Cloth Diapers?

[Octavia]

Octavia, I used to live in your area and a good friend of mine has been using that diaper service for over a year and loves it. She wanted to do cloth but was much like your DH and didn't want to do any poop laundry. I can't say I get it, but it works for them. As for water usage, we lived north of the city so our rates were likely very different, but with our HE machine our water bill increased about $3 a month when we added in diapers and baby clothes. When we called daycares in the area all of them were okay with cloth diapers, every one of them. That said, we used all pocket diapers with snaps and they still managed to get it wrong sometimes! O would come home with the fleece sticking up out of the back of his pants, only partially snapped, snapped on the largest waist setting, etc Changing diapers was the task the infant room ladies would outsource to helpers when they'd get busy. The other thing (and I'm not sure if this was a state policy or daycare policy) was that they were required to change cloth diapers every hour instead of every two hours. Since we were using a stay-dry diaper we were able to convince them to do 2 hours.

Kunzite , THANK YOU!!!! This is so helpful. I didn't realize you used to live around here. I'm not surprised that the daycares you looked into are fine with cloth, I think it's a pretty popular choice around here, though I guess you never really know until you ask, right? But changing once an hour seems a little excessive -- I'll make sure to ask what the policy is on that if they don't volunteer it right away. What is a stay-dry diaper? The daycare we're mainly considering is directly across the street from where I work, and if we like it when we take a tour, it will be so convenient for me to be able to run over at lunchtime to feed the baby...so I'm crossing my fingers it works out. Our washing machine isn't HE, but it's still nice to hear an actual number on water usage. We pay just about as much for sewer as we do for water, so whatever the additional water cost is, basically doubles in the bill we get. I guess we're going to be paying one way or another, regardless of what kind of diapers we choose, but I'm just trying to figure out what strikes the best balance between money and time. I think I'm really leaning toward using the service for the first couple months and then deciding whether to stick with it or to wash at home.

 

[Kunzite]

Octavia, that would be so nice to have daycare close to where you work. I really wanted to do that with O but given how long our commute was and the price of daycare downtown (80% more than what we paid in Lynnwood!!) it wasn't in the cards for us. We had coworkers who had daycare close to work and they loved it. By stay dry I mean a synthetic fabric that wicks moisture away from the skin as opposed to a natural fiber that feels wet to the baby.

 

[Octavia]

Ah, that makes sense re: stay-dry fabric. Downtown childcare is completely ridiculous, for sure, but I think it's the best choice for us while the LO is still nursing (assuming I am able). We work about 3 blocks from each other, so it will make drop-off and pick-up easier because it's easy for either of us to do. We're definitely going to pay for the privilege, though. Our plan is probably to switch to one closer to home once the baby is a little older, though we live pretty close to downtown and I don't actually know if there are many places in our neighborhood. But where we are feels very suburban and people have lawns, so it just seems nicer for an older kid to be able to play outside and not be stuck in the concrete jungle all day.

Anyway, I'm slowly working my way through from the beginning of this thread and I'm alternating between feeling more confident and more confused, haha. Luckily, there's plenty of time to make decisions!

 

[tammy77]

My first few diapers arrived and they're even cuter in person! I hope that our LO does well with the Alvas, but we only bought 10 of them so I'll try some other brands too. Can't wait for her to be here in October.

 

[Loves Vintage]

I was going to ask for some recs for trainers earlier this week. We've been using pull-ups at nap and bedtime. But, it appears I don't need recs after all. My baby is potty trained.

 

[mayerling]

I was going to ask for some recs for trainers earlier this week. We've been using pull-ups at nap and bedtime. But, it appears I don't need recs after all. My baby is potty trained.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

I was talking with DH about cloth diapers yesterday and he thinks I am absolutely nuts for even thinking we can pull this off. Any pointers or tips to sway him over? I think doing cloth at home and disposable when we're out. We're NTNP at this point, but I like to prepare lol

 

[Octavia]

