Thanks ladies! We currently use covers and flour sack towels, similar to pre folds. Might just order pre folds this time around and wait until baby fits the covers we already have. Some of the diapers are so cute though, I might have to add to our collection!
@nolemomma14 and @CJS72410 I definitely recommend folding sized prefolds and flats and investing in some nb sized covers. The OS didn't fit DD until 2 months.
Bumping this because there were some cloth questions in the STM thread and there is a lot of great info here, and figured it would be a good resource to come back to in the future!
I know this is an old question but we definitely used prefolds and newborn covers for a good 3-4mo because my baby was small. Not premie or anything, she just has a small bum. I am really glad we did get the newborn size because we got in to the habit of using them right off the bat and didn't get lazy using sposies all the time. I think it would have made it harder if we had to transition from sposies to cloth after a few months. Also, that's when you are going through like 12 diapers a day (at least we did, she was a big pooper) so we saved a ton of money and waste. Plus the prefolds are super useful after you're done using them as diapers, cleaning up puke in the middle of the night, drying off slides at the park after it's rained, etc. I still use them regularly and DD is 2.5.
I love my Applecheeks because they are fitted. However, they just released a one size version I'm excited to try out. I order my Applecheeks from Canada because We use a diaper sprayer and spray pail. We have multiple wet bags and pail bags. Recommend multiples because when one is in the wash it's helpful to have an extra. I wash all of our cloth diapers in Tide Original. It's worked the best.
The thing about going cloth is that it doesn't have to be a all or nothing option. Every now and then when convenient we use Seventh Generation sposies or Luvs when needed.
With my daughter, we didn't start cloth until she was about 2 months old. I was concerned about trying to juggle laundry on top of having a newborn. We used disposables for the newborn stage and used honest co disposables at night until she potty trained at 18months. This time, we are starting cloth from the beginning. Right now I have about 20 newborn fitteds so far, and all the "one size" fitteds from my daughter. I've sold off all our pul because I much prefer natural fibers and we will be using wool as covers. I might get a couple pul just to have as backup though. I LOVE sustainablebabyish for their wool and fitteds but Twinkie tush are probably my top for fitteds. Grovia were my favorite pul just because of how trim they were. We sacrificed a few BG pockets covers for swim diapers but I wasn't a fan of them for actual diapers.
Question about inserts! We use 90% covers with flour sack towels as inserts. My son was 7 months when we started cloth and it worked really well. What were/are your favorite inserts for a newborn!? Looking into getting some prefolds since you can get them smaller than flour sack towels I feel like they might work better when baby is little.
Thank you for asking this, @nolemomma14! I am so torn on what type of insters to use (and honestly, I have not done enough research yet and I still don't have my husband fully on board).
I would also love to know from cloth diapering mamas--so, you're out for the day with friends and baby and you have your diaper bag and all that and let's say your baby goes through multiple diapers (as I hear babies do). Do you just carry around the dirty cloth diaper with you all day? Is there a special smell proof bag you can bring with you for them?
@newyearsbaby5 they sell wet bags that vary in size so you can store diapers while you are out. Depending on how long we will be out, I will bring one or two. Typically one is plenty though. Then just empty when you get home!
FTM, so no actual experience, but I've heard wonderful things about Green Mountain Diaper prefolds. I have a stash of those prefolds in unbleached cotton and will use thirsties and flip covers. I also have registered for some of the bumgenius all in ones and will gets a fuzzibuns system (7 AIOs, a few inserts, a portable wet bag) soon.
As for toting around dirty diapers, I'm not 100% sure but I think you put them in a "wet bag" that can hold a few. You would wash the wet bag along with your next load. I'm not sure about the smell, haha!
@newyearsbaby5, I have simple smaller black wet bags for the diaper bag. I always had about 4-5 prepped diapers neatly stored in the diaper bag, when they were soiled, I just plopped them in this bag, zipped it up and didn't have to worry about any leaks or smell seeping out. I have 5 of these so I always have a clean one for new days on the go. (I think this is the one I got, it's basic, non-name brand and black to clearly distinguish it from any other bags I may have in the diaper bag -- everyone in my circle understands that black bags mean dirty diapers.
I also have this one one to hold prepped cloth diaper wipes for the diaper bag, instead of hauling around the big container I have at home. When the wipea are used, I put them with the dirty diaper in the black wet bag. I only have one of these as it doesn't really get dirty. It smells wonderful because it isn't 100% waterproof (like the wet bag above) and my wipes slowly lose wetness but it's okay because I don't keep many in them, just a days worth at a time.
