Cloth Diapering

B.,
I tried cloth diapers on my oldest daughter it was ok but I switched back to disposable. My problems with cloth diapers was that it seemed like I ran out of them quick,it was a mess to clean and a pain if I was out somewhere. To me disposable diapers worked so much better for me. They do cost more but in the long run for me any way it was worth it.

I have cloth diapered my two daughters for roughly $600. My first I just used covers and pins and prefold diapers. With my second (we had a bit more money) and I have a few fuzzibunz and bumgenius for night time and outings. I saved money with my first, but of course, you save more if you have more kids. I really wouldn't go all stuffable myself, but I do like to have a few. I love my dsq prefolds, pins and bummis super whisper wrap covers. As far as what you need, you will learn, but start with at least 24 diapers, maybe 4 covers, pins, plenty of washcloths (if you're using cloth wipes, which I rave about more than the cloth diapers, as they work SO much better), a diaper pail (I use one of those big buckets with handles like paint or laundry detergent comes in, or you can buy one at home depot... we put a handle on the lid), and free and clear detergent. (so that's $48 + $40 + $2 + $10 + $10 = $110, not a bad start up cost, you may add later as you see what you like and would want more of) You will have to tweak your washing plan and it will change as you go. I haven't had much problem with smell. The few times I have, I just sprinkled some baking soda on them or washed them. I washed about ever 1.5 to 2 days. Anymore, my daughter isn't going through very many, so it is more like every 4 days I wash. Cloth diapers aren't as stinky as disposables and you should dump the poo (once they're not just on breastmilk) into the toilet (as you should with disposables). Here's a great site that breaks down cost, etc. http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/5-diap/45-diaper-cost.htm
Feel free to ask me any more questions, I love my cloth diapers. I read an article recently about men using a straight blade to shave and how it makes shaving go from a dreaded chore to a comforting ritual, and that's what cloth diapering is to me. I've used disposables from time to time and I avoid it if I can, even on vacation, I started taking both, because I just hate using disposables. My routine for washing doesn't really take much time, dump the pail in, set the washing machine, sometimes set it again later, switch to dryer, take out of dryer, I fold mine, but you don't have to. Each wash of diapers seems to take me about 15 minutes including folding. There is a learning curve, though, give it some time to get simple. It seems the two main reasons that people cloth diaper is cost and environmental, but two that are important to me are the lack of knowledge of all those chemicals in disposables and early, easier potty training. My older daughter basically self potty trained just before 19 months, and my second daughter seems to be doing just that at 22 months. Please let me know if you have any more questions!

K.

We used a diaper service. They provided diapers, diaper pail, deoderizers, etc. The only thing I had to provide was the plastic pants and the clips. I also provided my own wipes because we used a more natural product. It was so easy. The only time I used disposables was for out-of-town trips. For in-town trips I just carried a thick plastic ziplock bag and a few toss-away plastic bags, such as bread bags or produce bags I had saved, in the daiper bag. The spent diapers would go into the toss-away bag and then into the ziplock. A drop or two of peppermint oil on a cotton ball was kept in the zip lock for odor control. I did the same thing with disposables because leaving smelly diapers in other people's trash cans was never my habit.

If you've never used a daiper service, it is easier than you might think. You never even need to rinse a diaper. At first I thought that sounded strange, but it worked wonderfully. We used the service for more than 2 years and could not have been more pleased. My son is 22 y/o and I still feel great about the number of diapers that we did not put into a landfill and that our baby was wrapped in 100% cotton/felt diapers.

B.,

I have a four-month-old daughter, and we have been cloth diapering her pretty much since birth. (We used disposables for the couple of weeks she had her umbilical cord, since the disposables had a special cut-out for them.) I will try to respond to all of your questions:

(1) The cloth diapers I use (and they are the only ones I have used, so I can only speak to my experience) are BumGenius one-sizes. I don't know if you are familiar with Cotton Babies, a store here in St. Louis that sells all sorts of cloth diapers, but they are an awesome resource for cloth diapers, and they have a nightly class once or twice a month (can't remember how often) that is for the purpose of answering your questions about cloth diapers. The people that own the store (which has a website: www.cottonbabies.com) make the BumGenius diapers I use, but they also sell all sorts of other brands. I LOVE the BumGenius diapers--we've had fewer blowouts in those than the few times we've used disposables (we've used disposables a couple of times when we've taken road trips). They go on just like a disposable diaper, and you use velcro tabs to close them. They aren't any more of a hassle to put on than disposable diapers are. However, they have an insert that goes in them that you take out when you change the diaper, and then you wash the inserts and diapers together, but you have to stuff the insert back into the diaper when they are clean. So it does require that extra step when you do laundry. You CAN buy BumGenius all-in-ones, which are just like the one-sizes, but then you have to buy different sizes as your child grows. The BumGenius all-in-ones do not have the insert that you have to deal with, so it saves time, but it ends up being more expensive since you have to buy more diapers. The one-sizes are made to fit from newborn up through the time they are potty-training.

