Anyone ever use a diaper service?

[mudder17]

My sister is starting to think about diapers and is considering using either a service or disposables for the first couple months before switching to cloth. They have coin-op machines on a different floor (you have to go outside) and she needs EASY for the first couple of months. She's looked into a service and found Dy-Dee (which I've heard of--I think I've even bought stuff from them before). But she wants to know if what they offer is a good deal:

One time setup fee: $10
$17.40/week, to be billed every 4 weeks, so $69.60
Pro-rap covers: $11 for the first 3 covers.
80 diapers/week to start. That's roughly 11 per day.
Diaper container and first deodorant disc free with first delivery. Disc gets changed first week of each month.

If you start running out, they'll send more. If you have too many, they can send less next time. You pay for diapers sent, not diapers used.

You have to buy the covers separate.

Does this seem like a good deal? How does this compare with buying sposies/week?

Here's the link to the website.
http://www.dy-dee.com/index.html

Thanks, Ladies!


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!!!

[MelissaTC]

I used a service for a month. It was nice to not have to do anything. But alas! I discovered Fuzzi Bunz and my journey (not to mention mula) went to collecting and trying new and exciting cds. If you want something to compare it to, here is the link to the service here in NC- www.babybiz.com

[kitmama]

Well, I am STILL using a diaper service (just have never gotten around to buying my own PFs, and now with #2 on the way I figure I might as well keep the service a little longer. It is darned convenient, after all). The cost of a diaper service seems to vary widely with geographic location, too- so what's a great deal in one area of the country might be expensive in another.

- Currently I pay about $30.00 per month, which provides 40 CPFs per week
- I initially used 80 diapers per week (I think that cost me a little less than $60 month?), then went down to 60, and currently only get 40 per week (we use and wash our own diapers, too)
- no setup fee
- no covers, pails or deoderant disks are included- CPF diapers only, and sometimes they remember to give me a pail liner (basically a trash bag)
- the CPFs are Gerber brand (which apparently sucks, but they've worked OK for us!)
- they only offer 2 sizes- infant and toddler (though I suspect these might be a bit smaller than higher quality CPFs?)
- I too pay for diapers sent, not diapers used- though 40 per week is the minimum, and since I live a tad outside their normal delivery area, it can be a pain if I suddenly need more- so I try to err on the side of too many rather than too few

I don't know how it compares with buying sposies- I'd be interested to find out!

[steph2003]

A box of Pampers Cruisers size 3 w/148 to the jumbo box at BJ's is 29.99 before tax (where I live). Course this box lasts me a long time since we CD part time. The smaller sizes have more to the box -when you start sizing up they start putting fewer in the box!

I don't think you'd save money w/a diaper service over disposables (if that is the goal). Disposables are so cheap if you buy at warehouse stores, look for coupons, etc. I know many moms who buy generic Target brand or Walgreens brand that are even less than Pampers or Huggies. If you aren't picky about brand & can shop around sposies are inexpensive IMHO compared to a service.

[mudder17]

Well, I guess it was more of a temporary measure. She's pretty sure they want to try cloth, but they also know they won't be able to handle the laundry for the first couple of months, which is why they're considering a service. But if this service is way too expensive compared to sposies, they may just start with sposies.


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!!!

[kitmama]

When considering the expense of sposies as compared to a diaper service, I'd also think of the "expense" of the time it takes to hunt down coupons, etc and/or drive to the warehouse store- because just picking up diapers at the grocery store when you're there is decidedly more expensive! (Not to mention that personally, I can't ever seem to get out of a warehouse store with just the couple things I went there to get!)

With the service it's such a no-brainer. . . which is great because "no brain" was a pretty accurate description of me in those first months post-partum! ;)

[steph2003]

She is CA, right? sposies might be even more expensive there - I don't know. I think sposies are pricey if you just run to your local grocery store. But since DH insists on using them I make him pick up the jumbo sized box at BJs. I definitely can see how she'd want to avoid laundry for the first couple months! :)

[maestramommy]

Hi all, this Melinda, Eileen's sister. Thanks for all your comments! I love these forums, now that I've finally figured out how to use them on the very basic level :-). I did a hunt through BB's book, and sposies are the cheapest option in total dollars, the service is the most expensive, and CDing is somewhere in between. I am assuming that laundry costs are will be a little more for me because I use coin-op. One thing that doesn't seem to be included in the service is the use of doublers. A very important question for me to pose is: Is the doubler necessary if you're using Chinese prefolds (which is what they woman at dy-dee told me they use), or can you get away with using just the diaper and a classic prorap. Oh, by the way, what is a CPF, or CFP? I'm still not used to all the acronyms :-).

[kitmama]

Hi! Welcome to the boards!
CPF means "Chinese Prefold"- those are the flat, rectangular cloth diapers that are "prefolded" and sewn so that the center has more layers than the sides, offering more absorbancy. They are what most people think of when they think of cloth diapers.

I think there is a list of acronyms and their meanings posted somewhere- in CDing 101 maybe?

