I am due in September with our thrid blessing, first boy! I plan to breastfeed, make homemade babyfood from our lovely backyard organic garden and I would really love to cloth diaper. I've always been slightly hippy but I think I've become what is known as cruchy. The problem is I have no clue where to start. I see discussions and can't follow along because I don't even understand the lingo. Like what the heck is a prefold? I have looked on FuzziBunz website but am still lost. I liked FuzziBunz One size (I think) because from what I understand they are a diaper the baby can grow with. I would love to hear from someone who has done this! Help! Where do I start? What do I need? I can't afford to buy all at once but I do have a few months left and can start buying a little at a time. Any advice you give me would be so totally helpful. Thank you!
Good Luck....... thats all I can offer. Amie uses some kind of cute diaper covers I know she posted on FB.
http://www.homeschoolspot.com/showthread.php?t=30942&highlight=cloth+diaper There was recently a great thread that got going on this very topic. It may not answer all of your questions, but may lead you to someone you could pm for specific information. Hope this helps just in case some of the original posters do not respond. Congratulations on your upcoming arrival.
I have cloth diapered 3 of my kids and I have tried everything. I am not a fan of the one sized diapers until my babies have reached 15ish pounds. Before that it seems the diaper just doesn't work very well. I will say my favorite diapers are pocket diapers. I used Fuzzi Bunz, Bum Genius, and some homemade ones as well. I keep a stash of prefold and fitteds with cover though beause somedays I just like them better. Here is a quick explaination to some of the diapers: A prefold is a flat diaper like the gerber ones you buy at Walmart (please don't actually buy them from there!!! They are horrible!!!) A cover is just that. It is a plastic/waterproof cover that goes over the prefold or fitted diapers. A fitted diaper is basically a prefold but it is hourglass shaped. They can have velcro or snaps to secure them, or they can have nothing. I prefer the fitteds without velcro or snaps. I am not the only one on here who use cloth diapers but you can pm me if you want more info.
I have been cloth diapering for a little more than 5yrs now. I started out with gerber prefolds and wahm diaper covers. We used mostly wahm label stuff with the first two. When we had our third some friends gave us a ton of bumgenious brand one size pocket diapers. I fell head over heals instantly. We loved these. My daughter's current entire stash is made up of Kawaii one size diapers with snap closures. I love one size diapers. And I love both bumgenious and kawaii. Kawaii is a LOT cheaper though. :lol: For her newborn weeks I used premie sized prefolds in newborn and xs covers - a few thirsties brand and a few proraps brand. I preferred thirsties because they had laundry tabs so the velcro didn't stick in the washer. I would NEVER ever buy velcro tabbed one size diapers but I find for the newborn stage they are used such a short time that it doesn't wear out. The velcro on our bumgenious diapers wore out and that was the biggest reason I switched to all snaps. I wouldn't go back from all snaps but I know some people do prefer velcro. Took me 4.5yrs of cloth diapering to figure out why. I'm happy to answer any questions if I know the answers. And must disclose that we use sposies at night and when I forget to keep up with diaper laundry but we are about 90% cloth. We cloth for cost not really for the earth. :lol:
Wahoo! Um, did I know you were expecting?? Did I forget or totally miss it?? Congrats! Tag me on facebook. I learned everything I know about cloth diapering on another website. AND I have some used diapers I need to sell, for super cheap, if you want.
Check out some of the discussions on DiaperSwappers, too. That's a great resource. I will second the idea of holding off on one-size until baby is beyond the brand new newborn size. After that, my favorites are Bumboos by Earth, Mom, and Baby. They're a one-size fitted diaper. I LOVE the way they handle the one-size so much more than a complicated system of snaps in the rise. Yes, they're pricier than most, but you only have to buy one size. (oh, and they're made of bamboo and silk!) If you don't already follow Babysteals on facebook, DO! I've gotten amazing deals on diapers there! I have an eclectic stash at the moment, because I got rid of everything between #3 and #4 and built my stash back up using Babysteals. They have Bumboos on a fairly regular basis. (It's a daily deal site) The best advice I can give you this: not everyone has the same taste in diapers. I posted today on FB about really not liking a particular cover (it always leaks for me), but another friend replied that those are her all-time favorites! Don't commit to any one brand/style until you've tried a few. Buy one of this, one of that, one of that other thing until you know you're preferences. [And what you think you're going to prefer is not usually what you really do prefer]
When I first started looking at cloth diapering I was sooooo overwhelmed! It took a lot of searching until I understood all the options (and the language!). But it is worth the time. Better for the baby, environment, and a huge money saver! I used Bumgenius pocket diapers with my dd. I thought they worked great and were super easy to use and clean. I tried a few others but like these the best. But, if I do it again I would probably get some all-in-one diapers. Amie is right, we all like different things. If I remember right there is a company that you can by a three or five pack of different diapers to try before you pick the one you want. I also saw the other day that our local grocery had some cloth diapers so you can also check around and see if any of your local baby/grocery stores have them. It's nice to look at them in person before you buy if you can. I really wish I could remember how many I bought. I think I had enough to make it through two days before I would be out. It was a big investment up front but we figured it out and we were saving thousands compared to disposable diapers. If you sew, I know there are patterns out there for making your own. I'm not that good at sewing yet. But I know there are lots of mama's out there that can.
