Oh brother, no! What will they think of to make money next? You may have to size up a little sooner than you would if they were in disposables, but you'd have to buy that size eventually anyway. You're just buying it a little sooner than you would have otherwise. I don't have an overly long baby, but I love the extra length in the legs of a bigger size anyway. Pants riding up is one of my pet peeves.
@MRDCle cloth diapers do give your baby a giant butt. I found that we had to size up in pants sometimes for it to work. But you don't NEED cloth diaper specific pants. That being said... there are some REALLY cute ones out there. Check out 'grow with me harem pants' on etsy. Love that style, they work well for cloth diapers, and you can make them work for a long time since they do "grow" with your baby.
Thanks, that is really helpful information! I would definitely prefer cloth diapering overnight and the thought of a heavy wetter is daunting so thanks. What is the difference between fitted and AIO?
@mighty_montgomery AIO has the waterproof (PUL) layer sewn in; fitted does not and needs a diaper cover/shell. Or if you’re at home and don’t care about the extra pants in the laundry, it’s super easy to tell baby is wet when the diaper doesn’t have the waterproof layer on at all.
As a side note I just went through my cloth diapers, Alva baby and flip brand are a little bigger OS and won’t fit the smaller babies until a little later. The rumparoos would probably manage nb 8-9lb and up? It’s hard to say but the double gusset matters.
Fitted need covers to be water proof.
All in one is highly absorbant but not as good at preventing leaks as the fitted.
You’ll end up sizing up on a lot of pants, I make them personally, so they fit great haha. Just think stretchy and jogger style to get more time out of each size. Jeans were tricky but sized up worked well.
Snap rompers that snap snap in the diaper area pop open if you don’t size up with cloth. I liked zip pajamas because of that. But we still sized up often. I don’t know how much the sizing up is necessary with nb cloth because we didn’t use it the first time around but they aren’t stuffed as much so it may just jump sizes a little faster.
DH says he would prefer covers over pockets. Since covers can be reused during the day, how many newborn covers should we have for 2 days of laundry? I'm thinking 8-10. We also have 4 newborn pocket diapers already on the way. Other opinions?
DH says he would prefer covers over pockets. Since covers can be reused during the day, how many newborn covers should we have for 2 days of laundry? I'm thinking 8-10. We also have 4 newborn pocket diapers already on the way. Other opinions?
I have 12 pockets and 9 covers and I’m hoping to do laundry every other day, after the first wash cycle I’ll add any other baby clothes for bulk and then everything gets clean. Nb we changed 12 diapers a day for that whole diaper size. So as long as you get 3 uses out of each cover 10 would be ok. The pockets are helpful for bulking up the load and that’s always good. You can always try some of your os diapers if you run low during a wash/dry cycle.
@mighty_montgomery I think we had 5-6 covers, all used over fitteds. We rarely used them unless we were going out and wanted to protect the pants, half because DH was lazy about it, half because I found it easier to monitor wetness without the cover.daily laundry
We had a very good shower for our daughter over the weekend. For cloth diapers, here is what we were given:
30 inserts by Alvababy and Lilbit
52 prefolds by Gerber and OsoCozy
5 newborn covers by Sigzagor
4 newborn pockets by Thankumom
1 roll of 100 flushable diaper liners
12 OS covers by babygoal
2 OS covers by Sigzagor
12 OS pockets by LilBit and Alvababy
5 wet bags
I did not have gerber prefolds on my registry, and only 2 packs of Osocozy were given (so a total of 12). I've heard that gerber prefolds are of the lowest quality so with us having so many at least there will be enough for more than usual diaper changes. Also, after getting the Sigzagor covers, I think I would not buy more because there is no hem line in the inside flap. The fabric can pull apart and to me that makes it almost not worthwhile. But they are very cute! The Babygoal diaper covers are my favorite. There are flaps at the front and back (wouldn't matter for a fitted diaper) and they are both hemmed so I don't think the fabric will pull apart quickly. I think we don't have enough diaper covers in Newborn size, but DH thinks we have enough so we decided to just see how it goes with the number we were given but I think I may end up having to do laundry every day until she fits our One Size diapers, which I don't want. I'm looking forward to the Osocozy prefolds and may get more Osocozy, but undecided because of the number of other prefolds we were given.
