mysocalledttclife:
Until recently, I’d never really considered cloth diapering. But my middle sister, who is expecting twin girls in April and who already has a 20 month old in diapers, recently attended a workshop on cloth diapering and is planning on making the switch.
So it got me thinking: should we be cloth…
Hey B!
We cloth diaper, and LOVE it :) It’s just hard now that I’m working because we only use cloth at night and weekends. I actually miss being environmentally friendly. Logan’s daycare provides disposables as part of tuition and so she wears sposies there. Here are my two cents!
1) This really depends on the type of diaper system you get. I tried them all. I do like all-in-ones (aio’s) and those don’t have different parts. They’re the closest you could get to a disposable diaper in terms of convenience because you put on baby, take ‘em off, then wash them. I also have pockets and for that one, once it’s soiled (pee and poop), you have to replace the whole system (it’s 2 parts—the cover with a pocket and an insert that goes in the pocket). The cool thing about this system is that you can customize the absorbency by adding more inserts or using different fibers that hold more liquid (like hemp or bamboo). The system you’re talking about sounds more like the cotton prefolds with a polyurethane laminate (PUL) liner. I have these too but stopped using them when Logan grew out of the size small. This one, when soiled, and if the poop doesn’t get through the prefold and touch the cover, you can re-use and just replace the prefold. Some people still use pins for the prefolds but I used a Snappi. When I used this (mostly when Logan was about 6 weeks to maybe 3 mos old?), I replaced the covers once they were pooped on or when it was time to do laundry, which was about every other day at the time.
-As far as rinsing, Joe built a diaper sprayer that attaches to the toilet. Some people dunk their diapers, but I just couldn’t do that. He found instructions online. It’s pretty much like a kitchen sink sprayer but attached to the toilet. I think he spent $15-$20 on the things he needed from Home Depot. We used it a lot more when Logan didn’t eat solids yet, but right now, her poops are pretty formed so we don’t need to spray the diapers. It’s definitely good to have, especially when the baby starts solids and the poop isn’t so solid…
-How many diapers? Hmmm…we have more than we need ;) This depends on how often you want to wash them. I think 24 is a good number. If you go the prefolds route, I’d say 24 prefolds and maybe 4-6 covers. The only thing with prefolds though is that they’re not stay-dry, so the baby will feel wet. This isn’t so bad during the day when you’re changing the baby every 2 hours or so, but might be a problem at night. We use pockets at night for this reason.
-I put our dirty dipes in the Fuzzibunz hanging pail. I’ve never tried other pails but I love this one. It’s made out of PUL and has a zipper at the bottom so come laundry time I just unzip and dump the diapers in the washer and I’m done!
-I don’t use special detergent and have used regular Tide and right now I use Woolite. I’ve never had stink problems. Ok wait, that’s a lie. The only time I’ve had stink problems was when I wait too long to do laundry (damn full-time job!). But when I was still on maternity leave and did them every other day, no stinkies! My washing routine (and you’ll find many people have their own tried and tested routine!) includes a cold rinse, hot wash with detergent (always a cap-full), and 2 cold rinses after. Sometimes I use about 1/4 cup bleach with the hot wash (maybe every 4-6 weeks). This is controversial, but I like clean diapers :) I also used to hang dry all the covers/pockets and just dried the inserts. And, the sun does wonders on stains.
-The best brands for us are Bumgenius by Cotton Babies (I like the Elementals <all-in-ones> and the 4.0 <pocket>) and Blueberry. These are the 2 brands that are currently in rotation. I tried Fuzzibunz in the beginning but couldn’t get a good fit around Logan’s legs—they were either too tight and left red marks or too loose and we got leaks. I also tried Grovia, Alva, Sunbaby, and Green Mountain Diaper prefold with Thirsties covers (which I loved too, but just don’t use anymore).
-Honestly, now that I use disposables too, not that much time. Putting the cloth in the laundry and washing isn’t a time-suck, especially if you have a newer washer that you can pre-program (I don’t). Folding takes a good 15-20 mins. And that’s it!
-I’m the wrong person to ask about how much to spend because I spent way too much :) And, depending on the system you go with, you can get away with cloth diapering with a pretty small budget (prefolds + covers) and a bigger budget (everything else). Diapers cost about $15-$20 each, and most places, like Cotton Babies (they sell Bumgenius), have package deals.
So, there you have it. Honestly, I loved cloth diapering full-time and if daycare would do it, I would give them cloth diapers for Logan. But they don’t for sanitary purposes. I didn’t mind the laundry at all when I was home (it’s harder now that I’m working) and I never really had any complaints. I do use disposables on Logan when I take her to daycare now because there were a couple of times when I sent her with cloth on, then she pooped, and that poop sat there the whole day, waiting for me to take it home. And that’s just nasty. Anyway, I highly recommend cloth :)
There are a TON of systems and a TON of information and a TON of brands, so send me a message if you want more info on our experience!
