Friday, November 12, 2010

Cloth Diapering Questions

I need some recommendations on a couple of things regarding cloth diapering while I'm working on my registry.
1.  If you are using prefolds, do you have a recommended brand/source?
2.  I'm planning to use mainly prefolds (I have experience using them with the baby boy I nanny for, but they are using a diaper service), but I'm probably going to get a few funnibunz and/or BumGeniuses.  How many of each (prefolds and then pocket/all in one) would you recommend (for a newborn size and then for the next size or two up)?  How many covers for the prefolds?
3.  What laundry detergent are you using?
4.  What brand of wet bag and pail liner would you recommend?
5.  What size pail do you use for the diapers?
6.  Any other helpful hints?

15 comments:

  1. I have no idea, since we don't use cloth, but I admire you ladies who do! So great!

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  2. 1. I'm using mostly Clover organic newborn diapers (through a trial, since the time they'll be used is so small), but also have four Green Mountain Diaper Workhorse dipes, which are prefold material but in a fitted diaper format(http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/workhorse.htm).

    2. I see lots of variations on this answer, but if you're using mostly pre-folds, you can probably afford to get 3 dozen or so, and that more than covers you. From there, you can add FuzziBunz, BGs or whatever else you'd like to try, just one or two at a time.

    3. I plan on using Dropps baby formula for regular washings, and Rockin' Green when I need to "Rock a soak." : )

    4. Planet Wise! Love them!

    5. Not sure of the exact size - just a regular 'ol plastic trash can with a step/flip lid combination.

    6. I do lots of "lurking" on cloth diaper blogs and forums to pick up hints! The Bump has a cloth diaper forum, and The Cloth Diaper Whisperer blog is helpful as well.

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  3. I got all my prefolds and covers from Green Mountain Diapers (GMD)- after TONS of research. My mom bought them for us off of our diaper registry and I pretty much freaked out I'm so excited about them... (I am that lame!) They had really excellent reviews, and the diapers are thick and I can see they are going to be very absorbant! We plan to pick up a garbage can with a step/flip lid thingy.. and GMD has reusable can liners that can be washed! (and little wet bags so if they have a cloth diaper change when you are out you can toss the diaper in there and zip it up when you get home.
    Obviously I haven't used them yet, so this could be an epic failure - but I can't wait to try them on some cute little tushies :)

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  4. We use FuzziBunz, medium. I started when my son was about 10 months old. The medium size should last through potty training, and I'll get some small ones if/when we have another child. I have a somewhat cloth-diapering-resistant husband/in-laws, so FB is perfect for us.

    I wash using Ecover, based on some research I did online. Drying outside is great, so get some clothespins/clothesline. We have 18 diapers, which is great for us now. I wash every other day, and sometimes go an extra 1/2 day. I always have plenty of diapers. I love Hempbabies inserts for night. My diaper pail is a 13.2 gallon Sterilite Swingtop trash can that was on sale at Target for $3. I LOVE my Kissaluvs diaper pail liner and have 2 of them. I want to get a sprayer that attaches to the toilet.

    I got the diapers online at 2 different sites that I found coupons for at retailmenot. Email me and I'll give you more details! cheerfullychaotic at gmail dot com.

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  5. I started out with 2 dozen Bummis prefolds and 10 wraps and that was enough that I had to do the laundry about every day and a half. As far as pockets go, I didn't add those to my stash until much later when my son got more squirmy for his diaper changes. I just found the prfolds were much more versatile in the beginnig because of being able to fold them so many different ways to suit the need of my baby in the moment. Although I have added the pocket and AIO diapers to my stash, I am still just as likely to reach for the prefolds as anything else. They're treid and true in this household!

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  6. Ya, Cloth Diapering!
    1. We attempted prefolds in our family at the beginning. DH was not a fan and said that ds didn't like them either. There was so much complaining that I just stopped using them. We used Huggies until ds fit into his BG3.0 at 6wks. It's okay to use "landfill" diapers for a little while. When picking the style of diaper consider who will be changing the diaper: you, dh, childcare, grandparents, etc. What would be the best for all parties involved.
    2. Our stash includes bumgenius 3.0, FLIPS, 1 rumparoo, 1 BG AIO Element. I love the bg3.0 for childcare. I wish they had snaps when I got my stash. My ds takes his diaper off. We have enough diapers to get through 2 days and then wash. I take 6 clean diapers to school each day for him. We have 3 hemp incerts for night time diapers, we love the flips for travel. very very easy to use! the RR is okay. I would have loved the BGE for childcare. But I found out about them late and not going to redo my entire stash at this point in the game. ds will be 1 on 11/30.
    3. Rocken Green! We use the Hard Rock version. Love the product and the customer service.
    4. love plantwise! great for childcare and travel
    5. i have a cheap one from bru. it's okay with a bummis liner. make sure you get 2 liners whatever you pick. one to hold dirties and one to wash.
    6. i registered at cottonbabies. i'm originally from st louis and we had a lot of family that went to the store and picked it up for us. people who didn't live in stl, didn't go there. i don't know why. i guess they didn't believe me that i wanted to use cloth diapers. cd are awesome to use for your LO. We really like them! But get a few to test out and then buy as needed. I think I had 12 bg and 2 flip shells when I started. We needed to figure out what worked for our family and then go from there!

    good luck!

