Cloth Diaper Ideas?

[BoyDreaming]

I've never CDed my children, but I'm looking into it with this one, even though I'm working full time (and then some) now. I'm just tired of paying $25 a box and poor DD3 goes through A LOT of diapers.

Any ideas? I think I want an AIO diaper as well as a one size fits all, too. Experience? I may switch DD3 over to CDs as well because since she has been weaned disposables have been giving her rashes. And she's seriously the world's worst about pulling her diaper off these days.

[crystal-light]

Highly recommend Bumgenius OS elemental AIO's. They have snaps so she wouldn't be able to take them off either :)

[Lillylolly]

Highly recommend Bumgenius OS elemental AIO's. They have snaps so she wouldn't be able to take them off either :)

EXCELLENT advice. I have these aswell and they are perfect. I cannot fault them. We have saved so much money by using cloth.

[december]

I'm a big fan of BumGenius. Half my stash is the 3.0s. I believe they've been replaced by 4.0s now.

The other half is Kawaii. I love them! They are very cheaply priced but still work great. They have several different versions and we have quite a few of them... some I would recommend more than others (ex: the ones with one line of snaps are so-so.. but the ones with simply the hip snaps added make a big difference.)

[BoyDreaming]

How many of the BG 3.0's will I need to cover DD3 and the baby?

[skrimpy]

I like Bumgenius AOE if I'm going to use those - I have 6. But in all honesty, after CD'ing through four babies I prefer prefolds with a Snappi fastener. I also like wool covers best - Imse Vimse is my favorite brand. I use wool longies in the winter when the snow piles high and the temperatures plummet!

[Sunrise]

Yeah, I'm back to prefolds too and this time I'm even doing flats. Used to be an avid Fuzzibuns and Bum Genius user but I hate how long everything takes to dry and I was always having odor problems. At least with plain old PFs and flats I can do a bleach load every now and then and kill off the stinkers.

Plus wool is just too awesome. I just learned to knit and have been making all my own covers. They are so cute.

[purplepoet20]

I use wool and prefolds but my husband, in-laws, and if I ever trust a babysitter find it hard to change them. One-size AIO's are best for everyone. I would also say velcro because snaps can be hard for some people to do with a wiggle worm. You may need 36 so you can have 2 kids in them and also be able to wash them in sets of 12. AIO's do take longer to dry but the ones that have what looks like an odd insert sewn on top, wear the butt goes, dry a little faster if inside out. I found that the more diapers in the washer the harder they are to clean, 12 seems to be the best number for washing about what my son uses in 1 1/2 days. It is cheaper to buy one-size.

Wool is expensive but I made one-size ones and I only need 8 for 2 kids. It only takes a little time to clean them and I only have to wash them once a week unless they are pooped on. We saved a lot of water when we went from aio's to wool. The prefold take some water but I used 2 guick cycles and they are clean.

[LolaInLove]

Stalking this thread, want to CD my baby this time.....any websites you all recommend to learn about/buy stuff?

[Chunky Monkey]

I get all of my CDing products at Nicki's Diapers - http://nickisdiapers.com/ She is located in Wisconsin and their state has no diaper tax. Also, she does free shipping on pocket diapers often, and always on orders over $75.00. If you join the FB page, you can get updates on sales and specials etc. I would recommend starting with 2 or 4 and trying them out. You or your baby may not like them, but that way you won't have a ton of dipes that you don't like if they don't work for your baby. I started with 2 bG one-size, and once I knew that I liked them and they worked for DS, I bought my stash of 12. I did laundry every other day and had a couple of prefolds in there too. With DS 2, the bG Flip system works best. DS1 is more tall and lean and DS#2 is chunkier, so different dipes worked better on each of them.

Nicki's Diapers offers a trial package - http://nickisdiapers.com/pages/15DayWash.php , where you can buy 5 or so dipes to try out. You can return the ones you don't like for store credit. I haven't looked at the details of the trial package in months, so I don't know the specifics. If I was trying CD for the first time, this is what I would do.

But after using them for a few years, I prefer the prefolds and snap covers for daytime, and BumGenius or Fuzzy Bunz for night. Nicki's diapers has a FAQ section - http://nickisdiapers.com/faqs.php which is very helpful. For more diapering info and reviews, you can go to Diaper Pin - try diaper pin dot com. You will find a huge directory of CDing stores and coupons/specials on there too.

Also, Bummis swim dipes are great, and Imse Vimse (biodegradable and flushable) diaper liners are wonderful for poopy diapers! My DS poops around the same time each day, so I lay a liner in there for that diaper change and when it's dirty, I dump the liner in the potty and there is barely anything left on the diaper itself. HTH! GL!!!