(2) The only thing you really need to get if you go with BumGenius are the diapers themselves, a diaper pail, and good detergent. (The diapers require special detergent that is free of dyes and other chemicals--however, they have a large list of detergents that work, and we have found one that works really well that is also really cheap, so it's not more expensive than buying regular detergent.) However, my daughter isn't eating solids yet, so when she does and her poop is more solid, we may get a sprayer for the diapers, so we can spray her poop off into the toilet. (But that's just about a $20 investment or so--it hooks up to your toilet and makes it easy to clean off the diaper.) Now that she's only getting breastmilk right now, the diapers are super easy, because we just throw them direclty in the wash.

(3) We haven't had a problem at all with smell--we have a spray that we can spray on the diapers after we take them off, but we haven't really used it that much because it doesn't seem necessary. However, we only bought enough diapers so that we have to do laundry every other day, so that might be why there's not much of a problem with it.

(4)The diapers cost $17 a piece, so it was a larger initial investment, but we will end up saving a ton of money in the end. We bought 24 diapers so that we wash them every other day, and we spent about $400. Compare that with the cost of Pampers, which run about $12 for 40 diapers, and it's a huge savings. (Of course, there are cheaper disposables than Pampers, but we initially bought cheaper brands when we went on a road trip, and our daughter seemed to have blow-out after blow-out in the cheaper ones.) So $400 sounds like a lot up front, but we'll be able to use these diapers until our daughter is potty-trained, and we plan on using them for our next baby as well. Of course, you can also spend far less than that on cloth diapers, if you go with more traditional prefolds--my husband and I just paid for the convenience of using BumGenius diapers, since they are much closer to disposables (and are also more absorbent than other cloth diapers). If you go with cloth diapers, you will also have the expense of doing more laundry, but I still think we end up saving money. We was them every other day, and we only dry them for 30 minutes, and after that, we just take them out of the dryer and drape them around a couple of laundry baskets to dry the rest of the way, so it saves some money that way.

Anyway, I totally love cloth diapering my daughter--it has been great, and she has NEVER had diaper rash. (Another benefit of the BumGenius diapers, since they are made to wick away moisture so they're less likely to get diaper rash than with other cloth diapers.) My husband was the one who wanted to cloth diaper, and I am now a huge convert, because it's been such a great experience. I would definitley encourage you to check out Cotton Babies--they can tell you so much more about your different options than I can. And hopefully you'll get responses from others who have used other kinds of diapers.

I like traditional unbleached prefolds and wraps. Easy to clean (fast drying). Not hard to use once you get the hang of it. I used snappis to secure them with my first kid and nothing but the wrap with my second. I like Thirsties and litewraps but there are tons out there to choose from. The cost for prefolds is very low and with about 3 wraps at each size, I had plenty. The number of diapers depends on how often you wash. I am on my second baby in the same diapers so I know there is no comparison is out of pocket money on diapers. We have a front loader, so the water issue is not as large and wash every other day, which becomes a habit and not a big deal quickly (and something dad can be in charge of). I never had smell issues, but I always rinsed poopy diapers in a toilet (just swish) and store in a trash can with a lid with a bummies bag inside. diaperpin.com is a great overall resource with links to many vendors. I love cloth and it led naturally to EC (elimination communication), which has worked great with both my children! Good luck!

Hi B.. Good for you for considering cloth! I totally agree with Patricia, but I'll add a couple more things. My daughter is also 4 mons. and we used disposable for the first month or so when she was so little that the One Sized Bum Genius were very bulky. But the BG one-size cloth is our favorite and we tried several brands. I also think 20-24 diapers is good and you can wash them every other day for smell and to minimize stains. We also find she got much more rash with cheap disposables and pre-folds that with the BG--and they also have had only one or two blow-outs as opposed to the disposables where we had regular leaking--even with pampers!

We did it for the enviornmental reasons, but we will also save money, even though we buy disposables for travel and overnights. We buy the disposables and wipes at Costco and spend less than $10 a week and we've spent about $400 on the one size BGs that she can wear until she potty-trained. What a deal! LOVE Cotton Babies in south STL--they even carry lightly used BGs that you can sterilize and save even more $$.

