Thinking of Switching to Cloth Diapers

I started when my first son was about the same age.
I love One-size pocket diapers like bumGenius, Happy Hienies, and WonderWorks.
You can get lots of good info on diaperswappers.com and diaperpin.com

Just wanted to pass along some recent research on this topic:
the increase of water (our natural resource) used to clean cloth diapers is an equal "evil" to our environment as to the diapers you are putting in the landfill.

No opinion from me one way or another....just wanted you to be aware...

Hi J.,
While I appreciate the desire to be more environmentally-correct, allow me to give you another perspective. I'm not trying to change your mind, since this is a personal decision.
As a mom who started out with cloth diapers, thinking they were better for the baby and the earth,I found that disposables are much better at keeping babies dry. Even with liners inside the cloth diapers, they just don't compare to the comfort level of disposables.
While you might chafe at those diapers going out in the trash, consider all of the environmentally unfriendly things that go into washing cloth diapers - the water, gas, electricity, the detergent, etc, and your own energy. The cost savings aren't that great when you factor everything in.
Good luck with whichever choice you make!

You'll love it J.!! I changed over at the later part of my first son's diapering days. My youngest, with the exception of church and grandparents, is in cloth diapers all the time! You do save a lot.

Every Mama will tell you something different. I find you gotta try it out for yourself. My personal faves on diapers are fuzzi bunz, and bumgenius. If you buy them, be sure to get extra inserts for naps and night time. I usually use one of the regular, and two doublers for my kiddo at night ( only one for naps). But he's a heavy wetter. G Diapers aren't bad, but I woundn't recommend them for nighttime use. We had horrible leaks with that. I doubled up the inserts and still had a wet child in the morning. If anything, on the go use or very teachable grandparents. The previous review said there was no washing, just flushing, eh.. poop smears and ya still have to wash the lining in the diaper. There not bad, just if you want bang for your buck... pocket diapers are very nice.
I use washcloths for wipes and some warm water, even some baby shampooo for REALLY bad messes. Cheap and cheerful. Make sure you have a diaper pail, or a covered trash can and line it with a laundry bag. I always carry an extra couple of diapers in the diaper bag and I recycle plastic grocery store bags rather than invest in a "wet bag". Again, cheap and cheerful, and it works well for us. Hope you have a wonderful experience with it. I love knowing I'm saving cash and the environment all at the same time! What can I say, it is the Mommy multi-tasker in me! ;)

Hi J.! I'm currently in the process of purchasing some of my very first cloth diapers! :) I had a terrible time finding the information that I wanted. We don't have any cloth diaper stores around here either. So, I relied heavily on my friends recommendations. I've decided to start with some one size pocket diapers. There are so many options out there! Like I said, I'm lucky enough to have a very good friend that cloth diapers and she has given me tons of tips and pointers. I'll be happy to answer any of your specific questions, just message me!
Here are a few websites that I've found to be very particular http://www.greenplanetbaby.com/index.php http://www.nickisdiapers.com/ http://clothdiaperclearance.com/

I've been told to try a few different brands before settling on one specific brand. I recently ordered two of the Haute Pockets with inserts. My friend is also loaning me some of her Wonderoos to try out. You can buy cloth diapers second hand at diaperswappers.com. Personally, I think I'll be buying mostly new, but that's because I plan on having at least one more child, so I want them to last. Like I said, if you have any specific questions, I'll be more than happy to try and answer them. If I can't, my friend can! :)

Hi J.,

Good for you for thinking of the switch. I cloth diapered my daughter for 18 months and am planning to do the same with #2 that's coming in June. People are always commenting on how much work it is, but I disagree. For me it was quite easy...dumping a diaper in the trash or diaper pail is about the same....washing a load of laundry or taking out the trash is about the same. I tried 8-10 different samples and ended up using Fuzzi Bunz after the first few months (as a young infant I used pre-folds). I love the Fuzzi Bunz, they are a bit of an investment if you buy them new but well worth it. They are easy, leak less than disposables (in my experience), and they are cute too. You can buy used ones on e-bay or seconds online if you don't want to pay full price for new ones. Just google Fuzzi Bunz and you will come up with all kinds of options. Good luck to you!

