[aubers68]

Soooo I'm STILL contemplating the cloth diapering. Super nervous, still. Not sure where I stand completely. We have a high efficiency washing machine AND hard water, from my understanding two "hits" against clothe diapering.

Anyways... my question is, if I wait till roughly 4 maybe even 6 months to start, how many diapers do you think I should have. I don't want to go all out and get tons and not like it or stick to it. Right now I have 9 diapers so far, not even sure what's what just bought what I thought I'd like and some from Mom2Mom sales lol. (I also have TONS of pre folds, they were bought second hand so I'm not even sure what kind they are)

[Mod-Lady Valkyrie]

Sorry hon I'm a disposable diaper mum all the way. LOADS of ladies on here CD though and should be able to give some advice!

[Jessimaaka]

I'm new as well, and and I've been told 2-3 dozen in rotation....more if you want to either use them with another child, sell them when you're done (i.e. less wear and tear in a bigger stash they last longer and can have a better resale value) or do laundry less.

Looks like you have one size ones right now so are you thinking disposables for the newborn stage and cloth diapers once she grows into them?

I've been picking up one or two a week to help spread out cost.

No advice as I'm a newbie and would be interested in others' opinions as well

[~~Que~~]

Depending on when you want to start and how often you want to do laundry. I started out with 12 diapers, and started when baby was a NB. At that young age with only 12 diapers, I had to wash every day. But around 4-6 months, most people can get away with 12-16 diapers and wash every other day. 18-24 diapers if you want to wash every 3-4 days. I wouldn't go longer than 3-4 days, or your diapers will get stinky. I'd have at least 2 wet bags in your rotation (one for the wash, one to use).

[aubers68]

Originally Posted by Jessimaaka

Looks like you have one size ones right now so are you thinking disposables for the newborn stage and cloth diapers once she grows into them?

Yea I don't want to start until the baby is a little older, once I'm used to having a baby around I guess.

[mama4life]

Here's the thing....unless you are absolutely positive that you are going to stick with it, I wouldn't spend a ton more than what you have. When I started, I just bought one kawaii dipe....you have at least a decent amount here where you don't feel silly doing a load of laundry (for just one dipe, like I first did!). There's a learning curve with cloth, so try not to get discouraged....there's a lot to figure out with the laundry side of things, especially with a HE machine...that's what I have and I detest it for cloth. I have found my routine though, and it works fairly well.

And, I know there's tons of stuff to choose from, but just from what I've used, I like Ruby Moon for my detergent. It's not helpful for me to say that though because 10 other moms would say something different. It really is a trial and error sort of thing. I got tons of advice from many ladies, but I don't do it exactly like any of them....I've just done little bits of what all of them have said.

Just go into it knowing that it's going to take some figuring out, and, don't stress about using a disposable here or there. I plan on waiting a while until starting in with cloth. In the newborn phase, they are pooping like every hour, and I don't even have the # of dipes to cover that. And, for me, I don't know if I can continue using cloth after the start of solids because I never really got a routine that worked with DS's dipes this last time. Breastmilk poo is easy though .

I'm glad there are a number of ladies here who will be a good resource for cloth. I don't consider myself one at all, and I'm going to need help as I go too.

[aubers68]

I need a lot of help I wish I had a friend IRL who has used cloth so they could be here in person to help me out.

[~~Que~~]

Is there a mama shop somewhere near where you live where you can go chat up the owner and pick their brains? Sometimes those shops have free cloth diaper workshops too...

I also forgot to mention, that 8-9 diapers would generally work to start out if you wanted to just try cloth during the day and use sposies at night (lots of moms do that too). It's a good "trial size" amount...

[LadyCoconut]

I think that's a good amount to start out with if you're just looking to dip your toes in the water. You'll need something to store the dirty ones in... lots of people say you should have two large wet bags - one to use while the other is in the wash. and that does make sense but I was cheap and got by with just one for a long time before I splurged on a second big one. I mean, it doesn't take forever to wash a wet bag - so I just laid the wet diaper out on the diaper changing table until it was ready to go in the bag.