It does matter if you breast feed vs. formula because the smell isn't so bad with nursing babies and you can throw the diapers right into the laundry. We just use a waterproof laundry bag in our laundry room and it and the diapers just go into the laundry.

Best of luck to you!
M.

B.,
I have also looked into cloth diapers. I have friends who do it all on their own. I guess there is a dry method and a wet method. I have heard the wet method works well and helps keep the smell down. I haven't worked out the exact cost effectiveness of it, but it seems that it is about equal or slightly less expensive then using disposable. However I have looked into a diaper service and found that it would be equal to purchasing disposable diapers. The one I found is $20 a week for about 90 diapers and includes all the things you need, including cloth/reusable wipes. You might consider that option. I guess it depends on whether you want to go total cloth or not. The other option is to use G diapers. They are a cross between cloth and disposable. I plan to use those as well. I am curious to read the other responses you get to see what the true cost is.

The main thing I can think of as a benefit to cloth diapers is the environmental aspect. Plastic diapers with all the junk they put in them for absorption don't degrade in a landfill while the right brand of cloth diapers last for years & then you can use them again if you decide to have another baby (my mom still has a couple of the cloth diapers from when she was a baby & she uses them to dust the plexi-glass she uses to frame her artwork). Financially once you get all the 'gear' you don't really need to buy anything more after that while with disposables you're buying more & more every week. As far as time constraints go, if you want to do do it, you can make time for it. Just make the diapers the last load of laundary you do @ the end of the day. You actually don't need to worry about the smell for months as babies don't have stinkie poop until they begin solid foods. I helped raise my 1st 2 nieces since they were 6 weeks old & now my goddaughter since the day after she was born & their mom used (still uses) disposables simply because she doesn't have a washer/dryer in her house plus she is currently a single mother of 3 going to grad school full time and working part time so she has a hard time keeping clean onesies in the house. Just sit down with hubby, do the math & figure out what the best fit is for your situation. Good luck with everything, kudos & congrats on the adoption & congrats on the pregnancy!

B.-

I didn't have time to scroll down and read all of the responses, so this may be redundant.

I started using cloth diapers when my daughter was 15 months old, and I wish I would have done it sooner. IMO, it does take a little more time, but once you get into a routine, it is easy. We still use disposables for travel, but I think even waiting 15 months, we are saving money over disposables.

The best advice I can give is to visit Happybottomus in Lee's Summit. I live in Olathe, so it's far, but they have been the best help with choosing what diapers to get, other supplies (there's not that much... a diaper pail liner and wet bag) and all of my questions about washing the diapers. You can visit their website to get more info and directions www.happybottomus.com.

Good luck!

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa

Good Morning B.. First Congrats on your new son's That is So awesome!! Brother in law and wife adopted two little guys from Russia 5 yrs ago. They are the most adorable little gentlemen. Turning 6 in Nov & Feb.

Cloth vs throw aways. Hum well I did the cloth on our first son, as he broke out so bad with disposables. I had a diaper pale with water and baby detergent (Dreft) for pre-soaking. The ammonia smell was kept down some what. I usually washed diapers every other day so it didn't get to bad. But you need plastic pants also or your clothes and every thing else will be wet if he only wears a diaper. I think I have 3 or 4 doz diapers. Birdseye were the best at the time. Our second son was allergic to the cloth diapers and we had to use disposables with him.

Not all baby's can use disposables and the same with cloth it is trial and error check and see how it goes.
All of the gr children's have used disposables.
With both we still had the Semi normal rashes and sore hinnies. I remember once our eldest had such a sore hinny I left his diaper off and put him in his crib with a soft light. (nurses suggestion) to help it heal and air off. Well wouldn't ya know he learned to roll over that day and Weeeeeeeeeeee'd all over the bed and wall.....lol

Best of everything to you and your Wonderful Family B..
God Bless you Richly
K. Nana of 5

Hey B.,

I have 3 children 16, 11, and 10. I tried cloth diapers with my first born because I wanted to do my part with the environment and what not. My experience with cloth was not so great. I had a diaper service that picked up every week and you can imagine the smell of soiled diapers sitting there for a week. Then I tried washing them myself in super hot water and I ended up using more electricity & water to clean them. My son ended up using 2-3 diapers each time because they were not very absorbant. All I can say is I tried to do my part and wasted more resources and time. One thing I can say about cloth diapers is they make great burp rags, and great clean up any baby messes. I would really recommend disposable diapers to cloth. That's just my opinion. But then again it was awhile back.. Hope it gives you an idea. :-)

I used a diaper service when my girls were babies. I don't know if there is one in this area, but it's a lot easier than trying to wash them yourself! I think cloth diapers are healthier than disposable, but that's my opinion. You will need some sort of plastic pants to cover the cloth diapers and I ordered those from somewhere. I had about 6 of them per child (sometimes had more than one child in diapers) and those I did wash myself. Don't put them in the dryer though!

