Seeking Diaper Alternatives

I recently tried gdiapers and they certainly were NOT for me. My daughter had a semi-blow out and cleaning it up was not fun one bit so I took a pass and actually just ebayed all my stuff! I think they are a great route if you want use cloth and the coves are very, very nice.

There are so many options out there for cloth diapering. I have a friend who owns a baby boutique in Park Ridge called Kustum Kribs and she is having a class on cloth diapering on June 22nd. There will be two moms running the class who have extensive, first-hand experience on cloth diapering. You can sign up by calling or checking out kustumkribs.com.

I'm thinking about cloth diapers for my second one. I like the Gdiaper thing-I'll have to ask around more. I recently found diapers.com, where there are a bunch of "green" diapers. Check it out.

Good luck!

Check out all the options at www.theecstore.com
They have one wet pants (like training pants for babies) that are waterproof or non-waterproof. A lot less bulky than any kind of diaper. I used them for my son when I couldn't get the hang of cloth because they are so bulky.

I loved cloth diapers. We used them for about a year and a half, and I've tried so many different kinds. My top 2 favorites are FuzziBunz using the microfiber towels as the inserts (they're super cheap; you can get them at WalMart) and using a traditional heavier cotton cloth diaper with snappies and a wool cover. I highly recommend both of these; using the wool covers are great b/c you rarely have to wash them, and the cotton cloths can all be thrown in the washer and dryer together without having to separate anything. The great thing about using cloth diapers is that when your kiddo is potty-trained, you can sell them for pretty much what you paid for them. Very little money lost and it's much better for the environment.

Hi S.,

I used cloth diapers on all three of my little ones, and there are so many choices out there, it can be a bit overwhelming. I loved cloth diapers so much that I started a small cloth diaper store, and I hold classes once or twice a month to go over all of the different diaper styles - prefolds, pocket diapers, fitted diapers, all-in-ones, etc. - it is a very informative class, and it's fun, too! If you are interested in learning more about cloth, or if you would like a local resource for cloth diapering, go to www.sunflowerbabies.com for more information.

Also, if you are looking for cloth diapers with the ease of disposables, I would recommend pocket diapers (like Fuzzi Buns, Happy Heinys, or Bum Genius) or All-in-One diapers like Bumkins. These are a bit pricier than traditional cloth diapers and covers, but are still less expensive than disposables over the long run. Honestly, though, prefolds and covers are less expensive, and are still pretty simple to use. No pins or plastic pants!

Good luck with your diapering decisions, and hope your are enjoying your third pregnancy!

Warmly,
J.

I'm hooked on cloth now. I just switched a few months ago and am finally feeling like
I know what I'm doing. I started out with just some prefolds and a few covers and it's working great. I'm now venturing to fitteds too. I think I like them. A little easier than prefolds but more expensive. I am using Fuzzi Bunz on my 2 year old and they aren't working out so great. We seem to have lot of leaks. I have a fitted on her right now for her nap so we'll see how it goes. diaperswappers.com and diaperpin.com are some great sites. Be By Baby is a great store and they have a CDing class there that was really helpful. Email me if you have more questions. It can be really overwhelming when you start out.

Hi S.,
I just had a conversation last night with a friend of mine who uses cloth diapers and I picked her brain- so I'll share what she passed on to me! She highly recommends Fuzzi Bunz. They snap on, so they are very secure. She said that you buy a little attachment hose that hooks up to the toilet to wash away the dirty stuff and then just toss them in the diaper pail until time to wash. She says she washes them every 2-3 days, it obviously depends on how many you buy. She says the fabric they are made of is amazing and holds up really well. She is expecting #2 and will be reusing all of the diapers she has. My friend is very environmental and said that with gdiapers it doesn't really seem that you are helping that much because you still have to buy the inserts with packaging, you flush the inserts- it all goes somewhere. I don't know what your motivation for using cloth diapers is- if it's environmental or monetary- but either way, I think it's a win win. My daughter is 1 1/2 and I think back to how much I have spent on disposable diapers and how many have gone in to the landfill, it kind of makes me sick. I really wish I had looked in to cloth diapers more. Anyway, hope that helps, sorry for the super long response!
J.

Hi S.,

I recommend cloth diapers highly. You can get plain old Birdseye diapers at Target for just about twelve dollars a dozen. I'd buy the unfolded ones and just fold them to the size of your baby - that way as he/she grows, you can adjust those diapers to fit better.

What I did for my granddaughter was buy some fleece at Wal-Mart and make diaper covers - and used Velcro as the fastening system. This way, we put the diaper on inside of the fleece cover and no pins are needed - we just Velcro the fleece diaper shut and it works well. We treat the fleece about every other wash with lanolin to help waterproof them a bit.

As far as cleaning the diapers - when the baby poops, you just dump that in the toilet - and put the diaper in a bin. We do not soak the diapers as we did when I was raising babies - especially if you have a breast fed baby, they clean up easy and don't need soaking.

When it is time to wash - I run them through a rinse on cold first - and then through a regular cycle on hot. I do put in a cup of vinegar about every other load to help soften them a bit. Rarely do I use bleach - unless some of them are looking a bit stained - before I do that, I'll soak them in the washer with Borax and use bluing to help bring them back to the whiteness if need be. But, I've only had to use bluing once in fourteen months.

Before my granddaughter was born, we invested $72 in cloth diapers, providing about six dozen diapers. The only time she has worn disposables is when they were on vacation or when she came home from the hospital.

If you decide to go with cloth diapers and need a little guidance on the covers or how to fold the diapers themselves, just let me know - and I will be happy to help.

With cloth you are not only saving money - you are preventing unnecessary waste being put into the landfills that will take hundreds of years to decompose and also the bacteria that we put in the landfills with disposable diapers is really frightening.

Good Luck and let me know if you need any help. :)

M.

PS - I'd be interested in learning what you do as a living from home :)

S.,
I switched to cloth diapers a couple of months ago (my son was about 5 months old) and absolutely love them! I have tried several brands and the Haute Pockets and Thirsties seem to be the best. There are many styles and fits out there, but the beauty of them is that most of them are similar in size and shape to disposables. They have either snap or velcro closers and you don't have to mess with pins or folding. nickisdiapers.com has a great selection and lots of information (you can call Nicki to get some personalized help, too - she is great!). I would recommend trying a couple different types just to see how it goes. I was scared at first, but now I wish I would have used them from the beginning!

I looked into gdiapers, but my husband really did not like the idea of flushing something so large down the toilet - it just creates a chance for it to get clogged. Interesting concept, though!
Good luck!
T.

We're expecting our baby any day now, and are going to use a diaper service.
In the Chicago area, there is only one company out of Waukegan called Bottoms Up Diapers http://www.bottomsupdiapers.com/. Their customer service has been stellar so far and helpful. They deliver weekly and can alter shipments. We don't have our own laundry, so we have to use a service, but either way I think this is cheaper than going disposable--especially from an environmental perspective.