Diaper Thread (Cloth & Disposable)

[rachelgreen]

I need both cloth and disposable diaper recs/info I am thinking about using a mix of both. I hate all the waste disposables create plus all the chemicals turn me off. However, I know there will be many days I am just tired and lazy and am not opposed to taking the "easy" way out. DH is still on the fence with cloth because he really doesn't know what all it entails.

1. If you cloth diaper, or plan to, do you have some useful websites to share for getting started?

2. What helpful tips do you have? Getting started with CDs can be overwhelming.

3. What products are must haves?

4. For disposables, what brand do you prefer?

I've been using this website for disposables estimates for registering purposes:  How many do I need

[linz]

I've heard Pampers are best for NB and size 1. After that generic work good. Huggies I heard suck but Luvs target and walmart brands arent bad.

[Deleted]

See if you can get your hands on a copy of Baby Bargains (the latest edition). It's fantastic, and covers this topic really well.

[Odonata]

I was SO overwhelmed with CD and the info I looked up online at first. Luckily, I have friends who CD their children so I called them up and went to their house where they showed me the whole set up and walked me through the "types" of diapers and the pros/cons. If you know anyone personally who does this, I would start by getting in touch with them. It feels like a no-brainer now.

A while back there was a thread on this that I bookmarked. It has some great resources and websites to use:

pandce.proboards.com/thread/323159/cloth-diapering

We decided to use pocket diapers and I found a woman who was selling a ton for about $5/piece. I would suggest looking online to buy used ones. We are using one-size diapers which have many snaps that adjust to the size of the baby. These should last from when she is 10 lbs to potty training

The one-size may not fit newborns for the first few weeks (under 10 lbs) so I contemplated using disposables rather than purchasing or renting NB size cloth diapers. However, my friend who showed me the "ropes" talked me into prefolds, which are the squares of cloth like the old-timey diapers. These freaked me the hell out but once I folded a few I realized they were NBD. But there are many who do use disposables at first for NB. I plan to have both on hand.

Finally, I was given advice that if you have issues with the child STTN later on, it might be because with cloth diapers they can feel the wetness and it wakes them up. My friends CD but use disposables at night and that has helped the kid sleep longer.

[Deleted]

I've been cloth diapering on and off since my first was born five years ago.

At this exact moment we're using disposables for our 18 month old because I'm low on time/energy with our recent move.

Websites: I actually really liked the CD forum on the bump. Haven't been on it in years though.

We used to have everything CD wise - wool, BumGenius, all-in-ones, flats, etc - but now I mostly use size adjustable BumGenius pocket dipes.

My stash right now is pretty small. Maybe 20 diapers.

I use disposables over night because I am lazy.

If I can get my act together I'll get back on the cloth bandwagon before #3 arrives. I'll use disposables on the newborn until he/she will fit the BGs which in my experience is around 10-12 pound range. And I'll probably buy a dozen more BGs because I'll have two children in diapers.

For disposables I like Pampers. They seem to be more expensive but they fit my kids better and hold a lot for overnights. No shower or registering for me so I'll probably just pick up a few packs of newborn size disposable when I hit 36 weeks.

[sillygoosegirl]

Cloth diapers don't have to be that much more work than disposables: you can get a service rather than washing them yourselves.

[ringstrue]

I did part-time CDing with DD and will with DS. I got like 9ish AIO diapers off eBay - I think they were called Sun Diapers? It was great for weekends or random times when we were running low and could stretch our remaining few a few more days.

There are a lot of smaller companies/individuals who make and sell new cloth diapers and also probably lots of moms now who are reselling their stash, so don't feel like you gotta buy from a big company with inflated prices.

[rachelgreen]

Aug 22, 2014 8:59:33 GMT -5 @sessalee said:

See if you can get your hands on a copy of Baby Bargains (the latest edition). It's fantastic, and covers this topic really well.

I have it...right next to me actually.

I am just beginning to wonder if I was all, "Disposables are so wasteful and omg horror stories. Cloth diapers - YES! Holy information overload...bamboo, AIO, sprayers, washing cycles....maybe half and half....I have no idea what I'm doing...."

[ringstrue]

OH, Luvs is a generic brand of Pampers, so if Pampers work for you then Luvs will too.

[MrsAggie]

I prefer pampers.

[Odonata]

I think the fact there are so many options makes it overwhelming at first. I definitely had information overload and was assuming CD would be really hard. But once I sorted it all out I realized it shouldn't be any more difficult that disposables, save for doing extra loads of laundry. I'm going to try and stick with it for the cost savings.

[laurenh]

We use cloth probably 95% of the time, just 1 disposable per day overnight. DD will be 2 next month and we've been in them since she was about 2 months old. I really like them and we plan to continue with the twins.

I know I pinned a couple sites when we made our decision, I'll edit my post later to add the links!

