Cloth Diapers: Any Recommendations or Warnings? I'm Thinking of Experimenting

Updated on October 14, 2007
S.F. asks from Berrien Springs, MI
12 answers

I am finally considering cloth diapers. We are hoping for 4 kids, so it seems like a decent investment. #1 is starting to have success on the potty, yet sporadically; #2 is 14 mo.; and #3 is due in April. Kids #1 & #2 could easily both wear size 3 or 4, so i was thinking of just buying one size to experiment with, but they are so expensive that I didn't want to mess up. Although they do seem to sell on ebay easily.
What are the good brands? Do you have to use inserts or covers. And how are they with leaks? We have had some trouble with cheap diapers and leg leaks. I like the idea of the velcro. We are home quite a bit, especially with winter coming on, so we might be ready.
I want someone to either talk me out of it or talk me into it.
HOw do you wash them? I imagine the big poops can go in the potty, but what about the looser stuff. Does it just go in the wash with everything else? Or do you do a load by itself?
How many diapers would you recommend having on hand? I'll admit, I am not a crazy laundry doer.
Any advise wold be welcome, thanks

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T.N.

answers from Saginaw on

ALLS I HAVE TO SAY ............... ARE U CRAZY ?????/lol just joking i personally wouldn't switch. It is hard with many kids in diapers. My 2 girls were in diapers together and i tell u what OH BOY lol U said oldest one is gettin there on potty training. Buy that one underwear and just get it over with. Yeah sometimes it makes messes but if he is almost there then just push it a little more. As soon as u got the first one the second one will be ready .....and the first one will be there to help the second one learn. then u would only have 1 in diapers unless of course number 4 comes sooner lol In anyway u go GOOD LUCK lol Just a suggestion....

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T.B.

answers from Grand Rapids on

I haven't ever used the cloth diapers myself, but I have heard of a diaper service for them...where the people come and pick them up a certain time of the month and they drop you off a whole new bunch of diapers...I can't remember the name of the company that does this, but you could probably look it up on the internet. Someone tried to get me to use the diaper service, but I don't know a thing about cloth diapers...But they said to use the cloth I think during the day or at certain times and use the plastic diapers when going out, SORRY IF I COULDN'T BE OF MORE HELP...

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A.S.

answers from Grand Rapids on

We have used cloth for our 3 children & LOVE them! You can use cloth diapers for ANYTHING; they are great for absorbing any spill, accident, sickness, I use them to clean the fish tank & mop the kitchen floor. I think I buy a roll of paper towels once per year! My 2nd & 3rd are 3 & 8 mos & #2 just started succeeding on the potty. #2 had severe rashes w/ disposables, so there was no question that #3 would also be a cloth baby.

I use a diaper service, however, & I do keep a few disposables on hand for long distance travel. For trips around town, we just have a stack of diapers in the van, a bunch in the diaper bag, & plastic Meijer bags or the "diaper duck" (at Target). It's about $35/week for 2 kids ($20 for 1). Diapers are unlimited & velcro covers are included. We used about 140 per week w/ 2 kids. Yes, you change cloth more often because they are full after one pee. The only drawback I find is in the Summer heat, the diaper pails can get stinky& buggy.

I ama fan! Give my diaper servce a call at 800-589-2229.

A.

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B.K.

answers from Kalamazoo on

I used them on my children I Loved them also its better for your children and the world

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A.O.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Hi S.,
We've been using cloth diapers ever since our daughter was born & she's now 11 months old. We love it and have had no problems at all! We've been using a service that picks up & drops off the diapers. All you have to do is throw it in the bin they give you, poop & all! No cleaning / washing. We thought it would stink, but the containers have little air fresheners in them that really work. We pay $20 a week and receive 70 diapers a week. They provided the covers at first, but we chose to buy our own. You can use covers, or they have this great invention called the snappi, which is this little rubbery stretchy thing that attaches to the diaper to keep it in place instead of using pins. Then you can use the cheaper plastic pants instead of the covers. They are amazing! and only $2.00 a piece & you can use them over & over again. Here's a link to the snappi & diaper covers we use:
http://dy-dee.com

The diaper service we use is Diapers Unlimited, based out of Kalamazoo, they travel all over (we're in Holland).
I could go on & on about cloth diapers & how great they are.
Our daughter has never had a diaper rash, & it's environmentally friendly.

