Cloth Diapers - Kansas City,KS

I have had the best luck with regular 4x6x4 unbleached Chinese prefolds and Bummis Super Snap Wraps. They are inexpensive, easy to use, easy to care for (this is a BIG issue--you don't want to plunk down money on diapers that won't come clean in the wash), and they never leak. Good luck! Cloth is my favorite thing ever.

I would suggest using the diaper covers that aren't pull up kinds. An old aquaintance of mine found hers on Ebay. She changed her boy every hour wet or not.

When I used cloth diapers I always used 100% cotton ones. I liked the pre folded Birdseye brand (no longer sold in my area). I think Gerber still makes unfolded ones and I only found cloth diapers at Baby's R Us around Tulsa. My aunt and Grandmother made sure I was well stocked the first time around (50), we line dried them every night, and I would take a tub full of ones that had been soaking in Tide and Bleach home from Grandma's everyday because she took care of my oldest while I was still in Highschool. I used the pantie diaper covers back then. This was 18 years ago.

When I had my 2nd child, 12 years later; I got a pack of cloth diaper to use until we discovered this boy was allergic to bleach. Bleach is vital to keeping the cloth diapers clean.

It wasn't until I had my 3rd that I learned about the velcro wrap around diaper covers. I had a mom ask me to make some custom ones for her but I never did. Her's were terry cloth lined, had 2 layers of plastic in the middle and were made in a variety of outer materials including denim. She even had some that you could velcro a disposable liner into, (think maxi pad) but she said that the poop of her breast fed baby wasn't absorbed well on these.

I researched a ton about cloth diapers as well, and I have tried many all in one (AIO) varieties and basic prefolds with covers. My lo was allergic to fuzzibunz, but I thought they were pretty cute.

My conclusion is that motherease covers are great, and indian cotton prefolds (sewn into thirds, with four layers on each side and 8 layers in the middle), are wonderful. They are softer than european cotton, but will not last as long for that reason. I'm sure hemp prefolds are excellent also, but I'm not going to invest anymore in my diapers. The snappies are great instead of pins, but really, you don't need to fasten the actual diaper at all. Just fold the prefold into thirds, fold down in the front for a boy, and snap the cover over it. It won't move enough to matter, and mine is 18 months, running all over the place.

They will be bulkier than disposables, so be sure to get pants a size larger than usual. We have no leakage with cloth (I double up at night, and he has slept 12 hours since 5 months), but just about any time we have used disposables, especially at night, we have leaks. I get by with 3 dozen diapers and six covers in each size. I wash a small load every other day.

Definitely get newborn size diapers and covers--it's worth it, especially if your baby is not even 8 pounds. When they are just wet, you can just let the cover dry and use again. If poopy, I just let poop fall in the toilet, I do NOT dunk or rinse. For washing, I soak in the washer in cold for at least two hours with baking soda and laundry soap, wash again in hot, no poop left. And I just have a cheapy washer. Very easy, no smell in the room. Good luck!

I personally like www.cottonbabies.com, www.cuddlebunz.com and www.thanksmama.com. There's lots of options and info on there. I have six bumgenius (all-in-one) diapers, and that lasts me a day, then I put my son in a disposable at night while I wash. Some days I need more and end up using more disposables, or if I'm out and about all day. So...they were expensive, but I just bought as many as I needed for a day. So, there are ways of working with just a few if you want all in ones. For all in ones, I've heard kushies are pretty good but not great for blowouts. So they are a much cheaper all-in-one option, but not great for super poopy! Good luck!

Oh k i am going to just start off and say cloth diapers have saved us about 1500 diapers already. My child is turning 9 months already. But there are good one out there. I use guaze diapers non bleach indian fold and i got this cool things called snappies and cloth diaper covers. Now i don't use a cloth diaper threw the night just because of her waking up and she sleeps 8 hours a night. But i went to clothdiapers.com They have packages. They gave us 4 snappies and 9 different size diapers covers and 4 dozen infant covers and 3 dozen large diapers. and a toliet spray(let me tell you about not soaking the diaper just right after you change them just go to the toliet turn on the sprayer and let it go. I wouldn't be able to use clothes diapers with out it.) But all of that was about $160. I have saved more money. Also my child had alot of allergies to soap and paper diapers. But those help with no diaper rash and helped with alot of clean mess. So i would go with it.

I used classic Gerber cloth diapers with diaper covers I bought online. I recommend using ones with Velcro over snaps. Just like disposable the flexibility of the tabs is VERY important for leaks. I used cloth from the beginning until they started to crawl. It's about 6 months worth and save us tons of money.
I bought a big plastic bucket and kept bleach water in it (I kept it in the bathroom next to the toilet with my first, but since I have a toddler now I think I'll be keeping it in the laundry room behind a baby gate this time). I would just pull the cloth diaper out of the cover, replace it with a clean one, and throw the dirty one in the bucket. When the bucket got full I would dump the water in the toilet and flush and the diapers in the wash.
Gerber is cheaper than the all in ones, I only had to buy about 6 covers in each size because they rarely got dirty, the cloth got dirty, and I bought a lot of the cloth diapers. just make sure the diaper is 100% cotton or the bleach will eat it up!
I love cloth. Good luck!

