need to start a stash

[sandgc]

i'm due with my first in april and looking forward to saving money and landfills by cloth diapering. we are going to use disposables some too, especially at first with the very messy diapers and while i'm recovering.
i found clothdiapersnmore.com (not sure how i found it but i did) and made a list of diapers and covers that i'm interested in along with the price. please let me know if these are good products and if i can find them cheaper anywhere else. also, has anyone ordered from clothdiapersnmore? what kind of service do they have?

bumkins diaper cover (prints) $12.00
Prorap colors diaper cover $6.95
So Simple! snap cover (colors) $14.00

Bumkins AIO(prints) $13.00
Prorap AIO $9.00
Kissaluvs Fitted diapers $9.95 WHAT IS BETTER FLEECE OR FLEECE/TERRY?
Kissaluvs contours $5.95

also they have a minishower for $34.95 and disposable rice paper liners for $3.65 100 liners per package.

have you used disposable liners? do you like them?

can i get fleece material at the crafts store and cut them out to make my own doublers or liners?

thanks for all the help!

[mudder17]

>i found clothdiapersnmore.com (not sure how i found it but i
>did) and made a list of diapers and covers that i'm interested
>in along with the price. please let me know if these are good
>products and if i can find them cheaper anywhere else. also,
>has anyone ordered from clothdiapersnmore? what kind of
>service do they have?
I have heard of it, but have not yet ordered from there. I think you can definitely do better on the prices, though. LilBunz.com and Naturalbabies.com give much better prices and both do price matches. LilBunz.com also offers free shipping. And both Trish (Lilbunz) and Colleen (Naturalbabies) are so nice to work with.

For a newborn stash, especially if you're in it to save money, I would go with a mix of prefolds and kissaluv 0s. Prefolds are really not that difficult to learn to fold, and when they're snappi'd, they do a great job of containing newborn poop. They're cheap and have multiple uses, other than as diapers (burp cloths, cleaning up messes, changing pads, etc.). Kissaluv 0s are also quite good for newborns and are relatively inexpensive. I started with a mix of kissaluvs and prefolds and found I used the kissaluvs a lot in the beginning, but ended up using prefolds more often. Teresa (granitesmith ebay store) is a great person to get prefolds and some of the basic diaper covers. She's very nice to work with and will work through e-mail to help you find what you need ([email protected]). I usually just e-mail her with what I'm looking for and she'll let me know what's available and give me a price.

As for covers, I really like the Prorap Classic diaper covers, and in fact, prefer them to the Prorap Colors. For some reason, the colors always left red marks on DD's legs. Also, the classics were stretchier and I think they were actually softer feeling. I haven't used Bumkins or So Simple!'s, but I have heard good things about the Bumkins. With newborn BF'd poop, gussetted covers (such as Prorap Classics, Bumkins, Literaps, or Bumpy's) will probably contain it better around the legs.

From what I can tell, kissaluv contours would probably be useless for containing leaky poopy, but that's just my opinion. I suppose if you had a bunch of covers, it wouldn't matter if the poop leaked onto the cover each time, but I prefer kissaluv 0s or snappi'd prefolds. The minishower you can get much cheaper from Trish and for liners, you can just cut out diaper shaped (hourglass) pieces of microfleece. Doublers would require more than just microfleece, but actually, early on, I just used the preemie prefolds that I started with as doublers. But I didn't need doublers until DD was older (since you change newborns so often).

Hope this helps some,

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amber_9m.gif Breastfed 9 months and counting

[ALLEYCAT]

That was alot of info to absorb and I could not possibly say it better. I started at 8 months. Pockets only here but with a new born I would probably do the prefold thing. If you want gently used there are tons out there that you could get to try out, decide what you like and buy more of, or go with somewhere that has a package deal.

[brigmaman]

First of all, Congratulations!
I am currently CDing a newborn, so I'll share what little I've experienced the past few weeks. I've only ordered from Granitesmith (on Ebay) and Lilbunz. Both were terrific.
I've been using a mix of Unbleached Indian Prefolds and Kissaluv 0s (both colors and natural). I also have one Prorap All in One, a Very Baby AIO for outings and one other specialty fitted for fun. The latter two are obviously not necessities. For covers I have 2 nb proraps, 2 proraps colors, 1 classic small proraps and 1 bumpy day cover.

>Prorap colors diaper cover $6.95- these are fine for right now- they fit my babe from about 8 lbs. so I'd say they run small.

>Prorap AIO $9.00- the one I have is a nb. It fit for about a week- it's too small now and my baby is only about 9+ lbs. now. It was nice to use overnight in the beginning so I wasn't worried about more than one piece in the dark.
>Kissaluvs Fitted diapers $9.95 WHAT IS BETTER FLEECE OR
>FLEECE/TERRY?- I have natural and colors. The two natural ones I have are much smaller than the colors. They won't fit for much longer. That said, the elastic on the colors that I have is VERY stretched out after only 3 weeks of use. But...the colors are much softer than the natural. I can't remember which fleece/terry or fleece is natural and what the colors are made of. I don't know what the solution is- they've worked pretty well for us.
As a pp pointed out, there is a ton of gently used CD materials out there.

