Anybody CDing twins? First timer needs recommendations

[DeeEast]

Ok, I'm to the point of even considering CDing my twins who are now 8 weeks old. I read in the BB book about MotherEase's Introductory Package and thought I'd order that just to try out the whole cloth diaper concept. Anybody recommend anything in addition to or instead of that?

I've read through most of the CD 101 thread at the top and my head is spinning. I swear I'm more confused now than before I started. I assume I'll start with a pocket diaper with some kind of insert and a cover? What about liners? I looked at Fuzzu Buns on the Lil Bunz web site and can't figure out if these need a cover or not. The colors are so pretty. Would these be covered by a seperate cover? OR are the colored parts the cover?

Also, what kind of diaper pails do you use? Could I just use my Diaper Champ? How does everybody have time to wash these diapers using all of the different cycles (2 or 3 cycles for one load???). Does anybody else just simply wash them and leave it at that?

I'm the youngest of a large family and when I was growing up my sisters all had babies that they cloth diapered. But that was back in the 80's, in the days of plain flat cloth diapers, diaper pins, and diaper pales with liquid in them. I'm kind of excited to try it but don't want to sink a lot of money into it if I decide its way too much with twins. Thanks for any info anybody can give.

[KrisM]

I don't have twins. I think a friend of Eileen's (mudder17) is CDing twins though.

Are you BFing? If so, the poop might make pockets not work for the babies. I only used pockets at night after he stopped pooping all night. You might be better with fitteds or prefolds and a cover.

As for Fuzzibunz, they are waterproof and do not need a separate cover. They have fleece inside that makes the pocket. The outside is PUL and is the waterproof part. So, they are easy. Once stuffed with an insert, just snap it on the baby.

I use a regular Sterilite trash can with a liner for my diaper pail. Eileen uses the Diaper Champ.

For washing, I do do 2 cycles. It's not time consuming, since our washer is in the house. Just start it and go. Come back 45 min. later and start the next cycle.

I'd advice against buying a ton of diapers to start. Different diapers fit different babies better or worse. I have a friend IRL that loves Wonderoos (another pocket). I've heard a lot of people not liking those. So, try a couple and expand. You can likely make most of your money back on resale, which should help!

Congratulations on your twins!

[DeeEast]

>I don't have twins. I think a friend of Eileen's (mudder17)
>is CDing twins though.
>
>Are you BFing? If so, the poop might make pockets not work
>for the babies. I only used pockets at night after he stopped
>pooping all night. You might be better with fitteds or
>prefolds and a cover.
>
>
Thank you for the info and the congratulations. Yes I am BFing them. What would you recommend instead of the pocket diapers then? Why would the pocket diapers be more difficult to use? I've got so many questions.

[nathansmom]

I've been cding part time with my twins since they were 2 months old. I used Fuzzi Bunz's since it was a simple system. However I hear they don't hold breastfeeding poops very well. You don't need covers for fuzzi's but you will need inserts. I'm in the process of moving to Happy Heiny's for the velcro since my twins won't sit still for a change anymore. I tried the motherease and they didn't work for me.
I use my diaper champ for the cloth and it works pretty well. My wash cycle is this:
one time through with no soap (wash and rinse) then do it again this time with soap and an extra rinse. throw the inserts in the dryer and hand the diapers on the line in the basement.
I do diaper laundry everynight. The first cycle before I get the kids in bed and the second as I get ready for bed. Then hang and dry while I'm asleep.
It is alot I feel for twins. Thats why I only do it part time. I've gone from spending almost $350 a month on diapers to just over a $100.

[KrisM]

Well, I'm a prefold gal, so I don't have a lot of things to recommend based on my use. What I've read about pockets though, is that it's tough to get a snug enough fit and the poop is so runny, it just runs out the legs.

I did use some fitteds at the beginning and with those, it wasn't hard to get a snug fit with the diaper and then another good fit with the cover. A lot of newborn covers have gussets built in which help in getting a good fit for containment.

I'm hoping some others will post their recommendations for you!

[mudder17]

Congratulations! Yes, my friends do have twins and have been CDing them full-time since they were newborns. However, they were never EBF (half formula, half BM), so their poop was never as runny as Kaya's was, for example. They started out with preemie prefolds and kissaluv 0s that I lent them because the AIOs they got were too big for them initially. They also used prorap and litewrap covers that I lent them. But as soon as their twins were big enough, they started using Kushies AIOs (maybe 45 of them?). They do laundry every day but in their case (they have a large house), they have two sets of washer and dryers. They got a pair of HE washer/dryers when they were expecting, but just never got rid of their initial pair. So they just used the washer as a diaper pail and at the end of the day would run the load. I haven't asked them, so I don't know their laundry routine, but I do know that they run their diapers on a single dryer cycle and then hang them to dry the rest of the way (I do that too).

In my case, I use the Diaper Dekor with Snap-EZ pail liners made to fit. But yes, you can definitely use the Diaper Champ and use cloth pail liners, or if you prefer, regular garbage bags, but then you have to toss the bags. Several WAHMs make pail liners or you can use the old Bummis standby that many people use. I actually like my Snap-EZ pail liner better (softer, better fit on my dekor, etc.), but that's just a personal thing.

