Considering Switching to Cloth Diapers for My 19Mnth Daughter

Good for you! I have been cloth diapering my 15 month old daughter since birth. The only time we use sposies is when we are on vacation and I have to say my husband and I can never wait to get back home to out her daughter back in cloth. She gets diaper rash evertime we use a disposable, and we hate how strongly scented they are.
The initail switch might be hard but you will soon realize that having a child in diapers is hard and time consuming, regardless of wether you use cloth or disposables so you might as well use the one that is safer for your baby and the environment as well as easier on your budget! In the past 15 months we have only spent about $200 on diapers total!
I recomend birdseye prefolds with a prowrap or wool cover and a snappy fastener . You can get homemade wool covers on ebay at bargain prices. I also recomend getting a few all-in-ones for overnight and babysitters.
to wash: soak diapers in backing soda and cold water and then wash on hot with minimal detergent.
Best of Luck!
M

1 mom found this helpful

We just went through this with our 19 month old. I had been wanting to use cloth for a while, but dismissed it because we don't own a washer and dryer. Then I found out about www.bebewamu.com. She is a local diaper service and sells great quality diapers for a great price. Being "green" was becoming very important for me as well. The cloth diapers were great, but it wasn't working for my husband, he could smell the dirty diapers in the wet bag( which, in my opinion,) were not that bad. But he hated it and was complaining every day. So I bought the "gdiaper" starter kit. I had also heard about these diapers through some friends, and knew that they are so "green" and a great Hybrid of disposable and cloth mix. I can also put cloth prefold inserts in them, so I can use both disposable, for going out of the house and cloth when we are home. Since I use both my laundry doesn't stack up too high, and the disposable diaper cost doesn't sky rocket because I only use one or two a day when we are out. The disposable part of the diaper is flushable and very biodegradable. If you choose to toss in the garbage it is perfectly safe because they still biodegrade in 50 to 100 days, compared to 500 years like regular disposables.Plus you can compost the wet ones! They are also so good for your baby, no toxins, or chlorine, or any other bad things for the baby or the environment. They are also like underwear on the outside, so she might adjust to regular underwear better. Also they work great at night! I would definately look them up. I would buy the starter kit at Wegmans. It the cheapest I have found for sure. If you just want to go straight cloth, just make sure you buy the sprayer that hooks to your toilet, it makes poopy diapers much easier. Good luck! I hope this helps!

1 mom found this helpful

I dont have a lot of time to answer now, but I wanted you to check out:
https://usshop.motherease.com/shopdisplaycategories.asp?i...
These are the greatest diapers on the market, in my opinion. These diapers grow with your baby, so you dont have to up-size and you can use them for the next baby, and the next etc...I have NEVER had a leak...it is worth it!

Here is a pretty good assessment of which method may be the greenest for you, and several different options that exist.
http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Which-Kind-of-Diaper-is-Bes...

In summary, if you live in an area with a lot of land that's prone to drought, disposibles may be better than cloth. If you have little landfill space, but plenty of water, cloth are greener than disposible. The article mentions greener options for both cloth and disposibles as well as some rough cost estimates.

I didn't use cloth with my daughter, so I can't help you out with personal experience, sorry. Good luck with your quest to go green!

i just read something in the magazine "domino" (september issue? maybe it is online as well) the other day in which they rate cloth diapers. you should check it out.

I wonder the same thing. Check out the website Jillian's Drawers. They have a trail program where you can try several brands, all for just 10 bucks (plus a refundable deposit). You can also keep the ones you like and pay for them at a discount.

Hi J.
Since mine were potty trained early, I would not go to that expense at that age unless of course you knew you would need and use them in the next few years.
Our oldest was 19 months when he said, "these are yucky" pulling at his pants. I said if you don't like them this is what happens. Took him to potty. Never had another problem. He was very verbal.
Our younger son was about 22 months when he showed interest and we put him in training pants (my suggestion for you) He was trained in days.
Our twins I thought this was going to be tough. At two the older more agile twin was trained, and said to the other. "I'm a big girl, you a baby" Now I thought it was funny but she was serious. You see I had called them "big girl pants" She didn't like being a baby so was trained very quickly after that.
God bless you
Talk to your mom. She probably has stories too
K. SAHM married 38 years with adults 37, 32(made us grandparents in July) and twins 18. The are in college after years of homeschooling.

I have been using cloth diapers on my 6 month old for 4 months now and they are great. I thought my husband would protest, but he prefers them to the disposables as they are great for cleaning up dirty bottoms! I use a diaper service, as I did not want to commit to more laundry until I knew how the system worked for us. Cheaper than disposables, and very easy to use. I also have used gDiapers and they are good, but I prefer the cloth and not having to mess around with flushing, and scrubbing the liners.

