First Cloth diaper expereiance

PrairieMom wrote: I had my first experience with a cloth diaper today, and I have to say, it really wasn't that bad.
We were over at my mom's house, I forgot a spare diaper and all we had was one of those white old school ones that I had used for a burp rag way back in the day. Well, 2 safety pins later we had a diaper.
Of coarse she peed in it and it leaked, since I didn't have a cover for her, but really it was totally fine. I could sooo do that. If I get knocked up again I will for sure.

TANNER'S MOM replied: I don't talk about cloth diapering alot b/c of the debate. But I did cloth diaper Britt until she was potty trained. The only time we didn't was when we went on a trip etc. It wasn't bad at all. I was a stay at home Mom, and she had very sensitive skin, she broke out at every diaper on the shelf. So cloth we did. We had a system and used the line to sun bleach it. It was a very enjoyable experience. I didn't with Justin or Tanner b/c I worked with them and times had changed. I had 4 children to raise and work full time by the time Tan was born.

Crystalina replied: I'm thinking about doing the cloth diaper thing with this one. It just scares me because I fear leaks of the brown kind. I was cloth diapered but my mom didn't have to deal with a mess because she had a service come to the house and pick up the old and drop off the new.

Do they have a cloth diaper starter kit? I don't even know what kind of "cover" your talking about.

A&A'smommy replied: thats awesome Tara Sorry about the leak though I wish I had the want to do cloth diapers but I just don't

PrairieMom replied:
I don't even really know. We ALL know who to go to for advice on this one tho. She acutally posted a great big long thing about it way back when she was mom-to-many. I should see if I can find it.
There are TONS of different kinds of CD, and really its very overwhelming to me, and my brain kind of shuts it out like when I have to do math. I just can't absorb the info. I do know that its spendy to get started.
Mollie... do you still have that info?

PrairieMom replied:
eh... I figured, it was either get peed on for sure, or maybe get peed on. The choice was simple.
The funny thing is that my mom was commenting on how nice the cloth diapers are now, they weren't that fancy way back when she CD me. and I was like Lady, you don't have a CLUE! I don't think she would even recognize real cloth diaper! I told her they have snaps and she was very confused.

Crystalina replied:
Yeah but I'm looking for cheaper in the long run. I'm really excited about trying them. It's about the only crunchy thing I'm really doing. Cleaning dirty diapers over and over again is crunchy enough for me at the moment. One crunch at a time.

MoonMama replied: WTG Tara. My mom cloth diapers Braedin when she has him.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: Johnny wears cloth. Another one who can;t handle disposables....and we rate how rashy he is by what kind of diaper. 99% of the time it's pockets (my favorite are Fuzzi Bunz) but particularly bad times it is pure cotton or hemp diaper with a wool cover....or we use wool when I want to make sure he has no leaks and because they are cute ALso a big fan of wool for nighttime even for disposable diapered kids that have nighttime leak issues.....I have never had a leak with wool...Ever!

cover...the waterproof layer. used to be 'rubber pants' now they are made of PUL Poly Urethane Laminate.


My favorite diaper to recommend to a new cloth user is Bum Genius pocket diaper (pocket has the waterproof outer layer and a stay dry inner layer and you put the absorbent layer in the middle....total control over how bulky or trim and how long it will last). There are only 4 colors so that can be on the more boring side but they are a great workhouse diaper. and are once size so will work from I believe about 8 pounds to 35. I can only personally attest from 8-23 and so far I really like them.
http://www.kellyscloset.com/index.asp?Page...PROD&ProdID=770

PrairieMom replied:
thats the way I started, and look at me now a bike riding worm raising cloth MP wearing full on hippy. YOu gotta be careful, its like a snowball. Now, I gotta go find my long flowy skirt and my birkenstocks.

holley79 replied: Annika wore cloth when she was having some diaper issues. If I was a SAHM I would totally do it full time for the less expense but I'll just stick with my disposables.

Crystalina replied:
Thanks for the link but is that $17.95 for one diaper????

PrairieMom replied:
yeah. one. I wasn't kidding when I said pricey. I just couldn't bring myself to do it with Al. I am SO cheap. I wonder how many you would actually need in a day tho, 6 at the max for someone Al's age? and figure every other day for laundry, so 2 days supply, thats 12 diapers. gut $240 is a LOT of $. Its way easier to shell out $18 every 3 weeks for a case of disposies. I guess it adds up pretty fast, It wouldn't take long to break even... but MAN!

luvbug00 replied: When i researched it i would save alot of money by CDing. I am soooo gonna do it. becuase that is money tward other things. well worth the extra work IMO.

AlexsPajamaMama replied: Its the starting cost that gets me, or I'd give it a try this time around too!

PrairieMom replied: okay... well, just our of curiosity. Starting cost to CD a newborn.

Lets just say...

8 diapers per day for 2 days = 16 diapers.
Lets round up to $20 a piece, that is $320

There are a few one time costs like the bucket you will need, and the wet diaper tote and all that, but I don't know anything about anything, so I'm leaving it out.

Okay, so apparently they are S, M, L, so lets just assume you can use small ones for 6 months.

that is 24 weeks. that =$13 a week.

Pampers are what? $35 for 144 diapers or about a quarter per diaper.
so, 8 diapers per day, for 6 months = about $336.

BUT its approx 1344 diapers saved from a landfill.



Is my math way off? it seems like I should be able to save more than that.

