Cloth Diapering - Raleigh,NC

First you need to decide what kind of diapers you want.

Prefolds & Covers
Flats & Covers
Fitteds & Covers
Pockets
AIO's
Hybrid/AI2's

Each "kind" of diaper has tons and tons of different brands. If you do prefolds or flats be sure to buy a dsq (diaper servive quality) you do NOT want to but the ones you see at Wal-Mart or Target. (Gerber and others) They are not absorbant enough. Snappis are only needed for diapers that need a cover- prefolds, fitteds and flats. You don't have to use a snappi- you can just lay the prefold or flat in the cover. Some fitteds come with velcro or snaps so you don't need a snappi too.

We use cloth wipes- you will find that it is a pain to have to seperate disposable wipes from the cloth diaper and make two different trips to the trash can and wetbag. Alot of people buy special cloth wipes- that are made just for cloth diapering. But we just use old washcloths and all of the baby washcloths from the newborn stages. You get a spray bottle- either plain water or some people add wipe solution (you can buy special solution for cloth wipes). I use plain water- spray the washcloth for the poopy diapers and all clean. Works just like a disposable wipe- only you are saving more money by rewashing the wipes too!

I do not and never have and never will have a sprayer on my toilet. You don't have to swish anything in the toilet. If she is exclusively breastfed you can throw the poopy diapers right in the wash- it will all dissolve. When she starts on solids you will need to flush the poo though. I just dump it out- if it's semi-soft I wipe it off with toilet paper and there ya go!

Sunning. Setting your diapers out in the sun to dry after washing is the best way to get any stain out. You will be amazed at this. Even gross breastmilk poop stains come right out after a few hours.

If you know what brands you are wanting to try alot of websites have "seconds sales" where there is a tiny cosmetic flaw that makes it impossible to sell the diaper at full price. You can get a $20 diaper for around half off. Brand new. Have you tried craigslist? When I was first starting I bought alot of my stash off craigslist. Or even Ebay. You don't need to buy used. There are a few cloth diaper swapping groups on facebook if you are on there. PM me and I can give you the names.

Personally I hate aplix (velcro) I only do snaps. But everyone is different. If you sew, you could make your own and save even more money. Detergent wil be a huge factor in the care and life of your diapers. You will have to use something that is cloth diaper safe such as Rockin Green, Charlies Soap, Eco Sprout, or Clean B. You cannot EVER use a diaper rash cream without a liner. Even the creams that say they are "cloth safe." I know
someone who was using a cloth safe cream and still ruined her diapers.

Okay this is getting really long. PM me and I can give you some information on brands and any other questions you have I will help!

1 mom found this helpful

Sun. The sun is a natural disenfectant and bleacher. That is how most mom's get their white diapers super white.
As for what kind of diaper you want? Well how easy do you want cloth diapering to be?
I started out with a prefold and a cover. I didn't use a snappi or safety pins because with modern diaper covers, you can just lay the prefold into the wrap. I loved doing that. It was super easy, amazingly fun prints, and I was saving money.
Pockets are the next easiest. Stuff the cover with a insert and put it on the babay. I usually stuff the diaper right after the wash so I don't have to do that at changing time.
All in ones (AIO) are super nice and just like a disposable, but you wash it. You don't have to stuff or anything. Easy peasy. I would suggest getting a couple of these for when you have a babysitter.
Go and check out my blog. It's mostly for larger babies, but the information works well for anyone. I try to make it easy to understand and with lots of pics. Also if you need any help or you are just confused, message me and I can help you out!
largebummies.blogspot.com

I did the same as you. My son was in paper diapers and I went to cloth for my daughter. I found that prefolds with a cover were the least expensive way to start ... then when she got bigger I went with pocket diapers. I use a great gentle detergent from a green company I shop with. But for stains, I have also heard sun bleaching helps. You are in Raleigh right? Acutually, if you dont mind used ... you can have my set of prefolds and covers if you like. Just contact me.

