Any Cdiers use Cloth Diapers?

[SaoriViola]

So i've probably changed less than a handful of diapers in my entire life, but all that's going to change come September!     

so i had been looking and looking for the kind of diapers i want and was getting really frustrated at the lack of a naturally made, biodegradable disposable diaper.  when i asked my friends on FB what kind of diapers they like and why, one of my teachers from high school who has twins says that she uses bumGenius Flip covers with stay dry inserts.  she couldn't say enough great things about it and aside from the environmental impact, she estimated that with her twins she would save around $5,000 over the expanse of their diapering years. 

does anyone else cloth diaper?  do you have a specific system you like using, or do you have a bunch of different brands?  how do you approach laundering?

i'm really dorkily excited at the prospect of doing this, and i also like the fact that on the mothering forums they call Cloth Diapering "CD". 

[Debangel]

I've never used them myself, but I'm a nanny and I can tell you that here in the People's Republic of Boulder, the cloth diaper is king, and Bum Genius is the #1 choice.

Have you ever heard of a blogger named Amalah?  Check her out at her name, .com..I forget the name of the site she writes for as an advice columnist, as it changed a bit, but she's a mom of three who cloth diapers, and she has a debate on types of cloth diaper systems.  Googling her on the topic should work.

Hope that helped..I will try and look her up when I am not too tired to see!  Congrats on your impending mommyhood..and if you're ever in Boulder and need a sitter, look me up!

[Mrs Mitchell]

Yes, we used them. I can't recall the brand, but they were made of bamboo fibre. You used a liner, a little fabric diaper and a waterproof outer wrapper.

We had a dozen diapers and I think 3 or 4 of the wrappers, since you don't have to change that every time. Have to say, left to my own devices, I couldn't have done it. DH did all the laundering of them, because they made me gag. Some areas have pick up and deliver laundry services though - I'd look into that if it's available!

[lovecolor]

Congratulations SaorViola!   Very exciting news and don't worry...I had never even held a baby before my little one came, he's 19 yrs old now, it's amazing how the time really does fly.  But to be honest, I was "scared" when the nurse put her hand on the door and was attempting to leave my hospital room after she handed me my baby.  I screamed, "where are you going???"  Of course, after I got home, I didn't want to put him down or pass him off to anyone.  The diaper choices today are amazing, so good for you to be thinking about it now and coming up with a less costly and environmentally sound  option.   I'd have an issue with gaging like Mrs. M, so it would have to be a laundry service or disposables for me.  Good luck with figuring that out and try to enjoy your quiet time for the next couple of months.                

[clgwli]

Yes, we used them. I can't recall the brand, but they were made of bamboo fibre. You used a liner, a little fabric diaper and a waterproof outer wrapper.

We had a dozen diapers and I think 3 or 4 of the wrappers, since you don't have to change that every time. Have to say, left to my own devices, I couldn't have done it. DH did all the laundering of them, because they made me gag. Some areas have pick up and deliver laundry services though - I'd look into that if it's available!

I agree with this. I looked into cloth diapering years ago and of course now the cloth vs disposable site I found is gone.  It turns out that a lot of times it isn't much better for the environment with all the water consumption and nasty detergent going into our world than doing throw aways.  I was shocked to read that... also cloth can be very expensive if you have a difficult baby where many brands don't work.  I've had friends spend hundreds on cloth only to have the diaper leak through.  Many people also dump the poop in the toilet and then flush making it far worse for water conservation.

However a diaper service is usually priced well, the use of the massive machines and different detergent types can be significantly better for the environment than doing it at home.  sadly when we went to get diapers there were no services here, but they really have picked up in the last year or two in particular.  You also don't have the poop issue (do you just toss it, do you flush it etc) as they deal with all of that.

I've used cloth with other children I watch and I use and we used throw aways.  The poop issue is the biggest personally for me and having to deal with some products just not fitting children (causing lots of pee throughs and blow outs) so I would have to pick a service myself.

Fuzzi Bunz was the brand of choice for everyone though.  After using them I have to say they were a good brand in general. 

I did have one friend make all of hers if you are interested I can ask her where the site is if you are interested. 

Personally after the research I did I would go with a diaper service.  If I had another child now, I'd definitely go that route.  I probably always would take throw aways with me while vacationing though.

[Mrs Mitchell]

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency did some research into this - they found that while the carbon footprint around the use of non-disposables could equal, and in rural areas with vans collecting them, exceed that of disposables, the environmental detriment of disposable diapers in landfill was far more significant than the water use and carbon footprint. They concluded that even at the worst of it (ie you live in a very rural area with a twice weekly delivery) it was still by far the better choice from an environmental point of view.

They also tried to factor in the truck- miles and sometimes even air miles to deliver disposable diapers to rural stores and then the miles driven from rural households to the store and back.