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  7. We used Bumgenius with my daughter, but we use Nubunz now, mostly because they're cheaper. We bought the "Factory Seconds" and love them.
    :)

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  8. Oh I have a million tips. I actually just started a new blog 50diapersforAnne@blogspot.com.
    For newborns prefolds are a great way to go. You want one cover for every 3-4 diapers. You want about 18-20 prefolds for a newborn because you can do up to 12 changes a day. You don't need to change the cover every time. I also used Kissaluvs fitted diapers with Bummis covers for my newborn. Kissaluvs have a snap down for the umbilical cord.

    For my diaper pail I just use a regular plastic pedal top trash can from target. I got the skinny kitchen size one. It fits up to about 20 pocket diapers. I use 2 planet wise diaper pail liners and alternate them with each was.

    For detergent, I use original powder Tide...I bought a huge box at BJ's for around $25, My daughter is 17 months now and I still have about a quarter of the box left.

    I pretty much exclusively use pockets now that we have outgrown all the newborn diapers. I will be reviewing them each on my blog. However my favorite diapers have turned out to be Kushies Ultra All in Ones. They have never failed me.

    I registered online at Jilliansdrawers.com. It has almost every different kind of diapers and accessories and detergents so you can really pick and choose everything that you want to try.

    If you have more questions you can contact me through my blog, and I would be happy to help you in anyway that I can. Good luck! In the end you will find what works for you and have a stash that you love :o)

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  9. My order of Bum Genius 4.0 with snaps just arrived today! I'm subscribing to get all the great advice!

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  10. I LOVE prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers. I have some that are about to be used on the third kid and they look brand new. They are the most absorbent diapers I own. I've tried a variety of covers too and I like the Bummis Super Brite, Super Whisper Wrap, and Thirsties for PUL but I also use a lot of wool. I use Charlies soap for washing and use an XL bummis wetbag hung on a hook on the laundry room door right next to our pack n play we use as a changing station.

    That being said, I also have a few Bumgenius snaps - organic cotton AIOs and I have several Sunbaby pocket diapers - those are the ones my husband usually puts on ;)

    Please feel free to email me with any questions! milkjugs07 at gmail

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  11. I have 11 medium fuzzi bunz I got for $100....We will see what happens. :) I'm interested in prefolds as well but I really want to streamline everything becaue I don't want 4 of these, two of those, 9 of these...So we shall see...I might supplement Sunbabies because they are cheap and if Beth likes it, it's good enough for me. :)

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  12. I won't be cloth diapering until 3-4 months at least....

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  13. We are planning to use FuzziBunz -- starting at about 1 month old. I bought 12 one size pockets to start with. The website I bought them from recommended not washing them with any kind of "free and clear" detergent, as it has an ingredient which makes the fleece lose its absorbency. They recommended Tide Powder, so that's what I've used to wash all of them pre-use. They seem fine!

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  14. i'm here by way of the misfit. i'm a cloth diaper fanatic. :)

    1. i used bummis prefolds and i do not like them. for my daughter, they leaked (poop) like crazy. i constantly had to wash the covers and that makes them wear out fast. but the brand itself was fine.

    2. i wouldn't try more than a few AIOs and pockets. maybe do a trial from Jillian's Drawers to see which ones you like. i find the reviews on Diaper Pin to be pretty accurate, as well. for prefolds, i had 24 newborn size and that was too many. covers? i'd recommend 4-6. and be sure to get covers with gussets (to hold in poop). snaps are best (e.g., thirsties covers with snaps), i think, because velcro wears out so fast.
    3. kaley's soap nuts. great. cheap. eco-friendly. nonallergenic.
    4. i have AMP diaper pail liners which work fine.
    5. size of pail: oh, i'm not good at estimating that size. it's a step pail and it comes up to my knee. lol
    6. don't 'size up.' diapers that are too big will not work (they'll leak and you'll be frustrated and tired and mad - at least i was! lol). and again: gussets. they are vital.

    best wishes!

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  15. oh, brands i like for pocket diapers: AMP Diapers and AppleCheeks. hth!

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