Cloth Diapering Setup

[GeekLady]

Okay, my mom thinks I'm nuts for wanting to use cloth - she can't get past the plastic pants of almost 30 years ago - and none of my friends with kids have any experience with cloth diapering, some are downright hostile to it. So I don't have anyone to critique my plans, and I'd appreciate you guys' advice.

Supplies for the first 3 months or so:
36 infant prefolds
6 small waterproof covers, probably Bummis Superbrights
4-6 newborn covers, Pro-Raps with the umbilical cutout
a half dozen Dritz pins and a Snappi or two
50 cloth wipes
1 foldable waterproof changing pad, or 2-3 Swaddlebees changing pads
diaper pail & deoderizer disks
2 Wahmies pail liners
clean butt spray for the diaper bag
2-3 small pocket diapers for overnight/outings
Both my diaperbags have waterproof pockets built in.

Setup:
All diaper changes will be done in the bathroom - I've cleared half my bathroom counter for diaper changes and baths when he's tiny, when he gets bigger, it's the floor for him. The counter has a wall to one side and the sink to the other, so there's no real place to roll. In the cabinet beneath the changing area, there will be two Container Store stacking canvas bins holding the diapers, covers, wipes, changing pad(s), and spare pail liner. The pail will either be behind me against the wall, or (if that doesn't work) in the laundry room which opens up into the bathroom.

What am I missing? A piece of gear? Does something sound inconvenient?

[american_mama]

You've thought this through super well. You know yourself, your desires, and your space, so take what's useful from my advice and disregard the rest.

If you want to save a bit of money, I'd go down to 3 or 4 covers in each size. My guy is slightly outgrowing is newborn proraps at at 6 weeks and just shy of 11 pounds, so they don't fit all that long.

You may not need that many Dritz pins. Many people don't like pinning and even if you do (I'm kind of getting into it now), I am finding it automatic to put the pins back in the same place in a drawer where I got them, so they are not getting lost at all.

You probably don't need that many wipes. I think I have about 25 and it's fine. If I'm tired, in a rush, or baby is crying (one of these happens two or three times a day) I don't wipe the baby at every change.

To me, deodorizer disks don't do much, so I wouldn't spend much on them. Also, a newborn may poop only every other day or less, and to me, it's the poop diapers that smell, but the pees ones not so much, not if you wash every 2 or (ok, I confess) 3 days.

I'm not sure how big the canvas bins are, but they may not hold everything. Prefolds can make quite a tall stack, especially if you fold them in half before stacking.

You may want to consider size small Very Baby AIOs for your outings and diaper bag. The small's fit my newborn well with plenty of room to grow, so they last a long time.

I have never changed my child in the bathroom, but will it be inconvenient to have to step back to open the cabinet door by your legs, possibly bend donw, and will you be able to see what you are reaching for? Can you do that and still keep a hand on baby? I use a dresser with drawers as a changing table and had to move my diapers from the bottom drawer to the second one so that I could better see what I was looking for without bending.

[GeekLady]

I'm curious, why AIO instead of pockets? I would think pockets are a little more useful, since you can customize the absorbancy, and they are supposed to dry better.

[lizajane]

don't let the turkeys get you down. you are rockin' for using cloth- for baby, for wallet and for environment. my friends thought i was totally weird and a total nuts for "doing all that." it is NOT hard. you may even think it is fun. :)

your set up looks good. i would consider more snappis and fewer pins. i don't know anyone who used pins!

[GeekLady]

i would consider more snappis and fewer pins. i don't know anyone who used pins!
Heh, the Snappis are for my husband, who may not be comfortable using pins. I've been a veteran pinner-together of occassionally huge quantities of cloth since I was 8. We never had actual dress up clothes as kids, just cast off adult clothing and swathes of cloth.

Snappis, on the other hand, kind of creep me out, as I still occassionally snap myself painfully with rubber bands.

[katydid1971]

I have to agree with others in saying way to go on using cloth. I also had no friends who used cloth and even had friends betting on when I would switch to pampers (3 years later still in cloth). I don't think you need so many of the new born covers, I don't even cover the diapers until the real poopy comes because the newborn poopy is so thick and sticky it doesn't leak and nw born only pee a very small amount. I also really didn't like the deo disks, I thought they smell gross. Newborn poop doesn't stink and even with my three year old who's poop does smell I just drop the solids in the toilet and have a good tight fit on the lid which holds in any smell. That is a lot of wipes but they are nice for bathing baby with etc. Try a couple differnt brands of pockets because your baby's shape will make the big difference on how they fit. Last thing you might want to add (and you canput this on a baby registry) is a wipe warmer. I wet the wipes with water then store them in the warmer. This way I have nice warm wipes for cleaning baby's bottom. Congratulations on choosing cloth, your baby and the world will be better for it.

[Joolsplus2]

My favorite changing table trick is to lay a couple of flat diapers on top of it, so that when one gets peed on or funky, I can just toss it in the pail and have another one right underneath it... no wiping of a waterproof pad, no elastic cover to take off and wash... I use the super cheap but colorful gerber flats I got from Target they sell for burp cloths, because they stay really flat, don't crinkle up like a good prefold will, they are more like flannel, really. Anyway, I just wish I'd figured out this tip 10 years ago with my first baby (I was always trying to wipe poo out of the cute embossed grooves on his changing pad after I got tired of washing the cover for it, lol).

:)

[kijip]

Sounds like a good set up to me. A few Kissaluvs 0 fitteds can be nice for containing newborn poo. As for pockets vs. AIO, I think pockets are great but they don't fit newborns all that well. I'd hold off on pockets till the baby was a bit bigger.

[KrisM]

Yeah, don't let them get you down. Everyone thought I was nuts and now my cousin is cloth diapering twins and loves it.

I agree about maybe not so many newborn covers. Depending on the size, they may only last a few days. Both my kids were in mediums well before 3 months.

We got rid of our changing table recently. I change DD on the floor and will change the baby on the counter in the bathroom. We have a cart on wheels with all the supplies in it. Currently, it's under the counter, which is fine for DD, but I'll move it out for the baby so I don't have to reach underneath.

Sounds good.

[jessejo28]

Hi Ladies, I hung a piece of velcro on my changing table and wall and stick the covers to them That way if they need to air out only they can freely and they are in easy reach. Love all of us CDing! Way to go! Jessica :yay:

[new_mommy25]

Your set up sounds great! I think you can get by with less wipes. I never needed more than 3 dozen. Though you might want to keep the extras for yourself. Sherpa/velour wipes are awesome for washing your face.

You also might want to pick up a couple of XS Fuzzibunz. I liked them for the diaper bag. My DD was able to wear them shortly after her cord fell off.

For the small covers, it doesn't hurt to try a few different brands and see what you like best. The nb proraps with the umbilical notch are great, but as soon as the cord fell off I really preferred preemie Bumpy Day covers. Then I went to the nb Bumpy Days which I loved. I'm not familiar with Superbrights (I had to google) but they do look like a nice cover. I like that they have gussets. I used to use the Bummis SWW over Kissaluvs which were a nice fit, but didn't like them with prefolds because of the lack of gussets.