J., Hello, I recently am switching over to cloth diapers as well for my youngest- who is almost 10 months old. I bought Fuzzi Bunz for her- and they come with 1 insert in them- but you should buy extras as well. I am going to be doing part-time cloth which I guess is better than nothing. I had heard from many people, as well as online sources that Fuzzi Bunz are supposed to be the best. I bought them from diapers.com- they are having a sale on them right now!!! I would also look into G diapers. They are an outer cloth with a flushable liner- as well as they sell cloth liners to wash them. Diapers.com sells those as well- they sell a starter kit for $26.99. I would look into those as well- they are a hybrid diaper and they are supposed to be wonderful- i ordered these as well as the Fuzzi Bunz. Go to Fuzzi Bunz online.com for the fuzzi Bunz info. I would also try G Diapers. com- read all the information- and watch the videos. Hope this helps!!!

A little about me: Stay at home mother of 4 children- ages 8,7, 2 1/2 and almost 10 months,-marries to the man of my dreams

Yes, cloth diapers are wonderful! We used Fuzzy Bunz, which have covers that snap closed. You need at least 12 covers and 24 inserts. More if you don't want to wash them as frequently. You just store them dry, no soaking. Dump poop into the toilet and separate the covers from the inserts to wash. You do a cold water rinse, then a hot water wash. You can hang the covers to dry, or dry everthing in the dryer. Whoever you buy them from will send directions with them

Hi J.,
I wanted to shae my experience with gdiapers...I LOVE THEM. I do not always flush mine however due to a private septic system. I often toss them in "green bags" not pkastic because that then wastes the purposes of course. But i have had no problems with leaks or anything. I am interested in the cloth inserts that someone else posted nad may check into that...but wanted to let you know that gdiapers are not that pricey...and i feel less guilty!

I look up to you for wanting to do this and I ENCOURAGE you to use cloth. I used cloth for my first child and mostly with the second. I gradually switched to Disposable for the ease and convenience.

I wasn't concerned with the KIND of cloth diapers I bought as I was using hand me downs from others in my family. I don't think it really matters the kind.

I remember always rinsing out the diapers - especially the messy ones (RIGHT AWAY). It prevented having problems washing them later. We also used an old diaper pail and carried many plastic bags in the diaper bag to keep the used ones in and keep other things dry.

Good Luck,
R.

I have been using cloth diapers and wipes since my baby was born and absolutely love it!! I do a load of laundry every other day. I am using bumgenius diapers for the most part as they meet our needs well and I have only had 2 or 3 leaks! They are great and seen really comfy.

There is a Indianapolis based company you should give a call to or visit her website... www.toastybaby.com. She has used all the products she sells and even offers a diapering service if that would meet your needs. She would be a great resource for you as you start learning about the world of cloth diapers.

Good luck... you won't be disappointed.

i used cloth diapers with my two kids! Good for you for taking the intiative! Put the diaper pail near a door outside if you can, kitchen/garage door or the patio door. Learn the different folding methods, your child will never out grow these diapers! I remember adding up the cost, and one full year of cloth diapering my child= $27.00. Once the investment of the diaper themselves are made, all you need are replacement "bubble pants", bleach and hot water!!!

I used mother-ease.com diapers. I liked the Sandy's, and I love the covers. My son is 2.5 and if I had to do it all over again, I'd start with that. I was overwhelmed with all that was out there, too. I tried a lot of types. I didn't like anything with velcro because they got tangled up in the wash. Since you probably know how many diapers you use daily, use that as a guide to how many to order, based on how many times a week you want to do laundry. You will either need to use "doublers" (inserts for the diaper) or double diaper at night.

I liked to use the kissaluv contour diapers (http://www.kissaluvs.com/countour-diapers.php) as doublers. The rectangular ones that are sold elsewhere, incl. on mother-ease, tend to move around and bunch. I did not like that at all. Another option if you don't like the Sandy's (elastic around waist and legs, so less leaks especially with poops) are the Fuzzibunz.com pocket diapers. These are very aesthetically appealing. (But if you get a poopy diaper, using my diaper pail method below would be a problem because you wouldn't want them to soak in chlorine. So I only had a couple of these for the cuteness factor for photos and such.) Again, I preferred to use the kissaluv contours as inserts opposed to what was sold with the fuzzibunz.

You will also need a diaper pail. You will rinse diapers either in the toilet or in a utility sink before placing them in the diaper pail. I fill the pail about half full with water with a capful of laudry soap and a couple of caps of bleach. It helps so that they don't stain and so that they don't stink.

