I need some help.I'm thinking about using cloth this time aroundand thought I'd get a head start on my research

[Caitlins Mommy]

Ok I've been thinking long and hard about using cloth diapers for this soon to be {hopefully} baby.I just hated using disposibles on Caitlin and the constant leaks and diaper rash her sensitive skin would get.

What would get my goat even more is realizing at 11:00pm that I just used the last diaper, and would have to go out and get more.Plus throwing all thoes diapers away in a landfill didn't make me feel anybetter.I just didn't know alot about cloth back then since internet was just starting up.


I guess what I really want to know is what covers do you perfer and how do you wash your diapers?I know back in the day when our moms used them they would bleach them ,or at least my mom did.So do you still bleach them?Or do you just use very hot water? And what do you do with fuzzi buns?Do you just stick a diper in the pocket or do you have to put a liner or something else in the cover not in the pocket?I hope I asked that ? right.

And how many do you need?I was thinking about getting a weeks worth and only washing the diapers once a week.Or do any of you think thats to long to let a diaper sit in the pail? I planed to get one of those shower thingies that hook on the side of the toilet and use that to rinse any poop off the diaper and then ring it out with a diaper duck so all the exess water would be rung out then stick it in a lined pail.

Also do you make your own liners or do you use disposable ones?And how do you store a dirty diaper if your out in public?Do you try and scrape off the exess poop with a paper towel or toilet paper,then store it in a palstic ziplock? Or do you just use disposibales when you go out?

I'm sorry for all these questions,but I just want to know what I'm doing wrong and what system is easy to use in public cause I really what to cd and I'm scared if I find it to hard I'll quit and go back to disposibles ,wich I really don't want to do.

Also what are your favorite cd sites and cds?I heard hemp diapers and CPFS are great!

Thanks to those in advance who respond and for the help .I really apriciate it.I'm just so scared to cd.I don't know why.I'm sure once I start I'll love it.


Jennifer Mommy to Caitlin Hope 9/28/96
Trying to give Caitlin a brother or sister

[mamahill]

If you're starting out, I don't think you can go wrong with the Proraps. They're pretty basic and cheap (relatively). I also have a Bummis SIWW and have recently added the Motherease Airflow (see other post and how much I love it).

Washing - I throw the contents of the whole bag (use the Bummis trash liner), and the bag, into the wash. Depending on how gross I think the dipes are, I may have them soak for a couple hours in water and 1/4 of the amount of detergent, or go straight to a full cold load. Then do a full hot load (another 1/4 C detergent), and then throw everything into the dryer - except the covers, bag, and FBs. Do NOT use bleach as it will break down the fibers in the dipes. Plus, I think I remember reading somewhere that the ammonia in the urine, mixing with the bleach can have an irritating effect on the baby's skin.

FBs - love em. I stuff them with a prefold at night, and save my hemp JoeyBunz for the day. They are as trim as a disposable. You don't need a liner because it already is made of fleece.

Liners - make your own. Cut fleece 4x12" and there you go. I also have the flushable liners that I save for when I think I can anticipate her poops. They make clean-up MUCH easier.

You can get a weeks worth of diapers, but you're probably going to do laundry more often than that. I do diapers every 3-4 days. Any longer, and I'd have to do two loads (4 wash cycles, at least 2 dry cycles, etc.). Plus, you'd need a pretty big bin to hold them. I haven't had an issue with the smell yet. The rinse idea is probably a good one, but I know I wouldn't have the patience to do that each time. Any poop that doesn't fall right off into the toilet just goes straight into the pail. I haven't had a problem with staining yet, and my diapers smell wonderful coming out of the washer.