Gerber just wear out faster, get stringy. They absorb fine. Just prewash your new things a few times to get absorbency up to par. We changed 12 diapers a day in nb diapers some do 8-10 others more. Our Dd cried when wet at all. It slowed down halfway through size one. So for nb in cloth this time (we started at 6weeks last time) we have 12 all in ones and 9 gdiaper nb and 18 gdiaper sm. Covers. For when baby is closer to 10lbs.
New to cloth diapering but we are going to give it a go. Other than the increased drying time what are everyone's opinions on all in ones? We both work full time and DH thinks they will be easier since we won't have to stuff them. Daycare also usually doesn't take cloth diapers but said they will try with the all in ones as well so hopefully it'll work all around. We are being given about 24 hand me down all in ones from a friend. I'm just wondering what to expect or what would be helpful to keep in mind when starting out. Thanks!
We mix all styles of diapers. I love all in ones for their absorbency and ease of use. The drying time is about double but if you have sunshine you can line dry too.
@mighty_montgomery that is a very generous group of shower attendees! Daily laundry cuts down on the stink and storage (big plus) and as I’ve said elsewhere, made it easier for us to cloth diaper. I have no experience with most of those brands but you seem to have a good handle on why things would or wouldn’t work well. Remember that the covers can be reused for a few changes so it’s not as important to have a ton of them. Also it looks like you’ll be doing primarily prefolds for the nb stage so make sure you also have a bunch of fasteners handy. Do you have a diaper sprayer yet? That makes poop diapers easier to handle if you don’t use the flushable liners.
@triskele hooray for freebies! We don’t use AIOs but given the drying time it might be helpful to have an indoor drying rack set up semi-permenantly, or to time your laundry to overnight drying so you’re ready the next morning for daycare. I really don’t think daycare will have an issue with AIO since the skill level matches that of a normal diaper with the one extra step of ditching the poop. Have you talked to them about how to handle that? You’ll also want a few wet bags for home/day care rotation.
@lyse01 so, I added safety pins to my registry since the price is so much better than Snappis (understandably) and I would want to buy the cheapest option myself so I kept that expectation for our registry gifts. This is what I put on there:
I received 5 sets, which was less than I expected, and the first thing I thought when I saw them was "Oh, these are going to get lost so fast." We still need to buy a sprayer and a pail.
ETA: I've seen a mother use a soap bar to keep her safety pins in so they slide through the fabric easier. That'll probably help them from getting lost so I want to try it. I might order a few Snappis before April and try both.
@kbirchtree I see what you mean by gerber coming apart quicker. I'm really liking the feel and seams of Osocozy and can hardly wait to prewash these. Gerber left, Osocozy Right
@kbirchtree I'm hoping they are easy and work, that was definitely the goal
@lyse01 thanks for the input, I'm hoping it works. We are sending a big wet bag to daycare and using liners while she's there. I have a drying rack above our washer I'm just hoping I can come up with a system stick with it. So much more affordable and better for the planet.
This will be our first time cloth diapering and so far we have - 3 Thirsties Duo Wraps size 1 (two elastic, one snap) - 1 BumGenius AIO - 6 Blueberry Simplex AIO - 5 Snappis
All were gifted or purchased off of FB Marketplace.
On my list to buy is - 1 Dozen Newborn or Novice GMD Pre-folds (I'm kind of waiting to see how big he is measuring when he gets closer. If he is anything like my last (9lbs 3oz), I am going to skip Newborn and either get Novice or go straight to Small.) - 1 Dozen Small GMD Pre-folds - 1/2 Dozen Small GMD Workhorses - 2 additional size 1 Duo Wraps - Planetwise Liner - Standard trash can for diapers - Wet bag for travel
I was planning on holding off on the sprayer for now.
For those who have done this before, is there any modifications you would make to my buy list? We play on a combination of cloth and disposables for when we are out or overnight. We were gifted two huge boxes of size 1 and size 2 disposables, so we are planning on using them.
@cabearit I think you might find you want to bump your stash up a little in order to allow some flexibility in laundering, but it’s totally fine to wait until later to order. GMD delivers quickly. You also might want a second wet bag, just in case the first needs laundering itself or gets left at Grandma’s accidentally. You can use plastic grocery bags in a pinch though, so don’t feel like it’s necessary. And so long as you’re like me and don’t mind scrubbing a little poop off in the toilet bowl, you can absolutely get by without a sprayer.
