July 2018 Moms
danrud36
member
Cloth Diaper Mama Check In!
danrud36
member
Any other cloth diaper mama's? I know there has to be some! Would love to have a weekly check in to see how your stash is looking or for any mamas thinking about cloth Diapering and need some advice!!
Re: Cloth Diaper Mama Check In!
I started at 5 months with my daughter. We went through tons of trial and error and totally restashed 3 times
what would you recommend for newborn all in ones?
ETA the newborns in Lotus and Topaz colors (honestly my two favorites) are only $11.96 right now!!! if I wasn't broke till payday I'd buy four!
First, if you've done regular diapers before, know cloth are not the same in how frequently you can change your kid. You know how in regular diapers you can kind of fudge it if they only pee a little, and wait until the next pee? Or, like my hospital told me, you don't have to wipe every diaper if it's just pee? With CDs you have to change them every time they're a little bit wet, and you have to wipe their little booty totally dry every time. I didn't know this at first, and my week-old daughter got a raging, angry diaper rash because I left wetness next to her teeny tiny bottom. I figured it out quickly, and honestly she never got a rash again. CDs are GREAT for diaper rash, so long as your kiddo's not sitting in them damp. You can mitigate the wetness with microfiber lining a bit, but honestly you are regularly checking for wetness and changing diapers at the least amount of damp. The upside is the baby can really feel it, so they let you know when they're wet and uncomfortable. That was just something I didn't know when we started, and I would have loved to be told as part of the consideration process.
And I just wanted to put in a plug for Grovia if you all have never tried them. They're a lesser known brand, and have some amazing innovations in their diapers. I've tried most of the major brands; did a lot of bumgenius, several rumparoos, a few thirsties, but tended to buy more heavily on the eco-friendly materials side. I loved Moraki for their materials and mission, but found them a bit bulky and for sure cost prohibitive. Grovia lets you get a bulk discount, whic helps the wallet. If you've never checked out their O.N.E. diaper it really is amazing, and great for customizing absorbency. It came out when we were close to done with CDs and I wish I'd gotten more of them earlier. I love the button panel and fit on their normal AIOs because I never had trouble fitting tiny jeans over them, they fit so slim. I've heard they're not the best for super chunky babies, long-term, because of the fit, and some moms with big kids would have to other diapers for later years. But I had a normal sized kid, and she could fit them until she was two, and prob beyond. (At that point we were moving and I was NOT doing cloth during that three-month process.)
As far as laundry goes. It's not much. It's an extra load of laundry every 2-3 days deoending on stash size!
Also, could you please tell me what you feel are the best to use for newborns and later years. Any tips would be extremely helpful and appreciated. Thank you!
Married: 4/5/13
"You know that place between sleep and awake,
that place where you can still remember dreaming?
That's where I will always love you.
That's where I'll be waiting."
~Peter Pan
*TW*
BFP #2: 10/29/17 MMC dx @ 9 weeks
BFP #3: 2/2/18 MC 2/7/18
BFP #4: 3/2/18 MC 3/9/18
RPL testing and hysteroscopy: all normal
BFP #5: 4/1/18 MMC dx @ 14 weeks ----> genetically normal girl
Hysteroscopy to remove scar tissue 9/28
BFP #6 11/5/18 EDD 7/20/19
BFP #7 12/8/2021 EDD 8/22/2022
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1528816637432945&ref=content_filter
Link for the auction group.
Brands are so hard to recommend. First I would suggest researching what type of diaper you want to use. Find some YouTube videos that explain the different ones. It IS very overwhelming at first. I remember feeling like I had no idea if I was ever going to get it but it does become very second nature after a while. Not even that long. You just have to take the plunge and do it! Newborn is a tricky stage and a lot of people choose to just use sposies in lieu of getting a nb stash however I think prefolds are an excellent option for newborns because they are inexpensive and you go through so many. The bulk of my newborn stash is going to consist of these as well as workhorses. GMD is where most people buy their prefolds and workhorses. https://www.greenmountaindiapers.com the only thing is you have to learn how to find and snappi or pin prefolds but it isn't difficult. A few YouTube videos and some practice and you will get it. Workhorses are basically already folded and snapped/unwrapped prefolds. Prefolds and workhorses are not waterproof and require a PUL cover to be waterproof but for me while I'm at home because your changing so often I just stay aware of when they wet and don't use a cover at home. For on the go I will buy some nb PUL diapers. Some inexpensive options that I like are THX and little joeys. Both are AIOs and require no stuffing. Very simple!
Now if we want to get into cloth wipes I'll link you to my favorite store for them! https://etsy.me/2yRhj0C she sells 30 for 10$ of the 1ply I bought 90 when I first started and aside from loosing some theu lasted my entire 2.5 years of Diapering. With my wipes I just wet with water, popup fold them and put them in a buggies wipes container and they function just like disposables. My husband wasn't sure about wipes when we switched so I had to promise to make them just as easy as sposies and he found they are even easier! With sposies you usually wipes and change and roll the wipe up into the diaper. If you use disposable wipes you have to throw it away and then throw the diaper in the pail. If you use cloth wipes you can just roll it up all together and throw it in your pail. Easy peasy.
Pails: there are different options for pails. I used a flip top trash can with a pail liner. I had 2 planet wise pail liners that I rotated through. Another option is the large hangijng wet bag. I don't prefer this option becaude with diapers, the way to keep the stink away is air. It sounds kinda backwards but you want the most open option possible. If your diapers are closed up they are going to stink.
