Does anyone here CLOTH diaper PART time??

[aliceinwonderland]

Or did I just commit blasphemy?? LOL. I do not have the resources/time/energy/brain cells to cloth diaper full time and start not that Erik is almost one, but I LOVE all the pictures of you cute cute babies and their fancy buts. So this summer I want to let Erik hang out in just his diaper, and I want cute ones. How do I make it super super simple for myself?? I loved the cutesupermen dipaers I saw on a site somewhere (already forgot where). LOL.
Chances are Erik will be potty trained this summer, so I don't want to make a huge huge investment...

Ideas? in simple, novice terms??

[brittone2]

I think there are quite a few mamas that use cloth part time. We do cloth full time, but I think a lot of moms who work out of the home use cloth when they are home with DC and sposies for daycare.

For summer, breathable is nice. You can do something super simple like prefolds trifolded in a cover like a Green Earth cover. That is very very inexpensive and the prefolds make great dust rags/cleaning cloths if you don't need them anymore. That isn't a super cute option though in terms of "looks." (Although I think a prefold is very cute, it is just very plain for lack of a better description).

You can use a cute fitted dipe with a wool cover/wool shorts. We just got several pairs of cute knitted soaker shorts that we'll be using for DS for this summer. He's 14 months now. Most kiddos I know didn't potty learn until 2 or 3, and if it was earlier it was more an "elimination communication" situation of mom following baby's cues, not that the baby was totally reliable to get him/herself to the toilet in time. But...I'm sure you know your son very well and maybe he will be potty learned by this summer (how nice!). My DS doesn't seem anywhere even close to being ready to potty learn at present.

Anyhow, you can put the soaker shorts or soaker over a fitted dipe or over a prefold. Wool requires hand washing and lanolizing, but unless they poop on the cover, it only needs washed every 3 weeks or if it smells. Wool is nice and breathable for summer.

I don't know anything about the superman dipe. I'm sure many mamas will have some better advice for you. I just thought I'd get you started ;)

[mudder17]

Aha! I knew I saw that superman diaper recently!

http://www.earthseedlings.com/PhotoPageImages/superman1.jpg

It's actually one of Rashmi's Earth Seedlings. I'm sure there are other superman diapers, but that's the first one I saw. It's hard to tell, but it might be fleece and it may be a cover.

Anyway, Beth gave you some good answers to start with. It's definitely true that quite a few moms do cloth part time, mostly because of daycare, but also because they haven't found a good night time solution, their DH isn't totally on board, and/or sposies are easier for them when they're out and about.

If you want Erik to just hang out in his diaper, easy would probably be prefitted or fitted (both can be very cute) with cute wool cover. If you really think Erik will PT this summer, then instead of spending $$ on wool covers, you could use nylon (Snap-EZ makes some nylon covers that are thin enough so that you can see the cute diapers through the cover). The other nylon covers may be thin enough to do this, too, although the Snap-EZ is the only one I'm familiar with. In any case, the nylon covers will be far cheaper than wool, they are breathable (so good for summer), and as I said, some of them you can see through so if you have some cute fitteds or prefitteds (Shandelle makes some nice tie-dye ones, I think), you'll be able to see them. :)

Is Erik a heavy soaker? What kind of build does he have in general? (thighs, waist, rise, weight) That will somewhat determine what you end up getting.

Please ask more questions and give us more info so we can welcome you to our fluffy club! :)

ETA: Oh, and some mothers have used cloth, but then during an illness, or when things get chaotic, they've used sposies to give themselves a break and then eventually miss the cute fluffy butts. :D

So no blasphemy around here. ;)

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 14 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[jec2]

It is too cute!

[tarahsolazy]

For cute and simple, All in One diapers, or AIOs, would be the easiest. Not the cheapest. Lots of cute AIOs are made of polyester urethane laminate, covered by printed cotton, and are not the most breathable, but probably a tad better than sposies?

www.angelwraps.com these are nylon for the waterproof layer, so more breathable, this is also a very affordable AIO, at $19 or so. Erik would be a medium. http://www.angelwraps.com/ppp/images/roostersqd.jpg

Fleece AIOs would be more breathable, but bulkier, so definately dipes to be worn without shorts over.
Honeyboys are the grande dame of fleece AIOS, this WAHM has a great reputation, and the dipes are super cute.
http://www.simplygooddiapers.com/store/Default.asp
There's someone who does appliqued Honeyboys... http://www.stitchnstuff.ca/ here she is!
These are NOT cheap!

