cloth diapers?

[christygobar]

Even if you consider your time to be free, all the extra loads of wash (in hot water) aren't cheap. Consider, too, that you'll be washing more loads of regular clothes as well -- I had more leaks with cloth diapers than with disposables.

I am with the PP - I don't find this to be the case either. Our water bill has not substantially increased, nor has our gas to heat the water.

And the time to wash my laundry - I just put it in after dd goes to bed, and basically forget about it until the next morning. I snap/fold/assemble on the floor of DD's room while she is playing. She'll play in the diaper pile around me and it works out just fine

i know there are a lot of misconceptions about it, but I have truly yet to find them any more complex or difficult than disposables! And yes, I have saved money - even with my shopping habits. I just know to sell my diapers on the used market in order to buy new ones

 

[MrsPete]

most people report FEWER leaks and blowouts with cloth.

That wasn't my experience at all.

I never get chemical beads on my kid because the disposable busted.

I've only seen the inside of one disposable diaper, and that was the one that we purposefully cut open for a science experiment -- it was fun. Really, they don't burst. I've never heard anyone say that before.

i know there are a lot of misconceptions about it,

I believe that! I suggest that it's best to give both cloth and disposables a try -- before investing too heavily in either one.

I know that I expected to like cloth diapers, yet I found them to be too much work for no real savings. A part of this was that the house we lived in had only a small closet for the laundry -- literally nowhere to store dirty clothes -- so ALL laundry was a considerable chore there. And finding a super-cheap disposable source meant that cloth saved no money. Someone else's circumstances might be different.

 

[My2Pixies]

I have used cloth for both of my girls. With dd1 I used mostly Fuzzi Bunz, and never had a problem with leaks or anything. I was able to sell and buy gently used when I needed to size up on a popular cloth website, which really made the process very inexpensive. My dd wore mediums for almost a year and a half until she potty trained and they still looked practically brand new. Real work horse pockets.

For dd2 I decided to go the fitted route, and I bought a pattern and made them myself. Her stash has cost half of what dd1's did, since all I'm purchasing is fabric, snaps and (gently used) covers. I already had a sewing machine and a snap press though, which would be somewhat expensive up front if you don't have them.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Here's my $.02 too...
I bought about 18 Bum Genius 3.0 for my 3rd child. They're adjustable and fit her from birth through potty training. They're pocket diapers which are super easy to use and wash and dry. (They needed to be easy because DH is the main diaper changer.) We did laundry almost every day in the newborn stage and then every 2 to 3 days later. Even though I had a big initial investment, it was less expensive than disposables. My main reason for going to cloth though was I think the chemicals in disposables are unhealthy.

We're using the same diapers again on my 4th baby. So now the savings are very significant! If you don't plan to have more children, I would recommend buying used CDs (now that I know they can stay in good shape) to significantly increase your savings too.

My experience is that we get way fewer leaks and blowouts with CDs too. In fact my 3 1/2 month old has never had a blow out. I didn't even think about it until reading this thread. She typical makes it through the day in just one outfit. Lately she's needed a change of outfit because she's drooling so much--but rarely is it a leaky diaper that causes the change of clothes.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

I used cloth diapers for 2 years with my son. We had a mix of Bum Genius and Fuzzibunz, and usually had 24 diapers at any given time. I didn't bother with the wet bags, the sprayers, and such. I did a load of laundry for them every other day, and hung them to dry.

I probably spent about $600 or so on diapers, and made about $300 selling all my used ones. We have a well, so water wasn't an issue.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was really easy, and no real work at all.

I agree with those who suggest trying a bunch of different styles before you buy a lot. I had bought Swaddlebees and Happy Heiny's when he was born, and really thought I would like them. We had no luck at all with them. I also borrowed some covers, prefolds, and Snappis, and hated the whole process. My husband loved the Bum Genius, and was totally willing to do that, so we ended up with a bunch of those

 

[AZMermaid]

We cloth diaper my 11 month old and have since he was 8 days old. We love it. My husband thought I was a crazy hippie nut for wanting to do so and now I think he loves it even more than me!

We used prefolds and thirsties xs covers (I think we have 6 covers and 30 PF, probably could have done 24) until he was about 2-3 months. I spent probably $150 on those and two wet bags to get started. Then we switched to Flips which are sort of a cross between prefolds and pockets. These were a gift, but the set we got (4 covers and 12 inserts) cost $100. I ended up buying an extra cover off diaperswappers. At about 3 months, he also started fitting into Bum Genius. We started with 7 of these and a mix of a few other brands to see what we liked. We prefer the Bum Genius and also CD at daycare, so we had to buy more of them, now we have about 20. I probably spent about $300 on all my pocket diapers. I wash every other day- maybe every 2.5 days.

We have never had a blowout. Ever. I have had many diapers where I thought "this would be all over in a sposie." Maybe a handful of times I have had a small drop of poo leak out. We did have issues with pee leaks when we first started using Flips and BG. I think he may have been a little too small for them still. Even though they say one size, they really don't fit well until about 12 lbs. Now, they rarely leak.

