Cloth Diapers from Newborn or Later?

My 2 cents is:

I used disposables the first week, because I was hesitant to try to wash the meconium poop. But after the first week, that stuff was over and into the cloth he went. My babies are 8-9 lbs to start so size wasn't the issue it might be for others.

As for being too wiped out to deal with them at first... It was WAAAY easier to just do a load of laundry at my own speed when I saw the stack getting low than to try to pack up a newborn and go to the store. It takes less energy to walk to the laundry room than it does to just get through the parking lot at the supermarket fighting with an infant carrier and a diaper bag. Really.

Also: a big vote for the one-size-fits-all style dipes.

I used them when at home but if I had appointments or would be gone most of the day I used disposable my daughter was 3lbs 9 2/3 oz so we used preemie disposables till she fit into a regular diper otherwise it was to bulky seamed like the diper weighed as much as she did.but after a year with cloth I went to disposable a lot less work and she has special needs that take extra time that was importen to me.

Hi C.!

I have to say that I have used Bum Genius diapers and absolutely love them! I just sold some of my used ones on diaperswappers.com and have ordered some of the bg 3.0's because they are a one size diaper. If they are anything like the 2.0's I am certain I will be pleased with them as well.

Congrats on baby #2.

J.

Congrats to all of you moms out there thinking about washing cloth diapers. :-) Ten years ago, everyone thought I was crazy for doing it, but then, that's a personality trait often pinned on me! ;-)

I'll just toss my stuff into the diaper pail here.....I'm so glad I did it. I don't think, however, that I could have washed my own if I didn't have a large capacity washer. At first, I had a tiny one, and it did seem like I was doing laundry all the time, diapers or not.

I dried mine on the clothesline and enjoyed not only the fresh, clean smell, but the disinfectant and whitening properties of the sunshine. I tend to think fabric softeners could cause cancer, so I never used them, but I know many think not and enjoy the softness they bring.

I used a lot of bleach, which deteriorated the few diapers I had with velcro tabs. The velcro, fitted ones were nice during the newborn stages, though - especially since others used the fear of diaper pins as an excuse not to change them!

I remember always having spare plastic grocery bags in the diaper bag for the wet/dirty diapers, and I don't remember there being too much of an "ick" factor. I breastfed, so I'm sure that helped keep the smell down.

And it did, I believe, really help with their desire to use the potty.

Congrats on your pregnancy! Have a great summer getting your daughter ready both for the new baby and for kindergarten, and thanks for lightening our carbon imprint!

Hello C.,
As a British mother of three grown up kids I can tell you from experience that babies who have worn nothing but cloth diapers ( we call them nappies)are potty trained by the age of 18-20 mths.Think about it,the older they get,the more 'normal 'foods they start to eat ,the more uncomfortable it is for them,so nature kicks in and they get the whole toilet idea very quick.Rarely did mine get any kind of rashes because I got in to the habit of leaving them go bare for a little while after most changes.
I was amazed to find when I came to this country that little ones as old as three where still in some kind of disposable diaper or trainer.I think its a case of them being so comfortable that they have no real incentive to try and learn the potty.
AS for laundry,well all you do is buy a bucket with a lid,drop them in there to soak over night and just wash!
Use the disposables for the first week or so if only to give you a chance to get some well deserved rest,to get into a routine and get your little five year old used to the new addition.
Best of luck to you

awesome question and one I have been wondering about too. I am going to cd my baby due in July and I had thought about using disp. at first. But I am going to give it a shot with cloth (just have a few on hand at first before making a major investment) the prefolds can be fitted to any size I hear and then there are the adjustable diapers that will grow with the baby...that's what I'm going to try in the beginning. If cloth is too much for me at first I will do disp.s
this topic is one I feel I can't get enough info on; I am so clueless...I think it's a learn as you go thing.
you are right I have also read that cloth will help the little ones potty train earlier because they can feel the wetness on their skin more easily.

I would use BumGenius 3.0 diapers because you can adjust the size to fit a newborn or a 35 pound baby. I would also have disposables handy just incase you get overwhelmed with washing diapers.