Another option would be to buy a dozen inexpensive fitted diapers, like Kissaluvs size 2, www.naturalbabies.com or Motherease one-size or Sandies www.motherease.com, and buy 3 or 4 super cute covers. Cost breakdown might be the same...

HMMM.... let us know what you are interested in. Also, if you are coming to the retreat, and would like to see examples of some of this stuff, feel free to ask. I think several of us are bringing the fluff.

[writermama]

My name is Karen, and I'm a ... a part-time cloth user.

"Hi Karen."

It's only been one day since my last sposie. But, I'm trying to quit. Really. As soon as I can get a night time solution.

Seriously, I know I'm not the only part-timer here. And any cloth is better than none, IMO. Good luck!

-Karen

If you like AIOs, but want them trim, affordable and easy to find, check out Bumkins AIOs. I got one after the "no more bubble butt" post a few weeks ago and I really like it. The outer fabric is a little crunchy, but the prints are cute, and the flannel is plenty absorbant for us for a few hours in the daytime. I added a sherpa doubler from the site where I bought mine and I really like it, too.

[westchicagomom]

I started using them on DD when she was about 16 months old. She started using her potty fairly regularly when she was about 14 months old, which incidentally was a complete surprise to us.

I hated putting diapers back on her that were even slightly wet, thus we were going thru a ton of easy-ups. The chemical aspect of disposables started to bother me a bit more the older she got too. And she was almost never pooping in her diapers - only her potty. And I mostly like doing laundry. For those reasons, I decided to give them a try.

We don't use them at night, when we leave the house or when I think she is going to poop (I think in the 3 months we have been using them I have only had to launder 5 or 6 poopy diapers - although most of that is due to the fact that she uses her potty for such purposes. :))

I bought a bunch of different things to try. Pockets are the easiest for me. I hate messing w/ covers. I don't like the bulky look or putting a wad of stuff between her legs either as I think it affects the way she walks.

We use mostly pockets (fuzzi-bunz, a few happy heiny's, a few snap-ez, a few baby blankets). These are not cute prints- just solids. W/ pockets you need to buy inserts - my favorites are joey bunz and cotton babies. The cutest print I have is an angel wrap (not a pocket) that PP mentioned (it is cute, but mine has almost always leaked).

I spent a ton of time researching cding here even though I was just going to do it part time. We have about 20 diapers and I have to do diaper laundry every 3 or 4 days.

It has been worth it for us. But for your purposes, since most of the cute stuff seems to be pretty expensive, I am not sure it will be for you. Maybe you can justify if you are looking at it as more of a summer outfit?

[jec2]

Well, we don't cd full-time :) If you don't want to make a huge investment and you want to keep it simple, maybe you should try getting some fun dyed prefolds and some cute covers. I haven't used PF's since finn was an infant so I don't know how easy they are with a toddler. The fitteds are Super Fun but much more costly and you still would need some covers anyways. You could do a combo of fitteds, prefolds, and AIO's (All In Ones, which you wouldn't need a cover for).

[mudder17]

The superman diaper was in the gallery of the Earth Seedlings pictures that Rashmi just posted (the place where her Pashmi cover was displayed). It is cute, isn't it? :)


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 14 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[slknight]

Sheepishly raising my hand since we don't CD 100%. We use sposies at night. DH is a VERY heavy wetter and we actually double-diaper him with two sposies since it's that bad. I haven't dared try cloth at night.

DH is a SAHD and is definitely on board with the whole CD thing AS LONG AS they are all stuffed, sorted, and ready to go. He has no idea what goes with what. So if I haven't sorted all the laundry, he will reach for a sposie. Also, he takes DS to his parents once a week for a visit. He always does sposies there since he is gone all day and grammy won't change a cloth diaper. He doesn't feel like schlepping a bunch of dirty diapers. No, it's not that hard to do, but we do what works for us.

And I will confess that I know if we're going to be out for an extended period of time one day, we also reach for a sposie. I'm trying to get out of that habit and only use them for night, but we have been having some leaking issues lately.

So there, I confessed! :)

As for easy, I recommend AIOs or pockets. For an AIO, I really like the Bumkins that a previous poster mentioned.

[calebsmama03]

WOW! PT'd this summer!!! Can he teach Caleb?

