January 2017 Moms

Ask a STM+ Week of 9/5

Sorry this is late! Getting back in the bump grind after a long holiday weekend. What questions can the BTDT moms help with this week?

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Re: Ask a STM+ Week of 9/5

  • I got a question! We are doing cloth diapers and so far we've bought 30 of the ones that have snaps and grows with your child from newborn through potty training. I'm trying to figure out how many would be a good amount. One friend keeps saying I'll be going through 20+ diapers a day while Baby is a newborn (that is so intimidating), which means we'll be washing every. single. day.

    Guess my question is how many diapers did you go through the first few weeks/months and what would be a good amount so I can do laundry every other day (maybe even less! I hate laundry...)

    Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15

    1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!

    2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!

    3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21

    Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.

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  • @PMForbie FTM here, but I'm getting ~14 all-in-ones, then I will have 12 small prefolds, 24 medium prefolds, and about 6 diaper covers to get started. I feel like that's enough to get me through the first week, and worse case scenario, H or my mom or MIL can run to BRU and grab a couple of the all-in-ones.

    Follow up cloth question: so we have to wash each diaper at least 5 times before they can be used - prefolds need to be dried each time, and all-in-ones/pockets don't need to be. Can I wash/dry my cloth wipes with my prefolds? 

                                        
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  • 20+ a day sounds very unusual. That's changing baby almost every hour. I agree with pp that 10 is probably more realistic. We don't cloth diaper but I know my sister did. She usually ended up buying newborn disposables because the all in one's that grow with baby don't tend to run small enough. They also didn't make it to potty training (just an FYI). It all depends on the size and make of your babe. From what I've seen, cloth diapering can become a case where you are continuously buying different brands to try and trying different options. My guess is that you are probably good for now because you will accumulate more as baby grows.

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  • Ok so the illusive crib bedding... what do you all recommend? The registry associate at BRU had us register for waterproof fitted mattress pads, then a flannel mattress pad to go on top of that and then a sheet to cover it all. This seems like a lot to me but I'm no expert by any means, help please! 
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  • @BriannaE129129 Def get the waterproof mattress protector. I have no idea what the need of the flannel pad under the sheet would be for. I'm calling it unnecessary. 

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  • Ok so the illusive crib bedding... what do you all recommend? The registry associate at BRU had us register for waterproof fitted mattress pads, then a flannel mattress pad to go on top of that and then a sheet to cover it all. This seems like a lot to me but I'm no expert by any means, help please! 
    We just use a waterproof pad and a sheet.  I do like to have flannel sheets for the winter since baby isn't supposed to sleep with blankets until they're a year old!
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  • Ok so the illusive crib bedding... what do you all recommend? The registry associate at BRU had us register for waterproof fitted mattress pads, then a flannel mattress pad to go on top of that and then a sheet to cover it all. This seems like a lot to me but I'm no expert by any means, help please! 
    We had a waterproof mattress pad and a sheet over that. No idea why you would need the additional mattress pad.
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  • I think 10-12 diapers per day is pretty accurate, but 20 seems really excessive!
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  • We will be cloth diapering but we will use NB disposables.  Chances are my baby will be to small for AIOs and I dont think its a good investment to buy NB cloth diapers that will only be used for a few months at the most.  

    In regards to the crib sheets we did double up like PP said for middle of the night bedding changes.  Mattress Pad-sheet-matteess pad- sheet.  This way if you need to change bedding, you peel the top 2 layers and have a clean bed ready to go without all the hassle in the middle of the night .
    BFP #1 1/19/09 EDD: 9/29/09 Caiden arrived 9/20/09
    BFP #2 4/1/10 EDD: 12/7/10 Ethan surprised us on 11/19/10
    BFP # 3 EDD :10/24/12 Rylan was born 10/17/12
    BFP #4 4/13/14 EDD:12/22/14  Nolan made his entrance on 12/15/2014
    BFP#5 5/22/17 EDD:1/27/17  It's a GIRL!!!!



