[aubers68]

What are your thoughts on cloth diapers? I was going back to very very old posts here on the forum and found one about clothe diapers. Do any of you plan on using them? Or has anyone here used them? I don't even know how they work lol

[Sk8ermaiden]

I used them with Elizabeth for her first 6 months. Saved truckloads of cash. Had hard water issues and eventually they stopped actually working for us. Sold a lot of them and recouped some $$ and saved my favorites for the next one. Will definitely cloth diaper the next for at least the first 6 months again. Hopefully we solve our washing issues and if so, we'll keep going!

[~* Natasha *~]

I honestly couldn't tell you anything about them.
But MamaAnna I think is a cloth diaper user.
I'm sure she'd be a wealth of knowledge about them!

[Sk8ermaiden]

There are lots of different types.

1) Prefolds and covers. These are the cloth diapers of your grandma's day (Well - they are a little updated.) They are by far the most economical. You fold the prefold up around the baby and use a snappi (no pins anymore) and then put the waterproof cover over.

2) Fitteds and covers. Similar deal. A fitted is an absorbent inner diaper that is already in the shape of a diaper (as opposed to prefolds which are square cloth) and has snaps usually and then the cover goes over.

3) Pockets. You have a cover with a lining. You pick your insert which is a narrow absorbant rectangle. You put the insert into the pocket after wash time. When you go to put them on your baby, it is like putting on a disposable. The separate insert lets you choose the thickness and absorbency of the diaper.

4) All in ones. These are just like a disposable from start to finish. You put in on, you take it off. It is self contained.

You take them off and throw them in a diaper pail. Then every few days you dump the diapers in the wash. Once they are mostly on solid foods and the poops change, you have to dump the poop in the toilet and then throw the diaper in the pail.

[aubers68]

Ok I just sat and watched video and video on youtube. I love the idea... but this is going to sound pretty bad... I LOATHE doing the laundry. It seems like I'd be pulling my hair out doing all that laundry. Does this make me sound like a terrible person? lol


My friends always tease me because hubby does the laundry. But we really only do like 2 loads a week. Our front loaders hold so much sometimes we (or should I say he) only have to do 1 load.

[Sk8ermaiden]

Eh, like with most parenting choices, it either works for you or it doesn't. If the idea of two extra loads a weeks makes you want to hide under the bed, cloth diapering probably isn't for you. We only had enough diapers to go 1-2 days in the beginning and it was never that big a deal to me, you know?

But I cloth diapered because I think they are SOOOOOO CUTE. My DH was into it because it saved us hundreds. My BFF does it (prefolds and covers) to spend the least money possible. But I will say, now that my kid goes through 3 diapers a day only, I am so glad to sposie diaper. The cost is low and it is so darn convenient! But for the first months they go through at least 12 diapers a day and it was totally worth it for us then!

[MamaAnna]

I'm so glad to hear you're interested in fluff! Sk8ermaiden covered things pretty well, but I'll add a few things.

First, the old, old school diapers were flats which are preferred by few now. It's a single layer that you fold in a variety of ways and it's not among the most absorbent options out there. They're a great burp cloth though. Prefolds are multiple layers with the middle being the thickest. There are a variety of folds like the angel wing, trifold, and jelly roll. They are by far my favorite. They take longer to put on, but they're so easy to wash, don't stain as much, very absorbent, etc. They take some getting used to, but I really can't say enough good about prefolds with a cover.

There are also AI2s (All-In-Twos) where the insert usually snaps in to make it like an AIO, but they dry faster, no stuffing required, etc.

Right now I have a 26 month old and almost 15 month old in cloth diapers and fully plan to cloth diaper our next. I didn't start until my youngest was a couple months old and I'm already building a stash for our next baby.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions and I'll gladly answer them all and provide any links that I can. I really can't go on enough about fluff. I love it!

Oh! And a lot of women just toss their diaper into a wetbag now, or if you do use a pail the liner is a washable bag so you just toss the bag full of diapers into the washer. It does NOT contain any water. You don't have to handle them and you don't put them in a wet pail the way they used to. It used to be that you put them in a pail of water and then you would move them from that to your washer. But apparently that provides an excellent breeding ground for bacteria, can provide a drowning hazard for small children, an opportunity for a really nasty mess, it's bad for the diapers, etc.

Okay, I think that's it for my quick ramble!

ETA: It made me reload and I saw the laundry thing. Fluff laundry doesn't take much time, you can do just a single load every 2-3 days depending on what you're doing, and a lot of women don't fold. They just toss it in a basket and will grab diapers as they need them. It sounds a lot more complicated and time consuming than it actually is.

[aubers68]

I love that they are SOOOO cute.... maybe I will try this when the time comes. Maybe I should start stacking up now as I see many women do start way before conceiving. I'm just a tad nervous that I won't be able to do it... and I'm not even pregnant and it makes me nervous lol. At least I have time to learn and prepare


What style do you guys use most often? What do you prefer over others. I learned about all types and about washing and add ons in a 7 segment video series on youtube.