My main tip is don't be alarmed if you are overwhelmed at first, I think it's relatively normal. We bought a couple styles to try at first so we could figure out what fit best, but I think BumGenius seems to fit most babies pretty well. Try to figure out what type water you have - hard or soft - because it will affect your wash routine a bit.

We have a big enough stash to wash every other day - about 24 diapers, 4 planet wise medium wet bags (these go to daycare, 1/day), and 3 pail liners. After bath on the second day we immediately throw them in the wash so we can hang them before bed, then they're dry by the morning. Note that we use BG pockets which dry quicker than the one piece freetimes. For cream we use Earth Angel bottom balm. We didn't buy a diaper sprayer until about 7 months when we were doing solids.

We use target brand disposables and haven't had any issues.

For BumGenius, we buy at BBB with $5 off coupons. That seems to be the best price I've found for new.

I can give way more details if you want, just send me a PM!

[mrssandro]

2nd time around. I will be enjoying the luxury of disposable diapers again. We used huggies nearly the entire time we had DD in diapers. Never had leak issues. We bought normally through Amazon subscribe and save or Costco.

[emb9907]

1. If you cloth diaper, or plan to, do you have some useful websites to share for getting started?
I bought most of mine from www.kellyscloset.com/ and they had great information for getting started. I also only bought when they had shipping sales and free promotional items which happened pretty much every holiday.  My child goes to day care so I was happy that I found one that would let us use our cloth diapers. 


2. What helpful tips do you have? Getting started with CDs can be overwhelming.
 I bought a couple BG, fuzzi bunz and do to the great promotions at Kelly's I received several free Flips and Kawaiis.  The fuzzi bunz fit best when she was super small, then bgs were my favorite for awhile and the Kawaiis have always been my preferred over night diaper. 


3. What products are must haves?
 Must haves are diapers (at least 20), several wet bags and a cloth diaper okay diaper rash creme.  We also used wash cloths with California baby diaper wash instead of baby wipes.  It was easier to use home wipes and wash everything from a diaper change then throw away the regular wipes.


4. For disposables, what brand do you prefer?
We used Pampers Swaddlers for the first 4 weeks or so.  No other experience with disposables since.

My husband was very much on the fence when I told him I would like to do cloth.  He was instantly a fan after changing his first few diapers once we started using the cloth.  It keeps things cleaner, and never had any blow outs .

[MamaMaui24]

We tried cloth but I was late getting into it (overwhelmed with newborn) and then DS ended up having GI issues (chronic loose stools/diarrhea) so we've completely bailed on cloth for him.

We liked pampers swaddlers for NB and Kirkland generic (Costco) after that.

[orangeglow]

I was planning on doing all bumgenius from BBB with the $5 coupons.

But I looked up a local cloth diaper store and went in.  They hold classes every other week and were so helpful and informative!  We are doing a mix of pocket (bumgenius) and prefolds/covers (osocozy prefolds and rumperooz, blueberry and best bottom covers).  

Best bottom has snap in liners that you can get in different types so you can have a liner that would work for all night without making baby feel wet.  We aren't going to do the snap ins at first - just prefolds, but I like that there is that option.

So far I've gotten 6 newborn covers (rumperooz) - 18 size one osocozy better fit prefolds and diaper liners.

Another 6 one size covers and 6 unbleached osocozy prefolds.  2 bumgenius O/S pockets.

I want another 6-12 covers and 24 prefolds, as well as 2-4 bumgenius O/S pockets.  I am buying a little every couple weeks or so.

If we are having issues with not sleeping due to wetness they also have osocozy better fit stay dry prefolds, but my diaper lady said she doesn't use them and some people don't.  

Here is the store I use.  www.mulberrystreetdiapers.com/

[Bonita]

We are going with Disposables because H didn't want to do cloth because he thought it'd be too much work. I really wanted to, but we are pretty busy anyway and I can only imagine we will be even more busy once baby gets here so I kind of let him talk me out of it especially since we didn't want to pay for a service either.

With all that said, I found tons of good information on YouTube - tons of mom's talking about the different cloth diaper options out there. I also like www.greenmountaindiapers.com as they seemed to have a ton of good info.

As for products, you're not supposed to use any products with petrolatum/petroleum products in them, so a lot of typical diaper rash ointments are out. I did read that a lot of CD'ers use Coconut Oil and have good results. Some moms said they would use things like Triple Paste or A+D Ointment with a fleece or velour liner in the diaper I guess?

Regarding disposables, we decided to go with Pampers Swaddlers because of the reviews and recommendations for them.  (It really impressed me that when someone posted a poor review that they took the time to respond to the review and try to connect with the person to see if there was something they could do) We only have purchased NB and Size 1's so far, but I'm guessing we'll use those for a little while before we'd have to go up to Size 2's so we probably won't purchase anything larger at this point.