FPS, I think it helps to narrow down the reasons why your DH is resistant to the idea of cloth diapers. For some people, it's that disposables have become "normal" and cloth now seems "weird." In my case, it was because he's grossed out by the idea of poo residue in the washer, getting all over his own clothes (he has washer issues, though. Seriously, if he could have separate machines so his socks and undies wouldn't have to go in the same washer, he would). He's also worried about the extra time and effort it would take. I brought up the idea of starting with a diaper service and then deciding later whether to continue, buy our own stash, or switch to disposables. His first reaction was "do we trust that they get them clean? I don't want other kids' poop in my baby's diapers." I assured him that they will be clean, and we're both against the idea of putting tons of chemicals against the baby's skin for years on end, so he's now willing to give it a go. Anyway, I think that once you know why your DH thinks CDing is nuts, you can better tailor your approach for persuading him!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Octavia, my DH mentioned that he does not want to have poo in the washer also! Bahaha! I told him that we would of course rinse them before going in the washer so nothing is floating and we will probably wash them separately. I suggested that we can always give it a try and make the decision from there. He mostly just thinks I'm crazy lol My Mom used CD on me, so they can't be the worst thing in the world!

 

[lliang_chi]

Octavia & FPS, for you ladies trying to get your DH's on board, try a cloth diaper rental/trial period. A lot of sites do it. Most of them you rent brand new diapers, some you can get gently used. And most you can rent w/option to buy. TBH I did gently used and there wasn't a single spot/stain on any of them, so DH didn't think they were used. I'd suggest doing the diaper rental anyway, because newborns are so teeny tiny that you can't use the OSFM diapers on them until closer to 12 wks (and that's for a bigger sized baby, like Ethan). If/when we have a 2nd kid, I plan on going the newborn rental track again. Use them until baby cracks 12 lbs then switch to OSFM again.

 

[tammy77]

Hi Girls! Well, inadvertently I managed to end up with 32 pocket diapers. I have 10 new Alva with an extra 12 inserts and 22 Just Simply Baby with 50 inserts that were used for about 7-8 months on one baby. It was an amazing deal that I couldn't pass up but I am going to do a full strip of them in the coming weeks. I need to decide on a detergent and figure out how to do the strip since we're using community washers at our condo.

I know I'll want to try other types but I really hope these work for us! If they do, then realistically I think we have everything we need except for a diaper sprayer (don't need yet anyhow since we're EBF'ing til at least 6 months), a set of wet bags and a pail. We bought two wet bags. One for the diaper bag and one big one for the pail. I know I need to buy one more of each though.

I'm still pretty set I think on just using disposables for the first few weeks while she grows into the OS diapers. If LO's anything like DH and I, that won't take long. I was almost 10 lbs and DH was 9.5 lbs.

 

[aviastar]

I was talking with DH about cloth diapers yesterday and he thinks I am absolutely nuts for even thinking we can pull this off. Any pointers or tips to sway him over? I think doing cloth at home and disposable when we're out. We're NTNP at this point, but I like to prepare lol

I want to try them too, Fancy! Twins, I tell ya...

My biggest motivator so far? Cost. And garbage; we're both fairly sensitive to bad trash smells, i.e. food, so the trash gets taken out every day, full or not. But we also live in the country and don't accumulate that much trash, so we only have a private garbage pickup every two weeks. Diapers would ruin that- can you even imagine the stink build up in the shed?

So we're back to more recurring costs of disposables, plus more trash pickup = more than we want to spend managing poop. Cloth allows us to do a load of diapers every day/every other day to avoid smell issues and we'll line dry on our covered porch so we can avoid extra electricity for the dryer.

Put some dollar signs in your arguments, he'll convert in no time!

 

[lliang_chi]

Avia, yes, cloth diapers will definitely help you save money on 1) the cost of diapers 2) your trash pick up. But if you're line drying you'd likely need MORE diapers so you can have a full set of diapers to go while the washed ones are drying. I live in Chicago and it can take a full 2 days in the winter to dry the diapers out. If I lived in FL (I grew up there) I'd TOTALLY line dry because it'd dry the diapers AND get them sparkling clean too. THat FL sun means BUSINESS!