My advice is start with looking in YouTube. Find some cloth diaper for beginners videos and get acquainted with the different types of cloth diapers and decide what you might want to use. Pockets, All in one, All in 2, Fitteds, hybrid fitteds. Those are the main types. Then there are also hybrid systems like Gdiapers and flips that allow you to use washable and disposable inserts. Let me know If you have any more questions. I can do some more posts and what not or if you have any specific questions!
I’ve been cloth diapering number 1 for almost 2 years and plan on continuing with our second! My stash is HUGE lol I am in a local BST group and have snagged a ton of great barely used or never used pocket diapers and inserts including about 12 ADORABLE little girl diapers that my husband refuses to allow our son to wear lol He has two pink ones that I use and I guess that’s the quota of “girlie” diapers he’s allowed to use
Kylie M.
Baby #1 Born 12.16.2015
Baby #2 Due 7.13.2018
(For the record, prefolds are like old fashioned diapers; layers and layers of soft cotten folded into a rectangle and stitched together. You fold them on the baby, use a plastic snap to keep them together, and put on a waterproof cover. It's actually really easy once you practice once of twice.)
The reason for this is newborn diapers will get the least amount of use, time-wise, and you need more of them per day than you will when your baby is bigger. Depending on how big your kid is when born and how fast they grow they may grow out of them in a few weeks. My girl was 7lbs 2oz when born, and was in the lower percentile for weight so we used them for about three months. After she grew out of them, they became the BEST burp cloths, napkins, paper towels, etc ever. So you don't stop using them, whereas newborn All-in-Ones (AIO) or All-in-Twos (AI2) go in a drawer.
Also, if you're considering a diaper service, most in my experience only do prefolds. Diaper services take away some of the cost savings, but can be really nice in the beginnibg, especially if it's only until you switch to a different kind when bigger.
And you will want to switch, at some point. Prefolds are great, and cost-effective, but are bulky comparatively. A friend of mine did prefolds until a year and a half through a diaper service, until I let her borrow a few of mine. She noticed right away an increase in her daughter's mobility and speed, because she had better range of motion and less weight.
This time around I do have a bunch of newborn AIOs, because I really enjoyed having one less step once we switched (just snapping on one diaper instead of putting on the prefold, then snapping on a cover), but that's because I've just bought them up over time, and from friends who didn't use/need theirs. It would have been financially burdonsome to buy them while getting the bigger diapers and all the other stuff we needed for the baby. I'm not at all saying they're bad to have, just much more money for a very small amount of use.
First, going online at first was overwhelming for me, mostly because there seemed to be so many ways of diapering/washing/storing, and everyone insisted their way was the way you HAD to do it. I really like the tone of the moms on this thread, even in saying brands are hard to recommend, because really there is no one-size-fits-all way to do this. It's all about what you like, your budget, your water/wash machine, and your lifestyle making cloth diapering work for you. Ask questions, but don't feel like you have to do what one person says jus because they say they're way is the only way.
(That being said, one thing you have to do is use a natural, non-barrier diaper cream. Anything designed to keep moisture out like desiten will ruin your diapers.)
Second, I didn't take into account how much space cloth diapers take up when choosing my first diaper bag. I went with one with lots of pockets/compartments because that's what I liked in a purse. I could fit two cloth diapers in there. Big, open pockets are best, because you can fit about ten disposable diapers in the space two or three clots take up. Plan accordingly.
Third, make cloth diapers (CD) work for you and your life. They shouldn't be a burden. I wanted to CD because of cost savings, early potty training, and saving the earth, but I didn't want to be fanatical about it. We took disposables on vacations, any time I was going to be out of the house more than half a day, and kept a few in case I just couldn't get to folding laundry fast enough. I tried the swimmers and honestly didn't like them, so we used the disposable Dory's with everyone else. If you want to CD 24/7 and never have anything unnatural touch your baby's booty, my hats off to you. But don't let anyone make you feel badly, or like if you don't do 100% why bother. Figure out what works for you, and do that.
@kmac103 Hahaha that's so funny! I deliberately bought "boy" AND "Girl " patterns last time because I love seeing little girls in robots and boys in flowers. If my next is a boy, he's wearing the pink with the blue, and the flowers with the sharks!
Going online IS super overwhelming. I almost cried and quit because it is just so much info. Then picking and buying your first stash. Start by figuring out what system will work for you via YouTube. Most start with pockets and/or AIOs. After that dive into brands. If you let me know your budget I can help with diaper brands to keep you inside your budget. The sticker shock gets people. My first stash was about 500$ but you have to remember that that is IT. No matter how many kids you have that is IT. Except for washing expenses which I minimal thays it. Unless yoir insane like me and prefer diapers thag cost way more than I should spend for something to catch poo
I second using prefolds for newborns. Even the ones that say they should fit eight pounders are still pretty bulky for newborns.
Married: 4/5/13
"You know that place between sleep and awake,
that place where you can still remember dreaming?
That's where I will always love you.
That's where I'll be waiting."
~Peter Pan
*TW*
BFP #2: 10/29/17 MMC dx @ 9 weeks
BFP #3: 2/2/18 MC 2/7/18
BFP #4: 3/2/18 MC 3/9/18
RPL testing and hysteroscopy: all normal
BFP #5: 4/1/18 MMC dx @ 14 weeks ----> genetically normal girl
Hysteroscopy to remove scar tissue 9/28
BFP #6 11/5/18 EDD 7/20/19
BFP #7 12/8/2021 EDD 8/22/2022
That was me! Krista is my friend.
Kylie M.
Baby #1 Born 12.16.2015
Baby #2 Due 7.13.2018
Kylie M.
Baby #1 Born 12.16.2015
Baby #2 Due 7.13.2018