If you do launder at home, Ecover detergent is a good choice, as it doesn't damage water courses and it  doesn't leave chemicals behind on the fabric.

[clgwli]

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency did some research into this - they found that while the carbon footprint around the use of non-disposables could equal, and in rural areas with vans collecting them, exceed that of disposables, the environmental detriment of disposable diapers in landfill was far more significant than the water use and carbon footprint. They concluded that even at the worst of it (ie you live in a very rural area with a twice weekly delivery) it was still by far the better choice from an environmental point of view.

They also tried to factor in the truck- miles and sometimes even air miles to deliver disposable diapers to rural stores and then the miles driven from rural households to the store and back.

If you do launder at home, Ecover detergent is a good choice, as it doesn't damage water courses and it  doesn't leave chemicals behind on the fabric.

That is neat to read!  Obviously my information is about 4+ years old so who knows what they have found since then.  It did deal with carbon footprint and cost only though... if I remember correctly.  One neat feature was that the site I went to took your specific machine in mind.  Ours was a water monster and an energy sucker as well.  Since we are not allowed to line dry here we can't even save on energy that way.  For my specific home at the time it was a wash per year with diapers.  Water here is very expensive though so that added into it I think.  It was a neat site that was very non-opinion based and of course now it's gone    Okay it did have an opinion... to research well before jumping into a choice LOL  I appreciated it for the honesty.

Since then we have gotten HE front loader washer that really does cut down on it.  If we had that washing machine before we had our son, it would have been a no brainer.  We use far less water and detergenet.  Now I buy detergent that is eco friendly too and is affordable.  All those things weren't readily available to us even 4 years ago when making the choice.

This comes from a lady who has made her own house cleaners for years now too because I dislike all the chemicals we are putting into the environment.  I'm working on the food aspect now so we get less stuff in our meat even.  I keep saying I should make my own detergent but now we get the eco friendly type I lost interest in doing so.

I don't want to put down cloth at all, I just really would look into a service first.  I was considering switching and then my son quickly potty trained.  I think a service is the best for the environment (provided you live close and dont' require a lot of drive time to turn them in) and money wise.  I admittedly think that commercial washers are better suited for this type of cleaning.

Though this reminds me to look into reusable overnights.  He rarely pees at night and we are just using old diapers that we had laying around.  We never used pull ups either or even traing pants so thanks for this thread... I'll search for ways to get or make good overnights for little ones.

[SaoriViola]

hi guys!

thanks for all the feedback.  bumGenius does seem to be king right now, though lots of people are also talking about fuzzi bunz.  my friend used gDiapers, but i don't like that you have to buy sizes S through L, seems like a waste when most of the best regarded diapers are 'one size'.

we have a front loading HE machine and the line drying is not a problem in my neighborhood (i'll probably dry in the back covered porch area anyways).  i also recently came across a great DIY laundry detergent recipe which uses Naptha Soap, Borax powder and Washing Soda.  it's super cheap to make and does an outstanding job.  for now though, my mom bought me Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper laundry detergent and some other eco friendly detergent that's also cloth diaper friendly.  i can't remember what its called though.  our water bill is also pretty cheap here, we have to pay double for the 'waste water' but that's still only about $25/month total.

from what i've been reading all the chemicals and processing used in disposables alone are enough to make cloth diapers the easy winner environmentally, but if you include HE machines, eco-friendly detergent, and line drying, it's a landslide.  also there HAS to be more gas burned for disposables getting from the manufacturer to the store to your house than the cloth, though a diaper service might add some additional carbon footprint if you did them.  supposedly one baby makes over 1 ton of disposable diaper waste through their diapering years.  and the current average is about $2,000 for a baby through potty training for disposables, if you were opting for a 'greener' disposable like Seventh Generation or Earth's Best you're probably looking at closer to $3,000.  Even spending $800 (most say you only need about $500) on your cloth stash, the extra laundry for the 2 plus years can't be even close to taking you up to $2k. 

ok, off my soapbox.. :/

squigs - i think you might want to look into doing some prefold cloth diaps for your overnight needs.  amazon has really good unbleached Indian cotton prefolds for between $20 - $30.  i think that's a 12 pack.  also econobum has a really cheap waterproof cover that you can easily quickly clean in the sink and hang dry in the bathroom if you only need that temporary overnight solution. 

[clgwli]

SV we actually have cloth diapers in our house.  I use them in other ways now.  Unfortunately they dont' hold in place in his regular undies.  I need something a bit more "water proof" that wouldn't be hot and sweaty at night (so the "rubber pants" are out).  I found some cute overnight pants for about $20/each which isn't bad.  You can add more absorbency if need be with the liners.  

I might ask my friend who made her son's diapers to see if she could make me a couple of pairs (I'm sure that's all I'd need) and then get the liners that I used to use in his diapers when he would pee through anything under the sun at night.

