So, my fiance and I are planning on having children someday, and weve had much talk about it. We'd like to use clothe diapers. But, how do you clean them once the baby has gone poo-poo? Can you use them again and again? Are they what the covers are for? Where do you purchase them, and can you make your own? If you were to make your own, how many and of what materials? Thanks! Peace, Jessica
my mum used cloth diapers when i was a baby. you need to master the art of folding them so they are confy for your baby. You can use a plastic diaper to hold it in place when the baby starts crawling, etc. I odnt know where you can get those now, but I'm sure you can find the sort of fabric that it's needed and make them yourself.
Strictly breast fed babies have the best poop. If it is alot, I dump it/scrape it into the toilet. If it is just skids, I just leave it and wash it as is. Once they start eating food, the poops change and become more solid. Again, just rid of it in the toilet. Sometimes I have to rinse them out first before tossing it in the machine. I use prefolds and LiteWrap covers. Easy, easy, easy! I get her diapers from www.greenmountaindiapers.com. The covers are water/moisture proof and keep the pee/poo inside without drenching their clothing. I have never made my own diapers, but it is definately doable.
Considering every baby will need to be changed over 5000 times until potty trained, disposables make the world a much more cluttered place! I used bird's eye flat diapers for all seven of my kids. They're inexpensive (about 10 dollars a dozen, I've found them for $6 at K-Mart) wash easily, do not stain (no seams), dry in minutes, are super absorbant, are one-size-fits-all from the tiniest newborn to the most robust toddler, last FOREVER (I've used the same diapers for several babies) make excellent burp cloths and light coverings for naps, fold small for traveling, and have a hundred and one uses. If you're the type that's shy about breastfeeding in public (I'm not!) they make a nice cover-up for your boobs. The "downside" is you have to use pins and rubber pants, and you have to fold each one. I used to fold them up and put them away ready to use, but I could fold a dipe with one hand in seconds after a couple of weeks, so it wasn't a big deal to me. YOu fold one way for girls, so the bulk is in the middle, and another for boys, so the bulk is in front. When they grow bigger, or for night time, I used to fold 2 dipes together for more absorbacy. I've used pre-folds and all in ones, but always go back to my bird's eye flats! I think the new all in ones and fitted diapers, like fuzzi buns, etc, are really cute, with the printed fabric, velcro and snaps, but are way too expensive, and the the sizing makes them even less economical.
I just started with the cloth diapers about 2 months ago. she is already over a yr old so I will only need the one size. I found mine on http://www.babiesinthesun.com. There are tons of sites, and most of the are run by stay at home moms.
http://www.diaperware.com <----- There is a ton of info on this site, as well as a variety of cloth diapers, covers, and cloth mama pads for sale. You can get flat and prefold diapers at Babies R Us and Walmart, but the best selection is on the internet. You won't believe how many cloth diaper sites are on the web!!! Here are some of my favorites: http://www.sugarpeas.com http://www.angelwraps.com http://www.righteousbaby.com http://www.fuzzibunzstore.com http://orangestarfish.com (I also like Little Lambs and Bunny Hugs diapers, but I'm not sure of the addresses...) We use hemp fitted diapers, which are very easy to use. They are kind of costly, but much cheaper and less wasteful than disposables. Go to http://www.mothering.com and check out the Trading Post on their message boards. We get a lot of diapers cheaper by buying them used. It sounds gross, but we figure the point of using cloth diapers is to recycle and cut down on waste, so it makes sense to us. You'll get the hang of washing diaps as soon as you have to do it 1,000 times a day! You really don't think twice about it after you've done it a few times. Good for you for trying to make a difference in this world by using cloth! It's really fun, good for the environment, and soft on your baby's butt
There are so many different kinds of coth diapers today. When my older kids were small we had the choice of flat or prefolds or pampers. Today there are flat, prefolds, Chinese prefolds, fitted, fitted with snaps, fitted with velcro, all-in-ones, flat diapers that slip into fitted holders, and about million kinds of disposable. check with mothering.com and a few of the cloth diaper sites that have been listed. Also, EBay is a good place to buy cloth diapers. Kathi