[Sk8ermaiden]

I looove all in twos for the reasons Anna mentioned. I also do pockets and all in ones. All in ones take forever to dry. I don't do fitteds or prefolds because I am very against leaving wetness against the baby's skin.

My favorite, favorite brands are Rainshine Designs and AMPs. I only do very trim diapers. I won't do bulk in any form and a lot of CDs are bulky.

[MamaAnna]

Right now I'm using pockets while I get new, bigger prefolds since they won't stop growing. I have Kawaii (minky, heavy duty with velcro, fun prints, and goodnights), a Fuzzibunz One Size, Sunbabies, and some Blueberry minky covers that I stuff with extra Kawaii inserts. I don't own any AIOs, but I'm planning on trying the new BumGenius Freestyle when it comes out. It's supposedly a fast drying OS AIO which would be really slick for my husband. The things he does with cloth diapers can be mind boggling.

Sk8ermaiden (sorry, I can't remember your name! ) ~ Have you tried using a microfleece or suedecloth liner with prefolds/fitteds to make them a stay-dry?

Oh! And some stores carry cloth diapers now so you could go in to a local shop and get a good look at them, feel them, etc. to get a better idea before you try to purchase anything. Where I'm at they're carried (new and used) by a consignment shop.

[aubers68]

Have you ever used the best bottoms one? where its wipeable? I think I like that, but obviously have not seen it in person or felt it to know.

[Sk8ermaiden]

My friend uses fleece liners and I babysit her son. The thing is that every inch of a prefold gets soaked with pee and a liner only covers a rectangle up the middle. It's just something I am fundamentally opposed to. We can afford disposables, so the thought of making her be wet just for the sake of using cloth isn't something I am willing to do. Personal preference. Plus the bulk.

[MamaAnna]

You don't have to cover just a tiny rectangle, but I understand. I was just curious if you'd tried it. My girls actually tend to have more trouble with stay-dry materials than they do prefolds. A prefold, the right wipe solution and a good dose of CJ's BUTTer and their rashes are gone in the blink of an eye.

I haven't tried Best Bottoms, no. I have done Flips where you can remove the insert and reuse the cover. They were problematic, but I've been told that they made some changes to the leg elastic and supposedly those problems wouldn't occur now. You can also reuse the covers with prefolds/fitteds as long as they don't get messy. I've used a Bummis cover that I didn't care for much, Econobums that I would never recommend, and Thirsties v2 (sized) covers. I'm going to get some Thirsties Duo Wraps with snaps this week to try.

[Sk8ermaiden]

Well, I suppose you could make it to be the same exact shape as the inside of the diaper but then you have to secure the wings somehow and at that point it is so much trouble I would wonder why you would do it. I have heard about some stay drys - especially microfleece.

My daughter has never gotten a rash in a disposable, thankfully, so it's never been to big an issue.

Bummis Super Whisper Wraps were my faaaavorite covers by far. Thirsties work great but they are just so huge I don't like them.

[MamaAnna]

See I loved the slightly larger size of the Thirsties and the double gussets. I love the wide variety and why different people use different things. I've seen people essentially make their own stay-dry prefolds by sewing a microfleece layer on, but then I think they have to do a trifold. Not sure, it's too early and I haven't had my coffee yet.

[katylady]

I'm jumping in a little late on this topic but I'm planning on cloth diapering. I've stocked up on a few bumgenius newborn diapers, Sunbaby diapers, JustSimplyBaby diapers and quite a few custom diapers a Marine wife makes. I've decided to just get about 2 each different brands to figure out what is going to work for me and my husband.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to launder them too. I have Rockin Green detergent. What do you ladies use? Also do you use disposable wipes or cloth wipes?

[MamaAnna]

I LOVED RnG until recently. This last bag I bought has made my diapers smell so foul and the repelling is awful. They told me I used too much, but 1tbsp out of the instruction 2-3 for a standard top loader seems bordering on too little. Once I strip them with some RLR we're going with All which has worked well for us in the past. I've also used Charlie's and liked it, I just prefer not having to order when I start to get low.

For wipes I use cloth wipes with a solution a friend recommended. You add a squirt of baby soap, a squirt of baby oil, and a tablespoon of baking soda to about 2 cups of warm water. It cleans and moisturizes the skin and the baking soda leaves just a tiny bit of a residue that protects from the acid in pee and poo. It's wonderful stuff.

[katylady]

thanks for the tip!

[JessicaW]

I'm a frugalista and a hippie, so we're definitely trying them if we ever get that BFP.

[MamaAnna]

Welcome, Katy.

Jessica, if you're a hippie you're going to LOVE fluff!