  • I'm a FTM, but I've heard from others that it's good to double up for middle of the night changes if need be. So pad, sheet, then pad and sheet.
    Me: 30 |  DH: 33
    Married: 8/11/2007

    DD: Born 2/3/17
    BFP#2: 5/3, EDD 1/10/19
  • 20 diapers definitely seems like a bit much although I'm sure there are days where you can come close to that! 

    I found covers to be easiest for us, because you could reuse the cover as long as it wasn't poopy or dirty, and just change the insert for a few diapers changes at least. We also have some pocket diapers, my husband thought those were easier to use when we were out of the house. 

    If the diaper was bought new by me, I would only wash it once before using. If I buy it used I would probably wash it a couple of times. I've always thrown everything in the dryer together, and never had an issue with the diapers. 

    We we are using disposables until baby fits the OS diapers since we already have them from DS I didn't want to invest in a newborn stash. 


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  • Seconding doubling up the crib bedding.  Having the waterproof flannel sheets around isn't a terrible idea for the rare occasion when you go through both mattress pads in one night, but they are not necessary day to day.

    Jan17 Sept Sig: Pumpkin Spice gone too far
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  • I'm on my 3rd kid and have only even had a sheet and mattress pad.  And we have never had an issue.  This reminds me of the princess and the pea  lol

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  • We just did the mattress protector pad and a sheet. 
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    Team Blue ~ Jan. 20
    DS born 9/4/12
    MMC July 2015
    MMC January 2016
  • Mattress protector + liner + sheet. That's the extent of our bedding. 
  • WholesomeWholesome member
    edited September 2016
    I'd say budget for 12 a day.  Sometimes you'll use less sometimes you baby will poop as soon as you change their diaper, because babies prefer to poop in recently changed diapers.  The great news is since you are cloth diapering from the get-go, you'll have less blowouts!  I've heard cloth contains these poopsplosions.

    (Not my kid, just a google image search)

    i didnt start cloth until my son was about 9 months old because I couldn't afford the upfront cost in the beginning.  We have 31 AppleCheeks diapers with bamboo prefolds that we use during the day and 6 SBish fitted diapers and 3 blueberry OS shells that we use for nighttime (i used to use wool soakers but the upkeep was too much for my lazy self); the day diapers weren't absorbent enough for nighttime.

    When your baby is older, diaper changes are not as frequent, we go through 5 diapers during the day typically.  An additional cost I didn't foresee is as your baby grows, you'll need to buy more absorbency if they are heavy wetters during the day.  I have to use 2 prefolds in every day diaper now, boosters weren't enough.  We use diaper inserts for poop catchers and not a diaper sprayer and it works great for us.


    (Only my AppleCheeks are pictured here)

    i love the amount we have.  30 diapers allows me to keep a handful in the diaper bag and have enough on hand so that I never run out for 4 days (we don't wait to wash all at the same time).  Sometimes I don't get around to prepping diapers right away so it's nice to have some leeway in the laundry cycle.

    i miss my cloth.  I haven't been able to cloth since I became pregnant because the cloth diaper pail smell is too much for me to handle right now.  It's not a poop smell, but a strong pee smell.  We've found an open pail is the least stinky, if you try to put a lid on it or zip it up, the smell brews and gets really freaking strong, like singe your nose hairs strong.  We use open wet bags (just basically a huge sack) in an open laundry basket that we store in the bathroom.  You'll want that bathroom fan for smell reasons and it makes it convenient for poop flushing and hand washing after anyway.

    do you plan to use cloth wipes as well?
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  • OMG @wholesome, you rock! you've given more information in one post than what I've been able to find through weeks of googling. It gets so overwhelming. What are cloth wipes? I haven't really thought much about wipes. I got some diapers second hand and they came with inserts and the lady gave us great advice on washing them and what creams worked best but nothing about wipes.