With CDing twins, I suspect you'll want to do laundry every day. I would say that the ME intro pack is worth trying, just because if it does work, it would be a readily available, affordable option. You can easily add doublers for absorbency for them. I did try MEOS on Kaya and didn't like the fit, but I know others have used them with much success. You could also try ME Sandies, although I have never tried them.

For BF'd poop, I really do think a two-part system (prefolds + cover or fitted + cover) is your best bet. The poop is just so runny at times that it helps to have a cover to catch the excess if it gets through the diaper. The nice thing about prefolds, especially for young babies, is that they're not that difficult to learn how to fold and fasten (get some snappi's), they're very affordable, they fit all sizes and shapes, and if they fail, you can always use them as burp clothes, rags, etc. You COULD use the old flat folds--they only require one cycle of washing and drying because they are so thin (no sewn together layers). The reason most of us do two cycles is because most of today's cloth diapers have multiple layers. But it's one reason why some people use pockets and then stuff them with something like flatfolds. If I used that system, it probably wouldn't take multiple washing cycles and you'd be less likely to get detergent build-up and all that stuff. But flatfolds are definitely more work and Kaya was always a heavy wetter, so they just wouldn't work for us.

All fitteds and prefolds do need covers, either PUL, fleece, or wool. At the leaky poop stage, I would stick to PUL or fleece because they're much easier to wash if you get poop on them.

If your twins are still not too wiggly, I would get at least a couple dozen prefolds and try them out and see if they work. Depending on their size, I would say infant or regular prefolds would be your best bet. I got all my prefolds from Teresa dot Smith at rocketmail dot com. She has an ebay store called granitesmith, but she is very nice to deal with directly and can help you figure out your needs. Plus, she will allow mixing of various types of prefolds. If you decide on prefolds and prorap covers, she also has the prorap covers (stick with the plain white classics--don't get the colors). For night time or being out and about, some fitted diapers would probably be nice. Just off the top of my head, some nice fitted diapers are Tykiediapers, loveybum diaper, cuddlebun diapers (I think that's right), Bijou Baby Gear (love these!), kindhearted women, calico baby and Very Baby. Some nice fleece covers are lovey bums, tykie (I have a nice fleece cover from her), Angeldry (love her wool wrap, and I think her fleece wraps are similar, plus they're strong velcro, so they're very adjustable), Sugarpeas, and Snap-Ez has just started making some fleece (and wool) covers that look VERY nice. Good PUL covers are proraps, green earth, litewraps, and bumpy's. All of these have gussets, so they're very good at containing BF'd poop.

Hope this gives you a better idea and maybe it'll trigger some more specific questions. :) Oh, and if you can list the weight, rise, thigh and waist measurements of your twins and let us know whether they're heavy or light wetters, we may be able to make more specific recommendations.

Good luck!

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png
Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[lizajane]

i would start by trying the motherease. i find the motherease airflow covers to be bomb proof. they have NEVER leaked pee for us, when i used them for schuyler at 24 months or for dylan starting around 2 months and still using them at 10 months. i don't know about poop blowouts. i use the covers more often than the onesize diapers i have. BUT i can say this- the motherease onesize diapers that i have were used by TWO children before my friend gave them to me. when i use them with a motherease doubler/liner (whatever you want to call it) they work fine. or when i use a hemp doubler, they work fine. i rarely use them without adding something.

actually... DUH! i have a million of them. don't order the sampler. just let me send you some to try out. i need to get a cover in the mail for rachel to try, too. so i will be headed to the PO sometime soon. send me an email if you want to try them. (use the email button)

[DeeEast]

Wow, thank you so much. This is a lot of great information and I appreciate the time it took to write this response. My twins are now almost ten weeks old. At their nine week appointment they were 9 lbs. 22 inches and 9 lbs. 5 oz. 22.5 inches respectively. They were born at 36 weeks so they are still catching up.

[mudder17]

Okay, we used infant prefolds with Kaya until she was around 14-15 pounds, and then switched to premiums. If your babes are not really heavy wetters, regular prefolds would work just as well.

Honestly, if you can deal with figuring out how to put on prefolds, they are very easy to use and easy to launder and they hold up to many washes. Since they're all the same size and weight, they clean uniformly and dry uniformly (if you have an automatic setting on your dryer and you have most dry setting, but some things in the dryer are thicker than others, the thicker things never dry in the same cycle). Then you can throw in some fitted or pockets later on, when you're feeling more adventurous. :)

On the other hand, if you don't want to deal with prefolds, you could also get prefitted (which are a little easier because you don't have to fold them, you just fasten them with a snappi), which are cheaper than fitted diapers.

In any case, I do think that prefolds are worth trying, just because you don't have to invest a whole lot to try them out and if you decide not to do it any more, you can always use the prefolds as burp cloths and cleaning rags, so you're not really losing anything.

ETA: but if those Motherease work for you, they are an inexpensive fitted option and they end up working for the size your kids are now until they're much bigger. I'm guessing they would fit my 23 pound toddler, although I sold mine a long time ago, since she was a very heavy wetter and I didn't think to layer it with hemp doublers, plus I thought they were kind of bulky on my teeny kid with the big thighs. :)

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png
Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[DeeEast]

Is this a good deal?

http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/cdcm.html