Cloth Diaper Recommendations

Sorry for the late reply. I was out of town for awhile. I used cloth diapers with my 16 yo. I just used the regular ones from Walmart and rubber pants. Fortunately, I took her to a babysitter who was willing to accept them.
I just rinsed out the larger parts and soaked them in bleach water until I got a full load to wash. I hung them on the clothsline. She never had diaper rash.
As with most baby clothing, I would suggest to wash them in Dreft or some other mild detergent.

There is a FANTASTIC company that has affordable and quite trendy cloth diapers. Here is her website. Really nice lady.

http://www.happyendingsdiapers.com

K.,
My first born was allergic to disposables and I had to change to cloth diapers, the amount of information is overwhelming, especially with all the mom and pop cloth diaper companies. I found that Fuzzi Bunz worked the best and the new G diaper is also great. I have ordered from Nurtured Family and love their countoured microterry inserts.
www.nurturedfamily.com
www.fuzibunz.com

C.

K., my sister used cloth for Bailey due to diaper rash and how expensive disposables became. She feel in love with fuzzi bunz and bum genius. The main website is www.diapers.com

They wash really easy and they are great for night time especially. Hope this helps. Congrats!

K.

I have a friend that does a Cloth Diaper class Saturdays 10:30am at the Austin Baby Store.

There's also this. http://www.austinbabystore.com/AustinBaby2008/ClothDiaper... .

I use prefold diapers. I got them at first because they were the cheapest and we couldn't really afford to buy pockets. But now a year and 1/2 later I have 2 in cloth and I have no wish to switch from PF. There's a bit of a learning curve but after a while, you get to be a pro and it becomes as easy as putting on a disposable.

There is a website, diaperswappers.com that has lots of informaiton. I recently switched to CD after disposables for 16 months. We are loving it. There are many choices and I don't claim to know about them all. The website should give you some info. I met with a lady in my area for lunch that does CD in Montgomery and she explained different types. I felt comfortable and afterwards felt I should explore other types. Give me an email and I can put you in contact with her or help in any way possible.

We are currently using covers with pre-folds that we used as burp clothes for a long time. I have some all-in-one's ordered off of craigslist.

Hey K.-
you should check out Eden's Baby off of Blanco. They have many different varieties of cloth diapers. If you buy from them and they don't work out for you they will take them back. I however recommend Chinese pre-folds with pro-wraps diaper covers. They are just about the most economical way to set yourself up for cloth diapering.

Mothering magazine had a cool, informative article on ALL the different options (pre-fold, wraps, pockets, all-in-ones. I can't remember the month, but it was this year. I started w/ a service(Debbie Does Diapers-they were great!), less upfront cost while I decieded if I wanted to continue. Now I use fuzzy bunz. If you're in Austin, check out Austin Baby, those girls know thier diapers!

I recommend you get a variety of styles - many online stores will offer a sampler package. That way you can try them out and find out what kind you like best. When I started with cloth, I thought I would like one kind best but it turned out I preferred another. Examples to include in a sampler: a prefold and a fitted, plus a cover; an all-in-one; a pocket diaper. Also note that diapers have different kinds of closures, usually snaps or velcro. You might like to try one of each of those, too. What one person loves, you might hate. A lot of cloth diapering has to do with your own personality!

Good luck with it!

I used cloth diapers and LOVED them. If you're in San Antonio (or Austin), I'd recommend "Debbie Does Diapers" service. Debbie will personally come out to your house and go through, step by step, how to cloth diaper, take care of the covers, etc. Then they give you a bin that you put your used diapers into (the cloth part). They pick up (you just set the bag outside) once per week and they redeliver a new set of cloths. It was SO unbelievably easy!! Also, a concern I had was the smell of the diaper bin. There was none. There is an "aromatic disc" that goes into a slot in the bin. I think it eats the bad odor, thats the only way to describe it. Bonus: Not even a TOUCH of diaper rash, not once. Good luck!!

I use the service offered thru Austin Baby and LOVE it. The store is full of helpful people. They can answer all of your questions. I checked out Debbie Does Diapers, but was more impressed with Austin Baby.
http://www.austinbabystore.com/
505 W. Mary St, Austin
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Hi K.,

I had the same question and the ladies gave really good reccomendations. I decided to find a package deal that let me try out the different types. Nickisdiapers.com has a good newborn package. You can get each type of diaper and your accessories for under $300.00. comfybummy.com has videos you can watch to see how each style is used. They will even send you a swatch card with the different types of fabric from each diaper. Gdiaper.com was interesting too. They are a mix of cloth and disposable.

The best thing to do is get a variety and see which ones you like best. Here are some of the top brands that the ladies reccomended for me

BumGenious
Fuzi Bunz
kissaluvs (needs a cover) usually a bummis whisper wrap
Motherease
Gdiapers

M. K.

My daughter is a heavy pee-er. When we are at home I double up on the prefolds and use a diaper cover ontop. We got a few of those snappies to hold them in place but my daughter is 18 months now and they are a little tight, so we just use pins. When we go out I use the bum genius. They are great but they are also expensive. We also got a washable bag to keep in her diaper bag for used diapers. Its lined with vinyl so it locks in wetness and odor. Its been a life savor! Good luck!

I used cloth diapers for my 3 children. I bought them at a garage sale for $1 each. They had velcro tabs on the sides so I did not have to use pins. I bought some thin disposable fabric shields (similar to the fabric on the disposable diapers) to make cleaning up easier. If buying used doesn't bother you, you might try Craigslist or local garage postings - not near as expensive as new.