    We love the concept of cloth diapers, but are open to having the disposable as well for size reasons and traveling (I can't imagine going on a plane ride with cloth diapers and we are seriously considering visiting my family in Sept next year in England).

    Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15

    1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!

    2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!

    3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21

    Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.

  • @Wholesome I just copied and pasted this all into a document on my computer so I could find it again. So helpful, seriously.
  • @Wholesome you ROCK. I'm going to do what @poetryandoceans did & print your response. You've been so incredibly helpful & have amazing insights when it comes to cloth diapers. Cloth wipes sound right up our alley.

    Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15

    1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!

    2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!

    3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21

    Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.

  • @Wholesome what is your wipes solution? 

                                        
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  • -1 Huggies Disposable Wipes Container
    -13 Thirsties Fab Wipes (pop-folded in container)
    -2 C Hot water (to melt the coconut oil for combining)
    -2 T Coconut oil
    -2 T Castile Soap
    -5 drops lavender essential oil
    -2 drops Roman chamomile essential oil
    -1 drop melaleuca essential oil

    Pour over wipes slowly.  Heals food caused rashes.  Prevents diaper rashes.  All around fabulous.  If a stubborn rash happens, I make a solution without the water or soap with similar proportions.

    I know now some people only use lavender essential oils too (keep the same total amount of drops though) and they say that works just fine for them.  I like the Roman chamomile for extra soothing and the melaleuca for extra clean power.  I've never had this concoction mold over in my wipes containers, I prep all my wipes at once.  DoTERRA, my go to brand, had quality control issues with their Roman chamomile so got rid of their stock and haven't replenished t in forever, everything works just fine without it.  I even checked Young Living and they had the same problem (makes me wonder if they get from the same source...)

    ive tried to use the Castile soap that has essential oils in it and it was absolutely horrid smelling.  I have basically a whole jug of lavender that I'll never use now. 
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  • @Wholesome Thank you for taking the time to share all those tips and advice. Seriously helpful!
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  • I'm not sure this fits in this post but I'm putting it here anyway.  With my first two, I was in college when they were born/toddlers so I wasn't a SAHM but it was fairly similar to working part time out of the house and then doing paperwork after they were in bed. 
    Now i work full time in the schools (though I'm a speech therapist, not a teacher so schools aren't the only place I would work) and I DO get summers and holiday breaks off.  But this is stressful and exhausting being pregnant and working full time. I am seriously worried about how to swing this with a newborn (and two other kids) energy-wise. anybody BTDT?  Say something encouraging! 

    Im definitely not leaving the schools anytime soon because of our financial goals.  And it works SO well to be in the same place as my girls. 
    DD1 (2008) DD2 (2010), #3 (DH's first bio kid) on the way in January 2017!
    Almost always mobile bumping--forgive my typos. :)
  • @PMForbie I cloth diaper my daughter and we had only 24 to start and eventually ended up with 30ish, and 24  was just enough to get through 2 days. You will be fine, I promise! What brand did you go with? We use bum genius 4.0s

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  • I think we had 50 prefolds each in yellow and orange.  We went through 12-15/day so that way I did laundry every 3 days and still had a few to spare if I wanted to let them sit in the drier for a while. I don't think you NEED 50 but it was convenient for me and prefolds are pretty cheap.  When we switched to pockets she was going through maybe 7-8/day so we didn't need as many, I think I have 30 total.  We also eventually switched to sposies at night because we had issues with leaking, but she was probably 9mo by that point. 
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  • MrsRahlMrsRahl member
    edited September 2016
    @PMForbie to also chime in on the wipes, we just use those small cheap baby wash cloths and a small travel spray bottle filled with water. We've never made any fancy solution. We only use coconut oil for diaper cream. It is cheap, works like a dream, and most of the market are mostly coconut oil anyway, so save yourself the money! You can get it at aldi! We've never had rashes, so I can attest to it being a great moisture barrier. I also use it on my pregnant the belly lol.

