There are so many options of type and brands, how does one pick without getting overwhelmed and spending all their money?
There are lots of options. Some people choose a couple of different styles to try, then once they find one that they like, they build their stash. I took a leap of faith on getting all BGs, but going through reviews and what not, those were the ones I liked the best.
Like others have mentioned, buying as you go can help it seem not as expensive. I had about 25 I think (I can't remember the exact amount) and that number worked just fine. I bought some heavier duty overnight ones once DD got to be a toddler, but only four more or so. Remember, in the long run, these pay off if you continue to use them (or use them for your second kid). I love being able to use the same ones
BFP #1: DD born on 08.25.12
BFP #2: 09/08/15 miscarried at 6w
BFP #3: DD2 born on 02.07.17
@Jelli Robinson you just buy one or two of the different brands/styles until you figure out what works best for your baby. CD's have pretty good resale value so you just sell the ones you don't like and buy more of the ones you do!
@Jelli Robinson you just buy one or two of the different brands/styles until you figure out what works best for your baby. CD's have pretty good resale value so you just sell the ones you don't like and buy more of the ones you do!
Thanks! Where would I find a place to resell? Especially as we only intend to have one kid (as a same-sex couple, getting 1 is more than enough cost/work) and I'd love to be able to help others when I'm done.
J (Ma--I'm the one posting) & E (Mommy--I'm the one carrying)
My husband and I are, rather remarkably, on the same page so far when it comes to big parenting decisions! This baby will be our first. So, it goes like this...
Me: I'm really interested in this parenting style and would like you to listen to this audiobook... Him: Cool! I'll start tomorrow! The next day, him: I started that book! It's super interesting and makes so much sense. I think we might need a paper copy, too so we can review it. I like it a lot so far, it's all the things I would like to repeat from how I was raised, and it is different from how I was raised where I need it to be.
Him: Have you thought at all about diapers? Me: I was thinking probably cloth? Him: Yeah, I thought that's probably what makes the most sense.
Me: You know, if this baby is a boy, we're going to need to have a decision ready about circumcision. Him: Oh, right. Me: Something to think about. Him: Yeah, my initial thought is XXX because YYY. Me: Yeah, me too, for exactly that reason.
Also, I'm not too worried about the start-up costs with cloth diapers. We've already been given so many hand-me down clothes, a crib, an infant car seat, etc., that we figure (1) we can register for cloth diapers and (2) we have funds to buy them.
Also, for those of us in the USA, keep in mind that BLACK FRIDAY / CYBER MONDAY is in between now and baby's arrival, and baby stuff is often discounted pretty deeply that whole weekend.
@Xstatic3333 Elevating Child Care by Janet Lansbury. She also has a podcast, a blog, and a Facebook page. It's mostly about respecting babies as people, not being pushy, and fostering their innate ability to play independently by being very attentive while caregiving (feeding, diapers), and supporting their ability to entertain themselves.
I sold all of my CDs on a local moms resale FB page. And then got (surprise) knocked up 2 months later ooops!! But the resale was great even 6 years later!!
@MLRocha I'm a bit shocked by it! When we were planning our wedding we started out absolutely miles apart in our desires and expectations. If we could figure out the wedding thing, you can figure out the baby thing!
@Xstatic3333 Elevating Child Care by Janet Lansbury. She also has a podcast, a blog, and a Facebook page. It's mostly about respecting babies as people, not being pushy, and fostering their innate ability to play independently by being very attentive while caregiving (feeding, diapers), and supporting their ability to entertain themselves.
YESSSS. Same page, girl. Same page. I followed her FB back when I taught daycare and the book is on my to-read list.
Do any of you plan on putting some cloth diapers on your registries? I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it because I'd like to order most of my cloth diapers from kelly's closet. A lot of people recommend it, and they offer coupon codes where you get a free diaper with a certain dollar amount. They also have points/rewards. Not sure if I should register for individual diapers or just gift certificates to that website. I don't want it to come across as rude or gift grabby, but I also want to make it easy for people since the whole cloth diaper thing is super confusing and I wonder if it might be overwhelming to have a bunch of different individual diapers on the registry.
@pennylucille I think it would go over better if you put the actual diapers on the registry over gift certificates. Also, Buybuy Baby has some cloth in stores, so you could potentially register for them there, too.
Oh yeah, question: What are your favorite brand fitteds above NB size? I have enough in NB, but I only have 4-5 in the bigger sizes. Are kissaluvs still the bees knees? Pooters? GMD?
