Cloth Diapers vs. Disposables?

[Armywife]

Hubby and I have decided to switch to cloth since our 2 year old is taking her time in the potty training category. After perusing the local baby stores in search of cloth diapers, we found a three pack in blue (ugh). My question is:

Has anyone used cloth diapers with their own children? If so, how many diapers did you go through in a day? I'm trying to get the rough estimate of how many i'll need for starters.

One thing's for sure.. i'd rather pay $40.00 on a five pack once instead of $29.99 every month (thats about par for the course so far)

TIA,
Barb

[mom-from-missouri]

I would start with 36 diapers. And, also consider-how often do you want to wash them?? One washing trick-I kept laundry detergent and very little bleach (or vinegar) in the diaper pail full of water--so they would soak while in the pail. When full, I dumped the whole thing into the washer, and ran in thru the spin cycle before washing. The diapers with the velcro are nice, but unfolded diapers will last longer as they grow with the baby as you just fold them different.
Regardless what type you use, all will last longer if you line dry. You can find them used on ebay and in baby consignment stores.
When my twins where born, my oldest was 1, and still in diapers. About the 2nd day home from the hospital we went thru 72 cloth diapers for 3 kids. I double diapered the oldest so that pushed the number up-and of course newborns are wet a lot the first 2 weeks. I know I saved 100's of dollars with cloth diapers.
I think toddlers also toilet train easier with cloth diapers, as the cloth doesn't pull the wet away like the disposable, making toddlers more uncomfortable so they tend to want to avoid that situation. Dont waste your time folding diapers--just fold them as you need them-they way they grow, by the time you get to the bottom of the folded pile, they wont fit and you have to refold anyway.

[DivaJen]

I switched to cloth for DD when she was a year or so older, maybe a little older. I'm trying to remember how many diapers we had. It's been a while. As she got older (potty-trained at 2.5 years, for perspective's sake) she wasn't needing them changed as often as when she was younger. I'm really drawing a blank here. I do know that I washed diapers 2-3 times week, so I didn't need to have a huge stash of them.

You could always buy 10 or so and then get more as you get adjusted to using them. If I recall, I liked the motherease diapers that snapped, covered with one of their snapping covers (I think that was white). I also had some Fuzzy Bunz that used regular prefolds as inserts, and those worked well for DD. (I think they either really work or don't work at all, depending on your child's build.)

I was able to both buy and sell dipes at eBay, which was nice in keeping the ultimate cost to me lower.

[asrai]

I only had 30 or so for my daughter, up until she was 2. I had to wash every other day or I was in serious trouble. I also used disposables at night.

I would caution against using bleach. Kids are really sensitive to that kind of stuff. When washing, use the bare minimum.
Some links:
http://www.cutofcloth.com/article_vinegar.asp
http://www.diaperpin.com/howto.asp

Diaperpin also has reviews of the MANY kinds of cloth diapers you can get.

She's almost 2 and half, and because (I think) her underpants feel like diapers she pees in them. She's not uncomfortable in wet pants yet, but she does go on the potty if she's NOT in anything. Go figure.

[Armywife]

I checked out the diaperpin link and it's awesome! Funny how when you have a baby you never realize just how much diapers can really hit your wallet!! We always bought the costco diaper box no questions asked... until now. So far I've ordered a few from Ebay and I found a few from the local babies r us. Thanks again!

Barb

[PrincessPerky]

Instead of switching to cloth I potty trained my DD, I used the EC method, and lots of cleaing the floor, she is now 15 months, was doing great last week, but now has an medical thing, so we have about 2 accidents a day. Still way cheaper than diapers, I wouldn't be able to afford them anyway. The end result is more that I am trained to really listen to the word "poo", and she is trained to go at regular times, but I still don't have to buy diapers, havn't since December.

After she was mostly trained then I worked on teaching her not to pee in the underware so she could stop being a naked heathen, we are still working on that part. but she is mostly ok with it. From all of my reading diaper trained kids, do not like to pee without some sort of covering. Making naked a real help to poty training.

