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September 2015 Moms
xosisi
member
Cloth diapering
xosisi
member
So I hate the smell of a full diaper in the morning and the chemicals bother my nose. I want to start using cloth diapers but I have no idea where to start. Any advice? How much do I spend on a good supply? How many do I need? How do I wash them? I know there are different ways to cloth diaper but I don't know the difference.
Re: Cloth diapering
Frequency of Use
- we started using cloth after jaxson had his circumcision and was all healed (this ended up being at the one month mark)
- we use cloth exclusively during the day and disposables at night (because we got so many as gifts and the boxes last so long when we only use them at night)
- on average we use about 6 cloth during the day and 2 disposables at night (although this was a bit higher when he was younger)
Brands
- we have about 9 Funky Fluff diapers, 6 A.M.P diapers, and 8 China cheapies (not an actual brand lol ordered through eBay)
- our cheapies are a waterproof shell that have a liner that is stuffed inside a pocket
- both the Funky Fluff and A.M.P diapers have a waterproof shell and liners that can lay inside the diaper or be stuffed inside a pocket (I prefer laying the liner inside the shell because if it's just wet you can get rid of the liner and use the shell again) (stuffing the liner inside gives you one more layer of absorbency so I do that when going uptown and stuff; just to be safe)
- the Funky Fluff are more sturdy but the A.M.P are more flexible and it's easier to get a good for so right now I like the A.M.P a bit better.
- Funky Fluff has bamboo or microfibre options, the bamboo is way more flexible but more expensive, I only have one bamboo and the rest are microfiber
Liners
- liners can be bought separately or with the shell for any brand
- I have about 32 liners (4 bamboo and the rest microfiber)
- I like the absorption of the bamboo but they feel wet easier and babies skin often feels damp after; the microfiber can't hold as much but the liquid is wicked to the back so it isn't wet against baby
Laundry
- I throw everything is a small garbage pail with a lid (there are expensive storage bags or people who talk about soaking diapers but I don't find any of that necessary; just a money grab)
- I do laundry every third day
- I throw all the shells and liners in and do 2 cold rinses, 1 hot wash with Norwex detetgent, and one cold rinse
- I hang the shells and liners overnight
- the liners get a bit stiff so I through them in the dryer on low in the morning to soften them up
There is definitely a trial period where you find the right fit (they adjust in so many ways depending on the brand) and there can be some frustrating leaks and blowouts where you'll question if they work at all! But once you get that part sorted out you'll be fine!
Don't buy a bunch of one brand just incase you end up not liking them or if they fit oddly (if baby has skinny thighs or big belly or something)
oh and when you do buy some you should wash them at least 6 times before use. This is called prepping and it establishes the absorbency of the material. It seems time consuming but so worth it!
I got a lot of our brand name ones on sale at a local boutique but all together our stash cost around $200.
Good luck! There is also a cloth diapering board on here as well but it's not very busy.
I also have a spray nozzel that can be hooked up to the toilet to spray off the poop. Highly recommend! The brand of disorders I use are Thirsties and Alva baby. I also have a Natural Organics brand. I have prefolds for when she starts sleeping through the night so the diaper can hold more, but we haven't made it there yet. There are things called snappies that are used in place of pins, I really like those.
Our set up is pretty simple! Arlo was 9 weeks early and in the nicu for 6 weeks, so we started a little later, when he was around 3 months. We kept 2 big boxes of disposables from the baby shower which we mostly used for people who wanted to change him, but weren't comfortable with cloth. No biggy, they had to get used anyways
The Kid is very tall and skinny, so what works for him might not work for your peanut! I'm also going to base this off of doing laundry every other day.
My favorite method is prefolds + a cover. I actually thought I'd find that to be a big pain, but I don't at all. Plus, it's cheapest which is great! Around 2 packs (6 packs) of prefolds is good enough (and like 12 bucks a pack). We use Clotheez and OsoCozy and I like both! OsoCozy are bigger and also softer, but Clotheez work just as well. With every other day laundry, you can probably get by with 3 covers. Rumparooz are my favorite
I also have 3 Charlie Banana pocket diapers which I like but are still a bit big for my scrawny guy and I have 2 BumGenius pocket diapers which are great too! They're nice for SO's or sitters who aren't totally comfy with cloth because they go on and off like a regular diaper. They're also great for nighttime, especially when you throw in a second liner, because they wick away moisture.
As for diaper laundering, I just keep mine in a bag in a trash can for now. As baby moves to solids (and more odorous diapers), I'll probably get a couple reusable liners and use a Diaper Champ I got or just get a stainless steal trashcan (supposed to be great for eliminating smells!). Then I wash in Dreft, but any "Free and Clear" type detergents should be fine. I do a cold prewash, warm cycle and cold second rinse.
The GroVia we got with snap in inserts are good but I like the other ones much more and they were cheaper. We have 12 GroVia and 20+ of the others. We could probably get away with 20 total.
We mostly use folded flats (imagine and geffen) fastened with a snappi. I love Rumparooz covers. For the diaper bag and DH I have pockets (applecheeks, Fuzzibunz elite, rumparooz, happy Heiny, bum genius are the ones I kept).
We store dirty diapers in a zippered wet bag left partially open (airflow actually decreases smell) and wash every other day with a top loader. Warm rinse with half scoop of Nellies and some calgon. Hot wash with 2 scoops Nellies, full dose of calgon, then 2 cold rinses. I line dry the covers and shells, the rest goes in the dryer on high. I also use cloth wipes (then you don't have to separate the wipes into a garbage). I have a diaper sprayer for when she starts solids-we don't rinse anything yet because she's EBF. With DD1 I used flushable liners for daycare so I wouldn't have to rinse at home).
I learned a lot about cloth diapers from Kellyscloset.com, Fluff love & Science (Facebook) and calling Cottonbabies.com.
With that said I wanted my stash to be composed off something that was easy for my husband, daycare provider and I to use. So my stash consist of BumGenius 4.0's, 5.0's and 6 Alva pockets because I loved the print.
I'll admit that I was nervous to try the Chinese cheapies since BumGenius had me spoiled but I haven't had any issues but I do double stuff my diapers so the risk of leaking is minimal again I don't want to give my husband or daycare provider a reason to complain.
I got my wash routine from Fluff University. My child is EBF and so the milk is water soluble. The poop diapers from daycare get thrown in our wetbag (laundry storage bag) and the poop diapers that happen on our watch gets rinsed in our toilet by our BumGenius diaper sprayer. We wash every 3-4 days just to keep the diapers in good shape so I can sell them later on.
Happy cloth diapering!!! Be careful because it can become addictive.
Oh, and as for size, my guy is very skinny so our one size stash is still huge on him at 13wks and 12lbs. Look into getting some sized diapers on the cheap if you don't think your LO will fit into the one sized right now. You won't be able to use them forever but they should last for a while so you don't have baby in diapers with fit issues or just really huge under their clothes. Prefolds might also be the best option for this problem. Good luck!
The upfront cost is high, we registered for a lot of our shells so we didn't need to spend a ton but they are really adorable, high quality diapers we can use until he is ready to potty train and then for the next babies too. We have close to 30 liners, I would say.