@WinchesterGirl Unfortunately we don't have a buy buy baby, or any baby-specific stores in our area. Our shopping is pretty pathetic. I think we're going to register for some things at Target for people who want to go in and shop in person, and then the rest will have to be online.
@pennylucille At one point target carried Charlie Bananas diapers, maybe check the website and add them to your registry that way? I feel your pain about not much shopping... we live in a neighborhood now, but for about 8 years my family lived in the middle of nowhere.
@pennylucille I had this thought too-- I think I'm going to register at Cotton Babies bc they give you a free newborn CD just for registering in store but Kelly's has better deals. I think I'm going to register at babyli.st so I can have everything in one place.
My MIL will protest though, for my wedding she insisted that I register at certain boutiques in her small town "because that's what people will expect." I got a lot of crap I didn't want because of that. Never. again. Screw your small town. It has internet. People can order from the internet.
I was able to put Thirsties covers on my BRU and Amazon registries, and Blueberry and Thirsties AIOs on Amazon. GMD will be my main source, and though they have a registry I didn't bother with it. The Cloth Eez stuff I want is cheap enough I'll just buy it myself.
@WinchesterGirl I'm going GMD for S/M fitteds, but price is a big consideration. I'm reading that they don't cut it for absorbency once the baby gets much bigger than that.
@pennylucille Yep, we are planning on putting some cloth diapers on our registry. Reasons are threefold:
(1) If we register for cloth diapers, people who look at the registry will know we are going with cloth, not disposables. This might minimize the number of people who show up with the gift of disposables/disposable accessories (diaper genie etc). I realize these things are returnable/donate-able, but I think it's more fun for everyone they eventually see the stuff on baby or in the nursery! (2) I went down a youtube hole trying to figure out what kind of diapers are best and a few youtubers said to have different options ready to try on your baby as he/she grows and then buy more of what works and sell what doesn't. Having a cover each from a few different brands & some other options makes sense to me as a place to start. When I know what to buy a proper stash of, I'll be looking for deals and coupons. (3) I think we're going with prefolds & covers; the individual covers are cute and a good price for people looking for a simple, cute, single gift to buy from the registry. Same goes for buying individual pockets. We're taking a cloth diaper class at a local baby shop next month. I'm not sure if our family--mostly an hour plus away--will be able to order from the local shop, but we'll try to set that up; we did pay for the class, so I won't feel too bad if they don't have internet orders and we can't make that work. For the most part, we're using babyli.st
The foxes. I must have. What brand? Same with the HP.
Oh I know I'm in LOVE with the foxes! That one is an Alva baby. Pretty cheap pocket diaper but I'm getting pockets for DH and I'll do covers/prefolds myself. The HP is from Etsy, her page is called Monka Dunk creations
I need to inventory my stash and find some things that are depleted so I can justify a purchase here or there.
I used prefolds and covers in the beginning with my littles, but did find pockets better as a long term solution. The prefold diapers worked great too as doublers for overnight diapers that were pockets.
I am feeling my age again because girls, in my time, most of the diapers only came in plain colors!
I do have a thought. . .I don't know how hard this would be, but I will have at least a few pink and purples that I might be getting rid of. I would be happy to try to get them to anyone here!
Married - 7/29/06 Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09 Mia - 6/16/11 Surprise! due 2/23/17
I need to inventory my stash and find some things that are depleted so I can justify a purchase here or there.
I used prefolds and covers in the beginning with my littles, but did find pockets better as a long term solution. The prefold diapers worked great too as doublers for overnight diapers that were pockets.
I am feeling my age again because girls, in my time, most of the diapers only came in plain colors!
I do have a thought. . .I don't know how hard this would be, but I will have at least a few pink and purples that I might be getting rid of. I would be happy to try to get them to anyone here!
ooh! dibs! I don't care if you know where I live-- diapers! :-) I'll even pay postage
Oh yeah, question: What are your favorite brand fitteds above NB size? I have enough in NB, but I only have 4-5 in the bigger sizes. Are kissaluvs still the bees knees? Pooters? GMD?
I've only ever had the BGs 4.0 for the most part because I was lazy and hoped to god that they would work for us. Thankfully they did. I know I've heard of kissaluvs and there's another brand that honestly I can't for the life of me remember right now that was really good too. We had two charlie bananas I believe from Target for swim diapers which worked great as well. I don't know how their regular diapers are though.