B. -

I'll make this short and to the point:

1) What are the best cloth diapers to use?
In my expirence, the best diapers are the Bum Genius 3.0 One Size diapers. They grow with your child. We started my little one when he was older, so I don't know about the success with a newborn. Many of my friends are using prefolds (not the Gerber kind, the Chineese or Indian prefolds) and covers for their newborns...I hate prefolds, they are messy and a hassle to use.

2) How many diapers and what other items do you need to make it work?
It is good to start with about 15 - 20 diapers (or possiblities of diapers) for your child. I do laundry every Thursday and Sunday. If you use prefolds...again I'd get about 15 - 20 and about 3 - 4 covers (Bummies are the best covers)

3) How do you control the smell in your house/laundry?
Frequent washing is the key. I do laundry every Thursday and Sunday. We store the used diapers in a Diaper Champ in my LO room and then empty it every day into a laundry bag in the garage/laundry area.

4) Did you really save money by going the cloth vs. disposable route?
I did the calculations...if you get about 10 one size diapers and 10 sized diapers (XS, S, M, L - depending on the size of your child) and then replace the size of your sized diapers you will spend the same amount in diapers (and utilities) as you would to diaper a child in disposables for 2 years. If you are having a boy...this is a GREAT thing. Not many 2 yr old boys are potty trained. IF you only get one size diapers you will save about 6 months to a year in that figure. Of course, prefolds are the cheapest route. For my view on that...again see answer #1. I'm just not that motivated to stick my hands in my child's pee 5 - 8 times a day.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I like cloth diapers...I don't like the laundry, but the environmental value and comfort for my child outway the negatives I think.

Oh yeah...where do you get them?
happybotumus is a store in Lee's Summit. They have a GREAT selection that you can go and see all the diapers and options. They are reasonably priced. If you prefer online, I recommend www.cottonbabies.com. They are the best price I can find on BumGenius diapers. I LOVE those.

Hope that helps,
K.

I have two little ones in diapers (2 and 1 1/2) and made the switch to cloth diapers about 6 months ago. I wish I had done it sooner we HAVE SAVED so much money by not constantly buying diapers and wipes. You probably need at least 6 - 10 diapers to get by, twice that would be nice for laundry purposes. We wash all of our cloth diapers in vinegar (which kills germs and neutralizes urine odors) and baking soda (one each in prewash and wash cycle). This gets the diapers completely clean. We just put the wet/dirty diapers in a plastic bucket with a lid that we spray out with vinegar and water every time we empty it and we don't have a problem with smell in the house. We don't have any problems with diaper rash (actually the last time we used disposables for a couple day the kids instantly had diaper rash) and I feel SO much better about not exposing my kids to the chemicals in diapers and on wipes (and there are a lot, check out www.cosmeticsdatabase.org for rankings and information). We don't have any more leaks, and probably actually fewer, than we do with disposables. As far as the cost, it's MAYBE added $5 or to our monthly water bill as we do a small load every other day with two kids in diapers. Myself, a friend and my mom have sewed a lot of our diapers, a very inexpensive way to go (http://fernandfaerie.com/frugaldiapering.html is great for some basic ideas about using things you already have at home, if you want more websites with free patterns, just let me know), and we cut up old flannel sheets with pinking shears to use as wipes (use can use just plain water or mix together water, witch hazel and two or three drops of tea tree oil for a good, clean, safe alternative). There are several places to get much more inexpensive, gently used diapers, try diaperswappers.com, ebay, the local diaper service in St. Louis sells their prefolds for about $.35/diaper last I heard, Cotton Babies in S. Co. St. Louis sells new and I think gently used cloth diapers, sometimes you can find them on craigslist.org or at local kids resale shops like Kids Again in Florissant and Once Upon a Child (mulitple locations in St. Louis area). It really is easy, not time consuming, once you get into a routine and find a diaper you like (least expensive and very easy to use with the right cover are prefolds laid inside a fitted waterproof cover). There are a lot of options out there, but you can save loads of money not buying disposables! A couple of the more expensive type of diapers - all-in-ones, like Fuzzi Buns, BumGenius, etc - can be great for when you go out so you don't have to put everything together, but you can use less expensive options around the house (another cloth diaper bonus while you're out, diaper goes in a wet bag, no searching for a trashcan carrying around a dirty diaper and a baby!). http://www.thediaperhyena.com/ has a lot of good info on cloth diapering, links to sites to make your own diapers, how to fold diapers, make wipe solutions, etc. Oh, and craftster.org has a lot of great postings from people who make their own diapers and covers often with instructions on how to do it yourself (just type cloth diapers in the search box). Good luck, I think you'll like them once you get in the groove, and feel free to email me if you have any questions (I've got loads more websites if you want them)!