3_call_me_mama replied: WTG Tara! Sounds liek a good first day
I've been MIA a bit, becuase life kinda ahppened.. anyway.. thought i'd cruise by to see what everyoen had been up to and low and behold a CE|D discussion. LOVE IT! Anyway.. we cd 100% of teh time.. it's been great adn yeah teh 17.95 each is a bit pricey upfront BUT you cna resell them onluine at diaper boards and recoupsmost of your $$.
For example I sold all kathleen's large diapers and bought nb and smalss for graham. Sold those when he outgrew nad bough tmediums. sold those for larges and WOOL! (ADDICTING! Seriously! I learned to knit just so i could make him wool pants! LOL) Now he's PLing... (pottylearning.. i'm not training him... he' slearning to use the potty) anyway... i'll be sellgin off his larges for material to make clothes etc..
i will have next to $100 total out of pocket expense for almost 3 years worht of diapers

and tara did i se you use cloth mp? liek mama cloth? WTG!
I have a friend locally that makes it for a business and also makes grahams diapers.... nothing like bamboo velour on teh bum.. or .. elsehwere
anyway.. it's nice to be back and see a topic i can relate to

PrairieMom replied: i'm gonna TRY cloth MP, my first ones are in the mail now. I have to wait approx 26 days to see if I like them or not.

Calimama replied: Wtg! I wanna try with our next baby, hopefully I can convince DH.

paradisemommy replied: if anyone is really serious about cding..you can get a starter kit from here for only $26.99..

http://www.gdiapers.com/

Crystalina replied:
OMG!!! Those are great! I watched the video on all and it was out of the landfill within 2 mos.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: yea. the initial $$ was a bit daunting. Well....except for the part where all disposables made Johnny a huge bleeding blister. We have tried quite a few different brands and have loved teh Fuzzi Bunz (sized...and snaps) and loved the Bum Genius but teh Bum genius are definately going to be better for your $$ say modestly 12 diapers at $17 (they give discounts if you buy 6+ i believe) so that is $204 now those 12 will last (in theory...if you have a huge kid not so much) until they potty train (i train....) so$204 diapers for 2-3 years. additional costs...i use the same diaper trash can that i did with disposables just put a $12 washable liner in it instead of plastic bag.
Cheaper (but IMO harder...well not harder but not as user friendly iykwim) Prefolds are like a dozen for $20ish get a couple dozen and 3-4 covers that is under $100 and can last you the entire time.

AlexsPajamaMama replied:
So with these you dont have to wash the little pants every time? So you dont need dozens of them on hand?

Now Im seriously thinking about this!!

AlexsPajamaMama replied: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5824293

Are these any good? I know they require folding and pinning, but is that a good start to CDing?

MyBlueEyedBabies replied:
No they aren't...I have some as burp rags but even for that they were a little pathetic.

The G pants are pretty cool.....I personally didn't like them but a lot of people do. unfortunately they still have whatever in them that johnny can't handle from disposables but even more so the coves leaked for him every time we tried them. and I couldn't get used to the backwards velcro

PrairieMom replied: Okay, so now I have my prefolds all washed and ready to go, I have 2 thirstes water proof pants in the mail, maybe they are out there now.. .I will have to check. Tomorrow for sure.
so, I think I am ready to get started.
Can someone walk me through all this? like, potty pants are okay, I can handle that, but the poo... I am a little nervous.
So, I take the poo and flush it, then what do I do with the diaper during the in between times before I am ready to wash it? and what do I do with my wipes? and do I need to pre-soak my diapers in something? I have been using soap nuts for laundry detergent.
I'm starting to get a little nervous, and I'm watching my pile of disposables dwindle... I don't want to chicken out.

3_call_me_mama replied: For the dirty poopy diapers we just spray them off with a minishower (like a bidet that attaches to the toilet) or you cna just kind of shake them of finto teh toilet or dunk and swish... and then toss them in a DRY pail. We just use a trash can with a lid next to the toilet. Wet pee only diapers just get tossed in a regular hamper (cloth liner that gets tossed in with the diapers). the former poopy diapers just sit in that pail, sprikled a bit of bakign soda on top in the summer to absorb any smells. until was day. I was every 3 days or so. I put all the pee ones and covers into the washer and use a soak cycle. while it is fillgin i put the former poppy ones in. let it soak dan then spin out. Basically all thsi does i a rinse and soak before washing to get off anything you missed and to help form setting stains in. Tehn i add a few table spoons of detergent to teh washer and wash on warm or hot. you can wash on cold but i like to use warm/hot with our hard water it works better. then a cold rinse and i hang them to dry. You can do a second rinse if you want, but i dont' really bother. When they hang to dry they get stiff so i toss them in teh drier for abotu 20 minutes with some dryer balls or clean tennis balls and it fluffs them up nicely.
The covers you dont' have to wash after every use. you cna just aoirthem out a bit and reuse.
i think that' all.. good luck

ETA: soap nuts are great to use just read what amount they recommend for washign diapers with. It's been a while since i used them . and just toss your wipes in with your poopy diapers if they wiped poop and pee diapers if they were just for pee.

whitting713 replied: Tara, some people put a little vinegar in the rinse cycle. They say that this helps to keep them from getting too stiff if you line dry them. Also snapping them before hanging them to dry is supposed to help soften them as well.

PrairieMom replied: Well, I survived my first cloth Poo, and it really wasn't as bad as it could have been. The poo escaped the pre-fold and got onto the cover a bit, I don't know if thats normal or no... but it didn't get onto her clothes, and I managed to get her cleaned and the diaper dealt with without getting totally covered in poo, so I guess it was a success. I can do this. Its not that bad. I still need to convince Dh tho, I hope to do that this weekend.
So, its officially been about 24 hours, we have had no leaks, no messes, and we have saved 6 or 7 diapers from the land fill.

3_call_me_mama replied: Great job tara! WTG!
Sometimes when you first start prefolds, teh can be tricky. try googling different ways to fold them and see what one works the best for you. Some let poo escape and are more designed for littler babies and others work great for older babies.

PrairieMom replied:
I can fold them a different way? I'm off to google!