I use regular Tide and double rinse them. I tried this first figuring if he reacted to the Tide, I would then order stuff online and he never did. I use 1/4 cup vinegar in the pre-rinse every 2 weeks or so and I have bleached the inserts twice (so every 3-4 months). We have never had stink or repel issues.

I am expecting our second and we realized we shouldn't have to buy any more diapers until he or she is about 6 months old, if we use PFs and Flips for those first months. If my son is still in diapers at that time, we may need a half dozen more BG or need to replace some of them if the velcro is shot. If not, we might be good all the way through with #2!

Good luck!

 

[tink2dw]

A tale of caution from my day, you had a bucket of beach water, where your dirty cloth diapers hung out, and you poured the the whole thing in the washer, well I was washing diapers and pouring the beach and diapers in the washer, and from that, I got pneumonia, BADLY!! It put me down hard for months!! Try taking care of a active toddler, when all you can do is sleep!!!

Just take caution!

Unless you have a ton of time, I would use disposible diapers. One thing I found out is you have to shop disposibles fit just like you do cloth!!

 

[justbishop]

A tale of caution from my day, you had a bucket of beach water, where your dirty cloth diapers hung out, and you poured the the whole thing in the washer, well I was washing diapers and pouring the beach and diapers in the washer, and from that, I got pneumonia, BADLY!! It put me down hard for months!! Try taking care of a active toddler, when all you can do is sleep!!!

Just take caution!

Unless you have a ton of time, I would use disposible diapers. One thing I found out is you have to shop disposibles fit just like you do cloth!!

Most modern cloth diaper manufacturers actually discourage the use of a "wet pail" (where you toss dirty dipes into any sort of soaking liquid for long periods of time between washing).

We have been successful using a plain old lidded 13 gallon plastic trash bin from Target, no liner or anything. I had a large pail liner when I started, but it was more of a hassle for me than anything, so I sold it off. We've always put the poop into the toilet and spayed the remnants away with a diaper sprayer, and tossed non-poopy dipes straight in. On wash day, I just take the while bin and dump the contents right into the washer, spray the empty bin out with bleach water, let that sit for 10 minutes, then use my diaper sprayer to rinse it out.

 

[adventure_woman]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE cloth diapering.

-Started when DD was 4 mths old.
-I started out buying used. Go to diaperswappers.com or to babycenter.com.
-I bought prefolds first. Wasn't much of a fan. Too bulky.
-Then I tried pockets. LOVE them, so I have stuck with those.

I ended up buying a bunch NEW by Sunbabies. They are A LOT cheaper than FuzziBunz/Bum Genius, etc. I think I paid $6.50/each with 2 inserts. They have worked GREAT for me, no leaks (as long as I use 2 inserts).

I still use disposables at night....I didn't want to spend the money to find out what worked best to go through 12 hrs.

I have about 30 pockets, and I do laundry about every 3 days. I do not have a diaper sprayer, just swish and it comes right off. Then I drop in the wet bag. For washing: In the washer (top loader), I do a cold rinse cycle then I do a HOT clean cycle with about 5 tablespoons of regular dry Tide and then line dry them (I try to put them outside to dry when possible).

Figuring what I spent on my cloth diaper lot, the extra water to wash (max 8.50/mth extra) and what I would have spent on disposable diapers, I figured I saved A LEAST $400 for the 1st year of cloth.

Let me know if you have any questions, or want more info about Sunbabies...I can try to find it. I found out about them on the babycenter.com cloth diapering forum.

 

[adventure_woman]

Oh, and personally...I HATE velcro!!! Thought I would like it, it is horrible. You get diaper chains in the wash, and now DD has figured out how to undo it!! Snaps are the way to go.

 

[christygobar]

Yes, I agree - I prefer snaps as well. However, hook & loop is great for DH's and babysitters. Makes things much more like a disposable to them

(Mine are snap diapers, DH has hook/loop)

Plus, DD has figured out velcro. Not yet on the snaps

 

[Celidh]

I used cloth diapers for my first two. I got a bit lazy with my third. I can't remember what kind they were because ds is now almost 14.

I didn't find it a lot of work. The one thing I did find was it was hard to find a good "rubber pant" that didn't let the pee get his clothes wet. I tried a few diapers that had a built in all in one diaper that didn't need an outer pant but after being washed a bunch of times, it seemed that the wetness just seemed to seep out.

Like I said, it wasn't a lot of work in my opinion. At this time, it was suggested to soak them but I see from reading here, that isn't the norm. I just dumped the pail with the water diapers and all into the wash. Sometimes they went in the dryer, sometimes on the clothes line. I did use flushable liners that in my opinion were a good send. Just take the liner out when they had a poop and flush it then there wasn't nearly the mess in the diaper.

I had the fitted diapers that resembled disposables. I used both snaps and velcro. I know what the pp means by "diaper chains" with the velcro. Mine had little pockets that I was supposed to fold over to prevent this when washing but I tended to forget.