Hi B.,
I am a proud cloth diapering mama of two young kiddos and expecting our third in January. I have never regretted our decision to cloth diaper. We have no doubt saved money this way (I have recently heard that with disposables you'd spend upwards of $2000, and the initial investment to have a good supply of cloth you'd spend $400-$500 (and then there's the cost of detergent and water on the water bill, which is nominal compared to the overall disposable cost - and think about all of that extra trash you'd generate and the trash bags you'd have to buy!). I use one-size pocket diapers (they seem the most user-friendly and like disposables, and you can stuff the pockets with fewer or more inserts, depending on the child's exact toileting needs at the moment - newborns need less insert than 2 year-olds). And one-size diapers are adjustable to accommodate for the age disparities. All you really need to get started is about 20 pocket diapers and the inserts come with them - perhaps some extra inserts or doublers - a wet bag (which conveniently hangs on a door handle and gets laundered with the diapers), some tea tree and lavender oil for the built-in sachet inside the wet bag, and detergent. That's all! It's so easy once you find a rhythm and a pattern for laundering. I initially bought some cloth wipes, but decided to stick with disposable wipes, which I place in the diaper pail next to the changing table - the pail only needs emptying of wipes once every two weeks or so. I hope any of this helps. I'd be happy to recommend specific types of diapers that I've tried personally if you'd like. I'll also be an online cloth diaper retailer come February. Let me know if I can help further. Good luck, and don't feel overwhelmed. It really is a cinch once you find a laundering rhythm. Take care,
K.

1) What are the best cloth diapers to use? I like having a few different kinds for different situations. Prefolds and covers are fine for during the day, especially if you are going to be home. Make sure you get diaper service quality (DSQ) prefolds. For covers, I like Thirsties, MotherEase Air flow covers, and Wiggleworm Bottoms. I also have 10 pocket diapers (Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz) for when we are running long errands (2 hours or more), nighttime, and babysitters. My husband prefers these as well.

2) How many diapers and what other items do you need to make it work? I have 12 prefolds, 4 covers, 9 MotherEase One size diapers, 4 Fuzzi Bunz and 6 Bum Genius, for a total of 31 diapers. I do laundry every 3 days. You also need cloth wipes, and a bag to store the dirties.

3) How do you control the smell in your house/laundry? I keep the dirties bag in the bathroom and have one of those incense rods on a shelf above it. The laundry doesn't smell once it gets going.

4) Did you really save money by going the cloth vs. disposable route? Yes, for 31 diapers, covers, cloth wipes and wetbag I have spent about $300. Before I was using disposables and was spending about $45 per month on diapers. It is definitely a cost saver.

Good luck with your decision!

I have used cloth diapers for the past 4 years for my children. I think if you go all out with the best stuff you can get in cloth diapering, it is probably comparable in cost to the cheapest disposables. But my primary reason for using them has been to save money since I cut back my income to stay home with the kids and this is what has worked well for me and helped us save money:

Supplies: I use the prefold style diaper with a snappi (instead of pins) and the inexpensive plastic pants you can buy at Walmart or Babies R Us for about $3 per 6 pair. I tried buying some of these prefold diapers from Walmart and Target, but the Gerber brand they sell just does not have the best absorbency and you have to change them more often. The best prefolds I have used have been ordered online or bought from the "Happybottomus" cloth diapering store in Lee's Summit (definitely worth a trip if you are seriously considering cloth diapers). For my younger babies I always had at least 2 dozen or more diapers on hand. Now, for my older baby, I need at least a dozen, but 20 is more convenient. This way I only have to wash diapers every few days. And since we alternate with cheap disposables when out and about, sometimes I can even go longer than a few days. We bought two diaper pails at Baby Depot/Burlington Coat Factory for $10 a piece that have step-open lid and removable inner pail with a handle. They are rather small, which is why we bought two. One is for dirty diapers, one for just wet. We fill the pails half full with cold water and 1/4 cup borax. Some people drain and refill this soaking water daily to cut back on smells, but we really haven't found this necessary.