A little off topic. I'm going to have a baby party for this baby even though it's my second. I asked my mother in law to call it a diaper party because mainly I just want AppleCheeks size 1s and diapering accessories. They make a one-size diaper now but I still prefer to get the small size since I already have a stash of 2s. I didn't start cloth with my son until he was 9 months old and started him off in size 2 (and they were a little too big to start with). ...I can't wait until we find out what the sex is so I can pick our colors. I may be a little too excited.
If you don't have the cloth fever yet, it will kick in the first time you see your squish with a bubble butt cloth diaper and fall in love with the process - and are proud of yourself for proving all the naysayers wrong when they said you wouldn't stick with the program.
I use cd with my son and have been since he was about 1.5 months. It was a little too much more me to take on in the beginning but this time I'd like to start right away.
I love my bum genius but my go to diapers are the alva diapers. If you haven't checked them out yet, do! They have AOIs, pockets, covers...everything. And all for cheap! I have been using alvas for over a year and they have really held up great. I do recommend ordering the 5 layer charcoal bamboo insert though. Most absorbent and since they are grey you never see the stains. It's all about the insert people! Www.alvababy.com
I also use tide ultra. I had used Green Mountain and what ever detergent made the diapers smell like "Gummi bears" but nothing got them as clean as tide. The green Mountain actually was not even getting all the newborn poop off and I thought my diapers were stained for a while.
I am trying to finish out my stash and im wondering if anyone had luck with Black Friday or cyber Monday in the past? I haven't really seen any promos from the diaper sources I usually use.
Also, if anyone's thinking about using a cloth diaper sprayer and hasn't installed theirs yet, I'd totally recommend getting it out of the way now. We went to install ours last weekend and found out we needed some sort of special plumbing piece to make our sprayer compatible with our nursery toilet (not sure what the piece was since my OH installed it, but it sounded like a couple of frustrated trips to Home Depot happened to get what was ultimately like a $5 purchase). Not something you want to be dealing with once you've already got a baby around.
We used cloth diapers exclusively on our son until we couldn't keep up with changing the cloth before they leaked. This started around 16 mos. I know that there are ways to get around this problem with mixing different liners and changing them more often but I never put that much effort into it. I will use cloth with our daughter too. I use Best Bottem diapers. They are adjustable in size due to the snaps and they have a really high resale value. What is neat is if the diaper is just wet, you can wipe out the shell and snap a new liner in and it saves you some laundry.
I just get creeped out washing poopy diapers in the same spot i wash my clothes. Idk im a clean freak so I'm sure I'm just being irrational.
This seems like a really unnecessary and judgmental comment in a thread dedicated to something where most of the participants are already committed to what they're doing. What were you hoping to achieve by posting this?
I just get creeped out washing poopy diapers in the same spot i wash my clothes. Idk im a clean freak so I'm sure I'm just being irrational.
Your baby will probably poop directly on your clothes, probably more than once. Babies poop on their clothes, on blankets and bedding and towels and god knows what else before they're potty trained. So whether you cloth diaper or not, there will be literal shit in your washer.
I just get creeped out washing poopy diapers in the same spot i wash my clothes. Idk im a clean freak so I'm sure I'm just being irrational.
Your baby will probably poop directly on your clothes, probably more than once. Babies poop on their clothes, on blankets and bedding and towels and god knows what else before they're potty trained. So whether you cloth diaper or not, there will be literal shit in your washer.
Good point i didn't mean it to be offensive to those that do it or planning to...I'm a neat freak/germophobe (and yes I'm a nurse). I take my scrubs off at work and have a special spot in the garage for my scrubs if that tells you anything. When it comes time for washing i wash only my scrubs and that's it. So it's a me thing rather than it being an issue. I realize it's my problem and kudos to those that do cloth diapers as it is much better for our environment.
@KarliQ88 But you get that it's offensive coming onto this thread, where we have all decided to cloth diaper, and just comment that you're creeped out by doing the very thing that we're discussing?
ETA- Sorry, this was redundant. It just really rubbed me the wrong way to come here and it be insinuated that because we'll have diapers in our wash that we're dirty people.
Yeah I think there's a really weird implication here in continuing to try to rationalize with "I'm a neat freak" because it really heavily implies that we're all really dirty and gross or something or that we don't appreciate things being clean as well. Cloth diapering != germs everywhere. At least no more than disposable diapers. This is a really bad misconception.