A couple of things... when we did use sposies we got a lot of blow outs... there are no elastic around the waist or legs so an explosive breastfed poo just explodes right outta there. When we went on vacation or something and used sposies I always threw a cover on over it. THANK GOD I did this b/c when she was 3 months old I was flying to chicago with her solo and if not for that cover over the sposie we would have had a massive blow out on the plane -- a plane which had no changing table either btw. So maybe when you start just have a couple of covers -- they would go over your prefolds should you decide to use those anyway -- and this way you kind of get the best of both worlds... and covers just wipe down and could be washed with her clothes and stuff. I like thirsties duos b/c they fit for a long time and have the double leg gussets

Also... CDing before baby is 6 months is the easiest b/c exclusively breast fed babies have water soluble poop so you can just throw the whole thing, poop and all, in the wash and it all rinses away.

[Mountain~Mama]

I started with 2 dozen prefolds and about 6 covers. That's it. And I used those for Audrey's first year in cloth. You really don't have to go all out and have all kinda of fancy diapers. I also found pre folds very simple to wash and never had stink issues that a little vinegar wouldn't take care of. I also washed them in an HE (in a laundry mat no less) and had no issues there either.

This time around I've bought some pockets but in all honesty I think I"m going to use them more as covers than as pockets. If that doesn't work, I'll sell them and get what I know works.

[magz88]

I am going with a service and she gives 72 I think to start? That is supposed to be enough for a week and then you adjust accordingly.

[emeraldeyedimp]

I would just use what you have to work with - they look like they are mostly one size pockets which usually don't fit that well until about 3 months depending on the size of your LO. When I first started I just would do a couple of day and see how I liked them and how it all worked. I like using a sprayer to help get the poo off so that might be something to consider.

This site helped me out a TON when I was first starting. Cloth Diapers & Parenting Community - DiaperSwappers.com

For me it wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it would be, and reading everything made it WAY confusing but once I just started it made sense to me and was pretty easy.

[Corrupt]

As someone who started a bit later and took a roundabout approach, here's what I found:

Cloth takes trial and error. No two people will do it the same so be ready for that. I think waiting until you're settled in like you're planning is the way to go. Like someone else mentioned, it's better to use some disposables along the way rather than getting overwhelmed and throwing in the towel all together. Every little bit counts, it's not all or nothing.

Frontloaders can clean cloth diapers...it just might take some playing around to find the right combination. If your water is hard, you can try adding some washing soda to each load to soften it

Personally, I hated reusing covers. Having them sitting around drying drove me insane and I found that they smelled like pee after one use, no matter how often I changed.

I got away with 9 pockets and 1 wet bag for many months, once I decided that I liked that design best. I washed daily and swore a lot, but it's possible.

[2pinks&ablue]

That looks good to start with, cloth is expensive and you have enough to try it out I have about 25 that fit my almost one year old right at this moment, I wash when I have about 5 left, and only every third day. I don't have hard water, but I do have an HE washer, and we've had no problems

[AllyssaM]

We used CD's on DD from 1 year until her 2nd birthday when she started to PT for about 3 months - We're just now getting back into them, not that we've gotten situated after our move. At a year, I started with 18 pocket diapers. I made the newbie mistake of buying all 1 brand - DO NOT DO THAT! Haha. Buy 1 or 2 of a handful of brands [I see in your picture that you've basically done that, which is good] and from there you'll see what you like. I've since sold off all my 'original' 18 I first bought - As I did not like them for my daughter - And I have a mix of diapers now. I, personally, am a one size pocket girl - But I am giving prefolds & covers a shot with Adalyn as well as fitteds.

