OK, I am a scaredy-cat! More CD questions (long) Please bear with me!

[kathsmom]

Hi, everyone!

I know I posted awhile back explaining how stupid I felt trying to get the cloth diapers on. I am now scared to try again! I haven't even washed the sample diapers I have! DH said that if I wanted to cloth diaper, he would support me in that decision, but if I wanted to use disposables, that was fine too.

First, I want to thank all of you who responded to my post. I guess the 3 big factors that are holding me back are:
1)the gross factor (read poop!)Do you swish it in the toilet?
2)the laundry factor - I can hardly keep up with our clothes
3)money - I know CDing saves money, but I really don't have a lot of extra money to waste trying out a lot of different things that may or may not work for us. Plus, this is our last child (that is our plan for now! Who knows if I'll get the urge to have a baby again?)

What would you all suggest as good basics to have for a 6 month old who is just starting solids? His poop is the consistency of tomato paste or peanut butter (I think that was Celeste's description).

I am thinking of getting:
3-5 Bumkins AIO's - medium (I have a large which is too big)
12 CPF premium
4-6 covers (either Prorap or BSWW)
5 Kissaluvs contour (LOVE the feel of these)
Fuzzibunz with joeybunz for nighttime
cloth wipes
fleece liners
disposable liners
Bummis container for the Sterilite trash can
small Bummis bag for outings

Anything else you can think of? For the items above that don't have quantities listed, could you give me suggestions on a number? Is this a good "basic" setup (both for variety and quantity)? I have one snappi, but I cannot seem to get the hang of it! What am I doing wrong? I am scared to use pins, because DS is so wiggly.

For those of you not using baby wipes, do you use them when you change your baby when you are out of the house? If not, do you just wet the cloth wipe at the sink and then wipe down his/her bottom? Exactly what size diaper bag do you use? I know this was posted sometime ago, but I think the number of mommies CDing has grown since then!! :)

I know that I have more questions and I am sorry that I am so stupid with this! My mom actually seemed excited when I told her I was considering CDing. She did with me and my brother, because we were allergic to Pampers - the only disposables available in 1965 and 1969!!

I appreciate all of your help and suggestions. Please bear with me as I wade through all of this! I am still on the fence post about whether to continue this or not.

Thanks so much!

Toni - mom to Katherine (5/19/96) and Andrew (9/23/02)

[nathansmom]

Toni-
I have a Bumkins AIO in medium I'd be willing to send you. Nothing against the diaper it just doesn't work for Nathan. Email me at [email protected] if your interested.

[celfsh]

Hi, Toni! By no means am I any kind of expert on this topic as I just started CDing 4 days ago, but I'm looking at your stash and, aside from the Kissaluv contours, it is almost exactly like what I just ordered. I started with a sampler package from naturalbabies.com, which I have been using since Sunday. So far, I have liked everything I've tried, but here is what I ordered more of yesterday:

6 FBs w/Joey Bunz inserts (brings me to a total of 7)
3 Bumkins AIOs (brings me to a total of 4)
5 premium CPF (total of 6)
5 regular CPF (total of 6)--I see you don't have any of these, but you might want to try them. I have found that a regular CPF is just fine for DD during the day, although she is not a super heavy wetter.

I am also going to order some more ME Onesize as well as some more covers, but I'm undecided on which ones. I'm aiming for a total of 24-30 diapers, as that should probably get us to where we can do laundry every couple of days, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong here, ladies!

Now for your other questions.

1) I, too, was terrified by the "yuck" factor, but I have to say it is nowhere near is gross as I thought it would be. In fact, it's really not bad at all. I just throw her poopy diapers in the pail, squirt them with a little Zout just before I wash, run a cold rinse followed by a hot wash, and wah-la! They're clean. It's almost like magic!

2) Right now, I barely have enough diapers to go 1 day, so I have been doing laundry every night. It's really no big deal, since the washing machine actually does all the work!

As for the Snappi, I am still working on mastering that. I do great with a teddy bear, but DD is a different story! It is getting easier, though. Oh, and wipes--we use cloth wipes at home and disposable wipes while we're out and about.

Hope any of that helps! Good luck and don't be scared, it's really pretty fun once you take the plunge. Oh, and I remember reading your old post about trying to get the diapers on. Don't worry, you are definitely not alone!!!! DH and I couldn't stop laughing at ourselves the first few days--it was like watching an episode of Candid Camera!

celeste
mom to olivia 9/25/02
http://homepage.mac.com/the_big_fish

[egoldber]

Don't worry, we are here for you!!!

Some thoughts. Before you buy anything else, I would try what you have. As soon as you start using cloth for a day or two, you will VERY quickly discover that you have preferences. The order more of what you like or try something else. This is especially important if you don't have the extra cash to invest in something you may have to re-sell at a loss.