Yeah I think there's a really weird implication here in continuing to try to rationalize with "I'm a neat freak" because it really heavily implies that we're all really dirty and gross or something or that we don't appreciate things being clean as well. Cloth diapering != germs everywhere. At least no more than disposable diapers. This is a really bad misconception.
To add onto this, did you know that it's against the law to throw diapers that still have poop in them away in a landfill? It's often how things like E. coli get into the water. So technically EVERYONE should be spaying their diapers into the toilet before disposing/washing them.
@KarliQ88 But you get that it's offensive coming onto this thread, where we have all decided to cloth diaper, and just comment that you're creeped out by doing the very thing that we're discussing?
ETA- Sorry, this was redundant. It just really rubbed me the wrong way to come here and it be insinuated that because we'll have diapers in our wash that we're dirty people.
NO. Not implying anyone is "dirty" it's just why i choose to use disposable. Normally I'm very mindful of environment and i was open to the idea of cloth for that reason but the irrational germophobe in me can't get over it. Trust me i know the issue is myselfand tbat I'm irrational about this. We are all entitled to our opinions on any parenting topic whether it be cloth vs disposable or breastmilk vs formula etc. So i do thank you for pointing out that it may have come across very wrong but i honestly didn't mean it to sound bad against anyone. I don't think any less of anyone who cloth diapers. I admire. I could have said nothing or stated it in a better way so I'm sorry...i didn't mean to offend anyone.
Re: Cloth diapering?
The thing about going cloth is that it doesn't have to be a all or nothing option. Every now and then when convenient we use Seventh Generation sposies or Luvs when needed.
I would also love to know from cloth diapering mamas--so, you're out for the day with friends and baby and you have your diaper bag and all that and let's say your baby goes through multiple diapers (as I hear babies do). Do you just carry around the dirty cloth diaper with you all day? Is there a special smell proof bag you can bring with you for them?
I feel like I need to read a book on all of this.
As for toting around dirty diapers, I'm not 100% sure but I think you put them in a "wet bag" that can hold a few. You would wash the wet bag along with your next load. I'm not sure about the smell, haha!
A small one from bum genius for when we will be out for a few hours:
https://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?products_id=6514&gclid=CjwKEAjwj92_BRDQ-NuC98SZkWYSJACWmjhlNGGmwntrYTAI06dxzCyJpkUvQQwzwnJjGOrUpJ1D9RoCXR7w_wcB
A larger bag for overnight trips:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kanga-Care-Wet-Bag/52100762?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222228040860476&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=97258569752&wl4=pla-198788032352&wl5=9017037&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=52100762&wl13=&veh=sem
And for home I made a wet bag/pail liner that fits in a trash can.
We just wash them with the diapers and have no issues.
BFP#5 5/22/17 EDD:1/27/17 It's a GIRL!!!!
(I think this is the one I got, it's basic, non-name
brand and black to clearly distinguish it from any other bags I may have in the diaper bag -- everyone in my circle understands that black bags mean dirty diapers.
https://www.diaperjunction.com/diaper-junction-cloth-diaper-wet-bag.html#addImages
I also have this one one to hold prepped cloth diaper wipes for the diaper bag, instead of hauling around the big container I have at home. When the
wipea are used, I put them with the dirty diaper in the black wet bag. I only have one of these as it doesn't really get dirty. It smells wonderful because it isn't 100% waterproof (like the wet bag above) and my wipes slowly lose wetness but it's okay because I don't keep many in them, just a days worth at a time.
https://www.diaperjunction.com/planet-wise-wipes-pouch-and-wipes.html
If you don't have the cloth fever yet, it will kick in the first time you see your squish with a bubble butt cloth diaper and fall in love with the process - and are proud of yourself for proving all the naysayers wrong when they said you wouldn't stick with the program.
I love my bum genius but my go to diapers are the alva diapers. If you haven't checked them out yet, do! They have AOIs, pockets, covers...everything. And all for cheap! I have been using alvas for over a year and they have really held up great. I do recommend ordering the 5 layer charcoal bamboo insert though. Most absorbent and since they are grey you never see the stains. It's all about the insert people! Www.alvababy.com
I also use tide ultra. I had used Green Mountain and what ever detergent made the diapers smell like "Gummi bears" but nothing got them as clean as tide. The green Mountain actually was not even getting all the newborn poop off and I thought my diapers were stained for a while.
Yay fluff butts!
DD2: EDD 1/16/17 - Born 1/12/17 at 39w3d
ETA- Sorry, this was redundant. It just really rubbed me the wrong way to come here and it be insinuated that because we'll have diapers in our wash that we're dirty people.