I honestly don't know what the fuss is about for some people. It was super easy. He was in them until he potty trained and we had no issues. Love them and will be using (the same ones) them for #2, so even more cost savings there! I'd recommend buying a few and giving it a go. I highly recommend the all in ones, but you'll need to find the brand that works with your little one (some brands fit better with skinny legged babies, etc). You will need to do a load of diapers every few days, and will need specialty detergent. We use Rock n Green. Good luck!

To the OP, you do NOT need to use speciality detergent... any free and clear detergent works great. In fact, most of the CD moms Iknow swear that Tide free & clear is the best... and I have heard that the expensive specialty detergents don't get them as clean. It's something you could try, but I don't think it's necessary!

pinottoparenthood · September 2015

AliSummer said:
I cloth diapered my son, but that was 12 years ago when cloth diapers were all the same: a square or two of cloth, a couple of big ducky pins, and a plastic cover. I really wanted to do it again, but I'm starting to think it's not worth it. There are so many different kinds of CD, and combinations, it's too confusing. I'm afraid I'm going to buy the wrong insert for the wrong cover, it's hard to tell what goes with what. This "helpful" chart only makes it worse:

@alisummer I felt the SAME WAY when I was starting out... 100% confused and overwhelmed. The names/types made no sense to me! This is the youtube series someone mentioned.... watching this basically answered all of my questions and helped me to understand!

I would recommend trying prefolds with covers if you want a more economical option and have done old-school cloth diapering, or trying out pockets and/or all-in-ones if you are willing to spend a little more for convenience.

GL!

PeggyOlsonFTW · September 2015

pinottoparenthood said:

cmerribury said:

We exclusively cloth diapered our son. We used all in ones from Bummis. We loved them. We used paper liners to catch the poop and used a sprayer for what was left over. I honestly don't know what the fuss is about for some people. It was super easy. He was in them until he potty trained and we had no issues. Love them and will be using (the same ones) them for #2, so even more cost savings there! I'd recommend buying a few and giving it a go. I highly recommend the all in ones, but you'll need to find the brand that works with your little one (some brands fit better with skinny legged babies, etc). You will need to do a load of diapers every few days, and will need specialty detergent. We use Rock n Green. Good luck!

To the OP, you do NOT need to use speciality detergent... any free and clear detergent works great. In fact, most of the CD moms Iknow swear that Tide free & clear is the best... and I have heard that the expensive specialty detergents don't get them as clean. It's something you could try, but I don't think it's necessary!

Whatever you use on your clothes you can use on your diapers. (There are a few exceptions to that rule). Mainstream detergents work soooooo much better than "cloth safe". This list is awesome: https://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/how-to-wash-cloth-diapers/detergent-index/

cmerribury · September 2015

Feel free to used whatever detergent you want. We used tide free and clear and had terrible experiences. Everyone has different water and machines.

allisshiney · September 2015

KDHB13 said:

pinottoparenthood said:

cmerribury said:

We exclusively cloth diapered our son. We used all in ones from Bummis. We loved them. We used paper liners to catch the poop and used a sprayer for what was left over. I honestly don't know what the fuss is about for some people. It was super easy. He was in them until he potty trained and we had no issues. Love them and will be using (the same ones) them for #2, so even more cost savings there! I'd recommend buying a few and giving it a go. I highly recommend the all in ones, but you'll need to find the brand that works with your little one (some brands fit better with skinny legged babies, etc). You will need to do a load of diapers every few days, and will need specialty detergent. We use Rock n Green. Good luck!

To the OP, you do NOT need to use speciality detergent... any free and clear detergent works great. In fact, most of the CD moms Iknow swear that Tide free & clear is the best... and I have heard that the expensive specialty detergents don't get them as clean. It's something you could try, but I don't think it's necessary!

Whatever you use on your clothes you can use on your diapers. (There are a few exceptions to that rule). Mainstream detergents work soooooo much better than "cloth safe". This list is awesome: https://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/how-to-wash-cloth-diapers/detergent-index/

I love the Facebook group Fluff Love and CD science!!!!

ahhhhmandax3 · September 2015

I fully plan on cloth diapering.
I live in upstate, NY and there is a cute little all natural baby supply store called "Mother Earth Baby" that sells all sorts of cloth diapers and covers for just about any sized baby you could possibly pop out and covers any size mess they could possibly have.
I'm not planning on doing it for the environmental factor or for the money saving factor. Both DH and I are allergic to almost anything we could possibly put onto our skin so we're hoping cloth diapering saves us the stress from possibly having to change diaper brands every week in case baby inherits these awful genes.

