Cloth Diapers

[Leshaface]

I'll be a first time mom in September, so forgive my ignorance, but what do you do with poop in the diaper?? Do you scrap it into the toilet before washing it?

I've always been curious about cloth diapers but never knew how they worked. Also how do they stay up? Is there velcro?

As you can tell, I have absolutely no idea!

[J3nn78]

Depends on the poop
While a baby is strictly breasted, there is no need to do anything, just toss in the wash.
For a baby that is formula fed or has started solids, you can dunk and swish (gross) or get a diaper sprayer And spray the poop off into the toilet. It is really easy.

[adventure_woman]

Originally Posted by Leshaface

I'll be a first time mom in September, so forgive my ignorance, but what do you do with poop in the diaper?? Do you scrap it into the toilet before washing it?

I've always been curious about cloth diapers but never knew how they worked. Also how do they stay up? Is there velcro?

As you can tell, I have absolutely no idea!

No worries!! With the poop you can actually buy a diaper sprayer and spray it off. I didn't (too cheap), so I just swished it in the toilet. It actually didn't bother me. (Now, when it came to cleaning up poopy undies - that is icky! ).

There are many different kinds of diapers. I used pocket. After baby goes in diaper, you throw everything into the 'wet bag', then just toss the whole bag in wash. They have both velcro and snaps. Personally, I HATED the velcro. (I thought I would like it the best). They are so easy, even my dad could change a diaper. The pocket and all-in-ones are just like disposables when you put them on.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I didn't do cloth with my 1st, but I wish I had. The diapers are oh so cute.

[J3nn78]

There are many types of cloth diapers.
The ones most like disposables in ease of use are All-in-ones. They require no stuffing or extra parts. It is the absorbent part and waterproof part all together. They stay up with Velcro or snaps. The biggest downside is they take a long time to dry.
Pockets are easy to use, but have a removable insert that you can customize according to your absorbancy needs. These dry faster but are still easy to use and fasten.
Fitteds with a cover are easy and will have a Velcro or snap closure. Little more work in using because you put two things on the baby
Prefolds and flats are what most people think of with cloth. This is the old style that used to be fattened with pins, but now they made a great little thing called a Snappi which fastens the diaper without risk of poking you or baby. This type also needs some type of waterproof cover.
There are so many options to choose from. I recommend trying a few types and seeing what works best for you and your baby and then get more. I use a combo of fitteds and pockets. I like Fuzzi Bunz, Oh Katy's, and homemade pockets, and also Thirsties fitteds and covers as well as Kissaluvs size 0 (fitteds) for newborns

[MrsDrewsky]

I was wondering if anyone could suggest how many cloth diapers to have on hand. We are expecting our first next year and we have been seriously considering cloth diapers to save money. I'm just not sure how many we would need or how sizing works.

[BellePrincessBelle]

Originally Posted by MrsDrewsky

I was wondering if anyone could suggest how many cloth diapers to have on hand. We are expecting our first next year and we have been seriously considering cloth diapers to save money. I'm just not sure how many we would need or how sizing works.

I would say no less than 24 for a newborn to get through 2 days washing. I ended up with about 70 fitted/pocket/all in ones plus 3 dozen premium prefolds & 3 dozen infant prefolds. I am a huge fan of prefolds & covers for newborns & then moving up to the fitted/pocket/aio territory as they grow.
What is your question on sizing? Some pockets come as one size that fit from about 10lbs to potty training others are sized like disposibles.

[MrsDrewsky]

Originally Posted by BellePrincessBelle

I would say no less than 24 for a newborn to get through 2 days washing. I ended up with about 70 fitted/pocket/all in ones plus 3 dozen premium prefolds & 3 dozen infant prefolds. I am a huge fan of prefolds & covers for newborns & then moving up to the fitted/pocket/aio territory as they grow.
What is your question on sizing? Some pockets come as one size that fit from about 10lbs to potty training others are sized like disposibles.

Actually you answered all my questions perfectly. Thank you so much.

[Disney Princess]

Originally Posted by MrsDrewsky

I was wondering if anyone could suggest how many cloth diapers to have on hand. We are expecting our first next year and we have been seriously considering cloth diapers to save money. I'm just not sure how many we would need or how sizing works.

We just had our first last Wednesday, and we plan to use cloth diapers. We started buying a few at a time to spread out the cost once we knew what we wanted. We are using Bum Genius. We have quite the collection ready. We have the pocket style so we can adjust the absorbency as needed.