I used cloth diapers. I would recommend investing in a good all in one diaper and liners. Kushies makes a biodegradable diaper liner, which I highly recommend, it makes washing a lot easier when you don't have poop ingrained into the diapers. Wool are most absorbant, but you'll only want to use them during winter, since they are hot. Or a cloth diaper with a pull up diaper cover, they are best for leaks. If you do the pull up diaper cover, make sure the edges are lined with a soft material so that they don't cut into baby's skin. My daughter was always leaking, with anything we used, every brand of diaper throwaway or cloth, so I think leaking depends on how "productive" they are.
Just for your information, there is a method were you use no diapers, called elimination communication. I haven't tried it personally, but if I ever have another child I will. Here's a website with more info: http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/

I love cloth diapering! My daughter is 18 months old and allergic to disposables (except a brand from England but after shipping it is dollar a diaper and so not worth it)! I use the normal cloth diapers (prefolds) and Bumkins. Bumkins are all plastic so no leaks and they have an air vent to allow cooling. I buy mine at www.jardinediapers.com . They have great advice and are really prompt about mailing everything out!
Advice on keeping the dirties: Buy a air tight container! I bought mine at Target in the pet food area. I bought the exact same size my washer could hold so I knew that when it was full, I had a full load. You will want an air tight container. I have tried different diaper containers but they are really ment for disposable diapers and don't work so well for cloth. I don't use bleach at all on my diapers. I use vinagar instead.

I preferred the hemp pocket diapers - specifically we used Happy Hempys (www.happyheinys.com). I figured out the pattern and made some of my own out of a cotton fleece. The fleece ones were not as absorbant as the hemp ones; though they did the job most of the time, especially using the Whisper Wrap covers (Gerbers work, too, but they are noisy and not quite as reliable). The inserts are the keys to pocket diapers. I'd been given a bunch of the Gerber prefolds which sew up nicely into a "pad" you can use as an insert - great for night-time.

I never used bleach - only Tide Free, HOT water and baking soda; if you let them soak about 30 min. once the washer is full, then finish the cycle, throw them in a HOT dryer, they're good and clean. As long as you don't let them sit too long soiled (I sprayed off BMs easily in the shower), you have no worries about staining; I was able to resell all of mine and almost got my money back.

Upfront, the cost of getting a good cloth diapering system can seem a bit high (having PLENTY on hand), but it saves a TON of money in the long run, not to mention the benefits to your baby (mine had no diaper rash ever) and the environment.

Before our child was born, I spent a great deal of time researching just about everything there was to know on cloth diapers. My husband said I put way too much time and energy into it. You will get a 101 different ideas on how to build a cloth diapering system depending on who you ask. I noticed that someone used Gerber and liked them, I was told by several people that they were cheap, leaked, and overall a very bad investment. I know my cousin and his wife used them for their baby in the beginning and they had problems. Of course, IMO, how well a cover and diaper works, has as much to do as who is diapering as the diaper itself. My husband, for example, is a bit more challenged when it comes to diapering. He often doesn't spend those extra few seconds making sure prefolds are tucked in and that the cover isn't too loose. If an AIO, pocket or fitted is available, he will grab it!

I mainly use prefolds with covers during the day and AIOs and pockets at night. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Fuzzi Bunz and BumGenius. For newborns using prefolds, I highly recommend the ProRap Classic--it's by far been the best cover I've used and has lasted well past the 10 lb mark for us. I'm currently in the process of adding more AIOs and pockets to my stash cause I'm happier with those two systems overall. I've got lots of different brands, some were very expensive and some very affordable. If you start looking around, you'll find that some people get really fancy with the dipes. I do like buying from WAHMs and trying their products. I've bought several diapers and wipes on eBay, and WAHM stores. Most of the women with diaper business' are very helpful and can give you some great advice on what to buy. Many of them offer packages that give you samplings of a variety of products so you can figure out what works for you. I personally ordered most of my stash from http://www.weebunz.com.

Along with Hyena, I'd also check out http://www.diaperpin.com, http://www.diaperjungle.com, http://www.diaperswappers.com, and for fun you might check out http://www.diaperdecisions.com for the Great Diaper Hunt going on now. It's an online scavenger hunt that allows you to win prizes. All of the sponsors are WAHMs with storefronts, you'll probably be like me and find some cool stuff you have to have along the way. I will warn you though, the hunt is addictive!!

What you buy and how much will depend on what you can afford (the initial expense can be pretty high--but worth every penny in the long run), how often you want to do laundry, and how easy things need to be. If you have a child in daycare, I'm sure most providers want to keep it simple if they will do it at all. For a pail we simply bought a step-on trash can that I keep in the laundry room for the dipes. Lined with a wet bag, you'd never know it is there cause we have no smell at all. We simply rinse out the poopy diapers and throw them and the others in the bag. I wash about every three days and have a HE machine that does a terrific job, so all of mine still look like new.

I used a diaper service when my boys were little and it's about the same cost as disposable. With the diaper covers they really don't leak until the baby starts getting older. My sons were in them until around 10-12 months when they really started leaking. We loved the diaper service because if the baby gets any diaper rash you call them and they come and pick up the diapers take them back and test them. They change the PH and the diaper rash is literally gone within hours! I definately would do it all over again!
Good luck,
Deb

I've used almost every kind of cloth diaper available while diapering my two children. I really like hemp prefolds the best. A good place to start your research is www.diaperhyena.com.

If you're in the OKC metro area, next month we're having a cloth diaper presentation at the Heaven Sent birth center. You're more than welcome to come!