OK, Will buy my first cloth today. TELL me what to get!!

[aliceinwonderland]

eileen said to post ;)I am in the process of getting a pair of custom wool shorts from Sarah, but must buy a diaper or two first...

I need easy and cute. I love the elephant one Rory has on in post below, for example....

Erik is almost 13 months, around 23 pounds or so( he has not physically grown much since 9 months!) Where do i go, what do I get? I want to start slow...We're doing this part time...

Speak to me like I am a diaper idiot (which I am).

thanks in advance o wise women of the fluffy cult...

Edited to add: It is funny how the world comes full circle. When I was growing up, there were no 'sposies (but no cute dipes like here either), and my mother detested the cloth for everything (mamas and babes)...When I tell her I'm going from sposies to cloth, her belief that her eldest daughter has been lost forever will only be confirmed. I love it.

[tarahsolazy]

For easy fitted diapers under those shorts (which you have to post pics of, when you get them!), Sugarpeas are a great place to start.

I think Eric would fit in a medium, of the side-snapping variety. www.naturalbabies.com and www.softclothbunz.com carry them. Sometimes they have prints available. There is a full list of retailers at www.sugarpeas.com I think.

Slighty more expensive, but perhaps cuter, would be Tykies www.tykiediapers.com . Eric would be a large in these, they run small.

Or, try Lucy's Hope Chest www.lucyshopechest.com . That is where Rory's cute celestial dipe came from, and you get to pick your fabrics. I believe they are reasonably priced as well.

[mudder17]

>Edited to add: It is funny how the world comes full circle.
>When I was growing up, there were no 'sposies (but no cute
>dipes like here either), and my mother detested the cloth for
>everything (mamas and babes)...When I tell her I'm going from
>sposies to cloth, her belief that her eldest daughter has been
>lost forever will only be confirmed. I love it.

Hee, hee, Eri, I totally missed your presence around here! :)

Okey, dokey, let's get started. First off, you can't go wrong with a dozen prefolds. No, they're not as easy to put on, but they're cheap, and they're great back up diapers. If you don't want to mess with folding it into origami figures, you can just fold it into thirds or fourths, lay it in a cover and put it on Erik. So it's not that big a deal and will give some nice back up. Also, if you decide you don't want to deal with it, you can always use them as changing pads, dish rags, wiping the floor, etc. If you're going to do that, I would suggest getting a dozen regular prefolds. You can get those from Teresa.Smith at rocketmail dot com. I believe Trisha at Lilbunz.com also sells prefolds, but for some reason I've always gotten my prefolds from Teresa. I just like working with her. :) Of course I order tons of other stuff from Trisha, but that's another story. :P
If you know you really don't want to mess with them, then you can order a sampler package from Trisha just in case. :P

As for the covers, if you're going to cover a prefold that's quad-folded or trifolded, you need something like a wrap--in other words, not a pull-up type cover. Since you're already going the way of wool with the wooly bum-bums, I'm going to recommend some wool as well as some PUL. Depending on how often you change him the PUL may be just fine.

Before we hit the covers, I would also recommend some fitted diapers. The reason is that fitted diapers give you some flexibility (in a different way from pocket diapers). Fitted diapers can be cute or you can get them plain. I've been getting a lot of plain ones (with colored jeanstitching to add a little snazziness) and actually like it. But if you get some fitted diapers with print on the outside (I think woven materials are better for not wicking the wetness to the outside as quickly), you can let Erik wander around the house with just the fitted diaper (cooler) and still have it be cute. :) Then if you need to take him out, you can throw a cover over it. Would you say that Erik is chunky thighed or thin thighed? Is he on the chunky side in general, or is he longer and leaner? That will determine, in part, which styles of diapers will fit him better. I think we very chunky thighed babies, side-snapping diapers fit much better, while front-snapping work better with skinny thighed kids (more of a recent observation on my part). Kaya is somewhere in between now, so I'm finding I can get either type of diaper to work on her, as long as I find the "right ones". :)

Depending on his size/shape, I would suggest a front-snapping diaper, just because they're easier (IMO) to get on a squirmy toddler. Of course, if your babe is in that rare category of being cooperative at diaper changes, it makes absolutely no difference, LOL. But in the end, if Erik has really chunky thighs, I would suggest the side snaps, just because they're more likely to fit.

Okay, for covers, I would suggest getting a couple of wool shorts/soakers, maybe a cute PUL wrap, a cute wool wrap, and possibly a nylon covers as backup or when you're out and about. The nylon ones are not exactly cute, but from the reviews around here, they work very well at containing wetness, they're breathable, and they're generally very thin (so not bulky). I have a snap-ez nylon cover that I keep in the diaper bag as a backup. I love that it tucks into a tiny little pocket.