[LolaInLove]

Chunky Monkey, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! That is super helpful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really want to give it a try, because like BoyJoy up there, I get sick to death of how much I spend on disposables, not to mention thinking about them piling up in a landfill. I am sure with the smart people making CDs these days that it isn't as difficult and annoying as when my mom CDed me!!!

[skrimpy]

purplepoet - have you tried a "bikini twist" prefold fold with a Snappi? My hubby found all other folds for prefolds hard but liked that one :)

[lilacforlulu]

I would recommend a trial program when starting out, there are a few places like Nicki's Diapers that offer a trial program with a store credit for anything you return, but there are also some that offer you your money back (which if CDing doesn't work out is good). This is a thread on diaperswappers with a lot of good info on trial programs:
http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=886295

I wish I would've done one of these when I started out because I ended up buying a lot of diapers trying to figure out what worked for us!

[LolaInLove]

Thanks so much for the info.....also, be careful, as I got a trojan (ie. very destuctive virus) on my work computer clicking on the diaper pin link from CM (some hackers attach viruses to sites they think the looker won't know what to do, obviously they think CD mommies are hippies that don't know anything about computers), although it totally wasn't your fault, of course, CM!!!! Just FYI!

[Chunky Monkey]

I am so sorry!!! I had no idea anyone could even do that! Can I edit the post somehow? Maybe I'll just remove that link?

I removed it! I don't know if that takes care of it, but I'm sorry if anyone had issues with it :(

[purplepoet20]

purplepoet - have you tried a "bikini twist" prefold fold with a Snappi? My hubby found all other folds for prefolds hard but liked that one :)

No I haven't, never seen it done.... I have recently finishe my one-size wool covers and made the prefold with snaps on them and everyone finds them easy.

[purplepoet20]

Fuzzy Bunz has a new diaper, one-size... you can adjust the elastic in the legs for bigger or smaller thights. They also fit really well around the butt.

[LolaInLove]

I am so sorry!!! I had no idea anyone could even do that! Can I edit the post somehow? Maybe I'll just remove that link?

I removed it! I don't know if that takes care of it, but I'm sorry if anyone had issues with it :(

OMG, it's SO not your fault! These hackers attach them randomly to all sorts of sites, and I don't know why my work computer did not stop/catch it! Thanks for removing, though, I'd hate for anyone else to get it!

[ashkash]

I cd'd dd & am doing both cd's & disposables with the baby. My current favorite is Rumparooz, which is a one-size pocket. DS is prone to mega blowouts, and these fully contain that, thank goodness! They have an inner gusset on the legs, which basically provides an extra bit of elastic to hold everything in. Cute prints, and they don't take long to dry (you remove the microfiber insert from the diaper as you put it into your diaper pail). Their newborn diapers, Lil Joeys, were my absolute favorites. So teeny tiny, but they fit my chunky monkey beautifully!

I like ordering from nickisdiapers, and abbyslane is great too. She has very fast shipping, and I think it's a lower threshold for free shipping.

[gossie]

We've used bumGenius with both babies and really loved them. I've also tried about a gazillion other things, LOL, but those are our favorite. I prefer the pockets (4.0) because I like that I can bleach the inserts every few months if they get stinky. They also dry a lot faster than the Elementals.

IMO, most one-size diapers are hard to use from birth. They may well work, but are just SO bulky on a newborn baby. I would recommend getting some sized diapers for the start. We used newborn/xs diapers until DS was big enough to fit in the one-size bumGenius.

[Out of the Blue]

Anyone use Flips? I think they're the cheaper version of BGs but I actually like them better. I was a bit reticent to try them since I thought cheaper = lower quality but they work great for my son. I like to use the Flips inserts in other diapers too. These days, cloth diapering is soooo much easier than people realize. The trick is to find the cloth diapers that work the best w/your child so you may have to try several different types until you find the right ones.

[Aqua]

I am planning to do CD for my lil one. Thats good info Chunky Monkey. I have one question though. So do we or don't we need a diaper jenie for CDs? If not what is the alternative to throw them until they are washed?

[Out of the Blue]

Aqua - no Diaper Genie...Buy 1 or 2 cloth diaper wet bags...

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Wise-Diaper-Wet-Bag/dp/B003852QL0

You can leave them in there and zip it up and there's no stink at all until you open it. You can store dirty diapers in there for a day or two and then just dump them in the wash, turn the bag inside-out and wash it as well. I prefer to use plain Tide (regular scent, etc.) for washing the diapers since it smells good and seems to do the best job. Don't ever use softener or stain remover when washing the diapers/bag. HTHs! Congrats on your Oct. baby!!!

[Aqua]

Have anyone of you tried the cloth diapering service? One of friends suggested me that and said it makes it easier for first time CDers and does not overwhelm them to give up. Any opinions on that one?