Washing: You can find a number of methods for washing searching online. We made an investment in a front loading washer/dryer with a sanitary cycle since we wash a lot of diapers. This gets them very clean using a prewash of baking soda and your usual laundry soap used for baby. However, we did cloth for a couple years without the fancy washer and just used a prewash, hot cycle, and extra rinse if it was available. The other key has been not drying them in the dryer, but hanging the diapers in the sun. I've never had stains on any of our diapers because the sun naturally bleaches them out. Also never had problems with rashes, except a little during the winter when I couldn't sun-dry the diapers every time. After line-drying, the diapers can be a bit stiff, so I run them on an air or fluff cycle in the dryer with a dryer sheet.

Other things: With both of my kids, I didn't use cloth until they were about 2 months old. It was just too frustrating (when they were that young and needing changed so frequently)during that time of adjustment. They make covers that snap or velcro closed which are easier to use, but they cost a little more and you have to get the right ones. The ones I tried leaked and I haven't had any leakage problems with the plastic pants, which just take a little more effort to get on and off. Sometimes the plastic pants get tears in them, but they are so cheap to replace.

Sorry for such a long answer, I could have even gone into more detail! If you have any questions feel free to send me a message.

One more thing, after reading some of the other comments-- regarding buying Chinese (or Indian, or Diaper Service Quality as other versions are called) prefolds versus the ones you can buy at Walmart or Target-- I have some of both and I can tell you that the cheaper ones work, you just have to change them more often and need more, I think. I have not found the prefolds I buy online or at happybottomus to be very expensive--usually 1.25-2.00 per diaper (pretty good when you compare to a disposable used once).

Also, when they are breastfeeding or drinking formula exclusively, you don't need to do anything with the poopy diapers but throw them in the pail (at least using the wet method I've described above). When they start eating solids, some people say you still don't have to dump, but I find it a little easier to do so. (partly because I don't like the idea of all that gunk in the washer.)

Congratulations on your growing family!

We use cloth diapers, and they are really hardly any more work. You're already doing laundry, so what's 2 or 3 more loads per week? (:

A couple of websites that will really help you are http://www.diaperpin.com and http://www.diaperswappers.com . I spent sooo much time on those sites researching!

Now for your questions:
1. This totally depends on your baby, lifestyle, budget, and personal preferences. We use Indian prefolds and Thirsties covers. This is perfect for us, but some moms don't like a two-step system.
2. 2 dozen diapers in each size is enough to get you washing every other day, with diapers left over. You will need 4-6 covers in each size as well. I use cloth wipes (cheapo baby washcloths), and 2 dozen of those should be plenty. If you use prefolds, you will need to decide if you want to use a Snappi or pins, or if you will just lay the diaper in the cover. A wetbag is nice but not necessary. Oh, don't forget a pail; I got a plastic trashcan at Big Lots for about $3!
3. There is no smell in my diaper pail. Really! I use a dry pail (no soaking) and leave the top off. Air circulation keeps the stinkies at bay.
4. Every time you use a cloth diaper, you save 25 cents that would have been spent on a disposable. Plus, you can reuse it! It may seem like an expensive start-up cost, but cloth diapers are truly an investment. If you go with prefolds, you can get all the diapers and covers you will need (which will last for more than one child, so baby #2's diaper cost is virtually $0) until potty training for under $200. If you choose another system or buy trendy diapers, your cost can go up to $400-$900, but you are still saving money. Disposables will cost you $2000-$3000!

Check out those websites. They were SO helpful for me!

My favorites are prefolds with motherease covers and fuzzibunz pockets. My first baby was fine in prefolds overnight, etc., but my second has VERY sensitive skin, so the fuzzibunz are a must for him, especially during the twelve hour night shift. Cloth diapers are great because they DO NOT leak pee or even explosive poops of the breastfed baby like disposables do. You will do MORE laundry if you use disposables because you will have to change their whole outfit, sheets, etc. As for the smell, we don't have an odor problem at all because the pails have lids, and I put the poop right into the toilet. It doesn't stick around like it would wrapped in a disposable. And don't let anyone tell you that you have to spray or dunk diapers in the toilet. Just get whatever poop off that will roll off easily, and then throw them in the washer. Wash twice, and no poop will remain.

