Questions About Cloth Diapers

hi, there. My daughter is two and still in cloth diapers. We use bum genius. I do use some of the pre-folds with whisper wrap covers when all my bum genius are dirty. I dump the poo in to the toilet and if its really sticky I will dunk it a few times in the toilet. Then I put all the dirty diapers in to a pail with a lid. I don't add any water as that can make the smell worse. My sister in law uses a big draw string bag that she got at a cloth diaper supply store. They just sit in there dry. I wash every two days. There is a Website called Pinstripes and Polka dots that have a very long list of Laundry detergents to use and not use and why. Its a very helpful site. Good luck!

Hi A.,

I have used FuzziBunz since my baby was born and he is 2 now. I'm sick of it, to tell you the truth. He poops 3 times a day and it stinks to clean it up! To me, it was better when he was little. Or maybe I'm just really tired of diapering!

With that said, they're the best diapers out there, IMHO. You buy the covers and inserts, they snap on and off. You use a dry pail, do not soak them. You just run them through a hot wash (I do it twice).

You can google search FuzziBunz and find a vendor near you. You can get them used on ebay, too. They hold their value. I've been using the same size for 2 years now -- he's a skinny kid-- and they're in great shape still. I'll be selling them soon as he's finally growing out of them. And I'll be praying that he's potty trained soon!

With my daughter, I made my own out of the old fashioned cloth diapers. I sewed elastic into the legs. I stitched two buttons in the front center, under her belly button. Then I put elastic loops on the back side of the diaper that reaches around her waist. All I had to do was stretch the elastic over the buttons. She, however, was totally pottytrained at 14 months. Those old fashioned diapers don't really keep the pee in, but we had all tile floors so it really did not matter back then. 2 year olds are much heavier wetters. I'd go Fuzzibunz.

Good luck!

A.,
I've used cloth diapers for nearly 3 years now.

I like the Sandy's diaper made by Motherease (on the web) with the Rikki velcro wrap. They are the most absorbent cloth diaper out there, which is important with older kids who drink more than infants. They have snaps (great for older kids) and gathers (my husband didn't want to do oragami with prefolds), so they look and fit more like a disposable They also make a doubler insert, which is really nice.

I have a dry pail (with a Mother of Eden liner). Once a day, I wash the liner and diapers. I do a rinse cycle, then wash on high and hot with BioKleen Premium Plus detergent, with 1/4 c. vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser to prevent diaper rash. You can line dry or dry in the dryer.

My daughter is now mostly potty trained, so we just use the diapers for naps and at night. So we wash 2-3 times a week. But we haven't found any disposables that are as leakproof or absorbent. I have a little boy coming in June, and we're planning to use the cloth system with him.

I also love cotton/hemp wipes by BabyGreens. A batch of 12-24 will last a year (washed daily) before starting to fall apart. And my husband and I agree that the cloth wipes get our daughter so much cleaner. When I travel, I miss my wipes even more than my diapers.

I know some posts have said to just finish with disposables, but it's hard to know how long a child will take in the potty training process. Also, Motherease makes training pants (though they don't absorb as much as their diapers or disposable pullups).

I'd run the math and see if it makes sense to you. We didn't necessarily do it to save money, though we broke even with the cost of disposables. If we're able to use the same set with our little boy (and it looks like we should), we'll end up saving money. To me one batch of laundry every day or every other day isn't too bad of an inconvenience for saving my child exposure to chemicals, saving landfill space, and being prepared in an emergency or shortage. (Just keep a camp washer on hand, like the WonderWash for under $50, and you need never run out of diapers--even if you have no power.)

Good luck!

C.

OH A.- i have been there 2 with all 3 of the boys. i didnt buy cloth diapers WE went straight to potty training. i didnt start til the summer when it was nice and warm outside. We made a game out of it. I let them pee off the back porch and into the flower pots. THEY HAD A BLAST!! and when we were home I let them run around in their underwear and still made a game out of it. I put a plastic flower pot in the toleit with a hole cut in the bottom of it and let it float in the toliet! I know not the norm, but it works! My oldest is 10 and still talks about his potty training! OH AND IT TEACHES THEM AIM!