Lilpenguin3 · September 2015

Just a warning that fluff love is not liked by a large group of cd'ers. Some of their practices are not good for cloth diapers.

I suggest googling then comes family and looking at the cd board there. The majority used to be on tb.

They are great for babies with sensitive skin. I used my stash on the last baby I watched and she never had leaks or diaper rash. Plus there are sooo many cute options for fluffy butts.

PeggyOlsonFTW · September 2015

Lilpenguin3 said:
Just a warning that fluff love is not liked by a large group of cd'ers. Some of their practices are not good for cloth diapers.

I suggest googling then comes family and looking at the cd board there. The majority used to be on tb.

They are great for babies with sensitive skin. I used my stash on the last baby I watched and she never had leaks or diaper rash. Plus there are sooo many cute options for fluffy butts.

Fluff love isn't liked by cloth diaper companies who want you to buy their weak detergent. Using mainstream detergents will void the warranty on many brands of diapers, but in my opinion it's much more preferable to have a happy, rash free baby and clean diapers with voided warranties than a rashy, unhappy baby with not fully clean but fully warranted diapers.

AnnikaD20 · September 2015

If you're having trouble deciding between styles, there are several places that offer a trial where you get to try out a mix of prefolds, pockets, and all in ones, or a mix of brands, or whatever you're interested in. They seem to run about $10 for a month trial. Usually a $100 deposit, with a refund as store credit. If you're not sure you want to do cloth diapering or not, you can still do a trial, just look for ones that offer cash refunds instead of store credit when you return the diapers. Here's a couple examples:

https://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/tryclothfor10/tryclothfor10
https://www.modernclothdiapers.com/customizableclothdiapertrial.html
https://www.sweetbottomsbaby.com/Cloth-Diaper-Trial-s/1829.htm

04162016 · September 2015

I clothed with my first and loved it! I'll be clothing this one as well, barring any issues with daycare. She never had any diaper rashes or blow outs - it was so easy!! And she was super easy to potty train - when she started giving signs she was ready, I just switched her to disposables and she immediately hated how it felt. She potty trained in 2 days at 18 months old.

Rainbowheart · September 2015

We cloth diapered our first and plan to with our 2nd as well. They are super easy. I also caution you on fluff love. Some of their advise is not very good advise and can shorten the life of your diapers.

chantzies · September 2015

I did cloth diapers with my DS and loved it. However.... He was a 10 lb, 5 oz baby so it didn't take long before his pees were more than the cloth diaper could handle. I was constantly changing him and doing laundry. We also travelled a lot and cloth diapers on the plane and on the road are a pain. I did a bit of both for convenience, and eventually had to give up the cloth diaper dream. Hubby asked me if I wanted to do cloth diapers again and I don't think so. Just the thought of having to do all that laundry, when I can hardly keep up with it as it is, is overwhelming. As a 43 year old (44 when baby will arrive), I think I'll need to conserve my energy and keep things simple.

Jlnitti80 · September 2015

Are cloth diapers difficult to fully clean? From what I am seeing on the Fluff Love FB page it looks like a lot of people have difficulty getting the diapers fully cleaned.

jenniferamcooper · September 2015

My thoughts on fluff love is that they're a dedicated group backed by SCIENCE. They're a group who takes a very methodical look at the practice of CDing, they use their science background and troubleshoot countless issues.

If you understand organic chemistry and bio you'll entirely agree with their approach. No offence taken, but in my local CD group usually the people who are anti-FLCDS are generally more naturally-focused people. Which is great, because FLCDS has great resources for going green but bleaching your diapers is a better way of sanitizing them than putting them out during a rain storm (no joke!).

Cloth diapers are easy to clean if you treat them like regular laundry. I've been CDing for 18 months with 0 issues. If you think about it our grandparents used CDs without speciality detergents and crazy wash cycles.

PeggyOlsonFTW · September 2015

Jlnitti80 said:
Are cloth diapers difficult to fully clean? From what I am seeing on the Fluff Love FB page it looks like a lot of people have difficulty getting the diapers fully cleaned.

If you use a good detergent and have a solid wash routine it's not hard. Check out their detergent index, wash instructions and washing machine index. You can find a recommended routine for almost any machine there.