The best advice that we got was to use disposable at the beginning - our son weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces, so the cloth would be HUGE on him right now. We'll use disposable until he can fit. Our style is with snaps (I heard the velcro can wear out over time), and there are different snap locations to grow with the baby. So, we have the one-size fits all which means we only need that one size FOREVER. I was told to buy 12, 18 and 24 by different moms. I think we'll end up with 18-20. That means we will only have to wash them every other day or so.

The best news to us is that we'll save money now, and with each child after.

[disneysmiles]

adventure woman, what is this wet bag you speak of? That sounds so simple to wash them using this technique. Is there an example on Amazon? Did you make your own.

Totally considering going cloth. OP I had never heard of sunbaby diapers, those are quite inexpensive! Very cool. I'm also going to peruse those resale sites to get a better idea of who much things cost used.

Also another question, we will probably be moving a few months after the baby is born to another state. Are diaper sprayers easy to set up and take down? Say to move from one toilet to the next...

[kissy]

I used BUm genius and some prefolds with my DS and loved them! I will say that I got all velcro and after a certain amount of time the velcro wore off on it. However, in 3 weeks we're expecting baby #4 and there was no way I was going back to disposable so I converted all my velcro to snaps. It was time consuming but so worth it when I see all those gorgeous diapers ready to go! :-) I do recommend to anyone starting out, invest in the ones with snaps.

[chimilady]

Originally Posted by disneysmiles

Also another question, we will probably be moving a few months after the baby is born to another state. Are diaper sprayers easy to set up and take down? Say to move from one toilet to the next...

Well, we did a makeshift one using plans for a kitchen sprayer online (saved about $10) and we had the whole thing up and running in about 10 minutes, so I'm guessing moving it wouldn't be hard at all.

[seashoreCM]

Originally Posted by Leshaface

I'll be a first time mom in September, so forgive my ignorance, but what do you do with poop in the diaper?? Do you scrap it into the toilet before washing it?:

With all types of solid or semisolid matter (ashes, grease, jelly, etc.) you should scrape off as much as you can before getting out the bottle of cleaning fluid or throwing the garment into the wash.

Admittedly it is gross when dealing with feces or vomitus, but the more you clean off first, the less gets caught in other items, or left behind, after the washing machine rinse cycle is done or the carpet shampooer finishes sucking up.

When you do use cleaning fluid, sop up as much as you can using tissue or absorbent cloth that you dispose of immediately, rather than let it dry where it is.

More on keeping things clean:
http://www.cockam.com/clean.htm

[BellePrincessBelle]

Originally Posted by disneysmiles

adventure woman, what is this wet bag you speak of? That sounds so simple to wash them using this technique. Is there an example on Amazon? Did you make your own.

Totally considering going cloth. OP I had never heard of sunbaby diapers, those are quite inexpensive! Very cool. I'm also going to peruse those resale sites to get a better idea of who much things cost used.

Also another question, we will probably be moving a few months after the baby is born to another state. Are diaper sprayers easy to set up and take down? Say to move from one toilet to the next...

A wet bag is just a waterproof bag that you keep the dirty diapers in. When wash time comes you just empty the bag in to the wash, toss said bag in along with it & wash. I used planetwise brand & wahmies for my wet bags. I used the Bum Genius diaper sprayer & it takes less tham 5 minutes to attach or take off your toilet & there is nothing permanent.

[laurafergie]

I have read this thread with interest....all these new names like Bum Genius. I am of the old school and cloth diapered my older ones because we were broke, and I "saved" the pampers for when I was out.

The diapers were a giant soft cotton square and you folded them to fit the baby. As the baby grew, you folded them larger. Overnight, you might fold two together. Plastic pants went over everthing. There was a diaper bucket to soak with a solution of water and Dreft. Then you washed separately in hot water, more Dreft and bleach, with rinsing twice. After potty training, the old diapers were used cleaning.

[DisneyMomto3Boys]

Just wanted to chime in! I have 3 boys; youngest is almost 8 months, and the oldest is 7. We cloth diaper and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I have tried tons of different diapers (so much fun!) and my stash is currently set at 30 pocket diapers, mostly Bumgenius but also Happy Heineys, Fuzzibunz, and one Blueberry and Grovia. My favorites are the BumGenius 4.0's with snaps. We use these for overnight and they work great!

My baby has been 100% in cloth since the day we brought him home from the hospital, but we are going to do spossies for our upcoming Disney cruise.