Cloth Diapers - Arcadia,CA

I used them with my son the whole time that he was in diapers. It was not as gross as I expected it to be :-) It was a LOT easier than I expected as well. It took me about two seconds longer to use his cloth vs a disposable. I actually used the most boring kind out there..prefolds with covers. I rinsed the poop from the dirty diapers in the toilet and threw them with the others in my covered diaper pail. I washed every other day. I did a pre-rinse (just cold water) and then another cycle with a little detergent (I used Charlies soap but there are others out there safe for cloth). I had about 8 covers on hand and 20 prefolds when he was an infant and by 2 I think I only had about 4 covers and 15 prefolds (including a few hemp liners I "doubled up" with at night. I chose cloth diapers because I did not want all the chemical gels etc that are in disposable up close to his skin. I also thought it was kinder of me to not add even more to the landfill..but the huge perk I ended up seeing is I probably saved $1000s before he potty trained. Good luck. It realy is easier than you are imagining.

I love my cloth diapers! The extra laundry is really not all that bad. 1-2 loads of diapers a week. It really depends on how many diapers you have. IMO it's really not any grosser than disposable diapers. www.diaperswappers.com is a great resource for learning everything there is to know about cloth, where to buy it and even a FSOT section to buy used ones at a huge discount from buying new.

My husband was in school when we had our second so you can imagine we had no money so I decided to make the switch to cloth. Of course there is a learning curve but well worth it. No migraines necessary!

For prefolds greenmountaindiapers.com is the gold standard. I bought some when my daughter was 4 months old and they are still in fantastic shape and she is 31 months old. Talk about savings.

The easiest way to go is one size pocket diapers. All 3 kids can share the same diapers! I really, really like BumGenius pocket diapers. With the diaper having a pocket you can add different types of inserts like hemp or microfiber to make it more absorbent for naps or night time.

I only washed every other day or so, you barely use any detergent. So laundry is not a big deal.

Look into getting or making cloth wipes as well. Another huge money saver. And they work so much better than the paper kind.

It's not really gross. If you breastfeed, you don't even have to rinse the diaper out. Once baby starts on solid you get some biodegradable liners that you place on top of the diaper. That catches most everything and you just toss that in the potty. You can also get a diaper sprayer. i think it would have been nice to have for the extra messy diapers.

You keep the diapers in a pail with a lid and a large wet bag for a liner. you don't soak or keep a wet pail. Unsafe with little ones around and soaking is hard on the diapers.

I also like the site pinstripesandpolkadots.com when I buy pocket diapers. Sarah the owner is very helpful and willing to answer any questions.
You might also check to see if you have a cloth diaper shop in your area where you can check things out or even take a cloth class for free.

Frankly, if you're doing cloth to save $, the least expensive option is prefolds and covers, and not AIO or fitteds. AIO = most expensive, fitted= in the middle, prefolds = least expensive. I would say to post something on Freecycle or Craigs List. Also, buy used instead of new. Stay away from 'fancy' materials like bamboo, or organic, as these tend to up the price--stick to cotton for the absorbent material, as it's tried-n-true.

I bought my covers mostly used, or I bought new "seconds" through Prorap Diaper Services (contact: ProServices 1-800-397-8594). They sell excellent new prefolds ($1.50 to $2 each, I think, by the dozen), and "seconds" of covers ('second' quality due to cosmetic things like the wrong color thread) for $5.25, I believe. I use diaper pins, which I found at Meijers box store (Meijers also had Gerber prefolds, but they are not as thick/absorbent as the diaper service prefolds/Chinese PF or Indian PF).

If you have anyone among family or friends who sew a basic zigzag or straight stitch, have them sew prefolds for you from either new flannel (double-napped, also called diaper flannel, is best) or from recycled materials (like flannel receiving blankets, old 100% cotton t-shirts, old/holey flannel blankets, etc; a good source of material, can be used flannel sheets at the thrift store).