    I have 2 large planet wise wet bags and a thin garbage can i use as a diaper pail behind my bathroom door. It id a vreat size. Ill have tk get a picture. When that is full or 2 or 3 days goes by (whatever comes first) that load goes in, I dump all the diapers and that bag in the wash, then I put the clean one in the pail, so I always have one clean, and one in the pail. I also carry all my clean diapers upstairs in the clean wet bag as a laundry bag lol. We have 2 wet bags for going out. I prefer the bumgenius ones because they are super thin and small, could hold a satchel of water, and they have a strap so you can strap and snap it to whatever. I would strap mine on the outside of my diaper bag when it got full while out so it didn't take up more room in my diaper bag.

    I don't like to do cloth on vacation because I don't know the water content, if it's hard or soft, etc. And also we don't always travel where there is laundry, so we just use Huggies snugglers for a week, then go back to business as usual. 

    My wash routine is precast on warm with a small bit of tide powder, then regular hot wash with full scoop of tide, then after that whole wash and rinse cycle done like normal laundry would be, do an extra cold rinse to eliminate any residual soap. Soap left behind is the number one cause of diapers becoming stinker faster because that residue will hold into your diapers and then hold onto the yuck.

    We use a cloth diaper sprayer, again bum genius brand, and I love it!! I couldn't live without it. My daughters poops are never very solid because she eats so much fruit (she's 2) so liners never worked for us. The pressure is also good to blast the poop off. I then just drag the can over, loft out the wet diaper and plop straight into my wet bag. 

    I echo @Wholesome about the not seeing costs for extra absorbency. I got all my diapers at my shower, so it wasn't a big expense for me, but if you go that route also register for hemp and bamboo doublers. Any brand will work but I like moraki. I can take pics of all of this after my daughter wakes up. 

    Lastly, so that over think cloth. The basics are I stuff some diapers, throw it in my kid with coconut oil and a wet wash cloth for wipes. Go spray off the poop or dump into wet bag. Done. Wash every 2 or 3 days. It isn't complicated, I promise!  Don't overthink it! Use tide powder, don't use anything petroleum based, wash with that routine we all described, and you are golden.

    Oh!! And if you're breastfeeding, you don't have to spray off the poop! It washes right out without spraying it off because it is thinner than formula fed poop! Save yourself a step if you can! 
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  • Some other thoughts that just came to mind is now we only use 3 to 4 diapers a day with our toddler, so if you have 30, you won't have to assume you'd have to buy more if you have 2 in diapers. My daughter also won't potty train faster, so the whole they will train faster in cloth wasn't true for us. I was hoping, but it wasn't the case. 
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  • THANK YOU @MrsRahl, that's wonderful advice! My MIL got us 24 cloth diapers from an online yard sale, so I'm not sure what the brand is of those. I just ordered some from amazon since they had a sale and I have no idea what brand they are, but I just got them last night. They came with 6 bamboo inserts, which seem really nice! I was so excited when I saw the package.

    Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15

    1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!

    2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!

    3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21

    Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.

  • @PMForbie don't sweat the brands too much. Some people love different things. Having a variety is sometimes good so you find out what you like. I however liked having all one kind mostly so that stuffing pockets was easier beings they were all the same. Take a picture and share it when you get them and we can help you sort it out :)
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  • edited September 2016

    Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15

    1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!

    2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!

    3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21

    Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.

  • @zdmd_14 I can't really give much advice as I have only have one at home with a 2nd on the way. A lot of people I work with have 2-3 kids and I know it takes them some organization and preparation but they manage. They do a lot of food prep on weekends so meal prep during the week is quick and easy and having it planned out means healthier options. I live by my calendar and reminders on my phone to make sure I'm where I need to be now with various doctor appointments for my son so I imagine my calendar will just become more a part of my life :) I think one thing that is important (from watching others) is to make sure you take some "me" time to make sure you are good. Whether it's a massage or a night out with friends, just something that doesn't involve the kids. Yes, one more thing to schedule but important. Sorry I can't give any real life experience but I know it's very possible, just takes a little time getting adjusted.