Congrats on your little one on the way!

We were interested in cloth diapers, but didn't know where to start... so we went to Cotton Babies in South County (www.cottonbabies.com) and the ladies there helped us through all of our options.

We used disposables the first month or so and had to take out so much trash! Plus - we were going through A+D like it was going out of style... now we don't use ANY creams and haven't even had a hint of diaper rash (two major benefits!).

1.) I LOVE BumGenius 3.0 diapers. They are pocket all-in-ones that 'grow' with your child, depending on how you snap them together. It is often hard to tell if he's even wet himself because the liner wicks moisture away from his body so well.
2.) I have about 30 diapers, which is two days worth. I can do laundry every other day and have a lot to put together or every day - for smaller loads. It takes me about 30 minutes total to rinse/spray out the poopies and prepare for a load of laundry. Then with the time it takes to wash/dry, we are ready to fold them up/assemble (takes about 20 minutes) while we watch a show :)
3.) No smell unless I let them sit overnight. I rinse out the liners and covers if they are poopy - but not nearly as stinky as disposables.
4.) Using BumGenius only are a bit of an investment - about $17/diaper depending on if you buy in bulk or not (more savings in bulk). So essentially, our investment paid for about 6 months of disposables. Knowing the little one will be in diapers until 2-3 yrs of age, we definately saved $$. PLUS - we don't buy/use any creams (you can't with these diapers), which saves more $$ and one more step to diapering.

Start slowly if you are hesitant - we did with 6 BumGenius diapers and 4 Fuzzi Buns (didn't like them at all) with covers. It seemed like it would be a lot of work up front, but it's no worse than a late-night trip to Walgreen's for emergency diapers! AND - you get to color-coordinate... something that is just icing on the cake.

Have fun!
J

Check out cottonbabies.com--they're a St. Louis company!

Hi there, B.. I used cloth diapers on my oldest, who is now 12 years old, and now I'm using cloth on my 8 week old. Cloth diapering has changed significantly in the last dozen years, let me tell you! There are a lot of different ways of doing it these days, and they're all referred to as "diapering systems" these days, it seems. For information on the details of the various cloth diapering systems that are available today, you can check out the website <http://www.diaperpin.com/howto.asp&gt;
They have an extensive how-to section, as well as details on how many diapers you will need, and how many diaper covers, and so on, depending on which kind of system you choose to go with. I must admit that I still don't have the recommended number of anything, but we're doing just fine anyway. Another great resource (somewhat locally) is this terrific store in Lee's Summit. Their website is http://www.happybottomus.com/index.htm
and they hold cloth diapering classes at the store. The schedule of classes is posted on their calendar on the website. They also have many other kinds of classes as well, such as babywearing and baby sign language.

I will admit that I do use disposables overnight, because every time I got up for the middle of the night feedings and changings, I would find that her cloth diaper was so saturated and full that it had leaked all over everything. I also use disposables when traveling, even if it's just a trip to the grocery store, but I do know of moms who use cloth exclusively, and when they have a dirty diaper away from home they put it in a big ziploc bag (they pack several in their diaper bags just for that purpose) to be dealt with when they return home.

As for the smell, I wash the diapers every day, and they soak in a diaper pail with a lid on it while they're waiting for the wash. I wash them when half of the diapers we own are dirty...that way the other half are still in use while the wash is going. Of course, for those times when she goes through half a dozen diapers in a single changing, things get a bit out of hand, and occasionally we've had to use disposables at home while waiting for the laundry to finish;)

As for what's the best diaper...I'm told that I simply HAVE to buy Chinese pre-folds, which are quite pricey. I have not yet followed that advice, and am not sure what the big deal is about them (i.e. WHY are they better?). We use the Gerber diapers, available at Babies R Us and at Wal-Mart and probably other places as well, and they cost about a buck each (usually right around 12 bucks for a package of a dozen) and they work just fine for us. I do highly recommend a good diaper sprayer (another recent innovation that they didn't have back when I did this a dozen years ago) because it is a real life-saver. Don't just buy the first one you find. Those with plastic fittings tend to leak, or so I've heard/read from online reviews of such products.