In public I just carry a plastic grocery bag. They're free and I can just throw it away when I'm finished. My diaper bag has a zippered plastic bag that I have used, but a couple times I've forgotten about a dirty diaper in the trunk (oops!) and a couple days later, the thing REEKS. I do use disposables if I don't know I'll be near a diaper-friendly area (my mom's, Nordstrom, BRU, etc.). She pooped once when we were out and I just folded the whole thing up and put it in the bag. By the time we got home, it had dried enough that the whole thing just peeled right off. Kinda gross, but you asked!

Finally, don't be scared! It is definitely NOT has hard as it may seem. In fact, you'll soom get addicted and be laughing at yourself, much the same as the rest of us.

If you want to do some research, read through this forum, or do a search on specific topics. Recently there have been discussions on favorite diaper topic. There have been some extremely helpful tips and discussions that have been here.

Good luck! We'll help you:).

[Caitlins Mommy]

Thank you so much for the encouragement and the advice.I'm not so scared about cd anymore.After I read your post I thought well surely it can't be that hard,because if it was then all these moms wouldn't be using cloth.

Now if only I can convince my family that I haven't just fallen off the deep end.They think I'm nuts that I'd actually want to wash a poopy diaper.

Why is it that alot of people are scared of baby poop?Its not like I'm going to be handling anthrax or anything deadly,but the reaction I got when I told dh I was going to use cloth you would have thought other wise.

Thanks again for all your help

Jennifer mommy to Caitlin Hope 9/28/96
Trying to give Caitlin a brother or sister

[gravymommy3]

The way people act, you would think that baby poo is caustic - that it will burn a hole in your hand or something. I mean, it is not my favorite substance, but you deal with it and go on! Do these people making such a big deal about it realize that someday, someone will probably have to change their adult diapers and wipe poo off of them? Again, you deal with it and go on!

Jennifer, you can do this. If someone had told me two months ago that I would CD (and really really like it), I would have called mental health on them. There was not way I was going to do all that extra work. Well, guess what? I love it. It is easy (there is a little extra work involved, but not a lot and I am a very lazy person!) Feel free to ask any and all questions. It is overwhelming at first to try to figure out what you like and don't and what works for you. We are here to help.

Good luck

[Momof3Labs]

And it's not like going with disposables makes you poop-proof - I washed a LOT of poopy clothes during our first 5-6 months when we were using disposables because they leaked so much!!

[egoldber]

I understand your anxiety! It took me several weeks of compulsive, secret research before I finally admitted that I was considering cloth! But now that I have been doing it for 7 months, I love it and wouldn't consider going back. I wouldn't say it is more work than disposables, but it is different work. But I am also a basically lazy person and I have no trouble keeping on top of things.

Here are my thoughts on your questions:

My favorite covers are the Motherease Airflow and Proraps velcro covers. These both work well for us. I find the Proraps a little more trim, but the Airflow to be more reliable.

Here's my wash routine: I do a cold wash with 1/4 recommended amount fo detergent and 1/2 cup baking soda. I then do a hot wash with a smidge of detergent and sometimes some Biz. Then I dry them for 50 minutes on medium/high. I am fortunate that one dryer cycle gets everything dry for me. I mainly use fleece liners (I made my own), dump as much as I can in the toilet and then everything else goes in the pail. No swishing or diaper ducking for me! I wash everything together, but I hang dry all my covers and my FuzziBunz.

For a newborn, the general recommended number of diapers is 36. That's enough to go 2-3 days between wash cycles. For an older child, 24 diapers is plenty. I wouldn't go longer than 3 days. One of the keys to getting your diapers really clean is to NOT overload the washer. The diapers need plenty of room to agitate.

With FuzziBunz, they are meant to have a stuffer in the pocket. Many people use JoeyBunz or a prefold in their FBs.

When I am out, if she poops, I stuff the whole thing in a Ziplock bag and bring it home and deal with it then. This has never caused me a problem. And I have also occasionally forgotten a diaper for a couple days in the car, but the diaper was fine. :) CDs do take some practice, and it did take me a few weeks to work up my courage to use them in public. But now I feel like a pro, doing my bikini twisted prefolds with a Snappi at playgroup! :)

I don't have any hemp fitteds, but I have a few hemp prefolds. They are a wonderful thing for nighttime. I find that ordinary prefolds are plenty absorbant enough for daytime use.