It was a little more work; however, not near as expensive as disposables.

Hi K.,
I understand how overwhelming it is, I felt the same way when I was doing my research. Here is a summary of what I've learned so far.
All in ones are comfortable to use, but take a long time to dry.
Microfleece has naturally wicking properties and will prevent diaper rash.
Hemp is a great material and has wonderful absorbency.
Pocket diapers to me are the best choice as they are quick drying, and one can control the amount of absorbency.
The right detergent is key. If you use any detergent, it will prevent the diaper from doing it's job. I highly recommend Charlie's natural soap from the get go, so you avoid the material clogging with perfumes, softeners, etc. It's also easier on newborns' skin.
Also, just my opinion, but a diaper sprayer (attaches to your toilet) is key to rinsing diapers.
Here is a great website that has a glossary of fabrics and diaper styles.
http://www.verybaby.com/ccp0-display/splash.html
I make my own diapers, and would be happy to make diapers for you at a reasonable price.
Let me know if you have any questions, and you'll love cloth diapers.

I have a friend who makes all-in-one cloth diapers and they are great. Check out her website and see if they are for you www.happyendingsdiapers.com Good luck and I hope you like using cloth

K.,
I think it's fabulous you're looking at this.

Of the various options (flat/prefold, hourglass, gathered, pocket) we chose to do a combination. My husband didn't want to use the prefolds, and we found the pocket ones to be quite expensive.

When our daughter was exclusively breastfed, we used the Kissiluvs during the day, and Fuzzibunz (with doubler) at night. We found the Kissiluvs and their cover were much better than disposables at preventing leakage, and the Fuzzibunz and doubler was great for the night.

But as she got older, we found the Kissiluvs weren't absorbent enough. We switched and now use the Sandy's one-size diaper made by Motherease, with a doubler. We've found the absorbency fabulous, and it's easier to clean messy ones by just taking out the doubler. My husband liked that these looked a lot like the disposables (with gathers on the legs), so they were easy to work with and didn't require any hardware.

If money savings is your main goal, prefolds might be best. But we really have liked the ones we found, and have still saved money. I figure we've spent around $1k in two years, excluding laundry supplies. The ones we've bought would last for at least one more child, though.

My favorite thing about cloth diapers is actually the wipes. I feel she gets way cleaner with cloth wipes than with regular diaper wipes. I use the big terry Kissiluvs for messes, and some hemp ones I found for regular cleaning and drying off. The Little Sprouts hemp ones wore like iron--finally, after 2 years of washing every day they finally started to get a bit ragged.

Another mom who has used cloth told me to avoid Velcro fasteners because they don't last as long as snaps, and the kids learn to undo them. I would agree with that. (Our plastic covers have Velcro but our diapers snap. As long as she's dressed, we're okay.) She also told me she could deal with anything as long as she had rubber gloves on. I've also found that to be true in having to clean out messy diapers . . . I invested in the extra-heavy duty ones.

I use pail liners and small bags (for the diaper bag) from Mother of Eden (had to reinforce the pail liner stitching after 2 years, but the fabric is still good--not bad for being washed nearly every day). Our Brabantia pail is still going strong as well. When the occasional diaper rash occurs, we use flushable rice paper liners (to keep the cream from the diaper) and wipe off the cream with a regular disposable wipe.

There's a lot out there on how to wash them. Most of the stuff on the web is for traditional non-eco-friendly detergents. I spritz the diaper with Bio-Kleen Bak-Out, then drop it into the pail; once the pail is full I drop the pail liner bag and contents into the washer for a cold rinse on high. Then I wash it on hot/cold with Bio-Kleen Premium Plus laundry detergent, with 1/4 c. vinegar in the rinse (controls odor and affects the acidity to reduce diaper rash).

Good luck!

Go to www.nurturedfamily.com...they have several brands of cloth diapers and are a ton of help. I use Fuzzi Bunz with the upgraded nurturedfamily insert, and have loved them. They are in Houston, the Copperfield area, so shipping is very fast. Mark and Rebecca, the owners, are friends of mine. Rebecca recently told me that they now carry a brand (whose name I don't remember) that is adjustable, so that you don't have to buy different sizes as the baby grows. She says it is her absolute favorite diaper. After trusting her judgment when I went to cloth diapers and using her help along the way, I would definitely go with what she recommended to me. Her staff is very well trained and very knowledgeable. Their phone # is posted on the website, so you can call them and ask any questions and order over the phone. I also use the Baby Bits and cloth baby wipes that they have and love them. One thing I learned the hard way.....do not EVER use fabric softener on any other clothes that you put in your dryer. I used dryer sheets on my clothing, but never on the diapers. The dryer sheets will coat your dryer, and then when you put the cloth diapers in the dryer, they get coated with the softener which then makes them repel instead of absorb the urine. Not a pretty picture, and alot of work to correct. Good luck!!!

I am using the G diaper (gdiapers.com) with my 6 month old. I really like them and feel good about doing something good for the environment. They are flushable disposible diapers with at cloth cover that is made chemical free. Check out the website. You basically rip apart the inserted pad and flush it in the toilet. No washing/rinsing dirty diapers. I Love them! Although I will admit I use a disposible at night because it is more absorbant and I don't want to be up changing diapers in the middle of the night.
Good luck!