Good luck! Don't forget to check out CDing 101 pinned at the top of the forum! I actually printed it out and then came back to ask questions a bunch of times. Actually, I'm still coming back to ask questions! :P

[Momof3Labs]

Regarding the disposable liners, skip them for a newborn as they won't do you any good! Newborn poop runs everywhere and the liner won't contain it. You can either rinse the dipes off with the minishower or just throw them in the pail - bf'd baby poop just kind of dissolves in the wash.

[kijip]

Congrats! On your baby and on considering using cloth...

>we are going to use
>disposables some too, especially at first with the very messy
>diapers and while i'm recovering.

It is good to keep your options open. You might find that you have more messy leaks with disposibles- you never know until you know your baby! Cloth might not work, disposibles might not work.

>also,has anyone ordered from clothdiapersnmore? what kind of
>service do they have?

I have no experience with them. The prices seem high or market. If you have to pay for shipping, you are better off with Natural Babies, Lil Bunz or Kelly's Closet:

http://store.naturalbabies.com/products/

http://www.lilbunz.com/

http://www.kellyscloset.com/ (Free shipping all the time)

>Prorap colors diaper cover $6.95

I had nothing but troble with Proraps, which I used for over 5 months, not knowing that there were other options, but lots of people love them. It all depends on the size of your baby.

>Bumkins AIO(prints) $13.00

The one I tried was not my favorite

>Kissaluvs Fitted diapers $9.95 WHAT IS BETTER FLEECE OR
>FLEECE/TERRY?

Seem to be the standard for newborns.

>also they have a minishower for $34.95 and disposable rice
>paper liners for $3.65 100 liners per package.
>have you used disposable liners? do you like them?

The minishower can be had for less. I think disposible liners are silly- formed stool from older babies should be flushed regardless of if you are using disposibles or cloth and the paper liners just add an extra step. With messy newborn diapers, the paper liners might tear or disolve. They will certainly leak. Just more trash IMO. And it is trash covered in stool which belongs in the sewer system- toss it in the wash and it will dissolve, as a PP said.

>can i get fleece material at the crafts store and cut them
>out to make my own doublers or liners?

Yes!


Here are some things to consider:

Infant prefolds have many uses (diapers, burps, inserts for pockets, doublers for heavy wetting older babies) and are nicely priced. 2 dozen are a good investment.

Covers I LOVE: Bummis Super Snap, Motherease AirFlow (NO leaks EVER)

Pockets (like Fuzzi Bunz, Wonderoos, Baby Blankets and Snap-EZ) are a great alternative to AIOs- hold up better in the wash, can customize the thickness as needed. They are best once your baby has grown a bit.

Motherease AirFlows are sold through:

www.motherease.com

Good luck and have fun! BBB will be hear for all your questions!

[KrisM]

>
>>also they have a minishower for $34.95 and disposable rice
>>paper liners for $3.65 100 liners per package.
>>have you used disposable liners? do you like them?
>
>The minishower can be had for less. I think disposible
>liners are silly- formed stool from older babies should be
>flushed regardless of if you are using disposibles or cloth
>and the paper liners just add an extra step. With messy
>newborn diapers, the paper liners might tear or disolve. They
>will certainly leak. Just more trash IMO. And it is trash
>covered in stool which belongs in the sewer system- toss it in
>the wash and it will dissolve, as a PP said.

I just wanted to comment on the liners. The ones listed on the clothdiapersnmore site are flushable. We are using them right now, as we don't have a mini-shower and received liners as a gift. For the sticky, new-to-solids, poop stage, they can be good. If we didn't have them, we'd be scraping poop into the toilet. We didn't use them until a couple of weeks into solids when the poop started to change.

That said, they are an additional step. Since DS only poops every few days, there are lots of liners that serve no real purpose. We do wash them and reuse them without a problem. (They're much softer after washing!) Our plan is to use them until they're gone, since we own them. Then, we'll decide to either get more or get a mini-shower. Hopefully, we'll be out of the sticky poop stage by then.