As it is we reuse when we can and really are just getting rid of our supply.  I think I have about 2 months left since we go through very very few diapers in a week.  He's been day trained for quite a while now.

While we did use throw aways, I was always conscious of everything we did when we did do it and used the best research at the time when looking up.  Obviously bigger and better come along.  If we were to do it again I'd go cloth hands down now that we have great services in the neighborhood.

I even did use cloth and reusables for some things and didn't bother with real pull ups while training.  

I did spend only about $1500 on diapers though, but buying in bulk does help there.  Conversely if you know someone who is in need to get rid of their cloth shells you can try to get them cheap.  If you are okay with buying used that will help out too.   I know FuzziBunz in particular was passed down as a big favorite among my friends.  I'd say half did it and half didn't.  And a handful tried and had difficult children with peeing/pooping and couldn't afford to buy new brands to try  But a lot in my area do try to do the best they can.

One honest suggestion even from my super crunchy friends... take diapers from the hospital/birthing center to use until the "tar poop" goes away.  A few friends had to toss shells that were costly not thinking about how really impossible that stuff is to get out.  It's only a few days

Water for us costs about $50/month with me trying really hard to conserve it.  Just before we had our son it cost us about $60-70 and that went up bad even with what little extra (his clothes) we added.  The end result was we were going to spend significantly more on cloth because of our POS machine (like $700/yr )

Look into pails for the poop and rinse water.  This might be disgusting but look up "family cloth" to see how people deal with using cloth rags instead of toilet paper.  They have awesome ways of dealing with soiled cloth until it is time to do laundry.  That will help save more on water since I know some who dumped the poop in the toilet and then flushed... yay water conservation there

It's truly amazing to me with how much things have changed since my son was born with environmentally friendly products.  They didn't even readily have eco friendly diapers available until he was older.  Now it's very easy to find things like that in case you want to use them while traveling for example.  I personally love it and hope that this is a trend that all will follow.

Now we just need day cares to be willing to do cloth diapers (a big issue here still ).  I have noticed with food products that there is a pull to be natural and I hope it goes into more here in the US.

So you can see I really was ready to do it, but there were a few thing$$$$ that held us back

[SaoriViola]

squigs, that's such a bummer about your old machine!  would have driven me batty.  i know you did the best for your son and family and i was totally not preaching or anything, just for anyone else out there reading who was thinking about it, i wanted to make the pros that i'd read about known.  there's also a really cool thing where you can sample a bunch of different diapers from a web company for almost nothing.  if my mom hadn't been so awesome and bought me a bunch of different kinds to try already i'd most likely have done this trial http://www.jilliansd...hfor10/tryclothfor10 here.  for $10 plus $10 shipping the'll send you a bunch of different style diapers to try and return after 21 days.  pick which style you liked/fit best and rock on!

[clgwli]

Oh I know you weren't preaching.  I did a boatload of research into this before I made the choice.  It was right for us at the time and we do balance things out in other ways.  In reality the end result is that any family should do what is right for them, screw what others say.

That diaper sample rocks though!!!  I know a few of my friends probably wish they could've done that.  Can you imagine spending hundreds of dollars just to have your child pee through it every single time?  Happened to one of my friends and they were not well off enough to afford doing that all over again.

I admit I love how easy it is getting.  I also love seeing that people at least think before they do something.  Not that everyone has to cloth diaper, or whatever, just that people do think about what is really best.  I think that is awesome!

I willl toss out something huge.  Are you planning on using daycare?  If so i would hunt now for ones that take cloth diapers.  A few of my friends have issues with that still.  In fact one of my friends had a real issue finding someone when she lost her current gal.  I was probably not a good friend to not offer to watch him for a while, but I needed a vacation from difficult children

All this talk does make me want to have another baby *sigh*  doesn't help that my son has been asking for a brother or sister LOL

[clgwli]

Oh as an aside I love the way baby butts look in cloth diapers.  They are so much fuller looking LOL

A personal thing after using them watching other kids, I really think that while close to home they are really easy to deal with so don't let people tell you otherwise.  Even poop was easy to deal with.  One used a diaper service so I would just bag them all up and that would be it.  The other I just dumped into the diaper pail and put the insert into a bag.  They really aren't all that bad though I don't have much of a gag reflex for that.

Really both were easy to do especially with how easy the shells are to use with the snaps and all.