Is day care in the mix at all?
Since you are interested in GMD, go join GMD Mama B/S/T on fb. There are constantly people selling smaller sizes, though L and XL are unicorns.
@lyse01 Thank you! How much would you bump it by? Another dozen diapers? And do I need more covers too? Good call with the wet bag, I will add a second one to the list.
Daycare is up in the air for now. I'm a teacher, so once I take FMLA, I will have summer months backed up to my leave. We are looking at the option of me staying home, but if I need to go back, the earliest he will go into DC will be 4 months.
I am on GMD Mamas on FB and it is awesome; however, it seems like the prices are pretty comparable to just buying new? Maybe I just haven't seen the excellent scores yet.
@cabearit more like half a dozen for the small sizes, a dozen for the newborn sizes (they pee more often).
Check into whether your day care will do cloth diapers - many don’t, or don’t do prefolds - and that will adjust your ordering at those sizes.
I don’t think you’ll need more covers but you may find differently at day care. Also, i think DD was a particularly neat pooper because we had like one blowout ever, and so I rarely had to change covers because they ended up with poop on them. Prefolds should catch just as well if appropriately folded but there is probably a learning curve. Anyway, your mileage may vary.
As for GMD mamas, yeah, the prices are still fairly high (hooray for resale value!) but it’s def good for getting cute covers. I find that the difference between excellent and good used condition (EUC vs GUC) is pretty minimal - usually staining - and can save a bunch.
OK sooooo I went through everything I had bought. I have just over 30 NB for the boys (mostly BG, one G-Diaper) and FREAKING 90 regular sized (again, mostly BG, mostly pockets, but a few AIOs). Apparently I didn't do a great job keeping track of how many I had bought. But...I figure this gives me wiggle room with two babes, plus since most were purchased pre-owned, if any aren't in great condition that gives me some room to not use all that I bought.
Since we're doing a remodel on the attic EVERYTHING we have for babies is downstairs in the basement. So I would get a shipment from eBay or whatever and just....stack the box with the other baby stuff! So last week when I went down there I was like "Ohhhh wow. OK." I don't feel super bad because I never paid more than $5ish for a a pre-owned, so it wasn't like I spent more than we would on disposables, but still I was like a little shocked ha.
As for daycares, just have everything prepped, keep some disposables there in case they run low or panic or something and be consistent with which style you provide, they can do it.
On blowouts: with cloth we had few, usually when she hadn’t pooed in 7+ days (exclusively breastfeed-6m somthat happens) but more in disposable diapers than in cloth.
@MRDCle, I feel like that's gonna be me too when we finally have the nursery done! I have my hand-me-down cloth diapers from DS1, plus a bag of some I bought from a friend, and two bags of diapers from another friend. I haven't tallied what I have yet cause I'm waiting for a place to stash them. I think it'll be the same case with clothing, since I have a ton of hand-me-downs, both from DS1 and from friends recently gifting me some.
What diaper rash creams are best for CDs? Is coconut oil the best option and does zinc oxide ruin fabrics?
The green bordouex butt paste tube is great. It can leave some white marks but they don’t effect the absorbing nature of the fabric and I rarely noticed a white mark. coconut oil can work well too, but it wasn’t enough for our dd rashes when they were bad.
We’re hoping to primarily use cloth diapers for our first, only using disposables as backups/travel items. Between gifts and craigslist, I’ve ended up with the following kinda ragtag collection:
14 newborn prefolds 4 newborn fitteds 2 newborn covers 17 infant/size 1(?) prefolds 4 size 1 fitteds 12 largeish prefolds 7 one size covers 6 one size pocket diapers with small and large liners 5 one size all in one diapers a few different doublers
I guess my question is, is what do I need to round this out through at least the end of size 1 phase?
I figure I need a couple more newborn covers and a few more prefolds (little one is measuring on the smaller side of average so far), but I feel like I have a decent amount of stuff once they hit the lower end of ‘one size’. Am I on the right track? Our day care starts around 5 months and is ok with cloth, but we figure the easier the better for them, so we’ll probably lean on pockets/all in ones when out of the home, and prefolds/fitteds at home.
Hey all, still a little confused. I counted what I have on the registry and have 24 newborn diapers, which includes AIOs and pocket diapers w/inserts. And now I have 28 AIOs in one-size. Different brands to see if we like one more than another. No clue if our registry folks will want to buy all of them, but I figured it’s worth a shot.