Wool sweaters can be sewn into covers (often called "soakers"), as can good, dense microfleece (I've heard the fleece at the fabric stores doesn't work as well, so you might want to go to the thrift store & see if you can pick up a good-name used fleece pull over for making them, or order the Malden Mills). For wool, wash the sweaters in hot water in the washing machine to "felt" them (this makes them denser and more waterproof), and then wash with a little bit of soap mixed with a little lanolin (like the Lanisoh lanolin for breastfeeding) from the store to make them (mostly) waterproof. Wool will need to be hand washed in wool-safe soap (like Woolite), which doesn't strip the lanolin as much. You can re-lanollinize them again if needed. However, wool is naturally anti-bacterial, so you don't need to wash it too often unless it gets poopy.

I have a list of free online diaper pattern sources--send me a message if you want it. I used the Mama Byrd pattern, but I've heard good things about the Rita's Rump Pattern (which is a one-size adjustable fitted diaper).

On another note, go over your finances, and see if you can apply for WIC assistance if $ is tight. Also, a lot of churches, etc. will give clothes/food, without proof of hardship (unlike the govt/WIC).

Good luck, and G-d bless!

Edited to add: in terms of laundry, I've been washing about 2 extra loads per week since the kiddo was a little one (we used diaposables for the first 2 months). I use Charlies Soap, which is economical (esp if you buy the largest container), and I do it like this: 1 cold rinse, 1 hot wash & rinse cycle, 1 extra rinse. I use only 1 T charlies soap in the laundry. For drying, I hang them to partially dry, and then run them through 1 cycle of the dryer (we have laundry lines in the basement). If you don't dry them in the dryer, they feel like cardboard, and I couldn't bring myself to put that on my poor baby's bum! :)

If you don't want to buy Charlies (which I actually use for all our laundry) or similar (there are a couple others that are supposed to be good, like Allens Soap), try getting the cheapest powdered detergent and using that, with an occasional wash with Tide. Avoid liquid detergents and the "free & clear" detergents for diapers. And DO NOT use fabric softener liquid or sheets--these coat the diapers and make them less absorbent (defeating their purpose). Occasional "stripping" with Dawn may be need (google d "diaper stripping" & "Dawn").

I use bumGenius one size diapers. I love them. We have 28 covers, and a few extra inserts. When my son was an infant, I washed every 3 days. Now he is 14 months and I wash once a week. It is not that gross, but it's definitely not pretty :) My advice is to get a pair of gloves and keep an old toothbrush to help loosen the solids. If you breastfeed, the poop will be liquidy anyhow, so I found it easiest to just rinse it down the sink. The toothbrush helps with getting the solids out of the wrinkly spots, like the leg elastics. Once the poops are more solid, you just shake them into the toilet. They also sell a spray nozzle that hooks up to your toilet, for spraying off the diaper into the toilet (looks like a mini shower head). We never got one, because I didn't mind cleaning by hand. If you're squeamish, you might want to try it. We still use disposables for going out, or for quick overnight trips, because packing cloth diapers and carrying them around is bulky, and you need to have a place to put the dirty ones while you are out too.

Having 2 kids in diapers, you will save a lot by using cloth. I got ours through Cottonbabies.com, on sale, and I used a coupon code I found online. I paid about $500 for them, and I also got a diaper pail, a "wet bag" for the diaper pail and a small one for the diaper bag, extra inserts, and a small toy. Considering you can easily spend $20 per week on disposables, my diapers were paid for by the time he was 6 months old, and I will continue to use these same diapers until he is potty trained because they are adjustable. Some types of cloth diapers will require you to buy them in different sizes. For 2 kids, depending on how often you're willing to do laundry, you'd want at least 28, and you'd have to wash every other day in the beginning.

Check them out yourself at the website I mentioned above. There are several reviews from other moms there to help you make a decision. I've never used any other type of cloth diaper, so I can't comment on them. But I do love my bumGenius.