You could also try pockets, but I think if you're just going to try it out, you may want to delay pockets until the fall (unless you want to do it at night). I KNOW Chicago summers and they'll be hot and humid. I honestly think that PUL pockets and Fleece pockets will be too warm for now. When summer is over, we can always help you find pockets. I honestly believe that you may want to stay away from PUL (even though I mentioned it above as an option for a cover) in a Chicago summer, unless Erik is going to be in air conditioned buildings for the majority of time.

Okay, so in summary (lol, sorry for being so long-winded), I would suggest:

1 dozen regular prefolds
1 dozen fleece liners for the prefolds (just cut up rectangles from a yard of microfleece from the fabric store--I have a cute teddy bears on mine, LOL)
1 snappi if you want to play with it

or (this is more likely your situation since you want to start slow)

a PF sampler package from Trisha or just one regular PF
1 fleece liner (I can send you one)
1 snappi for the fun of it

Fitted:
For your basic cute fitted, you could try sugar peas. They come in both front-snap and side-snap and they come in all sorts of cute prints and are pretty easy to come by.

Other fitted diapers with cute prints are Mudpiebabies, calicobabies, tykiediapers, and benjamuffins. I think Bijoubabygear also makes some print fitted diapers.

Covers:
You have the woolybumbum coming
I think we can get you a pickle pants :)
For a wool wrap--I LOVE my Angeldry wool interloc wrap. It is trim and can be used day and night. And it's relatively inexpensive. However, it's not cute, but I bet you could find someone to add embroidery, if that's what you would like.
The cover you liked on Rory was an angelluv cover:
http://hyenacart.com/AngelLuvz/index.php?category=8

However, she posts sales on Diaperswap ALL the time, so I would just wait until she does a sale before getting it. You can usually get a cover for $8ppd if you wait. Oh, and while I do like her covers for a basic pull-up cover, I would NOT get her diapers. They just haven't gotten very good reviews, no matter how cute they look.

Okay, I need to get my car (I'm at the Saturn Dealership--isn't it great that they offer Hi-speed internet access?). But if I think of anything else, I'll post again.

Have fun! ;)

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 , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[tarahsolazy]

Oh, and for the ease of a fitted, the price of a prefold, you can get "prefitteds" or "fitted prefolds". www.growmearainbow.com is open for orders now, and I think she also does them with velcro, so you don't need the snappi (a stretchy t shaped thing with claws that holds prefold diapers closed) Here's a pic:
http://www.growmearainbow.com/store/images/large/fabfoldfitteds4_LRG.jpg


Shandelle, at www.funnyfarmcreations.fourlittleducks.com also makes them. (she's todzwife around here) I think she is closed, though.

[mudder17]

Ooh!!! Good idea, especially with the velcro!


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 , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

Got a tykie AIO (look at me use acronyms!!) with monkey applique in the bum (expensive though!) and two of those fab-prefitteds, one in the print that Tarah posted, and one in vintage baseball print (for Dh's sake). YAY :)

[mudder17]

Woohoo! Okay, we want pictures! :) Congratulations on taking the plunge!


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 , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[kijip]

Congrats and welcome to the darkside....

[KrisM]

Yea! It took me forever to order my first stuff. It was pre-baby, but still. I hope you love it.

[JLiebCamm]

I decided to try CDing after the retreat and have spent at least a week trying to figure out what to buy. You did it in a day! I'm jealous.

[aliceinwonderland]

I considered this for a long time, (as a matter of fact there's a post by me on part-time cloth diapering from over a month ago). My laptop as well as work computer are overflown with links to stuff I thought cute (it's a maze out there!)...I was getting pretty overwhelmed, so made it easy for myself and ordered just one All-In-One(over$30 though, not happy at myself for that, but it was super-cute) and 2 of those pre-fitteds in cute prints that Tarah and Eileen reccomended above. I asked that she put velcro so I don't have to mess with contraptions. I have a very short attention span that matches my 1-yr-old's!!

I want to see pics of Claire in fluff! I'll trade you for a couple of Erik's (when the stuff does arrive)! :)

[Judegirl]

Congratulations Eri...can't wait to see pics!! I think Tykies are just sinfully luxurious - you'll love it! (But I've only tried the fitteds - I'm sure AIOs are the same. :)

Lucky fluffy Erik! :)