I use bumgenius AIO 3.0. I suggest the 3.0 or 4.0 becuase they can be used for different sizes. I have 12 and they do their job! I buy them off ebay and know a seller who always has good deals. I paid less than $175 and I've spent about $50 on disposible diapers since my sons birth a year ago. PM me for her ID.

You can get tester pack and trey out several different types of diapers. (The link below is where I purchase our diapers.)

http://www.diaperjunction.com/cloth-diaper-sampler-packag...

Here is some general information about cloth diapers. (I have bought a few things from this store in the past, as well. There are some ampler packs on this page too, that you can look at)

http://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Information_ep_3...

I personally use GroVia, and BumGenius diapers. I use BumGenius for nighttime. They are a "pocket" diaper, meaning you stuff inserts inside for absorbency. I like pocket diapers for night, because you can make them as absorbent as you need. My opinion about the sprayer, is it's awesome. I can't imagine what I would do without it. Once he started eating solids, we really felt glad we purchased that sprayer. We use a combination of cloth wipes and some disposable wipes. With the cloth wipes I keep a little spray bottle full of water next to the changing station. I have always used straight water for him and he has never had irritation. I spray the cloth wipes, then his bum. For the disposable wipes, I keep a small wetbag next to the changing pad and throw them all in the outside trash when it's full. You will need a cloth diaper specific detergent, because any other causes build up in the diaper and damages the fibers. I personally use Country Save (www.countrysave.com). It costs about $12 a box, but it lasts anywhere from 5-8 months for our family of three. You will need a "barrier" between your baby's bum and the diaper, if you use any diaper cream. I buy a yard of fleece and cut it into strips, and use that as the barrier. ("Grandma Els" is a safe cream for cloth diapers, as are some you will find in cloth diaper stores.) Th sun is the best way to combat stains. It naturally bleaches and also sanitizes. I have a few diapers that will always have mild stains no matter what. It just happens. However, sun drying gets our most.
If you have any question, you can send me a personal message. Good luck!!

check out this site:

http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/new-to-cloth-diapers/

I personally use ones size pocket diapers. They are pricey, but they are worth it for convenience and versatility. All in ones that are one-size are pretty great too, from what I hear. There is no right or wrong method... just keep in mind that the cheapest methods are usually a little less "convenient"... and the more expensive ones are usually more stylish and user-friendly.

I haven't had much problem with staining. diapers are MADE for poop... so they don't stain like clothing does... plus if there are any, the stains are on the inside of the diaper.

Some people say to try a variety... but for me I just researched and picked a system. I actually use 2 brands of cloth diapers: happy heiny's and a WAHM diaper brand called cheeky diapers. Too many different types of diapers would drive me crazy!

As far as saving money goes... you can buy a lot of the most expensive cloth diapers and still save money by cloth diapering... I have 36 one size pocket cloth diapers, and I have saved well over $1500 in diapering costs compared to if I used disposables. Also, with my second baby coming this June we will save TONS by reusing the diapers I used with my first. I will be using wipes... never converted to cloth wipes LOL... and use flush-able wipes if you can... then you just flush them down!

If you hate the idea of "swishing"- you'll probably want a diaper sprayer. I am not phased by a little poop... so I never used one.

Anyways... Good luck and welcome to cloth diapering!

-M.

I've used Kushies ultra diapers with both my kids and have been pleased with them. I use diaper lines so I just shake and flush for solid wastes. I keep a trash can (for wipes and other trash) and a diaper pail by the changing table. I also keep a diner style sugar shaker filled with baking soda for sprinkling in the trash and diaper pail as needed for smell. I wasn't aware of diaperswappers.com when I bought my diapers, but have heard about it on mamapedia. I echo that the sun helps with stains and the diaper liners help prevent them (the diapers really aren't as stained as I would have thought despite the fact that my daughter is now wearing diapers that have been through almost three years of use). Good luck!

I love snappies but remember that they are supposed to be used with a cover, not just on their own. I personally use prefolds w/ snappi and a Velcro or snap cover (this brand and i bought extra large and let the kids grow into them: http://www.bumkins.com/diaper-cover.html) .

I use washcloths as wipes, they can get washed just like everything else.