1. Does this seem like a good amount? 2. I can use inserts with AIOs too, right? 3. Anyone tumble dry low AIOs even when it says not to?
I’m sure there are a million more things I haven’t thought of!
24 newborns will be used in 1.5-2 days. So as long as you run some laundry every 1.5 days you should be ok. 28 aio is a good number for washing every 3 days once baby is closer to 3m. You can do inserts and add fluff to all diaper styles.
Washing and drying. Yes you can dry most diapers. The ones with weird separate plastic liners, like gdiaper or china cheapies need to air dry. All the PUL or TPU can dry. The thing that wears out most in the dryer is the elastic on the legs. To prevent damage let them cool down before applying any stretch to the legs. I usually dry twice with AIO to get them fully dry and let them cool down.
Okay cloth diaper mamas, any suggestions for newborn liners? I have 12 newborn sized Gdiapers given to me by a friend, and I would prefer to use cloth liners if possible. The company recommends using their disposable ones. Any certain cloth liners that work better than others for newborn babes? All of mine are full sized and would never fit the tiny covers.
Re: All Things Cloth Diapering
Oh brother, no! What will they think of to make money next? You may have to size up a little sooner than you would if they were in disposables, but you'd have to buy that size eventually anyway. You're just buying it a little sooner than you would have otherwise. I don't have an overly long baby, but I love the extra length in the legs of a bigger size anyway. Pants riding up is one of my pet peeves.
Fitted need covers to be water proof.
All in one is highly absorbant but not as good at preventing leaks as the fitted.
You’ll end up sizing up on a lot of pants, I make them personally, so they fit great haha. Just think stretchy and jogger style to get more time out of each size. Jeans were tricky but sized up worked well.
Snap rompers that snap snap in the diaper area pop open if you don’t size up with cloth. I liked zip pajamas because of that. But we still sized up often. I don’t know how much the sizing up is necessary with nb cloth because we didn’t use it the first time around but they aren’t stuffed as much so it may just jump sizes a little faster.
I did not have gerber prefolds on my registry, and only 2 packs of Osocozy were given (so a total of 12). I've heard that gerber prefolds are of the lowest quality so with us having so many at least there will be enough for more than usual diaper changes.
Also, after getting the Sigzagor covers, I think I would not buy more because there is no hem line in the inside flap. The fabric can pull apart and to me that makes it almost not worthwhile. But they are very cute!
The Babygoal diaper covers are my favorite. There are flaps at the front and back (wouldn't matter for a fitted diaper) and they are both hemmed so I don't think the fabric will pull apart quickly.
I think we don't have enough diaper covers in Newborn size, but DH thinks we have enough so we decided to just see how it goes with the number we were given but I think I may end up having to do laundry every day until she fits our One Size diapers, which I don't want.
I'm looking forward to the Osocozy prefolds and may get more Osocozy, but undecided because of the number of other prefolds we were given.
STMs What are your thoughts?
@triskele hooray for freebies! We don’t use AIOs but given the drying time it might be helpful to have an indoor drying rack set up semi-permenantly, or to time your laundry to overnight drying so you’re ready the next morning for daycare. I really don’t think daycare will have an issue with AIO since the skill level matches that of a normal diaper with the one extra step of ditching the poop. Have you talked to them about how to handle that? You’ll also want a few wet bags for home/day care rotation.
I received 5 sets, which was less than I expected, and the first thing I thought when I saw them was "Oh, these are going to get lost so fast."
We still need to buy a sprayer and a pail.
ETA: I've seen a mother use a soap bar to keep her safety pins in so they slide through the fabric easier. That'll probably help them from getting lost so I want to try it. I might order a few Snappis before April and try both.
Gerber left, Osocozy Right
@lyse01 thanks for the input, I'm hoping it works. We are sending a big wet bag to daycare and using liners while she's there. I have a drying rack above our washer I'm just hoping I can come up with a system stick with it. So much more affordable and better for the planet.
This will be our first time cloth diapering and so far we have
- 3 Thirsties Duo Wraps size 1 (two elastic, one snap)
- 1 BumGenius AIO
- 6 Blueberry Simplex AIO
- 5 Snappis
All were gifted or purchased off of FB Marketplace.