I use disposable wipes when I am out, since I can fit more wipes in the container. I used cloth wipes a couple times, but quickly discovered I was too lazy to refill the container often enough (am I sad or what?) I just wrap them up with the dirty diaper, wash them with the diapers (!!!) and just throw them away afterwards. No ick involved at all!

If you use liners with the diapers, it greatly reduces the ick factor. The peanut butter poops really do just come off on the liner. It's amazing! And whatever doesn't come off, don't worry about. Just wash it. It will be fine, I promise!

I think that 24 diapers is a good number to have for an older baby (say 6 months and up). That would be washing every third day. In addition, a handful of AIOs are good for going out. Younger than that, I might want closer to 30. For a newborn, I'd probably want 36.

I am currently using an Eddie Bauer backpack diaper bag. It is roomy, but not huge. Since she is now walking, I like to have both my hands free when we are out. Depending on what else you pack, something along the size of the Lands End Do it All is a good "all day" bag. I can still easily use my Lands End Little Tripper for short errands (with just one Bumkins AIO in it for just in case). I just use a Ziplock bag or a grocery bag for dirty diapers.

With the Snappi, you really to need to stretch it like it says on the package before it will work properly. And don't be afraid to REALLY stretch it to get a snug fit.

HTH,

[zen_bliss]

sounds like a good plan!

i'm not sure if we'll do the swishing of poo or not. there is something called the Diaper Duck that looks like a contorted clothes hanger that you hang next to the toilet so you can 'swish' the dipes without putting your hands in the bowl. I think a pair of kitchen tongs would work just as well. i've also seen posted that some keep a plastic knife near the toilet to scrape off the excess. (I imagine having a dipe knife in a little jar of barbasol like those combs the barbers have!) and there is always the flushable liner option. kushies makes some. they kind of remind me of dryer sheets. just peel those off and the poo goes with it, and flush away. apparently you can wash and reuse them if they just get peed on. (i don't think you can wash the rice paper ones though!)

just a little suggestion to make it more fun for you -- www.happytushies.com has adorable wet bags and pail liners that are about the same price as the bummis totes and way more fun since you can customize them. i love the stuff i bought from her!

[egoldber]

FYI, you can wash and re-use the rice paper liners. They actually hold up better than the Kushies liners in my experience.

HTH,

[mama2be]

I so hate to do laundry, it might just be me but I find laundering CDs to be very different from actual laundry chores. When we wash our clothes we have to separate them what can go in the dryer vs not go in the dryer, and then fold them and in my case find a place for them because Steve and I both all clothes horses. Then there is the ironing separating colors etc...

It might just be me but I have a differnt frame of mind laundering my cloth diapers...they all go in the same place they all go into the dryer they all come out, there is no folding (unless CP but that's simple) and they all go in the same spot...

It's not "laundry" as we know it...
Just look at it that way!!! :) IT helped me to overcome the additional task. :)

HTH...

[Calmegja]

No dunking here, and never a dunk to be....

We have lots of the peanut butter poop (who cam up with that phrase, anyways?), and I shake what I can off into the toilet, but that's about it. Everything else just goes in the pail, and get rinsed out on wash day...

I use fleece liners frequently, with CPFs, and they always wash up just fine...I just haven't worried that much about it. And with Fuzzibunz, it just comes right off as well...fleece can be a good thing! ;-)

[egoldber]

I have to admit, I LOVE doing diaper laundry. There is something about the adorable piles of diapers that I love. And I usually "save" folding the laundry as a task for Sarah and I to share. She now helps me sort stuff into piles (liners, doublers, diapers) and she helps me carry piles over to the changing area. I usually have to re-fold stuff by the time she has finished "helping" me, but whatever. :)

[kathsmom]

Hi, everyone!

Thank you so much for posting and answering my questions! zen_bliss, thanks for the link to happy tushies! I think I would buy the stuff even if I didn't cloth diaper! The stuff is just TOO cute!

I just did my first wash on the diapers that I do have - 1 regular CPF, 1 premium CPF, and 1 Kissaluvs contour. The CPFs have started quilting up and seem to be very soft. Of course, the Kissaluvs already feel quite soft! (I would like to have underwear for me made out of the Kissaluvs material, but I think it would make my already large rear-end look even larger! ). Thanks to Norah, I will be trying out a Bumkins AIO in medium to see how it fits DS before I order a bunch and they don't fit right on him. Thank you, Norah!!