We use sposies PT for daycare (and when DH is lazy ;) ) I haven't read the other responses at all, so forgive if this is a duplicate. IMO the way to keep it cheap (and what we did when we first started using CD) is to go with AIO styles. I know many here don't like them but I've always had great luck as long as you're good about changing regularly. That way you can reuse the shell over and over till it gets pooped on. My faves are www.lucyshopechest.com and www.angelwraps.com but she just had a baby and is temporarily closed. The LHC ones are cute and readily available and AFFORDABLE!! You can purchase extra soakers to go inside and just change that out (or rotate shells letting one sirdry while he's wearing another one) unless he poops. I suppose another cheap option would be prefolds with cute covers, but I could never use PFs on Caleb (he was 10 mos by the time we started). Maybe trifolded in a snug wrap would work? I can't advise on this system since I've never tried it though.
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
And Miss Purple due 5/21/05 - Stay in there till 5/1!!!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

LO< English is not my first, but still...Thanks so much for your posts: The only retained thing is that AIO are in fact, "all in ones" LOL

Now, let's see: I want the superman look (Eileen posted this.Or similarly cute looks, monkeys, etc). Where do I go and what items do I get. The cover, right? and then the things that go in--what are they called? Quick course in "Anatomy of a cloth diaper"? THANKS!!

Oh, and Erik is tall baby, someone asked, he's pretty porpotional I think, his trunk might be a bit long--He's almost 12 months, I would not say he's a super heavy soaker, no... Thanks again, you have been so nice!

[mudder17]

Out of curiosity, what is your first language? Our first language here is "Fluffi" :D

Seriously, it's taken me a while to catch on to the language around here and I still have to ask every once in a while. :)

Okay, so the superman diaper came from http://www.earthseedlings.com/photos.html . At the top of the page is a link to "Contact Us". Even though she's not currently taking customs, you could ask her if there's any chance you get your hands on a cover or diaper with that design any time in the near future. According to Rashmi, she's a real sweetie. :)

Anyway, other cute stuff...what do you (or Eri) like in terms of cuteness? Monkeys? Cars, trucks?

If you get a few cute covers, then you can put something like prefolds on the insides (effective and cheap) and you don't have to spend a lot of money on fitteds. Since it's going to be warm, you may want to stick to wool. You could also use nylon, but they don't tend to have cute patterns (although if they do, they tend to wick--that is, leak through the material due to compression). Since you only have to wash wool every 3-4 weeks (depending on your rotation--I wash about once a month), you wouldn't have to get an enormous number of them.

Basically a "diaper" is made out of an outer, waterproof layer, that keeps the wetness from getting onto the outside. This can be made of nylon, PUL (polyurethanelaminate), wool, or fleece (am I missing anythigng?) Then there's the soaker stuff which can be a fitted diaper, a prefold, or what they call "soakers". Basically, it's anything that's absorbent that will soak up the pee. This can be made of flannel, hemp, sherpa, organic cotton, microfiber, even some wash cloths! And then often, there may be a layer on the inside (right next to the baby's skin) that keeps the baby feeling dry. This is often microfleece, but could also be suedecloth, or believe it or not, silk! I just cut up rectangles of microfleece from a yard I got at Joanns for this.

Okay, so types of diapers. As you figured out, AIO means, All-in-One and it basically means a diaper that has all the components in one. But even this varies. Some AIOs have what they call the "shell" which contains the waterproof layer, and a "snap-in soaker" which is absorbent material that is snapped in the diaper. Some even have an additional doubler, which is basically some extra material that's laid in the diaper to increase absorbency. When people say, "Fleece-topped," they mean that fleece is on top so that it can go next to the baby's skin and keep him feeling dry. Some WAHMs also call their pockets all-in-ones because they're implying that everything can be contained in one diaper and the diaper can be put on the baby like a sposie and no cover is needed. These pocket diapers are basically an outproof layer sewed to an inner layer (usually microfleece or suedecloth) so that a pocket forms between the two layers. You can stuff a variety of "inserts" in these pockets to increase or decrease absorbency. Again these inserts can be things that are specifically made to fit the pockets, or they can be wash cloths or microfiber towels or whatever will help with absorbency. The inserts you use will depend on what you're looking for in terms of absorbency.