Have fun, sorry i couldnt help with cloth diapers. But thought I would share our potty training techniques!

If you're in San Antonio (or just outside the city limits) - you need to talk to "Debbie Does Diapers". Website: http://www.debbiedoesdiapers.com/ We REALLY liked the service - and you don't have to wash the diapers. They give you all the prefolds and covers. They will either drop off (or you can pick up) your diapers once a week - and take your dirty bag full of used. The "dirty diaper" container they give you is completely "stinky proof". The fee was reasonable. It was SO easy, and so much better than filling our landfills. We could not have been happier about the service!

Hi A.,
I think you will find the cloth diapers very expensive. You will need at the very least 1 doz and wash them daily. I would suggest just toughing it out with the disposable ones because yourlittle boy may be ready to start potty training and then you will need to get him the pull ups etc. but, if you decide to go with the cloth diapers you should keep them in a pail to eliminate the odors and keep them from staining.
Good luck and blessings

I would also recommend that you not go spend a lot of moeny on cloth if your son is about to turn 2. However, I have found a cheap and wonderful cloth diaper. I bought the gdiaper started kit and am filling it with prefolds of a good cloth stuffer. Here is a link for the gdiapers incase you have never seen them.
http://www.gdiapers.com/
I am pretty new to the cloth diapers, and was having a hard time getting used to changing as often, or having leaks if we were out and I couldn't change her right away. But these are working wonderfully and aren't costing me a fortune to stock up on. The gdiapers can be reused, you just have to change out the prefold, and then you can wash the gdiaper at the end of the day. I used a trash pail that I put a kind size pillow case in, when I am ready to wash them I just dump the pillow case in the washer and throw it in with it. I wash the diapers on hot with arm and hammer detergent and then throw a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle. Good luck and I hope you find a way to make it work without spending a lot of money right before potty training.

Hi A.,

I've cloth diapered both my kids (a girl, now three and out of diapers and a boy, 15 months, still in them). I love cloth diapers and would recommend them to anyone.

However, if your boy is nearly two, you'll be potty training before you know it. You might want to skip buying diapers and buy cloth training pants instead. One Step Ahead sells some nice ones. The training pants from Snap-Ez are my favorites, but they're a little pricier.

Like cloth diapers, these are both machine washable at home. The washing instructions others gave you were great, and you can follow that for training pants too.

Btw, the suggestion of trying freecyle and craig's list is a great one. That's what I'm planning on doing with mine when I'm all done with them. <g>

I hope you find something you love!
E.

We have prefolds (like Gerber diapers that people use for spitup towels) that are diaper service quality.
(We started out using the Gerber one's until I found others online.) We use the prefolds with covers. I have 3 Thirsties and some others I bought off of Diaperswappers. That sight is amazing. You can go on there and try to find some in the Free For Shipping section to test out some before you really invest some money.

We've been doing this for about 10 months and it has worked great for us. It depends on whether you want to go the least expensive route as we did or buy expensive diapers. You will see lots of the mid to expensive diapers out there.

I wash the poopy one's off and then lay off of them out over a chair in the backyard. When I go to wash I rinse them in cold so stains don't set and then wash the next time around with All free and clear.

I use cloth in the evenings and on the weekends. My hubby does not use them so we use a disposable at night.

Email me if I can help with other questions. It can be overwhelming trying to figure out what you want to do.

Sara Snow's website has a few suggestions and then you can go to their websites and check out the options. Just click on nursery. Good luck!
http://sarasnow.com/freshliving/sara-snow-fresh-living.html

Hello A..
I made my own diapers when my son was a year and a half and have used them ever since.
You have a couple of different options.
#1 you can buy a lot of used diapers online,on craigslist, or at a place like Austin Baby.
#2 You can make your own
#3 You can buy from someone locally,or pay for someone to make them for you (like me)
I like pocket style diapers made with PUL and microfleece, as you can control the amount of stuffing.
I wash mine by first rinsing into the toilet, then laundering with Charlie's natural soap.One has to be careful about the detergent you use, as it is better to use one with no perfume, enzymes, or softeners.
please email me with any questions, as i love to talk diapers!