The 18 diapers I originally started out with at a year old - I was washing every day and a half or so. By the time DD tried to potty train - I was up to 30 or 35 diapers and washing every 2-3 days with some to last my day of washing [it typically doesn't need to take all day, I was just getting lazy with my laundry at the time]. I've since added about a dozen fitted diapers and 2 dozen prefolds + a few covers for Adalyn. I've sold off some of my pockets - And a few are too small for Emmersyn now, but I am holding onto them for Adalyn.

I also started off with a diaper sprayer (I love it! But it isn't NEEDED) and 1 wet bag. It wasn't all that bad having 1 wet bag - Like a previous poster said, they don't take long to wash & dry so I'd just put the wet diaper on the bathroom counter (where I kept my wet bag) until it was dry. But I did eventually buy a 2nd and it did make it easier - But like I said, it isn't NEEDED.

I am still trying to find a good wash routine, detergent, ect. . . It's a lot of trial and error, it can be pretty frustrating at times. . . But seeing those cute little booties in cloth make it worth it!!!

[acchickpea]

I'm a newbie Cloth Diaper user too! I'm still trying to figure it out but I think I kind of have a handle on it... I just need baby to be here to prove that Theory.. LOL...

I have hard water and a HE front loader but found a wash routine that will hopefully work... I washed my OS pocket clothes diapers a few time already as recommended to wear them down some and thin kI have a routine but who knows just yet.

I'm going to use both sposies and cloth... Sposies would be until the cord falls off and depending on how he fits in the cloth. I have about 21 to start thinking that babies would go through about 10-12 diapers a day so my wash can go for every other day. I also was planning on using flushable liners for the poopies..

There's also a cloth diapering board on here with all other mommies... You should chek that out too!

Good Luck!
I found a lot of information on You tube for cloth...
This site was informative.....
Mama Natural - Cloth Diapering - YouTube

This site help with front loading washing.....
Jack Be Natural - How to Wash Cloth Diapers (HE- High Efficiency Version) - Jack Be Natural - YouTube

[aubers68]

Originally Posted by acchickpea

This site help with front loading washing.....
Jack Be Natural - How to Wash Cloth Diapers (HE- High Efficiency Version) - Jack Be Natural - YouTube

Watching that video made me feel a little better about the washing part of cloth diapering! The videos I watched in the past seemed so complicated!


What soap did you use?? Did you just wash them to prep them or have you done anything else? I thought I recall seeing a video of women boiling them on the stove... it's actually been a while since I've watched the cloth diapering videos though so I could be mistaking

[acchickpea]

Originally Posted by aubers68

Watching that video made me feel a little better about the washing part of cloth diapering! The videos I watched in the past seemed so complicated!


What soap did you use?? Did you just wash them to prep them or have you done anything else? I thought I recall seeing a video of women boiling them on the stove... it's actually been a while since I've watched the cloth diapering videos though so I could be mistaking

I actually bought the same detergant that the video used... Crunchy Clean... I got the 40 oz powder "clothspin" scent for HE Loads for $13.
I washed the cloth diapers and inserts three times and added the soap in as if they were dirty just to prep them. I could be wrong but the boiling of the cloth diapers were for stripping them so that the diapers could be more absorbant... I think this is done once in a while but not everytime you wash the diapers. I heard that you can still strip the diapers in the front loader by adding a teaspoon of dish soap (they showed Dawn b/c it helps with eliminateing grease/oil buildup?) and then an extra rinse to take out the suds.....

[aubers68]

Yup!!! It was for stripping... like I said it's been a while lol sometimes everything starts to run together in my head

[AllyssaM]

Originally Posted by aubers68

Watching that video made me feel a little better about the washing part of cloth diapering! The videos I watched in the past seemed so complicated!


What soap did you use?? Did you just wash them to prep them or have you done anything else? I thought I recall seeing a video of women boiling them on the stove... it's actually been a while since I've watched the cloth diapering videos though so I could be mistaking

If you boil your diapers with snaps, do it CAREFULLY. It can melt the snaps. I usually stick my inserts with snaps in the water when it's hot - But not quite boiling yet.