Cloth Diapering

We use cloth diapers. We use pins with plastic diaper covers (though, I think wool is best, just $$$). We use disposable sometimes traveling and one at night, because he kept peeing on me at night and not sleeping as well.

I try to use cloth too, when I am out on small trips. I wouldn't use cloth on a newborn on a trip though, because I breastfed and they have those poop explosions....

 

I think you can get non-pinchey/pokey diaper clips that work very well, much better than poking you or a baby if they're wiggling or being dissagreeable.

(Not to mention baby shit in a stab wound could probly develop a right proper infection)

 

Once you become diaper zen, you no long poke yourself, manggggg....but anyhow, I have never poked him. Not once. Now myself, another story..... you have to put fingers in-between babe and pin for safety. No shootin' without aimin'...you should know that commando ;-)

 

I use a snappi instead of pins. And my sweet babe has yet to feel the horror that is paper on her bum. Even on trips we use cloth.
DH uses fuzzibunz or bumgenius and I use prefolds and wool covers.

 

we have bumgenius pocket diapers, happy henies pocket diapers for night (they are bigger), one starbunz monkey fleece diaper and one bestbottom (http://snilldarborn.com/image/cache/data/SN_Giraffe_Green-500x500.jpg)
also have a few shinies and babyland wich I mostly use if all the others are dirty (rarely happens) but I dont like how to fasten these: http://www.naturalnursery.co.uk/user/products/bumgenius-nappy-Snap-GRASSHOPPER.jpg (did not find the word as english is not my native language) but I love these: http://www.naturalnursery.co.uk/user/products/bumgenius-nappy-Snap-GRASSHOPPER.jpg
they fit better

Im pregnant with baby no2 and will have imsevimse covers, prefolds and flat diapers the first months and then the baby will get the diapers I already have, my girl turns 2 next month so we are starting potty training and the baby is due in november
I'll probably resell the shinies and babyland if they dont fit the next baby either, I know other moms with babys that they fit on so that wont be hard

but it makes everything easier, we never run out of diapers, dont leak as often, saves money, I dont have to go out with each diaper, less smell, softer baby skin, hardly ever red, never gets a rash, very good too the enviroment, disposable diapers are non-biodegradable, cloth are biodegradable and resellable
and my girl just loves the cute pictures that come with some of them

 

I cloth diaper and love it. I use inserts with fitted's overtop. Like BumGenius or Flip diapers.
I also make my own wipes/menstruation pads and family cloths.

Yeah, yeah, its work, but its better than having my child sit in disposables, that never deteriorate or break down.

Peace,
Flowermama

 

My one year old is a fluffy bum :sunny:

I'm in the UK so probably no help with brands.
We use mainly pocket BTP (birth to potty) and inside the pocket we use one bamboo or hemp inserts underneath a microfibre insert. Microfibre is good at absorbing but no good at holding it for long where as bamboo isn't very quick to absorb but holds for ages!

Bamboo and hemp are my favourite inserts/boosters.

Always wash non bio, no conditioner or softener or stain remover. Keeps them nice and fluffy that way. We wash on 30 or if we have had a bad day on 40. NEVER go over 40, the PUL waterproof material could melt. We line dry inside (no choice) but I find that works.

A decent stash (lol) of around 20 nappies will suit you from birth until potty but it is so addictive, I buy a new one almost every week.

I'd also advise against buying in bulk, so like not buying a starter pack of just one brand, different babies have different fits and some nappies are perfect fits whereas some aren't. Its always best to experiment with a few brands beforehand and find the perfect one for your babe. We find tots bots all in one bamboozle to be a great fit, about to try out some itti bitti's too. WAHM's make some great nappies, so cute, and you can have them customised to whatever you like (although they cost loads!).

Enjoy being a fluffy mum!

 

whaaat??? never go over 40, really..
I wash on 60 or 90 to kill all bacteria
if the diaper cant take it its not going on the baby.. but bumgenius, happyhenies, babyland, shinies, best bottoms and imze vimze can be washed on 60 and occationally 90 and last for years

 

Really? I was always told never to go over 40!!! I've been scared of going over 40 all this time!!!