I've used cloth for both kids and my younger is still in them.
The cost will depend on how many you get and the kind. Prefolds and covers are the cheapest. You'll need the small (green-edged) kind for 0-9 months or so (some kids will get too big at 6 months), and then the larger ones will last until potty training. A few toddler-sized ones for night time are a good idea, but with three kids you might want to give yourself a break and get some overnight disposables IF that makes it easier on you.
Sized all-in-ones are the most expensive; one-size-fits-all pocket diapers are between $16-$25 per diaper. Assuming $.10 per disposable, you will use your pocket diaper over 250 times so you will get your money's worth out of each one. It's only 160 times for the cheaper diapers and I think you can get about 600 uses out of a pocket diaper before it just wears totally out, but it depends on your washer.
I wash diapers every other day. Since I'm on well water, this is also expensive. I have not figured it into total expense, but I think I still come out ahead, but I might not. If you are on well water, you need to consider this. I put diapers in pail with NO added water and use disinfectant wipes to wipe out the pail.
Do a search to find a local cloth supplier and then check out their test drive packages. This is a low-cost way to try all of the diapers and see which ones you like. My local supplier, sunshine diapers (search for sunshine diapers gainesville fl) has an excellent tutorial on their website. Check it out. Oh, and I'll recommend snap closures over velcro ANY DAY, both for prefolds and covers and for pockets.
Really, since you are choosing cloth not from conviction but from economic necessity and convenience, I would really do the test drive thing to see if it's for you. It's initially quite expensive and although you could put them up for sale and get a lot of your money back, it would still be a loss if you hated it.
As far as gross, well, poop is poop. When they are still breastfed you do nothing and throw it in the pail. Well, I do fold them so the poop doesn't smear everywhere, but that's it. Once there are turds or serious solid poop in there you have to pick it off with toilet paper, use a sprayer, whatever. It's not fun, but it's not the end of the world. You get over it.
The tutorial at sunshine diapers will also tell you how many you'll need for each stage. And remember, you have to change diapers much more often. It might be easier on you to switch the older ones to cloth first and let the newborn stay in disposables until they aren't peeing every five minutes and crying because they're wet.

There is alot out there now. You can use All-in-ones (AIO) that look like a disposable but you wash yourself or go with prefolds like me. (I love snappis... look it up they are great!)

A service is nice esp, when you have a newborn and they are peeing ALLLL the time. But then you have to use prefolds and can't really use the other cool things.

I also use the bumGenius one size diapers! They are awesome!!! Easy to clean, even with the breastfed baby poop. We also have flushable liners that go inside the diaper for when the poop is solid you can just lift out the liner and flush it and the poop away and not have as big of a clean up on your cloth diaper.

We have a laundry bag for the diapers that has a zipper on the bottom so when it's laundry time you just unzip the bottom of the bag, empty it into the washing machine and then throw the bag in too! I never have to touch the dirty diapers once they are in the bag!

I wash the inserts and diapers about every 2-3 days. Just make sure to rinse out the poopy diapers really well if you aren't going to do the laundry daily.

Good luck!

It is a lot more laundry, but not nonstop. I wash diapers every other day or every third day.

My husband is grossed out by it, but he also really avoids changing regular disposable diapers. I don't mind the mess because I've changed a lot of diapers since I was 12 (taking care of my sister, also did a lot of babysitting). I've also worked with special needs kids and have used catheters and such, so I'm not grossed out by rinsing poop into a toilet. You can wear gloves if it helps you get over the ick factor, or use a service.

There's a lot of information on the web, but the best starting point for exploring cloth diapering I've found has been http://diaperpages.com/. It explains the basics and different options very well.

Personally I've used prefolds with my 2 year old son since he was about a month old. Prefolds and snappis really aren't hard to use. Find a youtube video of some changing a diaper a few times, and it gets much faster once you're used to it. I uses some Proraps diaper covers, they were great for the newborn stage. Probably great for older as well, but I didn't have any bigger sizes. The rest of my covers have been the pull on Dappi nylon pants. Very inexpensive and don't leak very often, about as much or less than disposables. I do use Happy Heiny pocket diapers for overnight. I also like shopping at Nicki's Diapers online. Clothdiaper.com you can find some good deals at, I just bought some "seconds" prefolds (they have minor defects, but work fine) to get ready for diapering my 2nd son.

Prefolds are about as cost effective as you can get. Cost wise, I've spent about $350 on diapers in the past 2 1/2 years, and that includes buying the occasional Costco box of disposables for those times we travel, use a babysitter, or when I just don't want to deal with cloth. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. I've also use disposable wipes, but I'm starting to try out cloth wipes to save even more money.

EDIT: Someone else mentioned buying used - that can be a good option. I got a lot of my initial diapers used at a yard sale, but they were trashed by the time my son outgrew them. You can get good deals with used, but just keep in mind they might not last through more than one kid. I'm still happy that $30 of yard sale diapers lasted for over a year.