I've been slowly integrating cloth for our almost 4 week old. He was just so tiny at the beginning and it was difficult to get a dipe to have a good fit--of course it's my first time so experience is probably not on my side. I do have to say that we are enjoying using the flushable biodegradable inserts--they make laundry and clean-up easier.
One of my girlfriends said she started with about 30 dipes for her newborn and that's what I have but even with two of us doing the work it's hard to keep up with the laundry and have enough dipes ready for the baby. I think it's starting to even out (knock on wood) though.

Hey C.. I used cloth diapers on my son and it was wonderful. He had 1 mild rash in all that time ( almost 2 years ) and that seemed to come from when he would wear disposable diapers more than usual. I used cloth at home, and when we went somwhere, I used disposable, just for convenience sake. It is a little more work, but I would do it again if I had another baby. Consider this, would you rather have cotton next to your bottom, or bunched up fibers? Just a little info. As he gets older, you'll find the disposables are better at holding more. Then you'll have to decide if cloth is working for you or not. Good luck!!

if added laundry is concern, you could look into a diaper service...at least at the beginning. they bring you plenty of clean/ sanitized diapers, and pick them up and launder them and deliver them back to you. and think they are still cheaper then disposables.

Hi there,

It's always wonderful to hear about another family switching to cloth diapers! We did the same thing you're thinking about -- we used disposables for a short time when our daughter was a newborn - we waited until the meconium was gone because it can really stain cloth diapers. As you probably know, there are some disposables made with no chlorine or harsh chemicals, if you are concerned about that. I believe that Seventh Generation makes some, as well as a Tushies brand.

Congratulations on your newest arrival!

-K.

We love cloth diapers--the extra load of laundry is really not all that much work at all!

If you use prefolds you don't have to waste money buying new sizes all the time, except for the covers. We bought infant prefolds and used them for months. Once they got too tight we saved them and tri-folded them to use as doublers, just laid them in the crotch of the bigger prefolds for extra absorbency over night. My daughter is 22 months (and daytime potty learned) and we've only purchased newborn diapers and then regular sized prefolds.

For the newborn period you'll need at least two or three dozen diapers and 6-10 covers so that you can wash every third day or so. Get snappis instead of pins! Snappis are wonderful.

For the covers--be sure you buy covers with leg gussets! They catch all of the newborn poop explosions. We liked the Prowrap brand. They were kind of ugly, but practically bullet proof. We never, ever had a blowout with them. Bumpy Day and Diaperwraps also have gussets. We had blowouts all the time with pocket diapers and all-in-one diapers, but very rarely with prefolds and fitted diapers. Kissaluvs are a great brand of fitted diaper. (They have snaps and fit like a disposable diaper, but they require a waterproof cover. Unfortunately they get outgrown very quickly.) We used Kissaluv's for the middle of the night when we didn't want to turn on the light to fold a prefold. After nearly two years of using prefolds though, I can fold them in two seconds with my eyes closed.

You should never wash cloth diapers with bleach because they could cause a burn on your child when the bleach residue reacts with the urine. You should also never use fabric softener because it leads to repelling of moisture.

We saved lots of money by purchasing some of our diapers and covers used. www.diaperswappers.com has lots to choose from! There was also a cloth diapering group on Live Journal that I got some great deals from. Prefolds get softer and more absorbent the more they are used! It's a lot of work to boil and strip brand new prefolds...

I used to nanny for a family that cloth diapered. It was not as much extra work as you would think. Of course, they used a cloth diaper delivery service. So the dirty's were picked up and clean ones delivered. I did not cloth diaper my little one but plan to with my next baby.

Have you heard of "Elimination Communication?" That's the diaper-free concept of parenting. I also know a family that practices that. Google it. It's very interesting.

Here are some links you may find helpful.
http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/infantpottytraining.html

Diaper Free Babies
http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/links/no-diapers.html

we LOVED our kissaluvs size zero's for the newborn stage - you can get them used and often inexpensive and in good condition on diaperswappers. since we were changing so often, lots of times at the beginning we didn't bother with a cover...until he really started soaking through :) we did use disposables until the meconium was over with.

i had some prefolds and wool covers (they aren't as hot as you'd think - they breathe) and used them as backup, but I honestly never got the hang of the snappi and would just lay them in the wrap cover. obviously not a good strategy once they're mobile, but by that point we'd moved to pockets and AIOs. the laundry isn't that big of a deal, really. i also wrote up diaper laundry instructions and posted them in the laundry room so when people came over to visit and asked if they could help with household stuff, it was something I could let others do :)

there is a great cloth diapering bulletin board community on pregnancy.org, highly recommend it!