Tammy, sounds like you have a stash. I have Just Simply Baby diapers too! They're so cute! The snaps are pretty great too. I got them after Ethan grew past "wee baby" stage, so I'm not sure how the fit would be on teeny tiny babies. Re: wet bags and pail liners, I'd definitely get separate wet bags from pail liners. My pail liners are big, think 13 gallon trash bag size. They fit over my diaper pail which *is* a 13 gallon flip top trash can. My wet bags are about the size of a laptop computer. The can fit 5 diapers, 8 if you really smoosh them in. The wet bags to do daycare and in the diaper bag when we're out and about. As soon as we get home, we empty the contents into the pail. I have 3 wet bags, one for daycare, one for the laundry and one for my diaper bag (in case I have to take Ethan to the doc from daycare or something).

 

[mayerling]

Does anyone use Totsbots? If so, do you use fleece liners to keep moisture away from baby? I haven't been because I thought minky was okay next to baby's skin but I'm wondering if I've been doing it wrong.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Avia, I do so love how similar we are!! I keep telling DH I need him to put up a clothes line in the back yard because the smell of freshly air dried laundry is just amazing!!

Lliang, so how many cloth diapers would you say that one family needs to have? And where can I find them? I feel like if I stock up now, it won't be such an upfront expense...and that I can probably talk him into

 

[lliang_chi]

Mayer, I have 2 TotsBots, but they're the older generation one with the bamboo-blend tongue. I don''t have anything minky in mine, so I don't think I'd help much. That being said, I do use fleece liners in all my diapers. It helps prevent staining, makes cleaning up poop a little bit easier now that he's eating real food. For really gross poopy diapers, I just throw the liner away, but for the most part I just reuse them. Then I also don't have to worry about diaper creams ruining my diapers.

FPS, I'm not sure if I'd get diapers pre-TTC if it were up to me. Once you have a bun in the oven it's easy to just buy and stock up. Between Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Earth Day, you'll be able to hit a sale here or there to help build stash. Or use the inexpensive but still good quality brands like Alva and Kawaii until you reach those sale dates. Lastly sites like babysteals and ecobabybuy sometimes run flash sales for cloth diapers. But if I were you, I wouldn't pay more than $10 a diaper at this moment, if you're really looking to start buying. Only because there's no baby in the picture yet, so even if you see diapers that are like $15-17, it's still too much to pay, IMO. That being said, I'd probably do something like 14-18 diapers (or combo of prefolds/fitted & covers) a day for a newborn and about 12 a day for an infant. Multiply that by the number of days you'll go in between washes.

~LC

 

[Loves Vintage]

Does anyone use Totsbots? If so, do you use fleece liners to keep moisture away from baby? I haven't been because I thought minky was okay next to baby's skin but I'm wondering if I've been doing it wrong.

Hi Mayerling,

I was a big tots bots fan! I was obsessed with the London print. It was very difficult to get here. They would sell out instantly. I never used the liners, and minky is ok next to baby's skin. Did a rash develop? Or, were you just wondering?

 

[mayerling]

Does anyone use Totsbots? If so, do you use fleece liners to keep moisture away from baby? I haven't been because I thought minky was okay next to baby's skin but I'm wondering if I've been doing it wrong.

Hi Mayerling,

I was a big tots bots fan! I was obsessed with the London print. It was very difficult to get here. They would sell out instantly. I never used the liners, and minky is ok next to baby's skin. Did a rash develop? Or, were you just wondering?

Just wondering because when I take it off it's completely soaked and I was worried about moisture next to N's skin.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Does anyone use Totsbots? If so, do you use fleece liners to keep moisture away from baby? I haven't been because I thought minky was okay next to baby's skin but I'm wondering if I've been doing it wrong.

Hi Mayerling,

I was a big tots bots fan! I was obsessed with the London print. It was very difficult to get here. They would sell out instantly. I never used the liners, and minky is ok next to baby's skin. Did a rash develop? Or, were you just wondering?

Just wondering because when I take it off it's completely soaked and I was worried about moisture next to N's skin.

That was our experience as well. I think it's completely fine, so long as you are not experiencing a rash. No reason to expect that you would, but I think some babies react differently to different types of CDs. Anyway, that wet feeling is probably a good thing when it comes to helping baby be aware of wetness and hopefully feeling motivated to use potty in the future (at least that's one of the reasons many CD advocates use for choosing to CD.)