BFP #1: DD born on 08.25.12
BFP #2: 09/08/15 miscarried at 6w
BFP #3: DD2 born on 02.07.17
I just looked and it turns out Target does have way more cloth diapers than I though, which is cool. (not available in my store, but online) They have Charlie Bananas, Thirsties and a few other brands, but their organization/descriptions are not great, so you kind of just have to search the brands, and cross-referencing another website is good to make sure you're getting the type of diaper you want. That makes things easier. I think I'll just register for a few different ones there to get an idea of what brand we like, and then when I need more later, I'll buy from Kelly's closet or one of the other diaper specific websites that offer rewards and coupon codes I love me some coupon codes!
What are the rest of you planning to do for the newborn phase if you're using pockets or all-in-one's? Will you be purchasing a newborn stash as well or just using disposables until the one size diapers fit right? A lot of the youtube videos I've watched about cloth diapering say that even though a lot of the diapers claim to fit as small as 6 lbs, that they really don't fit that great until the baby is more like 10 or 12 lbs so I'm debating whether or not it's worth it to get a newborn stash. I have a feeling our baby will be small but who knows.
@pennylucille I went a little crazy and bought a sizable newborn stash... But I know a lot of people do disposables until the OS diapers fit.
I can only sort of justify it because I was a little 6 pound baby, so I have a good chance of a little baby (at least that's what I'm telling myself), and this is our first so there is potential to use them again for future babies.
See @WinchesterGirl I was thinking the exact same thing. My mom said I was 6lb 7 or 8 oz I can't remember exactly. My family is full of tiny people, lol, I'm 5'1, and DH is average size, not super tall so I have a feeling our baby will be small. I think I figured out that I could get a newborn stash of Kawaii or Alva pockets for about the same cost as 1 month worth of disposables, although I can't remember my math exactly, I'll need to double check. I'm thinking it's worth it. Then possibly get the nicer brands for the ones baby will use longer.
@pennylucille, you could definitely use Alva's for newborn. Probably the most cost effective. I think I'm gonna do prefolds and covers. Because I'll only need about 4 covers, and I just won't have DH start helping until she fits in the pocket diapers. But Alva's are good if you're going the pocket route!
For newborns, in the past I had kissaluvs that were awesome for bitty babies. I also used prefolds and covers. My sister in law had some little AIO BumGeniuses that I borrowed, but I think my newborn stash all went to another friend. I seriously need to look at my stash, lol.
Married - 7/29/06 Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09 Mia - 6/16/11 Surprise! due 2/23/17
We cloth diapered my son (now 3 and potty trained), but it was a really good experience. My husband was onboard with the goal of saving money and wanting to know for sure if we did. So (yes I know this sounds crazy) we counted every diaper we washed/used. We may have forgotten to count a load on rare occasion, but in his first year we used 3,363 diapers. The newborn phase was the cheapest and easiest. I used sized prefolds. Imagine Smart Fit sized prefolds are just as nice as Green Mountain but cheaper. And prefolds and covers worked the best for my big but skinny baby. One sized diapers didn't fit him well until about 6 months since his legs were too skinny. But anyhow, breastfed or formula poo (before eating any baby food) is water soluble. Toss in the wash as is. Pre-rinse cycle, then wash on hot with detergent. Then since my son had sensitive skin, we did a second rinse. Regular Tide worked best for us to get all stink out and diapers nice a clean.
I used an open wet bag to store dirty diapers and washed the bag when washing diapers. Cloth wipes worked better and were easier. I loved California Baby Diaper Area Wash spray for messy bottoms. Spray bottom, wipe with cloth wipe. Easy peasy.
Re: Has anyone discussed cloth diapers vs. regular diapers with their SO?
Like others have mentioned, buying as you go can help it seem not as expensive. I had about 25 I think (I can't remember the exact amount) and that number worked just fine. I bought some heavier duty overnight ones once DD got to be a toddler, but only four more or so. Remember, in the long run, these pay off if you continue to use them (or use them for your second kid). I love being able to use the same ones
Me: I'm really interested in this parenting style and would like you to listen to this audiobook...
Him: Cool! I'll start tomorrow!
The next day, him: I started that book! It's super interesting and makes so much sense. I think we might need a paper copy, too so we can review it. I like it a lot so far, it's all the things I would like to repeat from how I was raised, and it is different from how I was raised where I need it to be.
Him: Have you thought at all about diapers?
Me: I was thinking probably cloth?
Him: Yeah, I thought that's probably what makes the most sense.