 

hehe Im on a cloth diaper forum (in icelandic) and there are over 50 moms who rarely wash under 60° and all the diapers are still like new, they say that the diapers are marked 40° so people cant sue if they dont handle more heat.. but the heat kills bacteria and fungus so they are cleaner when washed 60-90°

 

I love our cloth diapers! We use the insert-styled diaper that snaps. I have noticed the outside of them gets wet faster then disposables. But they come in so many adorable designs and saves us lots of money

 

I bought a cloth diaper kit, with covers and inserts, liners, etc. that was less expensive but perhaps part of the reason I stopped. I just felt that my baby was always wet and at night he would soak through and down to his cot. at first I started using pampers at night but eventually gave up on the cloth diapering all together.

 

I would like to try cloth diapering. We used to go through maybe two bags of trash a month because we recycle and composte. now we go through 2-3 a week just filled with diapers. It makes me feel guilty. Cloth diapers seem like they're expensive initially though, even if they save money in the long run.

 

i planned to use cloth diapers even tho i have no washer or dryer,i dont know what i was thinking and i also didnt know that none of the different cloth diapers i got were waterproof, i feel bad for putting my son in shitty disposable diapers and for being the cause of the ever growing piles of diapers at dump sites

 

It is a costly initial investment. But it does save you money in the long run, especially if you use the same diapers for more than one child. Maybe you can probably get the diapers used from someone who's done having babies or decided that cloth diapers aren't for them.

Let me know if you make the switch and you need any advice on stripping, night diapering, etc.

 

Yeah. I dunno what I would do if I didn't have my own washer/dryer. We're basically doing a load of laundry once every three days or more. And we run the washer three times! I couldn't imagine doing that at a laundromat. It would be so expensive and time consuming, and also gross for the other people using the washer.

There are diaper services that pick up dirty diapers and drop of clean ones. But I dunno how much they cost, or if there are any in your area.

 

We have alternated between using disposable diapers at night. Sometimes he seems to need them. Right now he's doing fine with a double layered diaper that we change once a night around 1 AM.

 

Thanks, that's nice of you! I came really close to ordering cloth diapers the other day but I stopped myself because I started reading about how you have to wash them two or three times to get all the oils out so they'll be as absorbent as possible.

I have two problems with this. 1, my washer and dryer hook ups are in the kitchen and I don't have a laundry room. They're older.so when you're doing laundry you can't really hear anything else in the house. I think the noise alone would drive me crazy. And 2, my boyfriend works 50 - 60 hrs a week and I work 40 hours and go to school so laundry is something we already slack on as it is. I'm afraid to make the investment then find out I'm making things much harder for myself.

How many hours a week do you think you spend laundering cloth diapers?

 

Yeah, laundering them can be a bit of a pain. But the machine does most of the work. As to your question, y'know, there's time, and then there's time. It only takes about 5 minutes of walking up and down the stairs, moving the loads around, and pushing buttons, and the machines do all the real work. We do about three loads of diapers a week, but that includes our toilet paper. We use cloth wipes and toss them in the same bin.

We run each load through the washer twice, once with soap. Don't use too much soap, because it builds up in the diaper and reduces absorbancy. Every six months or so, the soap and ammonia starts to build up in the diapers. We soak them in the tub with some sort of toxic powder, and then run them in the washing machine like 10 times, with a drier run in between every two or three washes. That's called "stripping." You also want to strip new diapers before using them for some reason. Instructions for that vary depending on the diapers, and they should come with instructions.

So yeah, cloth diapers are more work than disposables. You do save some money, but it costs you some time. In the town where we live, they charge you for each bin of land fill waste that they take, so we save more money than most by using cloth. If you're both working so much, than you probably have more money than time, and disposables might just be the right choice for you. Do you really want to interrupt the limited family time that you have just to change the diaper laundry?

Have you looked for a local diaper service? They pick up dirty diapers and deliver clean ones. Might be exactly what you need.

 

I used to wash a load of diapers every other night. I would wash them once with soap and double rinse, then run a full hot cycle with double rinse without soap to make sure they were rinsed. It ended up using a lot of water and some time (I don't mind laundry though). But in the end, I wouldn't have done it any other way. I felt guilty every time I put a disposable on my girls, I equate that it must feel like disposable maxi pads...yuck, who wants to feel that against delicate areas. For my youngest, I would use disposables for trips and now that she only uses one at night for accidents. But I am thinking I will order 3 trainers to eliminate the paper pullup. She's already almost 4.