I do the princess dunk method... hold all 4 corners of prefold and allow the flushing action of the toilet to take the poop away. I also use a dog food container for the diapers because when I used a wetbag I ended up getting roaches in it! YUCK!

I use white vinegar on every load of diapers, it reacts with the ammonia in the urine to cause a chemical reaction and also whitens them REALLY well.

I read through your responses and I don't want to repeat anything. There is so much information out there, no one can really tell you what to get. :) Just like anything else, everyone is going to like what they like the best. Personally I use Flip diapers. They are super easy and they were probably the least expensive that I could find. I now have a few Thirsties covers and I like those as well for my newborn. When I bought the flip for my oldest (we converted when she was 14 months) I liked them because they were one size, but when my little one was born, they are still just a little to big, so I bought some thristies x-small and small covers off of a friend whose son had just outgrown them.
I always have ordered off of kellyscloset.com I think someone else mentioned them as well. You can also usually google coupon codes for them. I liked them best for ordering the Flip, because you can choose your colors for the one day pack, that might not matter to others, but to me it did :)

I have a diaper sprayer and LOVE it!!!!! Someone bought it for me so I don't know how much it cost, but to me it is worth any amount of money. My two year old has some gastrointestional issues so her poo doesn't just "shake off" as most two year olds would. The diaper sprayer has saved us quite a bit of yuck. I have seen on many cloth diaper forms about people just going to home depot and buying the pieces for it, and making their own for less than $10. I think to buy a diaper sprayer they are around $40 most of the time. When you think about how much you are saving over all, that extra $30 is not a big deal, but I think that if you can save a penny, save it.

I went old school - plain flat cloth diapers and rubber pants to go over them.

I swished diapers in the toilet to rinse them.

As for stains, hydrogen peroxide is the best thing ever. Put some in a spray bottle - make sure it is light-proof. There is a reason it comes in brown bottles. It reacts to light. Spray it directly on the stain and let it bubble up, then wash in COLD water. Body fluid stains are mainly protein, and washing in hot water only cooks the proteins into the fibers of the garment.

Yes, I washed diapers in cold water, and no, I did not use chlorine bleach on them.

For me, saving money was the highest priority (well, second to the diapers actually **working**... which is also a frugal consideration, because if you buy them and don't use them because they don't work, then that's a total waste of money), so I went with Chinese prefolds from clothdiaper.com and diaper pins, with NYLON (***not*** vinyl) diaper pants from TLCare.com. I was able to get seconds on the cloth diapers at the time, which cut my cost in half; I got 3 dozen of the large. The vinyl diaper pants are horrid. Sure, they work fine to keep the leaks in, but they crack and tear and fall to pieces within a few weeks of use. The nylon diaper pants lasted forever (I think I threw away maybe 3 total, out of 4 years of diapering two different children, when the waterproof interior liner finally disintegrated).

I've never used AIOs or any other really thick diaper, but that's something you have to consider, in the total cost of diapers. Not only are they very expensive compared to Chinese prefolds (which I think cost about $1 apiece, compared to $10 apiece for the one-size-fits-all snap diapers or all-in-ones or other "premium" cloth diapers), but they are also bulky and take a long time to dry. The flat diapers take about as long to dry as bath towels, but the thick diapers may take 2-3x that long. If you're drying them in the dryer, that can run up your electric/gas bill pretty quickly. Something to consider.

I used Chinese prefolds exclusively, getting the "large" size which could be folded in different ways to accommodate babies from a few months old all the way through toddlerhood, although I did need to use a second diaper folded up as a "doubler" when they got older, to catch the larger amount of urine.

Oh, and baby-wipes -- I cut washcloths in half and would wet one right before changing the diapers, then toss them all into the diaper pail.

I never had a spray thing on the toilet, but it sounds neat. I did swish some in the toilet, and it's not as bad as you think, plus you get used to it. Most of the time you don't need to -- as someone below said, "breastmilk poop" washes right out most of the time, and if it's more solid you can usually just dump it into the toilet, not dunk it in the toilet.