Me: You know, if this baby is a boy, we're going to need to have a decision ready about circumcision.
Him: Oh, right.
Me: Something to think about.
Him: Yeah, my initial thought is XXX because YYY.
Me: Yeah, me too, for exactly that reason.
Also, I'm not too worried about the start-up costs with cloth diapers. We've already been given so many hand-me down clothes, a crib, an infant car seat, etc., that we figure (1) we can register for cloth diapers and (2) we have funds to buy them.
Also, for those of us in the USA, keep in mind that BLACK FRIDAY / CYBER MONDAY is in between now and baby's arrival, and baby stuff is often discounted pretty deeply that whole weekend.
Also, YAASSSSSS on Black Friday. But I'm not waiting until then!
My MIL will protest though, for my wedding she insisted that I register at certain boutiques in her small town "because that's what people will expect." I got a lot of crap I didn't want because of that. Never. again. Screw your small town. It has internet. People can order from the internet.
@WinchesterGirl I'm going GMD for S/M fitteds, but price is a big consideration. I'm reading that they don't cut it for absorbency once the baby gets much bigger than that.
(1) If we register for cloth diapers, people who look at the registry will know we are going with cloth, not disposables. This might minimize the number of people who show up with the gift of disposables/disposable accessories (diaper genie etc). I realize these things are returnable/donate-able, but I think it's more fun for everyone they eventually see the stuff on baby or in the nursery!
(2) I went down a youtube hole trying to figure out what kind of diapers are best and a few youtubers said to have different options ready to try on your baby as he/she grows and then buy more of what works and sell what doesn't. Having a cover each from a few different brands & some other options makes sense to me as a place to start. When I know what to buy a proper stash of, I'll be looking for deals and coupons.
(3) I think we're going with prefolds & covers; the individual covers are cute and a good price for people looking for a simple, cute, single gift to buy from the registry. Same goes for buying individual pockets. We're taking a cloth diaper class at a local baby shop next month. I'm not sure if our family--mostly an hour plus away--will be able to order from the local shop, but we'll try to set that up; we did pay for the class, so I won't feel too bad if they don't have internet orders and we can't make that work. For the most part, we're using babyli.st
The foxes. I must have. What brand?
Same with the HP.
I used prefolds and covers in the beginning with my littles, but did find pockets better as a long term solution. The prefold diapers worked great too as doublers for overnight diapers that were pockets.
I am feeling my age again because girls, in my time, most of the diapers only came in plain colors!
I do have a thought. . .I don't know how hard this would be, but I will have at least a few pink and purples that I might be getting rid of. I would be happy to try to get them to anyone here!
Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09
Mia - 6/16/11
Surprise! due 2/23/17
What are the rest of you planning to do for the newborn phase if you're using pockets or all-in-one's? Will you be purchasing a newborn stash as well or just using disposables until the one size diapers fit right? A lot of the youtube videos I've watched about cloth diapering say that even though a lot of the diapers claim to fit as small as 6 lbs, that they really don't fit that great until the baby is more like 10 or 12 lbs so I'm debating whether or not it's worth it to get a newborn stash. I have a feeling our baby will be small but who knows.
I can only sort of justify it because I was a little 6 pound baby, so I have a good chance of a little baby (at least that's what I'm telling myself), and this is our first so there is potential to use them again for future babies.
Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09
Mia - 6/16/11
Surprise! due 2/23/17
My husband was onboard with the goal of saving money and wanting to know for sure if we did. So (yes I know this sounds crazy) we counted every diaper we washed/used. We may have forgotten to count a load on rare occasion, but in his first year we used 3,363 diapers.
The newborn phase was the cheapest and easiest. I used sized prefolds. Imagine Smart Fit sized prefolds are just as nice as Green Mountain but cheaper. And prefolds and covers worked the best for my big but skinny baby. One sized diapers didn't fit him well until about 6 months since his legs were too skinny.
But anyhow, breastfed or formula poo (before eating any baby food) is water soluble. Toss in the wash as is. Pre-rinse cycle, then wash on hot with detergent. Then since my son had sensitive skin, we did a second rinse. Regular Tide worked best for us to get all stink out and diapers nice a clean.
I used an open wet bag to store dirty diapers and washed the bag when washing diapers. Cloth wipes worked better and were easier. I loved California Baby Diaper Area Wash spray for messy bottoms. Spray bottom, wipe with cloth wipe. Easy peasy.
edited for typo