Research all the different types of cloth diapers, as well as the covers, so you know exactly what a financial investment you're getting into -- some of them are so expensive and take so many different sizes as the baby grows, that the cost rivals the cheapest disposables.

I got my cloth diapers ("regular" sized Chinese pre-folds) and diaper pins from clothdiaper.com; and NYLON (**not** vinyl) diaper pants from tlcare.com. I started when my older son was 7 months old, and he potty-trained when he was about 2&1/2 (still uses diapers when he sleeps). When my sister's baby was born, I tried putting one of the cloth diapers on him, and it was a little hard to do -- too small and bulky if folded completely in half and turned sideways, but too big to just fold down. So, when I was pregnant again, I bought some "newborn" sized diapers.

I chose the diapers I did to save the most money, and spent probably about $125 or so for the diapers and covers that I bought (3 doz. regular diapers, 4 doz. infant diapers, and a couple packs of pants in each size). If money is not much of an issue for you, then you may want to go with some "higher-end" diapers. It takes probably 30 seconds longer to change a cloth diaper than a disposable; but if you go with an "all in one" diaper, it probably takes the same amount of time. Be advised, though, that those diapers take a long time to dry.

If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten the largest size of cloth diapers they had at the beginning, because I'm pretty sure I could have folded it in half for my newborn, and then could have just gotten one size diaper for the entire period. My younger son has started potty-training himself, and is not quite 2 (he started going in the potty, and asking to potty when he was 18 mo). I probably need to take a couple of weeks and put everything else on the back burner and just potty-train him. Probably this summer (when he can run around outside without pants on), I'll get him trained.

Anyway, there are some other cloth diapers that are adjustable and "grow with the baby" but most diapers are for one size only, so you have to buy several different sets of diapers and diaper covers.

As far as the laundry goes -- how frequently you'll have to wash depends on how many diapers you get originally and how big your washer is. With just my older son, I had to do diapers a couple of times a week -- whenever the pails got full or the stack of diapers got low. My older son was still in diapers when my younger son was born, so I did laundry every couple of days because the two diaper pails (ordinary 5-gallon buckets) were completely full. The main thing that takes time with laundry is folding it afterwards -- emptying the pails into the machine and pushing a few buttons takes just a minute or two, y'know? And you don't *have* to fold the diapers -- you can just wash them, dry them, and keep them in a laundry basket loose until you use them up.

I haven't used cloth diapers before but that sounds like a good plan.
A.

I used cloth diapers for my son and had no problem with it. The diapers they make today are prefolded. How hard is it to throw them in the washer while you watch TV, cook, play with the kids, etc. It is easier to potty train with cloth diapers because a pull up is nothing but a pamper shaped like a pair of underwear. When a child wets a diaper, it is uncomfortable and heavy. They don't really like it. At least my son didn't. He wet one time, did not like it and found him a pair of shorts to put on himself. A disposable diaper or absorbs the wetness. Do you know what it feels like to have a little turd in a cloth diaper? (yuk). If you can afford it you can have your cloth diapers delivered. Basically, its a personal choice. Now I must mention if you use cloth diapers you do have to change them often so they will not get diaper rash. But again, how hard is it to check them. You can use the disposable diapers when you go out. I luck up because the daycare allowed us to use cloth diapers. They also washed the diapers that was used at the school. Good luck on your decision

I used cloth diapers from the very 1st day we were home. I also washed them my self which was no big deal. I had pre-folded ones which were great as they got bigger. To start with I had diapers which I folded to fit them. Remember you need more cloth in front for a boy and in back for a girl. They also have liners which can be put inside the diaper and then thrown away. There were alot of diapers at first but I never felt like it was too many to do at one time. I only used disposable ones with my 2nd child when we went on outings away from home and then that was when he was older and we didn't go through so many diapers. Good luck. My vote would be for you to use cloth right from the start.