Anyone start with CDs and end up switching to sposies?

[Selene805]

We are expecting our first in March and I really want to cloth diaper for a variety of reasons.
However, the start up expense is a bit daunting and I have to admit that I am a little worried about buying all these supplies (diaper covers, PFs, sprayer, wet bag, etc) only to have it turn out that CDing just won't work for us.
Should I be worrying about this? I want to have all the items I need to make CDing a positive experience for the newborn stage but I don't know if I should be more cautious about getting acessories that are long term investments.
Has anyone started out CDing with the best of intentions and then had it not work out? What made you switch to sposies?

[american_mama]

Definitely people have switched to disposables, although I did not. My advice to help you is start small so you keep your costs down. Decide what you are willing to spend on cloth and how long you will have to use it to recoup your money compared to disposables (figure on 12ish changes a day in disposables for the first month with a newborn). Don't buy too many accessories: you can just use a plastic trash bag for a while, can skip cloth wipes until you're more committed, can skip the diaper sprayer during the only breastfed stage (probably also the only formula stage too), . Their poop will be so runny you can't really rinse it well and the washer can handle it easily, albeit it is gross to watch.

An even easier alternative is to buy at one the places that have refund policies. I have just updated my cloth diaper brochure this weekend, so the places are fresh in my mind. You can use and wash the diapers for any of these program, and all the websites are good, reputable places.

www.diaperjunction.com One of every type of diaper (so about 5-6 diapers), price $58, refundable if you don’t like them. Not enough diapers for a full day in cloth, but you get a great sample and can supplement with disposables until you decide.

www.jilliansdrawers.com “Try Cloth for $10” program, $150 for 12 diapers covering all diaper types, refundable minus $10 if you don’t like them. This is enough diapers for a full day of diapering, so a great intro.

www.nickisdiapers.com Any cloth diaper item, from one diaper to dozens, is refundable for store credit within 15 days. They do sell many non-cloth items on their site, so you can probably find a way to use the store credit.

I also bought used when I started to keep my costs down. For $100, I picked and chose a variety of secondhand diapers . For me, I enjoyed doing it, but it was tedious and I made some purchase mistakes since I was so new to the whole thing, so it's not for everyone. In general, I think buying one of the trial packages above is easier and actually less risk.

[alirebco]

Well you can do a cloth diaper rental for the newborn stage if you want. There are a few companies that do them. Check out my posts from this thread - I linked to a spreadsheet comparing trial programs and also the companies that do the newborn rentals.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin...d.php?t=337957

I personally don't know anyone who started with cloth and switched to disposables, in fact, I know tons of people who started with disposables and switched to cloth! And yes, it can be overwhelming in terms of what to pick because of the upfront cost, but remember that even if you can't return them, you can sell them to others for almost the full price!

[BayGirl2]

I don't know anyone IRL who started cloth and switched back. IME cloth gets addictive, like buying baby clothes, and its tempting to buy more than you need.

I agree with the PP that a trial program is a great start. Plan on sposies for the first 1-2 weeks until the yucky tar poop is gone and your life settles down a bit. But have the trial stuff ready to play with you are ready.

The resale value with cloth is a great bonus - you can sell your investment on diaperswappers.com so you're not out as much. I've lost more $$ on sposies - I have an unopened pack that I bought as a back up but never needed them once I started cloth.

[elliput]

As suggested by a PP, don't buy everything at once. You may realize you really don't need some of those extras. I have been cloth diapering DS for nearly a year now, but started with sposies so I could spread the cost of the cloth dipes over several months. I have never seen a real need for either a wet bag or a sprayer. For a pail, I use the Diaper Dekor with no liner at all. I really don't have any qualms about dunking and swishing so a sprayer, while a nice idea, just seemed a bit of a hassle and extra expense that I didn't need.

Last month, my washing machine was broken for nearly two weeks (which is a cloth users nightmare) and had to use sposies for that time. I cringed every time I threw one out as it truly was just putting money in the garbage. As soon as the repair man left the house, DS was back in cloth.

[maestramommy]

I think there was a mama here who did have to switch to sposies because CDing was giving her dc very bad diaper rash. She had tried everything, but nothing worked. I have to admit, none of my kids had diaper rash until I switched to CDing. Most CD advocates experience the opposite.

That said, barring any unforeseen circumstances I'm not switching back to sposies, not after the money and time I've invested in my stash! And my stash is super modest since I didn't switch to CDing until late in the game. Once you're doing it 100% of the time or close, it kills you every time you throw out a sposie. Laurel is still in sposies for nighttime until her AIOs arrive (hopefully tomorrow!).

[alirebco]

I think there was a mama here who did have to switch to sposies because CDing was giving her dc very bad diaper rash. She had tried everything, but nothing worked. I have to admit, none of my kids had diaper rash until I switched to CDing. Most CD advocates experience the opposite.

Yeah, DS always had a bad diaper rash in disposables and has not had one since switching to cloth 16 months ago. Some babies are sensitive to being wet and need stay dry inners (like fleece or microsuede) and some babies are sensitive to synthetic fibers (like fleece and microsuede). Most are not and we use a mix at out house.

Also, dealing with yeast can be pretty frustrating since you need to treat everything including clothes, towels and diapers and if you don't do it right, it can keep coming back.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I used a diaper service years ago with ds1. Loved it.

The upfront investment for cloth is $ but you can really think about what to buy and some things will be cheaper than others. I happened to really like prefolds and cheap covers like ProWraps so that was easy on the budget.

Also, consider it as an investment. If you plan to have more kids they will practically be diapered for free, save washing. That's pretty awesome!

Beth

[Wife_and_mommy]

I don't know that I'm being fair but I used cloth for 6 weeks while DS was in a special cast last year and couldn't wait to do sposies again. The laundry was a bear and far outweighed how cute the diaper covers were. They were darn cute though.

I didn't buy the cloth dipes I used and love the idea of a one-time expense for them but the convenience was worth far more to me. I wish I could have loved CD.

[kijip]

Just echoing the above- yes, some people do stop cloth and go to disposables. There is no need to invest in everything before the baby arrives. For example, a sprayer is not really necessary for a fully bf baby and even later with formula or solids, it is a nice to have not a need to have. I would not buy one till cd-ing something you have tried and like to do. I have a nearly 10 month old and we have not gotten around to getting a sprayer and it's a-ok. We have 1 small wet bag and we rarely remember to use it. We don't have a special diaper pail for cloth- just a Sterilite laundry hamper.

I don't find the work involved hard so it seems easy to me to cd. You won't know until you try if it will work for you. I'd start with a an assortment of well-recommended diapers and branch out from there.