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  • @zdmd_14 we can do this!  I have not BTDT but we can do this.   DD is 4 and DS is 2 and I work full time and will continue to.   I meal plan so that I know there is at least food at my house that I can make quickly.  I also keep ingredients for homemade mac-n-cheese on hand just in case b/c they will always eat that.   I try to get the bags ready the night before and I keep only the necessities in it.   Pretty much diapers, wipes and snacks (only if we are going somewhere) in it.   I am not sure how the newborn/infant phase is going to go this time alone but I am hopeful that I will still have time and sanity to enjoy the baby snuggles.   I am thinking of keeping my kids in daycare a few days a week while I am on maternity leave just to give me some time to adjust.   
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  • Now I want to get out my newborn diapers and start prepping them!  Should I strip the prefolds since some of them haven't been used in 2 years?
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  • @zdmd_14 and @CoUnTryBB1I know that I am sending my son to daycare while I'm on maternity leave. I don't want to pay for his spot while I'm off if he's not going but I don't want to risk losing it. But more importantly, I think it's important to have some bonding time with baby, especially to help establish the breastfeeding relationship. My son likes his routine and likes his friends at daycare. I imagine a couple days a week I will come pick him up early so we can go do something together but I think keeping his routine in place is important for him.

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  • For those considering cloth diapering, I recommend doing a diaper trial, like the one I did through Diaper Junction, to see what you like best... I think Kelly's Closet has one too.  Through the trial and just outright purchasing singles to try, I ended up trying Blueberry OS pocket, Moraki, SoftBums Omni, BumGenius 4.0 and SustainableBabyish Fitteds before settling on sized AppleCheeks for the day and SBishs for night.  There were certain things I liked about each brand.  Every person has their preferences and sometimes those preferences change as their baby grows and can even between kids and gender.  We really were only interested in pockets because other family members wouldn't have as big of a learning curve when changing diapers but the drying time wouldn't take forever because the absorbency inserts dry seperately (all-in-ones are essentially exactly like disposables but washable).  I was really interested in doing flats or even prefolds with shells but my husband wasn't onboard with all the folding - stuffing diapers is already too much for him.  Haha.

    i know my wipes solution looks complicated but it's essentially just water with a little coconut oil and extremely mild soap - topped off with 8 drops of essential oil.  It smells like heaven too. :)

    looking into cloth can be really overwhelming, when I first started looking, I found these videos to be extremely helpful in helping me zero in on what would work for our family (it's a little dated but the basics haven't really changed):
    https://youtu.be/GBz_UPww4CU
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  • Carly79 said:
    @zdmd_14 and @CoUnTryBB1I know that I am sending my son to daycare while I'm on maternity leave. I don't want to pay for his spot while I'm off if he's not going but I don't want to risk losing it. But more importantly, I think it's important to have some bonding time with baby, especially to help establish the breastfeeding relationship. My son likes his routine and likes his friends at daycare. I imagine a couple days a week I will come pick him up early so we can go do something together but I think keeping his routine in place is important for him.
    @carly79 @countrybb1
    luckily my girls are school age so they'll be gone during the day regardless.  Other than getting out of the house in the morning (post maternity leave) I'm not *too* worried about the transition with the girls.  But I am SO worried about being able to both do my job well and be a decent mom.  :/
    its started turning into....not panic attacks persay, but just feeling totally paralyzed when it's time to leave in the morning :(
    DD1 (2008) DD2 (2010), #3 (DH's first bio kid) on the way in January 2017!
    Almost always mobile bumping--forgive my typos. :)
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