I do have another question. I was reading a book from the library on frugal living and the author stated in the section on how to cut baby care costs that it would only be about $2.00/month cheaper to cloth diaper than to use store- or off-brand disposables. She factored in the initial cost of the purchase of the diapers and the added energy for the hot water wash and hot dry. What are your thoughts on this? If it's just $2.00/month cheaper, I would probably just use disposables. I have looked at cloth diapering websites, and the difference they show on their charts is much greater than what she quoted in her book (depending of course on the type and number of diapers you purchase). She compared the cost of 100 newborn size disposables to the initial purchase of cloth diapers and the increased utility costs. When DH and I read that, we were ready to ditch the cloth and keep on with the Pampers. I know that if you have other children, this cost is probably offset in the long run, because you can reuse the diapers, but DS is going to be our last child.

If I do decide to cloth diaper, I will just have to get over the gross factor. I really do not relish scraping peanut butter poop out of the diaper, so I will probably get disposable liners!

I appreciate your help so much. This is all so new to me and I never would have considered it unless I had been reading the boards. Even if I decide not to cloth diaper, I want you to know that you all have helped me make a well-informed decision. I'll keep you posted on the events of "As the Diaper Turns" (will Toni learn how to use a snappi? Will her husband help with the laundry? Will her daughter gag everytime his poopy cloth diaper is changed? Stay tuned! These and other questions will be answered on the next episode).

I'll post more questions as I think of them. Thanks for being willing to listen and help me!

Toni - mom to Katherine (5/19/96) and Andrew (9/23/02)

[Momof3Labs]

Toni,

I'm interested in how that author came up with her numbers - where does the 100 newborn disposables number come into play? That's about a two week supply for us - how does that relate to the start-up costs of cloth diapers?

I figured that we were using about $2.50 in diapers per day (10 diapers at 25 cents each - we used Huggies Supreme), so that would be $75/month. $75 would buy a lot of CPFs, and those would last many, many months. The energy costs would add a little to the cost of cloth, but not a ton. Plus, as it gets warmer, you can dry your diapers outside to save on energy costs. I didn't do a detailed cost analysis because I switched to cloth for other reasons, but I believe that Beth did.

[egoldber]

Those costs sound really bizarre to me.

If you only looked at the costs of Newborn or Size 1 diapers, the costs may be deceiving. Take a look at Pampers. The Size 1 BabyDry package has 56 diapers. I can get these at Target for $10 a package, so let's go with $9 a package (I'll assume I only buy when I have a $1 coupon). That's 16 cents a diaper. If your child only wore size 1's, the cost for 3 years (8 changes a day) is $1400.

But, of course, your child does NOT wear size 1 for 3 years. If you look at the cost of size 4 Pampers (which Sarah wore from about 8 to 19 months), you only get 34 diapers in that same package. That's 26 cents a diaper, so that's $2300 for 3 years.

Using the full retail costs at naturalbabies.com, I can get a newborn package for $89, then a regular size package for $68, then a premium size package for $71. Let's go hog wild and assume you also need the toddler prefold size eventually. That's an extra $83. Total there is $311. Add in, say, $100 for other things you may want: a few AIOs, FuzziBunz, doublers and bags. Let's add in another $200 for extra laundry detergent and utilities for doing 3 extra loads of laundry a week. That's still only around $600. After your babe is potty-trained, what do you do then? You RESELL all this stuuf on eBay and get back 50% of the costs.

The key is to NOT get carried away. You don't need every WAHM fitted out there. You don't need two dozen AIOs. Be moderate and you will save a ton of money!

HTH,

[sparkeze]

Before we switched to cloth we were using Pampers Cruisers from Sam's Club and for size 3 it was a little over 20 cents per diaper. Even with all the diapers we have and the fact that we pay $1.50/load for washing/drying it's still cheaper to use cloth for us! (over the longterm of course) Keep in mind that if your baby, even if he's the last, will be in diapers for a couple more years yet.

We didn't switch because of the cost factor necessarily, but lately I've been reading some stuff about the ingredients of disposies. Hmm...I feel really good that I know exactly what is touching my baby's skin! :)

As far as gross poop, you get more used to it as you go along. It gets worse too when they start eating more and more solids! :) We have a minishower and I can't imagine living without it. It sprays off everything and I don't touch a thing. And the laundry - you could get enough diapers to last a few days and do maybe 2-3 loads/week. Another thing you just get used to! And the wipes thing - if DS has a runnier poop I actually take his naked butt to the sink and rinse him off. If it was more solid (not all over) I use cloth wipes that I wet with water at the sink right before I change him.

Have you considered using any fitted diapers? I love, love, love fitteds. When you use the snappi you should really get it snug. It should be stretched to be fastened so you can get a good fit. Regardless it helps tremendously if the baby stays still! I wish I had the secret for that one.

I totally agree that you should find out what you like before you buy a lot more. And keep in mind that if you spend $100 now and use the diapers for a couple years, you could still sell them for $30-50 when you're done with them, depending on what condition they're in. Can't do that with disposables!