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A.M.

answers from Grand Rapids on

go for it!! We use both cloth and disposable and when we use disposable we use seventh generation because they break down easier and contain no bleach or chemicals. but for cloth, we use a variety. we have some fitted ones from motherease that work very well. they come with a little insert and then the cover snaps on. we also have some non fitted rectangular ones. these can leak easier but if you put a cover over them it might just be a little pee. we save those for around the house times, usually in the evening before bath when i dont want to waste a whole disposable when i know she wont pee much. there are sooo many options and really, they are all similar. you have the diaper, an insert, and a cover. pretty simple. i personally prefer the smaller inserts so my daughter doesnt have a big bulky butt. as far as cleaning goes, with both disposable and cloth we dump the poop in the toilet - it cuts down on smell. then for cloth after we do that we have a diaper bucket thing (no a genie, just a bucket with a lid) and it has a mix of water and vingar in it. the diapers soak in there for days and when its time to wash, we wash only the diapers in hot water. thats about it. it will save you soooooo much money. ive even seen cloth diapers on craigslist.com. ive heard the best reviews for fuzzi bunz and happy heiney if you want more specific brands. and if the poop is a little sticky you can get off as much as you can and then throw it in the bucket and the vingar breaks down the poop without harming the diaper. i personally dont like the vingear smell very much, so usually my husband does the washing. but i could do it, its not that bad. hope this helps! if you have any further questions feel free to email me ____@____.com Oh! and i just thought of this. we also use g diapers sometimes because the covers are excellent and can be used with both g diaper inserts and cloth inserts. there have been some discussions about g diapers on mamasource so if your interested in that at all i suggest you find those conversations as well.

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L.N.

answers from Benton Harbor on

Good luck to you with the cloth diapers. Personally, I am a die-hard disposable diaper mom, but if that is your way of helping our little earth then go for it!

~L.

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M.L.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Well, when my oldest was born (she's 8 1/2 now) my parents paid for Dydee service for us as a gift. It was so nice of them, and saved us the cost of diapers! However, we quit the cloth diapers after about 6 months. I know that they can be great, and a lot of people have good reason to like them, but for us, it was nicer and more practical to go to disposable. When using the cloth diapers, it was nice that we could just plop the soiled diapers into the container and set the bag outside for the Dydee man to pick up once a week. Even with the nice elasticky and velcro covers, we still had leaks...a lot. And you couldn't just throw the stinky diaper away when you weren't at home, you always had to have a bag handy to put it into to carry around, and take care of at home. That is my personal experience with it. Also, we tried literally every single brand and type of diaper out there, and the only brand of diaper our daughter (actually, my yougest as well) did not leak with was Luvs. We tried them all. She leaked with Pampers, Huggies, even with all the special 'leak guards'/etc. that the brands offered...Luvs won for us by a long shot. One more important thing- We did not have any extra problems with diaper rashes when using disposables compared with cloth. I just always made sure the little bottom was cleaned, dried and powdered regularly and things were great. But I understand that maybe it depends on the skin type, and how you personally feel about it all :- ) Good luck on your decision, and God bless your family with the new baby coming; I hope the pregnancy/birth goes smoothly ~Laura

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A.W.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Hi S.,

I've never tried them myself, because my girlfriend's experience with them was negative. Her one-year-old who never had a diaper rash in her life got an awful, persistent rash after they switched to cloth. They were changing her CONSTANTLY - like right after she'd go, and it was still irritating her. They didn't even make it two whole weeks on the cloth diapers before switching back. It also wasn't much more affordable.

My mom also used cloth for me, and it's all over my baby book that I had an awful diaper rash that wouldn't go away! I have heard that little girls are more susceptible to the rash than boys, by the way.

Hope this helps in your decision. Good luck to you!

A.

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A.I.

answers from Lansing on

contact diapers in battle creek and ask to order some of there pin less wraps they are great

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J.H.

answers from Kalamazoo on

We used cloth for both of our kids, and I certainly recommend it. We used D & D in Kalamazoo (Diapers Unlimited, formerly). One other thing that I didn't see other people mention is that after 2 1/2 years, the diapers are free... that is to say that if your kid isn't potty trained by that time, they bring by the diapers for free. So that's another plus... Yep, having diapers around was terrific... I always had one on my shoulder...

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R.W.

answers from Jackson on

Hi there, We cloth diaper.

there are several cloth diapering stores online that offer trial packages with several different diapering options to try out. One such is http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&amp...

If you are anywhere near Ann Arbor http://www.treecitydiapers.com/store/ has an actual storefront the Owner is very knowlagable and I believe she has cloth diapering info classes.

Washing, I wash my diapers every other day, or every second day (works out to 3-4loads a week I guess) I wash in Hot water (you only use about a tablespoon of detergent per load, any more than that and your dipes won't work very well, also NO fabric softner at all it makes the diapers unable to absorb!) and Dry in the Dryer (some people hang their covers to dry, but I generaly don't) There are diaper sprayers available that you just hook up to your toilet's water line so you can spray yuck off right into the toilet, or you can do the dunk and swirl method :-) I don't have a problem with poo in the washer if I get the chunks off first.

I would have 18diapers on hand per child.

I prefer pocket style diapers with inserts, inserts can be anything from cut down prefold diapers, to microfiber towels.

I do use prefolds and Bummis Super Whisper Wraps as well, which are really easy for beginners. I hook the diaper with a Snappi so no pins to poke baby, or I'll fold the dipe into thirds and just lay it in the Wrap cover no pins required!

I figure by using cloth I save roughly $100 per month on diapers.

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