Alternatively, depending on how organized you are at doing your laundry, you canuse your top loading machine as a diaper pail. I have a frontloading machine, but when I visited my mom, this is how I would do it. I would fill the machine like pail above. I would leave diapers to soak there. I always double wash whites anyway, once cold to work loose any stains, once hot to sanitize. So, letting the diapers soak in the machine didn't bother me. Anyway, whites would be my first load on laundry day and then I would do the rest of my laundry before I started using the washer as my diaper pail again. You can either use a small cleaning bucket or a thicker shopping bag (wild oats type) to hold the dirty diapers you accumulate while doing your other laundry loads. This is a lot easier route because you don't have to move out/wring all of the diapers to get them to the washer.

Hi J.! I cloth diapered my son and I loved it! I used chinese prefolds and a variety of wraps including prowraps, bummis and bumpkins (and others I can't remember). I also used fleece liners that I just made myself. All you need to do is get a yard or so of any kind of fleece and cut it into strips about the same width and length of the folded diaper. I never did get to try the fuzzy bunz but I've heard a lot of great things about them. Contrary to what others may say, I did not find cloth diapering to be a lot of work or anything of the sort. My son was cloth diapered and never got a rash, was never chaffed or anything. The little boy I watched who was two weeks younger than my son and who used disposable diapers was constantly rash-ridden (watching him from age 6 weeks to 3 years old). Anyway, happy diapering!!!! :)

God's blessings,
M.

http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/index.htm
www.diaperswappers.com
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_clothdiapers.htm
http://gnmparents.com/a-little-greener-the-benefits-of-cl...

I LOVE my cloth diapers. I use a combination of different pocket diapers though mostly BumGenius 3.0's. I have included two links (the ones on top) that are great locations for learning about and buying your cloth. The last three are just a small number of sites that talk about the benefits of cloth diapers (these are more for those few people here that actually think that disposables are better for the environment than cloth..lol). There are many, many more.

Good for you! Way back when my kids were that age, I also opted for cloth diapers (can you believe that for 35 years we've been dumping disposable diapers in landfills??? My oldest is 35) I was a stay at home mom back then and it just made sense to me and I've always felt it was a really good choice. My 32 year old daughter would commend and thank you - she's an environmental engineer. I don't know anything about different brands, but I'm sure any good quality would work (back in the day there weren't many to choose from). Basically you need diapers, pins, plastic pants and whatever you decide to use to wash them with. It's pretty basic and simple. Again - Good for YOU!!

Thank goodness there are disposable biodegradable diapers!!!!! Cloth diapers are a TON of work!!! But these new diapers are very affordable and they are completely biodegradable. They are called gdiapers. Their website is http://www.gdiapers.com/
The way you dispose of them is by flushing them down the toilet.

Hi there. I'm so glad to hear that you're thinking of switching to the wonderful and green world of cloth diapers!! I have a 12 month old son and have been using exclusively cloth diapers on him since he was 7 months old. You're right, there is a LOT of different ideas and information out there. I use gDiapers which you can look up at www.gdiapers.com. Their system uses an insert called a flushable which is like a giant pad that can actually be flushed down the toilet or thrown in the trash or composted in the garden. It is made of all organic/natural materials and is a good one to start with. However, the problem I ran into with these is that the flushable refills are pricey. So I use exclusively cloth inserts, which of course you wash in the washing machine, that are specifically made to fit inside the gdiaper cover. You can find these at www.cottonwoodbaby.com and/or www.nappyshoppe.com. To initially start with cloth diapers it is an investment that can be pricey. However, once you start with it you'll see the savings not to mention how much good you're doing for the environment which can also be a learning experience for your little one too. I LOVE my experience I've had with cloth diapers and totally recommend it to anyone. It's not overly gross or disgusting which are huge misconceptions that people have about them. Yes sure you'll get poop on you sometimes but as a mom you touch everything anyway. I'd also recommend that you join the Yahoo gdiapers group. There you can read through all the comments, questions, suggestions and information from those who use the gdiaper system. It's a great tool to use to gather info to make the best decision for you. If you have any more questions or want to know more about my personal expereince just let me know!!! I hope you join the greener world of cloth diapering!! :)