I've considered cloth diapers at one time too - but then someone brought to my attention the cost of energy and the use of resources used to constantly be washing them in hot water. I never actually sat down and did the comparison so I'm not suggesting one way or the other, I just thought it was an interesting point that I hadn't considered.

A friend uses g-diapers and seems to like them.

I am sorry to see so many negative responses! We switched our daughter to cloth at 20months. Our initial investment was around $250, but 6 months later, I still have what I paid for and they're not sitting in a landfill somewhere for the next 500 yrs (no joke). As for the argument that you are using energy and hot water, yes the energy to heat the water is something you have to pay for, but water is a renewable resource. We have 21 bumgenius diapers and do a load every 3rd day or so. We do 2 cold rinses, then a pre-wash with detergent, then 2 hot water rinses. Then they can dry in the sun for added savings, but I don't have time for that, so mine go in the dryer.

We love them and plan to use them on our next baby, due in Feb!!! Good luck with your decision... I say buy 3 to get an idea of what it's like to use them for a day and make your decision after trying it a couple of times. That's what we did.

I probably would not bother at this age. Also, if the environment is a key reason, there is a lot of speculation about whether cloth actually makes a difference; despite the fact that you put less in landfills, you use more water, create more waste water, and use more electicity to run your washing machine to clean them.

I would say go for it. Kids in cloth tend to potty train quicker because they can feel the wetness and feel uncomfortable, while kids in disposables and pull-ups often end up not training until after they are 3. I found a great website that sells all kinds and gives great advice for people who are switching to cloth for the first time. They also have a tryout kit that comes with several types of diapers (all-in-ones, pocket and the regular prefolds and the covers) and cloth wipes that you can buy. http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com
As for the people saying that it's a waste of water and will not actually benefit the environment, that is a misconception, especially because of the high efficiency of the newer washers which use a lot less water than the old ones. Also, even if you are using a lot a water, water is a renewable resource. Using diapers which will rot in a landfill for hundreds of years and take up tons of space still strikes me as much more wasteful and harmful to the environment than doing 2 or 3 extra loads of laundry a week. It's not that messy or stinky if you flush the poop down the toilet and then rinse out the diaper before putting it in the pail.

As lovely as the idea is, my vote is not to bother at this age... UNLESS.. there is someone you know that doesn't need their's anymore, or some used ones, etc.. cause it's quite the investment to get started and at 19mos she could wake up tomorrow and just want underwear,, it's a tricky age, some show signs of readiness and some just decide one day and do it all cold turkey. Good Luck whatever you decide...

My sister thought it would be a great idea to use cloth and save money (this was before everyone was environmentally minded). She sent and ABSOLUTE FORTUNE on the diapers, diaper pail, diaper covers, etc. to get started.
She eventually switched to disposables because of going back to her teaching job, she didn't have the time to keep up with the washing, etc.
It's your decision, but I would think at her age it probably wouldn't be worth the switch.

I just switched my 16 month old over to cloth, and am loving every minute of it. I second the recommendation to www.diaperswappers.com
Buy used, start with small quantities, and get good quality diapers you can resell. If you are thinking of having another child, stick to gender neutral colors and get One size diapers that can accommodate a toddler and an infant.
Cloth is fun, good for the environment, and good for your baby. At this age, you might just break even if you do things right with the money aspect. Also, going with economical prefolds is good too, since they have a life after diapering as dust rags, etc.
I think cloth does speed up potty training. My daughter tells me when her diaper is dirty now, and 2 days ago, she told me before she had to go, so I just took her to the toilet and she pooped and peed in the toilet! And I'm not even really trying to PT!
Have fun!

I would suggest trying to get some used cloth diapers on craigs list or similar site. They are quite expensive and may not pay off for a short time if you pay full price. You will need the diapers, the covers (they are the big ticket item) and any liners you may need (a paper liner makes those 19 month old poops a lot more bearable to change). If a diaper service is available, they are good, but can be pricey and use a tremendous amount of water and often chemicals in the cleaning. It is a tough call. Good luck!

I think she is more likely to want to potty train if she is in cloth- better able to notice she is wet and dislike the feeling.

I am a cloth user for my 2 yr old and my 5 month old. I'd say go for it, it makes them more aware, you will probably only have to buy one size, and its pretty easy. You will save money. You will have more laundry, so factor in the cost of water and soap--some say that cloth has the same carbon footprint as disposables because of the wash water, but I just don't believe that, especially if you use them for another kid or buy used from ebay. all in ones or pocket diapers are easier to put on my active son who diapers standing up (or runnung!!!) consider seventh generation disposables or gdiapers if you want to go a little greener but decide that cloth is not for you.