We did not find doublers to be necessary at all in the first weeks, since we were changing diapers so frequently that extra absorbancy wasn't much of an issue. Even now, we seldom use them since I have our own stash of fitteds and pockets for when extra absorbancy might be required (like at nighttime). In our case I did find fleece liners to be very helpful, however, because littleman had very sensitive skin and diaper rash was a problem. So, I was doing a very small amount of diaper laundry right from the get-go. . . but it was a very small amount, and wasn't much trouble.

Remember too, that every baby is different! You could find that doublers are necessary, or that fleece liners aren't, or that you hate PFs, or that sposies cause a horrible rash, or that the diapers that were working great yesterday just don't cut it today, or any number of different variables. These babies sure keep us on our toes!

Whatever you decide to do, I heartily recommend choosing a less labor-intensive route for those first weeks- whether it's a diaper service, sposies or having someone else do your laundry for you! There's plenty of time to use the CDs a little later, if that's what will work best for you. :)

[niccig]

I too considered dy-dee and in my research I thought dy-dee was a little more expensive than elsewhere in the country but this is LA so EVERYTHING is a little more expensive! I decided against it as I wanted to use fitteds as DH still won't use a snappi. Otherwise he's totally onboard with CDs so I've decided to not fight that battle.

I used sposies for the first 2-3 weeks then eased into CDs with kissaluvs 0 and a few covers, then moved on to prefolds. I didn't find the washing to be too much, but then I have washer/dryer, not sure how I would have coped with coin-op - I always forget I've got a load on and it can sit there for a while. I do use some sposies and found Target to be the cheapest and easiest for me to get to, but I HATE having to go there just for diapers, so I'm going to start phasing that out.

Also, I'm in Glendale and I've put away my infant dipes - 12 kissaluvs, 6 prefitteds, 12 premie and 12 infant CPFs - you're welcome to borrow the kissaluvs, prefitteds and covers (I still use the CPFs as doublers and burp cloths) to try them out and see if you can manage some laundry. 18 may just get you 1 - 1 1/2 days, so you may need to use some sposies as well. I think that's what I did for the first few weeks once I switched - half cloth and half disposables, and now we're in cloth all day. If laundry doesn't work for you, you can always start the service at anytime or swap to sposies until you want to switch to cloth.
Oh, I needed doublers in the kissaluvs and prefolds. Barrett is a supersoaker. I bought some hemp from Liza Jane on this board and microfleece from Joannes and sewed them together. I don't have a serger so it's not pretty, but we still use those doublers. Now I always buy extra doublers when I get new diapers.

HTH
Nicci

[maestramommy]

You are too, too generous! One thing that has struck me about these boards is that people are offering to let you borrow their dipes sight unseen! For someone who's lived in L.A for a while, it sounds so foreign. So thanks very much, I'll keep it in mind! I'm not due til October so there's still time.

Not sure if you read the discussion surrounding "CD Hell!", but it bring to mind this question: Did you have leak or fitting problems with your Kissaluvs? Most of the replies seem to lean towards PFs, and I have to admit, I was going to go with mostly those, with class proraps, since it looked like the most economical option. Also, Dy-dee uses only CPFs. Did you have poop blowouts? That's another thing that puzzled me. I got the impression that CDing prevents blowouts more than sposies.

In the BB book, Costco was the cheapest for sposies, and Target was in the middle somewhere. Is that different out here? We haven't had a chance yet to check Costco out, but the claim was that Huggies #1 and 2 were 13 cent/dipe. Course, I just found out they don't have newborn size! So that kills that option.

[mudder17]

Here's some acronyms listed on the newbies board:

[link:www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=87&topic_id=63&mode=full&page=|acronyms]


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!!!

[niccig]

I didn't have leak or fitting problems with the kissaluvs. Barrett was 8lbs and he's always had chunky waist and thighs. We did get some poop on the covers but I think I've had poop on clothes once and pee about 3-4 times the entire time we've used cloth - can't say that about sposies. I was hesistant about prefolds - I snappi, but just trifolding them is easier - which is why I started with the kissaluvs. I think I would still use both, sometimes it's a little easier to snap on the diaper, other times I prefer to fold. I did have to use doublers though as they weren't absorbent enough.

Costco would be cheaper, but they've never had the size I needed when I've been there. Also, we only use a few sposies a week so buying a huge box doesn't seem worth it as we would probably be into the next size by then. Also, as much as I like Costco and what I can get there, I loathe the fight to get a park, and the queues at the checkout. Go as soon as they open and NEVER go on a weekend!

Nicci

[RiaHannam]

A little late but my .02.

Sposies will be less expensive but you'll most likely have more blowouts and leaks that way. If you really want to give cloth a try, do the service. Most people would be willing to help pay for it - a baby gift! When people ask what you want, say a gift certificate for the diaper service.
It's worth a shot!

[maestramommy]

It sounds like everyone uses more than one type of dipe. Some use several kinds; It all depends on what kind of wetter/pooper the baby happens to be. So, a starter package from Naturalbabies is 3 dozen PFs and 6(?) prorap covers. Does that sound like a good package? Would any of you recommend looking for a package that has more options?

Thanks for the heads up on a baby gift! All of my friends use sposies, so this is sure to raise a few eyebrows :-).