Cloth Diaper Advice

I used cloth diapers with all 5 of my children. The secret is to change when wet and wash with a good detergent and rinse well. Line dry when possible. The sun gives very good vitamins and they smell so good too.

I switched to cloth diapers when my fourth child was 8 months old. Man do I wish someone had told me about them LONG ago. Cloth diapers have come a long way, most people don't use the prefold diapers with pins and plastic covers like most people think of. There are many options, from the simple olden days ones to the new all in one diapers, or my favorite are the ones that use inserts. Bum Genius makes AWESOME diapers, they are thinm, not bulky and you can get all in ones which take a little longer to dry, so if you are using them primarily to save money, they can use up your electricity drying. The inserts are nice because you can "shake off the poop" in the toilet, then pull the inserts out of them, and wash them, then pull your diapers out and hang them to dry on a rod just above your washer, the inserts can be thrown in the dryer. The inserts can be doubled if you are going out and might not make it to the changing table as quickly as you would at home, and you can use them at night. I would double my diapers during church nursery so the workers didn't have to deal with my cloth diapers, too. I made a cool waterproof diaper bag that had a very nice trendy cloth cover, but a watersealed liner. It opened flat and on one side, I had my diapers, liners, cloth wipes and on the other side I could seal up my dirty diapers and deal with them at home. the bag was never stinky and I could wash it when I needed to. There are many cloth diaper swapping sites. I liked the snap style covers for night time, they gave a better fit. You would be amazed to research how many known carcinogens ( cancer causing agents) are in our babies diapers and the waste created is horrible. Cloth diapers are super soft, comfortabel, easy to use and save the environment and your child from unnecessary pollution. Oh, another tip, get some cheap fleece, cut strips that fit in the diaper and line the diaper with them, the poop won't stick to it so it just falls off when you rinse it in the toilet, saving your diapers and scrubbing. It also allows the pee to go through so none sits on your babies bottom. Do NOT use diaper rash cream with cloth diapers without a liner, it will make your diapers water proof and the pee will not absorb and will leak out the sides. If you have a spillage of cream, just use dawn dish soap to scrub the oil off. Good Luck,
A.

g diapers are great the best of both worlds. they are cloth with a plastic liner and a pad like insert. you flush the insert or throw it away. (or compost wet ones) they biodegrade in fifty days as opposed to 500 years like conventional. I am using them with our third baby and have loved them. you can order on the g diaper website(ten dollar shipping). gdiaper.com, or diaper.com with no shipping fee.

I got my starter kit that has two cloth covers four plastic liners and a box of inserts at my healthfood store! good luck,
B.

It is a great choice. On a newborn sometimes a prefold and cover is a good choice - it is cheaper and you control how tight - you can use a snappi or pins. However, I think as your child gets older this is a bit harder. I personally preferred pocket diapers. The only AIO diaper I liked was the Mommy's Touch AIO. It dries as quick as a pocket - most AIO diapers take a very long time to dry because the soaker is sewn inside. With a pocket diaper - you can control how much you stuff for daytime vs. nightime or heavy wetter and then when you wash you remove the stuffing and everything dries much faster. They are a bit more costly but in the end I think worth it. There are some great One Size diapers now that will take you from birth to toddler and that is a big money saver. Bumgenius, Happy Heiny, Wahmies, Mommy's Touch - all of these brands have decent one sized diapers. Bumgenius is the best deal - however they are aplix and you may prefer snaps.
They are easy to wash and you can throw them in the dryer - if they get stained you can sun them.
There are some fantastic diaper stores out there and those Mamas would be very helpful for you.
In your area you have
Nurturing Mom and Baby
www.nurturingmomandbaby.com
Jacksonville, FL
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You also have some diaper services too if you decide to go that route!

Funny you should ask! I *JUST* wrote an article on this today! LOL!

Not to plug my own business (then whose business AM I gonna plug if not my own?!) but I happen to own a store which sells cloth diapers. I wrote a little tad of an article on my blog about how to choose. Are there rules here about putting links in responses?? I don't want to chance that. But if you do a google for the term PRIMAL MOMMIES it's the first link :-)

Anyway.. we are fortunate these days to have so many choices with diapers, unlike our moms and grandmothers. I'd be more than happy to assist you if you want to private mail me.

M.

I have a friend in Ocoee who is a cloth diapering Pro! She does "Cloth Diapering Consultations" where you can go to her house and try out several different types of diapers to see which type of diaper will work best for you and your baby. Her name is Kristi DeGregory and her business is Wee Willie Winks. www.weewilliewinks.com

Good luck!
G. G.

We use cloth exclusively except for traveling out of town, and have done so since her umbilical stump dropped off. One of your best local resources is Rhea, and she's off Hwy 441 almost to Alachua from Gainesville. The website is www.sunshinediapers.com and she is very helpful, plus you are saving money on shipping.
I use prefolds in covers and I have two all-in-ones. Honestly, the prefolds are not that difficult. What is a pain about them is that for poop diapers you end up washing the cover if your baby isn't pooping nice neat turds. The best way to make sure they don't stain is to handwash them immediately with bar soap, rinse them very thoroughly, then pop them in the dryer. You could also use an enzyme soak or get more covers and just throw the poopy one in the pail.
I have Happy Heinys pocket diapers and I really do like them although because of the fleece I think they breathe less and are a little hotter than the cotton prefolds. I don't have to wash the cover! However, she was very wet the other day and I think, but I'm not certain, that the pee leaked out and soaked her shorts. She was in a car seat with her water cup though and they had never leaked before so I'm not positive she wasn't playing with her water though.

Your choice is always ease vs. economics. The prefolds and covers are by far the cheapest options. The pocket diapers are more expensive but they are much easier. The one-size pockets last from newborn to potty-training so they are worth the money, but it's a high start-up cost of about $17 per diaper. You will save money over using disposables, but in your case since your daughter is two you will not be saving as much money, so that will also be a consideration in what you buy. There are also fitted cotton diapers that can go underneath a cover, and I bet you would have fewer internal blowouts (poop on the cover) with those. I have not yet had a blowout diaper with prefolds and covers since I got her in the toddler size, not even one. If you are going to have more children then you will get more for your money.
Really, go the sunshine diapers website, read the tutorial, and give Rhea a call. Go look and see the diapers. Cloth is not that hard and once you get used to it, give it about a month, it's almost just as easy as disposables. We are very happy with our decision to use cloth.
Another thing with the prefolds is that they are the most versatile once your kids are potty-trained. They become shop rags, dust cloths, whatever.

Other than saving money, and, or, if your little one has any indication of irritation from the disposable diapers,i see no reason to change to cloth diapers.... But,,, if you do,, wash them yourself,,, you may run into problems if you send them out,,,(not proper cleaning,chances of catching something, etc..) good luck, and god bless aj

Won't you be potty training soon?????? By the time you invest in the diapers/covers, etc, you will spend about as much as you might on disposable......