Okay, now, the other types of diapers are either fitted or prefitted or prefolds. These all require some sort of cover. Fitted diapers are basically diapers that go on like a sposie with snaps or aplix (velcro). They can attach on the side (side aplix/side snapping) or in front (front aplix/front snapping). They are made of a variety of materials and often have a soaker (extra layers) either sewn in the wet zone or they'll have snap-in soakers or additional doublers to increase absorbency. They may or may not be fleece lined. Prefitted are basically shaped like fitted diapers, but they don't have snaps or aplix to fasten the diaper. You would use either pins or "snappi's" to fasten them. The first type of prefitted was made at Grow-Me-A-Rainbow (I believe) and was made out of prefolds. Basically, you take the prefolds, cut out shapes to make them hour glass shaped, add some elastic in the right places, and voila! Our very own Shandelle (Todzwife) makes these as well. Finally, you've probably seen prefolds. For diapers, you probably don't want to use those el cheapo Gerber ones, but they basically have a center strip that has more layers and fewer on the outside. You can fold them using various prefold methods and then either pin them or snappi them. Or more simply, you can trifold them, lay them in a cover and put the whole thing on the babe.

I'm sure I've forgotten something, but if you ask the right questions, I'll try answering them. :)

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 14 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

delete

[aliceinwonderland]

You are so sweet to take your time to write all this for me...Believe it or not, I am now enlightened!! It all makes sense!! fitteds, soakers, and all are ALL the inside part (the lining if you will)--the rest are covers...So if she has the supermen one as a cover, I have to get some prefolds to put in, and I'll be good to go for, like a day :)

I won't post here what my first language is, but I'll pm you. Me and my blabbermouth, I'm much too easy to identify if I include that info :)

I love monkeys(Erik is our crazy monkey man), soccerballs, and for the sake of DH baseballs and sailboats :) SO what do I get now for the summer that is cute?? I went over to that pin website, but I got dizzy really fast :)

THANKS AGAIN!

[aliceinwonderland]

You are so sweet to take your time to write all this for me...Believe it or not, I am now enlightened!! It all makes sense!! fitteds, soakers, and all are ALL the inside part (the lining if you will)--the rest are covers...So if she has the supermen one as a cover, I have to get some prefolds to put in, and I'll be good to go for, like a day :)

I won't post here what my first language is, but I'll pm you. Me and my blabbermouth, I'm much too easy to identify if I include that info :)

I love monkeys(Erik is our crazy monkey man), soccerballs, and for the sake of DH baseballs and sailboats :) SO what do I get now for the summer that is cute?? I went over to that pin website, but I got dizzy really fast :)

THANKS AGAIN!

[toomanystrollers]

Karen,
You're cracking me up :)

[aliceinwonderland]

Thanks so much--this is so useful..So if I get the AIO honeyboys I woun't need inserts and such? I just wash the whole diaper? The alternative is to get the fitteds (kissaluvs and such) and get COVERS to go on top? What are the sources of super-cute covers? I am doing this for strictly vane reasons--Erik has and has never had a problem with sposies :)
Thanks so much, I love that simplygooddiapers site so far. The soccerball butt is so calling my (er, Erik's!) name :)

No, I am not coming to the retreat, regrettably :( Our summer is just too complicated... I am so sad about it.

[mudder17]

Cool, I'm glad it makes a lot more sense now. It's always fun looking for cute things that I'm not going to buy, so I'm off to do some shopping for you, LOL. Now lets see...you want some cute covers, right? I'm guessing Erik would probably be in a medium, medium/long, or large, depending on the design. What are his approximate measurements? You would want his thigh measurements, his waist, and his rise (from the belly button, down through his legs, and back up towards his lower back (basically this backwards bellybutton). But if you're looking for a cover, you'll want to do this when he has a diaper on. The measurements will be approximate, of course, but it'll give you a good idea of the size you want.

ETA: Speaking of monkeys, Nita just got a very cute cover (without the strip of fabric on the back (which I would also skip) with monkeys on them. I almost got one, but ended up getting a more girly one. :)

http://www.busybeesdiapers.com/diapers.php (it's the one on the bottom of the first page)

I'll be getting mine this week, so I'll let you know how I like it!

Oh, and you should probably e-mail me at firstname at chemicalgraphics dot com because I never get notices of the PMs or e-mail through the boards! Thanks.