 

[mayerling]

For those of you who cloth wipe, what brand would you recommend?

 

[Kunzite]

We use the Imse Vimse wipes. A lot of cloth wipes seem to be really thick, but these are nice and thin which I prefer.
http://www.momsmilkboutique.com/cloth-diapers-wipes-Imse-Vimse-Organic-Flannelette-12-Pack.html

 

[Bella_mezzo]

yes, not too thick and only one layer. I HATE the wipes we have that had 2 layers (fuzzibuns wipes, I am talking about you!)

I love our imse vimse wipes, ragababe wipes, and also just gerber washclothes

 

[megumic]

For those who use CDs at night...where do you get pajamas? We have such a hard time getting Jammie's to fit C and his night time diaper! They all are too small, tight and not stretchy enough for his booty. Any suggestions??

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I always just went up a size for PJs...

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

What are your top diaper buying sites?

I plan to register for cloth diapers when we have a baby. How does this work??

 

[lliang_chi]

FPS, you can ask for gift certs for some sites (I did this with the site I rented from so I could buy diapers). Other big sites: Jillian's Drawres, Nicki's Diapers... I'm sure there's others too. Also I just put a few on my Amazon registry, you can get everything from Amazon.

Meg, I actually just jam Ethan into the jammies. Maybe I don't stuff it enough. Also another thought, maybe get hemp inserts. They're WAY more absorbent than microfiber and you won't need to super stuff the diapers.

 

[megumic]

What are everyone's fave pocket diapes? We mostly use prefolds and covers but send pockets to daycare. We have a few bum genius and one smart snugs that we like, but weren't hot on fuzzibunz or bummis. We want to try a thirsties pocket. Any experience?

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

While we haven't started diapering just yet (I'm almost 23 weeks pregnant), we have gotten 2 kawaii's (which look like they'll be perfect for overnights!) and I have some lotus bums on the way to us. I also ordered some cheapie diapers (2) from shopdiaper.com, just to see how they held up against the others. A friend of mine uses only fuzzibunz and while I like them, I'm not pressed to have only one brand. We actually have a store near us that does a cloth diaper guarantee that if you don't love what you buy, you can trade them in for something else, or store credit. Do you have anything like that in your area?

 

[Kunzite]

What are everyone's fave pocket diapes? We mostly use prefolds and covers but send pockets to daycare. We have a few bum genius and one smart snugs that we like, but weren't hot on fuzzibunz or bummis. We want to try a thirsties pocket. Any experience?

We love BumGenius. I've tried a few others just to branch out, but I've disliked all of them for one reason or another and always go back to just BG. I have a Thirsties Duo pocket that we only used for a few weeks that I could send you if you want to try one out.

 

[lliang_chi]

I have Thristies pockets. The pros: it's easy to remove the insert since there's an opening in the back or front (so for a really poopy diaper, you can just pull from the front). The absorbency has been pretty good, have only recently started to triple stuff when Ethan got bigger and he's no longer in the infant room (daycare leaves them in diapers a little longer). Cute prints and relatively inexpensive. The cons: the applix (velcro) is not the greatest. It got beat up pretty quickly, but I replaced them and they're still holding on. The don't stick to the laundry tabs anymore, so I just stick them to the waist when I throw them in the wash. If you're going with snaps then I hear their snaps are great.

I had a few BG's. I'm not so thrilled with them. They were among the first few to putter out on me. Granted we really abuse our diapers (dry them in the dryer etc). The velcro one wore out first (DH tossed it before I could replace the velcro), then my snap one the PUL wore off. Now I use it as a swim diaper.

My A-team pockets are Rumparooz. They've lasted over a year with washing and drying in the dryer (medium heat for 2 cycles each time). They were among the last ones I needed to replace their velcro, I still had to. I'm slowly needing to go through and replace the elastics too. The PUL is stlll holding up, despite the massive beating we give them. If I were you'd I'd spring for the hemp soakers, since you LO is getting older and will be a bigger wetter. I'm starting to get some leaks now, but I think it has more to do with residue build up than anything else. DH puts too much detergent in the washer....