[gossie]

Have anyone of you tried the cloth diapering service? One of friends suggested me that and said it makes it easier for first time CDers and does not overwhelm them to give up. Any opinions on that one?

If you use a service, it will just be prefolds and covers. I never really got into prefolds but a lot of people love them for their easy care. A service would be fantastic (not having to wash yourself) but for me it's worth the extra work on my end to be able to use bumGenius which I find way easier than prefolds. Also, the amount of bleach diaper services have to use turned me off.

[Aqua]

Thanks gossie. One more Q. Sorry if that makes me sound too ameture in CD. I am getting the bumgenious diaper to start with my newborn. This is what I am getting from babies r us:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4447836&fromRegistryNumber=47128838&product_skn=556860

Will this fit the newborns too? And what do I wash? I would also need to get the small cloths called inserts that go into this right?
As and when those inserts are soiled I collect them in a wet bag and wash them?
How about washing these bum genious things? How many of these do you need?

[gossie]

Thanks gossie. One more Q. Sorry if that makes me sound too ameture in CD. I am getting the bumgenious diaper to start with my newborn. This is what I am getting from babies r us:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4447836&fromRegistryNumber=47128838&product_skn=556860

Will this fit the newborns too? And what do I wash? I would also need to get the small cloths called inserts that go into this right?
As and when those inserts are soiled I collect them in a wet bag and wash them?
How about washing these bum genious things? How many of these do you need?

Those are great diapers, my current favorite. Although I'm sure you COULD use them on a newborn, I found them way too bulky. I used these at first and loved them: http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=1811 I used the XS size and they fit until maybe 6 weeks but it was worth it for me to have something that fit so well right at the beginning. Then I used the S size until around 2-3 months (I think you could probably use the smalls right from the start though.) And you can sell them when you are finished and make most of your money back if the $ is a concern.

The ones you linked to (the one-size/4.0 bumGenius) come with an insert. So you don't need to buy anything extra. The ones I linked to (the all-in-one/3.0 bumGenius) have the insert actually sewn it, it's all one piece, so again nothing extra to buy.

We use a simple human trash can as our diaper pail with a pail liner from Planetwise inside. When we take off the diaper, I pull (or shake if it's a dirty diaper) the insert out and drop both pieces into the pail. As long as you are exclusively breastfeeding there is no need to rinse poopy diapers, breastfed baby poop is completely water soluble. When the pail is full I take the liner out and dump the whole thing into the washing machine, turning the liner inside out in the process and throwing that in too. I do a cold rinse with some Bac-Out (you can buy at Whole Foods or online), a hot wash and rinse with a bit of detergent, and then an extra warm rinse at the end to make sure all the detergent is out. Then you can throw everything in the dryer. Once every few months if my diapers are getting smelly I bleach the inserts only.

As far as how many, I think I had 24 or so at the start and had to wash pretty much daily. Now I have 28 and wash every 2-3 days. As your baby grows and uses fewer diapers you won't go through them so quickly.

My biggest piece of advise to a new cloth diaper user is to take it slow and don't get discouraged. It gets much easier with a bigger baby...so if you are feeling overwhelmed at first give yourself a break and come back to it later. With my first we started by using them just at home and disposables when we went out. Then for a while we still used disposables at night. Just do what you can manage, even part time cloth diapering is great for your baby and the planet!

[Aqua]

That answered all my start up questions. It was super helpful gossie. Thank you so much. I browsed through cotton babies and I just cannot stop..lol. I think that'll go into my fav list and looks like I'll be more on it than FB. Yup, I am planning to breast feed for atleast first 8 mo and maybe only in the nights after that since I am going to Quit my job!!

Feels like a whole new phase for me, I am going to be a at-home cloth diapering mama and I am excited. Thanks on the Bac-Out tip too. I love whole foods! I am going to start off with the XS size.

[Aqua]

Gossie, I ordered 3 BG 3.0 from cotton babies and just recieved them. I wanted to check them out to fully understand. You said you bleach only the inserts once in few months. But the inserts are sewn in? how do you bleach only them?

[gossie]

Gossie, I ordered 3 BG 3.0 from cotton babies and just recieved them. I wanted to check them out to fully understand. You said you bleach only the inserts once in few months. But the inserts are sewn in? how do you bleach only them?

Yes, on the All-In-Ones/sized diapers they are sewn in. I found that I never had to bleach those as I used them for a short period of time (just until the 4.0/one sized ones fit) and DS was not eating solids yet. It's totally fine to bleach the whole diaper though, and some people do bleach both the insert and the shell of the 4.0, I just prefer not to as I don't find it necessary and it keeps the bleach on something that never touches my baby's skin :)