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 14 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

My mom is staying with us this summer, for a month and she is very much into that elimination training thing--In December she stayed with us to help watch Erik as I was taking examps, and he was, what 8-9 months then? She had him peeing in the potty- I never pursued it, as I have too many things I'm dealing with right now, but I am sure he'll be potty trained if she has anything to say about it(and she'll watch him all day as I work this May/June). If she wants to spend the energy, fine by me...As long as he is not upset/stressed/unhappy, be my guest I say. More time for me to just play with my monkey man :) I'm such a lazy parent, LOL

Thanks for the tips!!

[tarahsolazy]

Yes, Honeyboys are all one piece, the fleece waterproof part, and the absorbant part sewn right to it. Use like a sposie, except washing! If you go for covers, then you need fitted diapers or prefold diapers, for the absorbant part. I'll look for some appliqued fleece or wool covers for you, since I should be writing a grant due May 1.

One relatively cheap option for embroidered covers is to buy them one place, and then send them for embroidery to www.granolathreads.com She has tons of cute designs, and its $10. You can get a fleece cover from www.thecalicobaby.com or www.angeldrydiapers.com for about $10, so total cost about $20, pretty good. Angeldry also has NICE wool covers for $17, so total $27 there.

Sarah, the mom behind woolybumbums, makes great recycled wool shorts and pull on covers, with amazing custom applique. You tell her what you want, say a cute monkey on this nice brown wool below, and she'll send you sketches, and get it just right! (You can get a very nice custom appliqued pull on cover or shorts for less than $30 this way)
http://hyenacart.com/prod_details.php?id=88711&vid=50
Above is a link to a sweater she has listed for a custom cover, below is an example from her gallery. I have two things from her, recycled pants with a frog prince, and hand-crocheted shorts with a hand dip-dyed wool tree frog applique. Love them both.
http://www.woolybumbums.com/images/largedragoncover.JPG

[pittsburghgirl]

You have already had tons of good advice, but I thought I'd chime in.

We are not 100% cloth. DH will not put cloth on DS for night, even though I have nighttime diapers. He cannot be convinced that DS won't be wet in the a.m.

I also have sposies for Grandma and other babysitters. My MIL has enough trouble figuring out what to feed him, etc. without having to figure out diapers too (the one time I asked her to change him when he was wearing cloth, she took his wool shorts off and put regular pants back on over his fitted, which was still dry, no cover! That would have been a lovely damp mess in the car.

I occasionally will put a sposie on him as well, sometimes if we're out longer than expected I need to use my backup sposie from the diaper bag.

I have some super cute AIOs from The Calico Baby. They have snap in soakers and a fleece lined shell, I bought extra soakers so I could reuse the shell more than once before washing. Unless he really floods or poops I have definitely been able to use the shells more than once most of the time. www.thecalicobaby.com

We are doing mostly fitted with wool shorts for summer, though. If you are truly into superman and interested in wool, you should contact Bridget at Bridget's Custom Soakers, she might be able to make you superman wool! She made me cute shorts with "YALE" on the bum.
http://woollensoakers.easystorecreator.com/Browse_dept_items.asp/Sub_Department_ID/3/categ_id/3/parent_ids/0/Jump_To_Page/0

Have fun!
Marilee
mommy to James
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040120/1/1/1/-5/.png

[calebsmama03]

WOW! Can I borrow your mom?!? Caleb had been doing really well with using the potty a few months ago - he started asking to sit on it, we never pushed it. Then suddenly he stopped peeing in it, then refused to sit on it. Now it sits in his bathroom as a stepstool :( Hopefully he'll regain interest sometime soon. I'm not in a hurry, u nless he starts another big growth spurt, since I don't want to buy another whole stash for him ;) As long as he's fitting in his current dipes, he's free to boycot the PTing, lol!
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
And Miss Purple due 5/21/05 - Stay in there till 5/1!!!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

After a month with my mom, you will be very much free to borrow her ;)

I'm an evil, evil daughter. She comes half-way across the world twice a year to see Erik and help me out, and here's what I write... :)

[mudder17]

Sorry to shout. I just wanted to make sure you saw this. :)

Odd midnight thought. I was just thinking that maybe you should consider getting a good pair of wool soaker shorts (knitted or crocheted shorts). They basically work like a wool cover, but they pull up just like shorts. You could put them over fitteds, snappi'd PFs, or even sposies. In other words, they work just like shorts, but they absorb extra moisture. And they're pretty cool. And they're so pretty and nice to look at. And the best thing is that during and after he potty trains, you can still use them!!!! So not a waste of money at all.

What do you think?

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 14 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!