Here is a link to a disscussion board about ECing, and the top thread has a billion links to more info about ECing.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ysprune=&f=227

Though what I sort of did was also "Naked and $75", 'cept I don't have te 75$ . Naked meaning I left her without anything from the waist down (long shirt of her big bros to keep her warm) and pointed her in the direction of the potty whenever we had troubles, took about a week to get to one or less accident a day, then one more week we were at one every other day or so.

I have heard great things about starting even sooner, I hope to benifit from this the next baby, would save an enourmous amount of money! But I am afraid I wouldn't be very good at it from birth, I am usually to busy trying to fit the new baby into the house to try and see when they are peeing before they pee! (Im lucky if I knw after the fact!)

Also if your interested I trained my DS at about 2 years, I followed the same method with the addition of stickers for a reward, and saved 'big boy toys', the ones that said for ages 3 and up, for big boy days. He was and is very mature and could handle all the ones we had (marbles, small puzzles, big boy straws, etc), but I didn't feel like I was depriving him to restrict those to big boy days. It took him about the same amount of time from the start of the naked thing (one or two weeks). Though we left underware on him to avoid the target practice unless he was in the bathroom! (ok so in the general direction of the potty was after a week, it took several more months to stop cleaning the base of the toilet after most visits .) This successful method was after almost a year of trying every other method that didn't involve me cleaning the floor.

[amomof4]

I used cloth diapers for my children. With my oldest (she is now 30), we were so poor that I had to hand wash the diapers because we couldn't afford to go to the laundry mat.

My daughter also used cloth diapers. She purchased diaper liners to use with them. If the baby had a poo, she through it out & the diaper remained free of poo. If the baby only urinated, she washed the diaper liner. She also washed the diaper wipes if the baby just urinated & used h/m liquid stuff to make more wipes. Hope that makes sense.

My last two girls were both potty trained before they were 2. With the youngest dd, I put her on the potty chair & told her to go "poopoo". She did & was potty trained every since. What a dream child. Wish all of them were that easy.

[Momof3grls]

I have used disposable with all 3 of my kids probably would have a huge savings somewhere if I would have used cloth. I was gonna with my last daughter but my husband said NO WAY so I just try to do the best deals using coupons & sales to buy diapers I can save alot that way though

[momma4]

i cloth diaper my son who is alilttle over 2 he has aprox 30 cloth diapers (fitteds, pockets, aios). And i am unsure on how many doubles, fillers, flat diapers, prefolds I have. I do use old recieving blankets as doublers/fillers. I make most of my diapers. there are lots of sites that give free patterns you can print out if you are crafty I do laundry every 3 days (when my diaper pail gets full) which reminds me I need to throw a load in LOL. so I would say he goes threw aprox 6-10 diapers a day.

[momma4]

my dh did not have an option on if i used cloth or not. I told him he don't do diaper duty so he needed to keep his mouth shut. Plus, I do all the laundry and buy all the groceries. so I think I have all the say into making my choice He has finally gotten the hang of the cloth diapering and he saw a huge savings within a few months. He had money to go play darts LOL. which he don't do anymore so he can buy videogames LOL.

[MrsChambers]

I don't have kids, so I don't really know. I do know however that I was in cloth and if and when I do have kids, they will be in cloth also.

so there is my 2 cents

[Bluezy]

Congratulations to everyone who has had success with cloth nappies. It is a definate savings, even if it is inconvenient. However, I chose to invest in Pampers for my CJ. I've seen such horrid rashes result from cloth and decided that it was right for me to work the extra hours and get him in disposables.

CJ is 18 months old now and is getting himself organized for potty training, so it should not be much longer before I say goodbye to Pampers.

