Cloth Mama's unite!
I love talking cloth diapering, so here is a place for anyone thinking about CD'ing to ask questions and get some recommendations.
What works well for you, what to stay away from, and the infamous "But what do you do with the poop?!" questions!
There will be some good sales going on for Earth Day, so we could share any good deals as well!
Re: Cloth Diapering
There appear to be so many different kinds of cloth diapers...
Is there a way to get an insert or fold-up cloth to put inside of like...a soft shell or something? I seriously just don't understand like...logistically...how these diapers work. I just know that we'll be using them.
Tell me about these and these from Amazon. Explain them to me. I don't understand.
The hardest part is holding back from all the adorable covers that they keep releasing!
ETA:
The one thing that taught me the most about CD is actually YouTube. My favorite channel is Naturally Brittany (Formerly know as Naturally Thrifty Mom)
Here is the link to her cloth diaper 101 playlist. She goes over all the different types and her wash routines, EVERYTHING.
I suck at linking. You can also search for her channel "Naturally Brittany" and the playlist is called Cloth Diapering 101.
@sliztee - i have had some leaking with the alvababy covers, but my kid pees way more than your average kid. Usually the all in one style comes with a (often but not always) micro-fiber insert that you snap in, however you are also able to use those covers with cotton/bamboo prefolds if you prefer, or if you end up using a service. (i have a friend who does the same thing because her daughter had a weird reaction to microfiber)
There are a few different kinds of CDs.
1. Prefolds. These are the "old fashioned" type that your grandma used. They are a thick piece of cloth that you fold and secure using pins or something called a Snappi and then cover with a waterproof cover. These are generally the most cost effective option but they have a slight learning curve. I used these my first time around.
2. Fitted. These look like diapers but need a cover.
3. Pockets. These look like a diaper cover, but instead of a prefold, there are absorbent inserts that you stuff inside an internal pocket. Easy for a babysitter to figure out if you pre-stuff them. No cover needed.
4. All in Ones (AIOs). These are the most expensive option but easiest to use. They are literally just a reusable diaper. No need for a separate cover, insert, or anything extra.
When I used CDs, I just put the pew diapers in a regular diaper pail/garbage can that had a waterproof liner. Before solids food is given to baby, breast milk poop is totally water soluble, and those diapers can go right in the washing machine with no rinsing. Once baby starts eating solid food, poop gets a little grosser and so I would use a diaper sprayer that attached to the toilet to rinse the diaper before putting it in the pail.
greenmountaindiapers.com is a good resource for more information
And if your baby gets rashes from wetness, cutting up some fleece to make a liner works great.
I did like covers and prefolds for the early days. Rumparooz newborn covers are awesome and i love the feel of the material compared to other brands. I like prefolds from green mountain diapers.
Edit: i love my cloth pads and diva cup! Have you started thinking about a post partum stash? Do you already have one?
mama. epicurean. plant lover. wine enthusiast.
I dont have a sprayer or anything. We use disposable liners and they’ve worked out great.
We plan to use cloth again. This time we have about twenty four prefold that I have already prepped for use and plan to add more to the stash.
Anyone else part of the cloth diapering mama's group on face book?
For a detailed explainer, I recommend the Cloth Diapering 101 series by Jaimee Gleisner on YouTube.
@okfine1more, it's still around, but very dead. https://forums.thebump.com/categories/diapering You can find it under the Specialty section of the forums.
Additonally, some women use wool covers. These do not come in a pocket form. They are just a cover made of 100% wool that has been lanolized that is put over absorbent material.
For one baby plan on 8 diaper changes a day for a newborn. And for newborns you'll probably want to get newborn size. One size diapers don't fit until about 10lbs, and only once their tiny newborn chicken legs fatten up. If you want to wash every other day, 16-20 is a good number.
Dandelion - October 2018
Angel "Aurora" - July 2020
Angel "Sawyer" - May 2021
Angel "Maxine" - January 2022
Angel "Violet" - March 2022
Baby Dove due March 2023
My aunt CD with her twins for a few months, but was staying at home. She said it was tough time wise.
DH and I both work 40 hour weeks and cloth diaper DS. The Daycare we send him to only asked tat we provide a wet bag.
I don't find it takes up much time. I suff the pocket diapers at night while watching tv.
Talk with the Daycare about using cloth (worst they'll say is they won't do it).
i worked full time and our daycare used our cloth. I chose to send AIO and already stuffed pocket diapers to keep it simple for them. I've heard of many daycares agreeing to CD after they've seen how easy many kinds are now. Definitely ask this question early to see if they'll do it and on what terms. I will say the only annoying part was later on when my kiddo ate real food I'd have to go through the wetbag and find the poop diapers to spray each night. Yuck, but doable.
As for cloth diapering two kids, there's actually no reason they can't share the same stash. With our one size diapers I kind of had an idea of which diapers for which kid so I didn't have to constantly change the rise snap setting but I washed them all together.
We started CDing our DD right after the meconium poop and she's almost 17mo now. No regrets. Hubby was all for it for saving money. But then when the pooped changed after DD started solids, he had second thoughts. Haha. He toughed it out though and we split diaper duty 50/50 and diaper laundry about 50/50 too!
@mytrueloves -meconium can ruin cloth diapers, so we just stayed in disposables until it was all out of her system. And yes, breastfed babies poop is water soluble- so we just tossed them all in the washer. When the poop changed when we started solids, we started to spray them out. Requirement for us was a spray shield, along with the sprayer.
@sliztee - I actually have the Nora's nursery ones. I just decided to give them a shot. I really like them a lot. I havent had any issues with them at all. They seem to be a knock off of the Alva brand which can typically be cheaper, but these have been completely fine for us. They are pocket diapers and I purchased nicer inserts to go in them. I got these. I also have bumgenius and LOVE them. I have a few Fuzzibunz too, but I dont like them as much as any of the others I have. We did a few prefolds and covers when DD was a newborn, but I just didnt like them at all, so I didnt get them for when she outgrew NB ones. We just have one size pockets now.
@jellybelly114 We do diaper laundry every other day and ever now and then can stretch out laundry one more day. We have about 30-35 diapers. 6 dozen is insane. I definitely dont think you need that many!
@sammierose464 Hubby and I both work 40 hours a week (sometimes more) and find it very doable. We just plan to start diaper laundry when one of us gets home from work since the cycles take awhile and then they have to hang dry. We have 30-35 just in case something happens and diaper laundry doesnt get done one day- then we'll still have enough for daycare. We are in NC and daycares are actually required to do cloth here! Our daycare has been great (you will need to teach the teachers how to use them and get a good fit) and only ask that we bring a wet bag
@tinattt23 I might be interested! With another on the way, I want to add to our stash. How much do you want for them?