On my list to buy is
- 1 Dozen Newborn or Novice GMD Pre-folds (I'm kind of waiting to see how big he is measuring when he gets closer. If he is anything like my last (9lbs 3oz), I am going to skip Newborn and either get Novice or go straight to Small.)
- 1 Dozen Small GMD Pre-folds
- 1/2 Dozen Small GMD Workhorses
- 2 additional size 1 Duo Wraps
- Planetwise Liner
- Standard trash can for diapers
- Wet bag for travel
I was planning on holding off on the sprayer for now.
For those who have done this before, is there any modifications you would make to my buy list? We play on a combination of cloth and disposables for when we are out or overnight. We were gifted two huge boxes of size 1 and size 2 disposables, so we are planning on using them.
BFP: 1/26/20 | EDD: 9/20/20
Is day care in the mix at all?
Since you are interested in GMD, go join GMD Mama B/S/T on fb. There are constantly people selling smaller sizes, though L and XL are unicorns.
Daycare is up in the air for now. I'm a teacher, so once I take FMLA, I will have summer months backed up to my leave. We are looking at the option of me staying home, but if I need to go back, the earliest he will go into DC will be 4 months.
I am on GMD Mamas on FB and it is awesome; however, it seems like the prices are pretty comparable to just buying new? Maybe I just haven't seen the excellent scores yet.
BFP: 1/26/20 | EDD: 9/20/20
Check into whether your day care will do cloth diapers - many don’t, or don’t do prefolds - and that will adjust your ordering at those sizes.
I don’t think you’ll need more covers but you may find differently at day care. Also, i think DD was a particularly neat pooper because we had like one blowout ever, and so I rarely had to change covers because they ended up with poop on them. Prefolds should catch just as well if appropriately folded but there is probably a learning curve. Anyway, your mileage may vary.
As for GMD mamas, yeah, the prices are still fairly high (hooray for resale value!) but it’s def good for getting cute covers. I find that the difference between excellent and good used condition (EUC vs GUC) is pretty minimal - usually staining - and can save a bunch.
As for daycares, just have everything prepped, keep some disposables there in case they run low or panic or something and be consistent with which style you provide, they can do it.
On blowouts: with cloth we had few, usually when she hadn’t pooed in 7+ days (exclusively breastfeed-6m somthat happens) but more in disposable diapers than in cloth.
Big difference!
The green bordouex butt paste tube is great.
It can leave some white marks but they don’t effect the absorbing nature of the fabric and I rarely noticed a white mark.
coconut oil can work well too, but it wasn’t enough for our dd rashes when they were bad.
avoid anything with petroleum
14 newborn prefolds
4 newborn fitteds
2 newborn covers
17 infant/size 1(?) prefolds
4 size 1 fitteds
12 largeish prefolds
7 one size covers
6 one size pocket diapers with small and large liners
5 one size all in one diapers
a few different doublers
I guess my question is, is what do I need to round this out through at least the end of size 1 phase?
I figure I need a couple more newborn covers and a few more prefolds (little one is measuring on the smaller side of average so far), but I feel like I have a decent amount of stuff once they hit the lower end of ‘one size’. Am I on the right track? Our day care starts around 5 months and is ok with cloth, but we figure the easier the better for them, so we’ll probably lean on pockets/all in ones when out of the home, and prefolds/fitteds at home.
-something to secure the prefolds eg snappis
- more (1-3) newborn covers, unless the one size covers snap down to that size.
Anticipate 12 changes/24 hours with the newborns and figure your laundry accordingly. If it’s too often, buy more small sizes.
1. Does this seem like a good amount?
2. I can use inserts with AIOs too, right?
3. Anyone tumble dry low AIOs even when it says not to?
I’m sure there are a million more things I haven’t thought of!
24 newborns will be used in 1.5-2 days. So as long as you run some laundry every 1.5 days you should be ok.
28 aio is a good number for washing every 3 days once baby is closer to 3m.
You can do inserts and add fluff to all diaper styles.
Washing and drying. Yes you can dry most diapers. The ones with weird separate plastic liners, like gdiaper or china cheapies need to air dry. All the PUL or TPU can dry. The thing that wears out most in the dryer is the elastic on the legs. To prevent damage let them cool down before applying any stretch to the legs. I usually dry twice with AIO to get them fully dry and let them cool down.