[pennywise]

I used cloth on my daughter and breast fed. My daughter is 9 nearly 10 and I still use the cloth diapers for many reasons. Primarily I decrease use of menstrual pads during the monthly with the cloth diapers. Use a pad to line the panties, use the diaper with pins in the undies and change frequetly, use the diaper paid idea, I rinse in cold water to remove what I can and put in the pail til washing. Those menstrual pads are expensive and I thought they used to call it "on the rag", so this has been good for me for the past few years. Some may like this, others will be grossed. I toilet trained AA easily, best method is to have them feel themselves and ask if wet, then put on potty. You need a whole day to devote to the process. Let them feel the wet and they won't like it. Next, for diaper rash; air, water, and light are best. RAshes occur due to poor rinsing of diapers, or not enough frequent changing.

Kudos to the member who admits "we were so poor I had to hand wash my diapers". This is inspiration to others. I am proud of you that you washed by hand and saved your family the money. God Bless You.

[TBH]

Pennywise:

Another cheaper-than-kotex option for menstruation: the Keeper. I've been using gladrags for years (cloth menstrual pads) but only when I'm home. I just started using the keeper, which is a natural rubber cup. I think I'll still use a combo of disposables, gladrags, and the keeper, but it sure beats paying for five days' worth of pads or tampons.

http://www.thekeeper.com/
http://www.gladrags.com/

[TBH]

mom-from-missouri:

Thanks for the tip about keeping vinegar and detergent in the diaper pail. We've had a cloth diaper service for DS, and we've used disposables at nite and when out of the house. Now DS is 20 months, and I'm tired of paying for the service. I have a huge bunch of cloth diapers given to me by a friend, but I wasn't sure how to store them between washes so they don't get stinky.

Suggestions on what to use for a pail? Something with lid, probably, and something small enough to fit on top of the bookshelves we have beside the changing table so the kid doesn't stick toys into it (which he would if it was on the floor). Or do you keep the pail in the bathroom and just carry diapers in there after changing baby in the bedroom?

[pennywise]

Claire: explain further the Keeper. That rubber cup thing. I am interested.

[TBH]

It's a rubber cup that you insert, then remove and empty every few hours. I think for a while there was a disposable cup product (called "instead") but the keeper is supposed to last 10 years. Costs about $30, so I figured it would pay for itself in less than a year. I've had it for a couple of months. Still getting used to it, but it's especially easier when travelling than cloth options, and you don't have to empty it very often. It's getting more comfortable as I get used to it. More comfy than tampons, for example, because it doesn't need to go as far up as a tampon does.

If you decide to buy one, I'll tell you my "friend code" so when you order one I get a $5 kickback. I've never succeeded in getting the Ingdirect referral kickback. Maybe I'll have more luck with the Keeper.

Hope this thread is not too graphic for the squeamish! Altho I guess it started out as a diaper discussion so we've just moved on to different bodily functions.

[cercis]

Originally Posted by Bluezy

Congratulations to everyone who has had success with cloth nappies. It is a definate savings, even if it is inconvenient. However, I chose to invest in Pampers for my CJ. I've seen such horrid rashes result from cloth and decided that it was right for me to work the extra hours and get him in disposables.

CJ is 18 months old now and is getting himself organized for potty training, so it should not be much longer before I say goodbye to Pampers.

I think you might have been a little hasty to dismiss cloth because of rashes. I've seen just as many rashes with disposable diapers (my mother couldn't use disposable with me because the rashes were so bad).

If there is a rash that won't heal, it's likely a fungal infection and the diapers aren't being disinfected properly. Hanging them in the sun will kill most of the fungal spores. Also, you need to treat the rash different, regular rash cream typically won't work. You need to use an antifungal. In the years I was around women who cloth diapered I saw ONE fungal infection. And she was battling a yeast infection that was pretty severe (she was breastfeeding and had a yeast infection in the breasts). She disinfected the diapers with vinegar and sun, she allowed him to go without a diaper a lot and she treated the infection with Grapefruit Seed Extract.

I don't know if you plan to have any more kids, but if you do, I can direct you to some incredible resources about cloth diapering and safety.