[cereal K]

we didn't CD, so i can't help you there.

for disposables, i liked pampers swaddles when C was in NB, 1, and 2. once she got to size 3, and was more mobile, i switched to huggies lil' movers. i liked how the back fit closer to her skin and the crotch was contoured.

so, that's my default plan this time around. no telling how it will change if it's a boy, or even just a differently shaped girl!

[sparty04]

Disposables aren't really a one type fit all. Depends on your child. DS is tall and skinny with no skin irritation issues and we've used a combination of Pampers (swaddlers, baby dry, cruisers), Luvs (not my favorite but they worked) and Target brand (what we currently use and love- but not during the night... I size up in Baby Dry for that). Huggies and Costco brand tend to fit similar and seem to work better with chubbier legs.

[zarapipe]

We used pampers. Love them. Tried luvs, Huggies and up and up.

[kams]

I did CDing part-time, though I assumed it would full time when I started.

I love SmartiPants - good price point, insert agitates out in washer, snaps. The only thing I needed besides diapers were a couple of wetbags.

I used disposables when she was a newborn, traveling, long days out of the house, and overnight.

It worked out very well to have both options, and give myself the freedom to use either option when I wanted/needed. Took some pressure off.

I used pampers when she was a newborn, and Target brand from size 2-4. We use disposable pull ups overnight now, at 3.5yrs.

[thatgirl2478]

We tried cloth...but ended up using disposable since I never felt they were clean enough plus it was a pita to keep washing them all the time...

Pampers worked the best for us, when DD hit size 3 we switched to Sam's brand and loved them as much as pampers.

A diaper service is convenient but won't save you any money over disposable. If your main objective is waste reduction and chemical reduction and don't care how much you spend, got that way.

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[626]

Just want to post in this thread so I can reference it later.

Has anyone used Bambo diapers or other more eco friendly options that aren't cloth?

Also, I have the dumbest (and gross) question. When you use cloth diapers do you just dump the poo down the toilet? Doesn't it stain?

[rugbywife]

1. If you cloth diaper, or plan to, do you have some useful websites to share for getting started? Sorry, no help here. 
 
2. What helpful tips do you have? Getting started with CDs can be overwhelming.
- we didn't CD for the first 2 months, but we could have, as our CDs were adjustable for newborns. We didn't because she was going through so many diapers
- our clothes' line is a godsend - the sun is the best bleach.

3. What products are must haves?
I don't know if there is anything specific I love other than my CD and my dryer balls.  I use Flunky Fluff diapers.  They are AMAZING.  I bought 24 to start with and we have enough.  We do the laundry every other day usually.  We don't use them at night (at least not right now). I love them because of all the snaps, they can fit at different sizes. I bought the bamboo ones.  I should point out that they have a newer style now, the ones I have are an older model.

4. For disposables, what brand do you prefer?
Pampers…swaddlers early on - the pee line was a godsend.  I have swaddlers for when we travel or are out for most of the day.  I use Pampers Stay Dry at night. 

I've been using this website for disposables estimates for registering purposes: How many do I need


Read more: pandce.proboards.com/thread/361237/diaper-thread-cloth-disposable#ixzz3BSEcRY77

[thatgirl2478]

we'll be using pampers until DD2 fits in Sam's brand diapers.

[rachelgreen]

Aug 25, 2014 9:41:53 GMT -5 626 said:

Just want to post in this thread so I can reference it later.

Has anyone used Bambo diapers or other more eco friendly options that aren't cloth?

Also, I have the dumbest (and gross) question. When you use cloth diapers do you just dump the poo down the toilet? Doesn't it stain?

obvs I can't answer the first part. But to the second question, they have these little sprayers that you can hook up to the toilet and just spray/plop it in the toilet and flush it away. And then it stains but washing should get it out so I've heard.

I'm still trying to figure out the best plan is for us. Now I'm all, ok disposables more frequent with cloth thrown in when easily able to be done lol.

[blushing]

Probably not useful being in the UK and all, but for the beginning I plan on using Pampers. I have 777 of them in various sizes in the garage and then hopefully cloth diaper. I have some Totbots ones that we used for DS. We never had enough of them so it never really worked for us the first time. And because of this DH does not support it at the moment, but I think if I top up the collection and he see's that it works then he the will support it.

[blushing]

Aug 25, 2014 9:41:53 GMT -5 626 said:

Just want to post in this thread so I can reference it later.

Has anyone used Bambo diapers or other more eco friendly options that aren't cloth?

Also, I have the dumbest (and gross) question. When you use cloth diapers do you just dump the poo down the toilet? Doesn't it stain?

We used a disposable liner with our CD's. That way everything went in the toilet. You do occassionally get stains, but nothing that a bit of sunshine can't take care of.