For the first 6 months I used cloth, I used Rockin Green or Country Save in the small recommended by them amounts. My diapers smelled awful, were stained and DS was always red. No matter how I "stripped" them, the smell and rash always came back. Someone recommended Fluff Love to me when I was this close to giving up all together. I followed their strip and bleach routine, reset my diapers, switched to Tide and their wash routine and haven't had a single issue with staining, stinking or rashes in a year. I'll be forever grateful to them.

Jlnitti80 · September 2015

I wasn't doubtful of the science part just getting intimidated by all of the issues I was seeing there. I was a CD baby due to skin sensitivities and fully intend on CD'ing baby when the time comes. I will have great resources in my Mom and Grandmother and Aunt since all CD their babies. The issues just took me by surprise and made me doubt my possible future chance at success. Not sure where I gave the impression that I doubted science.

PeggyOlsonFTW · September 2015

Jlnitti80 said:
I wasn't doubtful of the science part just getting intimidated by all of the issues I was seeing there. I was a CD baby due to skin sensitivities and fully intend on CD'ing baby when the time comes. I will have great resources in my Mom and Grandmother and Aunt since all CD their babies. The issues just took me by surprise and made me doubt my possible future chance at success. Not sure where I gave the impression that I doubted science.

I don't think that was directed at you, but towards the people who don't like Fluff Love

jenniferamcooper · September 2015

@Jlnitti80 wasn't directed towards you at all! Sorry about that misunderstanding that message was supposed to send yesterday, stupid app.

You'll see some diaper companies recommend wash routines and anything else voids their warranty. Most of time these wash routines aren't strong enough to clean waste. Laundering is easy you just need to fit your routine to your washer type/water type. I'm sure you'll do lots of research but basically a lot of people have issues with front loaders as they don't provide the same amount of agitation as old school top loader (the fix is to add some laundry after the first rinse like a towel or two or even baby laundry). If you have hard water you'll need to add a small amount of borax into the water as a softener (not doing this leads to mineral build up which can contribute to repelling and stink). Other than using an adequate amount of soap that's recommended by the fluff love list (who wouldn't want someone to do all the detergent trouble shooting first!) that's a wash routine in a nutshell - rinse - wash cycle - hang to dry. It's super easy.

Also if you're able to BF then BF poop is water soluble so CDing is VERY easy. No rinsing or worrying about poop, it all comes out in the first rinse. It's awesome!

pinottoparenthood · September 2015

Jlnitti80 said:

Are cloth diapers difficult to fully clean? From what I am seeing on the Fluff Love FB page it looks like a lot of people have difficulty getting the diapers fully cleaned.

@jlnitti80 we had a hard time getting the ammonia out of them , but I agree, using regular detergent (free and clear) helps. Also, sometimes I will give them an extra wash. Other things that help are occasionally washing the inserts separately with a little bleach, and also sunning the diapers (letting them dry out in the sunlight) from time to time. It may take a little while to get the hang of it, and it can also depend on your water type, but once you figure it out it's no big deal! It's mainly the pee, not the poop, that people have a hard time completely washing out. Sometimes there is an ammonia residue that can give your little one a bad burn/rash.

cmerribury · September 2015

I agree that water type plays a part. I honestly didn't find them hard to clean at all. We ran into issues using regular free and clear detergent, but again, everyone has different water and machines. There is a bit of trial and error when you start, but I echo the sentiment that treating them as much like regular laundry as possible is the best. The only time I ran into any problems was when my son developed a yeast infection. But we sanitized like mad and switched him to disposables while he had it and were able to make it work. Good luck with CDing, in the summer it's the best because a tee shirt is all they need with their cute little diapers, LOL.

Jlnitti80 · September 2015

Thank you! We went to a CD store in Madison, WI today and paired with the advice from this wonderful group of ladies, and actually seeing and feeling all of the different types in the store, I am feeling much more confident today. Bonus, DH is also on board!
I was most likely over tired last night and reading too much into things. Thank you for clearing things up for me and sorry if I caused any unnecessary drama.
I will probably have a multitude of questions in the future but I promise to do my very best with the Google before posting on here

jenniferamcooper · September 2015

@Jlnitti80 no worries! I was so lucky because I had a friend who successfully CDed 2 kids before me. I got to learn from her experience. I thought she was nuts at first (first time mom, full time university student) but I learned from her it can be easy.

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