In short, we are doing fine with only 3 diaper covers and maybe 3 dozen diapers. It is saving huge amounts of money, despite the slight increase in our water bill from all that washing. If you hang the diapers up to dry rather than running them through the dryer, that saves money too, plus there are benefits of having the cloth diapers sun-bleached, if you don't mind the neighbors seeing all the diapers, and if you don't mind hanging them up and taking them down seemingly every time you turn around. If you will be a stay-at-home, I highly recommend it. If you will be a working mom, you may want to consider a diaper service, which will wind up costing roughly the same as if you went with disposables, but would still be better for baby and better for the planet;)

I hope this has been helpful to you. Best of luck to you, whatever you decide to do. The most important thing is to love the baby with all your heart, so don't get too stressed out over these diapering decisions:)

I am a cloth only person. I recommend fuzzi bunz when you are out and pre-folds at home for naked time. I don't use a cover he wets once and it' off him. Chinese/Indian Pre-Folds are about $3 each. I also use cloth wipes which I made myself, but you can buy for $1 a piece (get about 25-30) This is what we've spent so far on the first one -
26 small fuzzi bunz (used) - $260
20 medium fuzzi bunz (used)- $200
15 large fuzzi bunz (used) - $150
10 pre-folds (new) - $ 30
2 snappis - $ 6
3 cloth laundry bags - $ 3
2 wet bags (for traveling) - $ 6
$655 total
If I buy disposables I buy Aldi's brand. I am completely done buying diapers now because he should be potty trained before he grows out of size large. If I change 8 diapers a day for 2.5 years and buy generic disposables at $10 a pack for 30 that cost is $2433. I don't figure in the cost of washing one load a day because when he is older and flushes the toilet each time he goes it's about the same. Also, this is my first child. I NEVER HAVE TO BUY DIAPERS AGAIN. We are planning on two more children so for me I'll save over $6000.

As for the smell, I use a diaper champ with a cloth bag as a liner instead of a trash bag. Every night I pull the days load out and throw the diapers, wipes and bag in the wash. You can't use fabric softener because it will end up repelling liquid. You can't use diaper rash creme either, but you don't need it becuase diaper rash is caused by the waste coming in contact with their skin. Not only do you know they are wet right away the diapers also breathe to give their heineys air and prevent diaper rash.

At night he wears one size bigger than the size he is actually in and it's stuffed a bit more than a daytime diaper. Now that he's older he doesn't wet as much at night so I don't have to use as much stuffing. I hear that cloth diapered babies potty train faster because they can feel the wet on them right away and it makes them uncomfortable, but I haven't actually made it there yet.

Please email me if you want more info. I know this has gotten long. This has worked really well for us! We've even taken him in cloth from STl to Cleveland for a week and had no problems. I don't know of any stores in your area, but a class is good and it's nice to know where you can get supplies in a pinch. Some of them, like the one near me, even sell used for half the price.

I'll try to be very concise, because sometimes I can get a bit long-winded about this... ;)

1) We LOVE Bumgenius and Thirsties (see links below)

2) We have 12 pre-folds (they're cheap), 2 snappies (the diaper pin alternative), 6 Bumgenius, 4 Thirsties fitteds, and 4 Thirsties covers. This gets us through 2 days, which is all my washer can handle anyway. It cost about $200 (5 month's worth of disposable diapers), but we did it gradually... Starting out with just prefolds and washing every day (yuck) then buying more as we could afford.

3) We don't have a problem with the smell at all - in fact, back when we were using disposables and a Diaper Genie, the smell was worse! We just use a standard 13 gallon garbage can with a swinging lid and a cloth liner... works great! I end up doing laundry every other day which isn't awful, and it's really easy - I just run a cold-water rinse first, then add VERY LITTLE detergent and run a hot wash for the longest time option. I usually do this right before I go to bed then switch everything to the dryer when I'm up for my son's nightly feeding. Everything ready for the day the next morning when we wake up.

4) We were spending about $40/month on disposables, and now that we've switched to cloth, we're only paying about $20-$30 more on our water bill, so I feel very comfortable saying we're saving money.

There is a store in Lee's Summit (Happybottomus) which is really helpful and knowledgeable about all the different kinds of diapers. The ones we chose were a bit on the expensive side compared to others, but it's worth it to us for the convenience. I've provided some links below with pictures and more information about the diapers I mentioned. Good luck!

Bumgenius: http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php

Thirsties: http://www.thirstiesbaby.com/fab_fitted.htm

Pail Liner: http://www.wahmies.com/pages/liners.php

Snappies: http://www.snappibaby.com/products/snappidiaperfastener.html

Happybottomus: http://www.happybottomus.com/index.htm

more info about cloth diapers (2 links):

http://www.happybottomus.com/parentinginfo/CDinfo/Diaperi...

and

http://www.diaperjungle.com/cloth-diaper-terminology.html