Well thank you all so much! This is the kind of info I was looking for! Now I can say I know what a prefold is too! I deleted my facebook account about 5 months ago so all these things on facebook won't help me but I am certainly going to look into the different brands you all suggested as well as diaperswappers. I think I will probably use disposables at first. I tend to have tiny babies and even the smallest disposables were big on my two girls. I have looked at stores here and there is nowhere I can find in my area that sells cloth diapers. There was one thrift store that had two "girly" diapers but that was it. My only hope here is online shopping. Unfortunately I can't sew. Some I was looking at have inserts. That is different from a prefold right? Also about how many diapers would I need total? I line dry the majority of my laundry and make homemade detergent - is that ok for cloth diapers?
Yes and no. Yes, "inserts" are different, but I use prefolds for inserts, as well. And insert is a flat rectangle, already roughly the size you'll need it to be. Prefolds can be folded to fit into any pocket diaper or as a "doubler" (extra absorbancy for naptime/heavy wetting) in any diaper. I've found that newborn prefolds are just perfect as inserts for pockets/doublers. So the question comes down to whichever is the least expensive option for you. Doing laundry every other day means roughly 2 dozen diapers. However... When I first started CDing (cloth diapering), I bought 2 diapers. I replaced 2 'sposies (disposables) a day and washed the dipes each night. Then I bought a third dipe, then fourth, etc. Nothing says you need 2 dozen before you can start saving money/the Earth. On a related note, don't beat yourself up if you aren't brave enough to CD outside of your home. There is a bit of a learning curve because you can't just put baby in a diaper and run hours worth of errands without changing him/her like you can with a disposable. Then there are the wetbags and dealing with solids, etc. I'm not trying to discourage you from CD out-and-about (lots of moms do it); I'm trying to encourage you to not let that stop you from CD at home. Also, keep in mind that your church nursery worker/sitter/Mother-in-law/whoever may not be keen on the idea of cloth. And that's OK, too. YES! Line dry those dipes! Any diaper made with PUL (the waterproof lining in most AIO's, pockets, or covers) should be line-dried. I line dry my diapers, too, but soften them in the dryer for a few minutes before using them. As to homemade detergent, that's a polarizing question. Many diapers vary in washing instructions. Some moms swear by homemade detergent; others insist it ruined their diapers. I've used it in a pinch, but usually buy Rockin' Green (specifically made for cloth diapers) and only use it for the dipes. The most important washing instruction is to not use fabric softener (it coats the material and keep it from wicking).
Amie thank you so much! Your responses REALLY help! I understand the whole prefold/insert thing a lot better now. Good to know I can use prefolds as inserts too. I really like the idea of starting out slow. I think that may help my husband be fully onboard. He is a bit skeptical but willing to try considering how much money we will save over time. I could certainly wash diapers every other day no problem. Thankfully my only sitters will be my older daughters. I don't ever hire sitters and my mom is in a nursing home and MIL smokes and drinks way too much and will only have supervised access at our home. Possibly my exMIL (oldest daughters amazing grandma) may watch the baby but I think the time period would be so short that I could just use disposables then. Thank you for bringing this up because it isn't something I thought of at all. I will look into Rockin Green detergent. I am willing to purchase something to use only on diapers. So now my next step is figuring out a brand to try and purchase a couple. When I first brought this up with dh he did say I could buy a couple and see what we thought so now I am off to research!
I have friend that makes the Oh Katy (aka Katydid) diapers and she swore by her home made detergent. I tried her recipie and so far I have no issues with it. I hate buying detergent so finding a homemade one that workes was awesome!
I love flats with wool covers. I second going to a site like DiaperSwappers and looking through the information there. When I first started, I used AIO's. I thought I'd love them but I really don't, they take too long to dry, for me. I love how simple flats are, but everyone likes something different.