[lizajane]

i love amanda at clothdiapersnmore. and i think she does have good prices. she will also price match. BUT she was planning to sell the business, so i am not sure exactly what the story is right now... i feel confident that the customer service would remain excellent. but i can't actually speak to a new owner if there is one already.

the minishower RULES. love it. can't believe i wasted a year without it. you really don't need disposable liners when you have a minishower. breastfed newborn poop technically doesn't need to be washed off, but i probably will mini shower it for this baby. and liners are great for when you travel and don't have a minishower, but at home it is just one more thing to put somewhere, IMO.

yes, you can use fabric store fleece to make stay dry liners. i mean poly fleece or polar fleece. for absorbant doublers, i would recommend hemp fleece- like sweatshirt fleece. it will hold a lot more than cotton fleece. i sew with hemp fleece, so i let my BBB pals have it at my wholesale cost (plus shipping). if you want some, just let me know.

as for the list-
of those things, i only have prorap covers and a prorap AIO. i have the prorap classics, not the colors. i hear the colors are NOT as good as the classics and you are better off with the boring ol' white ones. the AIO is fine. it is pretty boring and there is nothing special about it. it worked fine. so i would take recommendations from other folks about AIOs that they love instead.

and kissaluvs (from what everyone says) are GREAT in size 0 for newborns. but aren't really absorbant enough for older babies. especially for the bulk.

my recommendation for preparing for a newborn is this:
2 dozen infant sized prefolds
1 dozen kissaluv 0s
at least 6 newborn/small covers like proraps/bummies/bumpys/green earth (depending on anticipated size of the baby- we went right to smalls after 2 weeks in sposies)
3 snappis
minishower
and if you want to use sposies some, too, then one pack of pampers and one pack of huggies to see which will work best for your baby

[mudder17]

>i love amanda at clothdiapersnmore. and i think she does have
>good prices. she will also price match. BUT she was planning
>to sell the business, so i am not sure exactly what the story
>is right now... i feel confident that the customer service
>would remain excellent. but i can't actually speak to a new
>owner if there is one already.
Hey, that's good to know. I guess we can wait for a while to see how the new ownership thing works.

>my recommendation for preparing for a newborn is this:
>2 dozen infant sized prefolds
>1 dozen kissaluv 0s
>at least 6 newborn/small covers like
>proraps/bummies/bumpys/green earth (depending on anticipated
>size of the baby- we went right to smalls after 2 weeks in
>sposies)
>3 snappis
>minishower
Yup, this is almost exactly what I started with, down to the 3 snappi's. We still have the same 3 snappi's, and probably could have gotten by with 2. But they're inexpensive, so it's not a big deal. Plus, I've been told that cats will sometimes steal them to play with them (although I have 4 kitties and they've never stolen them). :)

ETA: Starting around 4 months, I did start using fleece liners to help keep DD more dry. And I do have to agree with Lori that although I sometimes have nicely formed poop, I also often get those sticky messes that Kris was talking about. The nonflushable, fleece liners that I made for the insides of my prefolds actually help with clean-up. I've found that poop tends to stain more often when it's directly against the PF, but on fleece, it sprays right off, making things so much easier. Yes, most of those stains on my PF just sun right out, but it's nice not to have to worry about it. For the most part, BF'd poop did not stain, but I did occasionally have to sun my PFs. Bottom line? A minishower is not that expensive and it makes clean-up 10x's easier. But Lori, maybe I should use the flushable liners when I'm on vacation and don't have a minishower...hmmm...what's a good place to get some flushables?

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amber_9m.gif Breastfed 9 months and counting

[Momof3Labs]

I just wanted to agree wtih Kris. Now that Colin is on solids, and his poop isn't always formed (contrary to the PP, babies on solids do NOT always poop hard, formed poop), so the disposable liners keep DH and me sane. We probably should get a mini shower but haven't done it yet. And we use the flushable ones, too, since poop belongs in the toilet, period.

[KrisM]

Oh boy. I was hoping that we'd be done with them well before 2 years old! I guess not. I am getting better at getting one in the prefold. I'd like to use fleece liners, but don't want to scrape those off, either. Oh well.

[KrisM]

>i love amanda at clothdiapersnmore. and i think she does have
>good prices. she will also price match. BUT she was planning
>to sell the business, so i am not sure exactly what the story
>is right now... i feel confident that the customer service
>would remain excellent. but i can't actually speak to a new
>owner if there is one already.

I'm glad to hear this. I checked out the site and they have Bumpy covers on sale. I haven't gotten around to ordering the larges yet, so this is great news for me! Thanks for the recommendation.

[Momof3Labs]

Well, you could "program" him to poop only solid, formed poops by feeding lots of bananas and (for us, at least) staying away from peaches and mandarin oranges!! lol!!

[KrisM]

Ooooh! We did bananas last week and he loved them! I'll have to pay attention to what happens to the poop! I will say that the sticky stuff is a LOT better than the half solid half liquid stuff that was messier than any BF poop we ever saw. That stuff took both of us to do a diaper change.

[mudder17]

>that the sticky stuff is a LOT better than the half solid half
>liquid stuff that was messier than any BF poop we ever saw.
>That stuff took both of us to do a diaper change.

Ooh...been there, done that! Yup, one person keeping the baby still enough and the other to clean her up. Then one person to finish changing while the other one sprays off the diaper. YEP, I LOVE my minishower during these times. :)


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amber_9m.gif Breastfed 9 months and counting