Re: Cloth Diapers
pearlieq, the diaper covers work like magic, though I never had flushable ones. The ones I had were a very fine, very light weight, spun synthetic fabric similar to "dryer sheets," but thinner. Flushable (i presume biodegradable) ones wer not available when I was changing diapers. We did not use them with every diapering, as after a while you learn your baby's body habits and thus can figure which diaper could benefit from the liner.
Most of the time we used no cover, just a plain diaper. No plastic pants, no wool water repellant cover, no decorative cover. We wanted to know absolutely as soon as the diaper was wet so that we could change it immediately. We did not try to get extra time out of a wet diaper as you might be tempted to do with disposables. But anyway, diaper covers are generally going to last longer than your child can fit into them. As they grow, they generally need to move up in cover size. I would not recommned buying many of these ahead of time, but if you want to invest in them, try at least two kinds. You may develop preferences based on things such as the weather (plastic too hot in smmer?), allergies (baby turns out to be allergic to wool or latex elatic at the leg holes), the stul of diaper you have (some covers may not have bulk where one type diaper has its bulk), the way you baby moves (if baby lies on her back and bicycle her legs a lot, or learns to scoot around in a sitting position instead of crawling--you may find that one cover or another won't stay on). It is such a trial and error matter, personalized to your preferences and baby's needs.
Bigger diapers as baby gfrows are certainly nice. And necessary if you started with the kind cut to fit newborns. If you use the cloths that are really big dimensions, but foldable to any size, you can use the same diapers till they are potty trained, but in the first year and a half those diapers are going to have incredible bulk and you'll have trouble fitting other clothes over them.
About the number of diapers needed--I remember one time counting that we used an average of 13 per day. I think this was at about two months old, but I don't remember clearly. We, too, had a diaper service and we just started with the number they recommended, and it was always more than enough.
I once had to take care of a 2 year old in an emergency and I think she had 8 diapers. I had no washer and no money for a laundrymat. As soon as she soiled the diaper, I would change her, and immediately hand wash the diaper and lay it over the radiator to dry. I got by with those eight diapers , but I was worried that sometimes they might not dry in time. But anyway, all that is just to say that you can get by with a lot fewer than 80 per week if you put the effort into it.
The only other thing I remember about diapering is that I never cared for the kind that was fiber-filled in the center. The synthetic fiber gave the diaper loft like a quilt, but added very little in the way of absorbency. That did pin up to be a tidy diaper, though. Very neat and trim.
Oh, yeah, I guess I do remember something else. You don't have to pin all cloth diapers. Some have velcro tabs. And some wrap-around style covers provide the velcro and you just properly fold and tuck the cotton diaper into the cover.
I haven't talked diapers in 15 years! I'm sure there are folks at those baby discussion boards who are more up-to-date. There is constant invention and nuanced progress in commercial babydom.
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