Hands down my favorite place to order from is naturalbabies.com. Colleen was fantastic customer service. Everyone I know has had nothing but great things to say about her. I have also had good experiences with naturalebaby.com.

And as Sarah said, we'll be happy to hold your hand!

[KathyO]

The issue has already been given good treatment in the posts above, but I thought I'd add a few words about my setup.

Yes, I was also unbelieveably nervous about actually EMBARKING on cloth diapering! It didn't help that the homemade CDs a friend handed down to me actually didn't work on my baby - they just weren't shaped right for her. Then I got into the MotherEase (primarily Sandies, with a mix of Rikki and Airflow covers) and they've been just great for us. Fitteds are more expensive, but they've had the advantage of being really easy for my novice-diaperer husband to learn (he loves them now), as well as my Mom and a couple of other caregivers.

I use disposable liners, and now that her poops are pretty solid (she's 2), they usually fall out when I hold them over the toilet. Before then, I scraped the diaper with an old butter knife, and slooshed the really messy ones (although not often). I throw them into a dry pail, and wash about every three to four days. The whole shot goes into the washer, and I run a hot load with an extra rinse tacked on. I have slight staining, but it tends to fade in the summer when I line-dry the diapers. (Partly to save energy, but also because it's strangely fun to see all the diapers wagging in the wind like a chorus line of baby bums!)

When we're out and about, I just pop the used diaper(s) into a plastic bag, and drop them in the pail when I get home. If a location is do-able for changing a disposable, you can do cloth too.

I agree with everyone else. It's awkward at first, but then you'll wonder what you ever found difficult about it. And have you ever noticed how many CDers confess that it's actually kinda FUN... even ADDICTIVE? I bet you don't know anyone who says the same about disposables!

Anyway, have fun with your research. There are TOO MANY great CD's out there! I'd have to have octuplets to try out all the setups I've gotten interested by!

Cheers,

KathyO

[Caitlins Mommy]

Thanks everyone for all of your help!Well after talking to DH for two hours about the pros of cloth diapering I have him sold.I think what really changed his mind was that we could sell them and get some of the $$$ back that we invested in cds,and if we used disposable the $$ would just be gone.


Amy I told him what you said about some day someone would probably have to change our diapers when we are old and gray.He just got really silent and said "Gee I really never thought about that." so I think that helped him with the phobia of washing diapers.And I did tell him that there was this thing called soap and water to wash your hands with after handling a cd,wich your supsosed to do weather you use sposies or cloth.

And Lori I hear you on the sposies leaking all the time.I had such a hard time keeping the disposables from leaking for about nine mounths.And I tried every brand of disposable out there.I think I'd rather deal with washing a poopy diaper than poopy clothes.


Sara and Beth, thank you so much about the tip on how much laundry detergent to use.I would have just used the normal amount I use on clothes if you hadn't have told me.Thanks for the diaper links to!

And Kathy,you are so right about not hearing anyone say they are addicted to using disposable diapers.After you said that I'm definately using cds now!Even if I have to order 500 different ones to find the diaper that works for us.

I did go to the fabric store and buy some fleece this afternoon.Tonight I'm going to browse cd sites and drool.I cannot wait to purchase the first one!

Thank you all so much for holding my hand and guiding me through this.I'm sure all have a lot more questions later on though.I'm so glad I found all of you expereanced cloth diapering mommies!

Mommy to Caitlin Hope 9/28/96
Trying to give Caitlin a brother or sister

[Caitlins Mommy]

Just wanted to mention real quick that all of your little ones are absolutly adorable!


Jennifer mommy to Caitlin Hope 9/28/96
Trying to give Caitlin a brother or sister