[SaoriViola]

i think as long as i don't focus on the smell i should be OK.  i do have a sensitive nose, but i don't have a sensitive stomach.  iv'e actually only ever thrown up a handful of times in my life. 

i'm very very fortunate in that i work for my husband, who works for himself.  after he graduated law school and shopped around for a job to no avail we decided we just had to bite the bullet and start our own firm.  i quick starbucks to help him and have been able to work from home ever since.  we have very little overhead and live simply enough, i.e. used cars, no cable, cheap cell phones, etc. that we don't have to have two incomes at this point.  as long as we can get a few clients a month we can pay rent, mortgage, insurance, etc. and do ok.  i'm super blessed to not have to worry about going back to work and finding a daycare for our baby once she comes.  we also have the most supportive grandparents in the world who i know will babysit every weekend if we need.  of course, i doubt i'm going to abuse them like my brother-in-law and his baby-mama do.  argh, but that's another conversation! 

anyways, i'm just super excited about this super dorky cloth diapering thing.  did i mention i cut up an old sheet to make cloth baby wipes and i found a bunch of different recipes for making wholesome and cheap wipe solution?  dorky excitement abounds at my house.

[Mrs Mitchell]

Hold up, my info was possibly no use to you in practical terms - I live in a country where water isn't metered and use is unrestricted. There's a lot of water in Scotland at the best of times, and we never really think twice about using it. 

Our machine is energy efficient front loading (most of them are here) and an ecowash cycle is low energy use, so the calculations where you live might look different. Still, the biggest damage is the landfill issue, so even just avoiding that is probably worth it.

clgwli, why can't you line dry laundry? I only use my drier when it's raining (granted, that's around 50% of the time here) but most people line dry unless they live in a city apartment. Many of these are even built with drying greens.  I can't believe you aren't allowed to put washing out, I never heard of that before!

[clgwli]

SV we are sisters in that whole smell & getting sick thing.  I've rarely gotten sick including during pregnancy (though I was miserable with dry heaves) and so I don't have a very strong reflext like that.  There have been only a handful of diapers in my life that have been so dang nasty that made me want to gag and they weren't even my son's.  I won't go into it, but the kid seriously has stomach issues and so it showed below *shudders*  I sincerely doubt if you are anything like me that you will have issues with poop!

You are so lucky to be able to stay home if that is what you want.  It was something a few of my friends didn't realize (cloth vs throw away) so they went to home care.  I know at least two friends who wouldn't even think of cloth because they wanted to use a huge group day care which wouldn't allow cloth for sanitary reasons.  Makes sense really but kind of hard on people who want a choice.

One of the kids I watched also did reusable wipes.  I couldn't get myself into that for some reason.  We did use some eco friendly ones though (and still do - baby wipes help clean up everything and if they don't the unfolded cloth diapers do ).   Those we found pretty easily.  Again I will suggest to use something you can toss the first few days with the tar poop.  That stuff was really tough to get off... we even asked for the nurses help one day before I was discharged.  

I will say just simply dipping it in water works well too though.  I did that for one girl I watched and it was so easy.  I'd just keep a cup of water on the dresser and dip into that when I needed.  When done I'd put it all in the wash bag.  You can try your solution but in reality I don't think it is needed much if you bathe your child regularly.

Also an FYI as something I chose was to avoid baby powder.  I never used it once on my son and he did just fine.  It's minor but one more thing I really feel babies don't need to have on their skin.  You might want to read into that to see how you feel as well.

Aww Jen I thought your information was highly useful.  I don't think I've ever seen someone really do that here.  A lot of the information for the US that I found online years ago was very very one sided which makes it tough to decide.  In fact I know some people who actually try to guilt you into doing it their way.  Anyway I know water is an issue here but it isn't universal over the US as you can see even comparing two of us.  Different areas have different needs with water.

As for the line drying, I can do it in the basement and I do that for some things, but it is a basement and not all that dry here so I don't like line drying everything.
Outdoors though it's a law in my city that there are to be no visible lines in the yard.  They think it looks tacky    We have other rules about yard upkeep and things like that too.  It's not terribly uncommon in suburban areas to have that rule.  A lot of homes in one area and people I guess don't want to see someone's undies left to dry or something.  Admittedly I wouldn't do it much anyway due to some sensitivities in the house on my husband's end (allergies and skin issues).  Air quality her isn't all that great.

Like I said I do some line dry in the basement but the musty smell and lack of space too keep me from doing it for everything.  I do have a huge dryer though so it takes far less time to dry laundry than it used to here.  It has a good energy star rating at least.

When our washer died again (motor to spin clothes broke) we went all out and got the best of the best with energy and water use.  We really did notice a huge difference in water savings.  Our energy savings was noticable too... then again it is way more noticable in the gas usage since we got the tankless water heater too!

For me though, if you don't give a snit about the environment that is your call too.  It shouldn't be something you are guilted into doing anyway.  Just something you want to do.  I like hearing that people do care because to a reasonable point I do.  I just had to say that since lately I have been guilted into doing some things by people I know.

[annie1]

Flips with Stay Dry liners are exactly what I chose after tons of research!  I was very happy with them, but my LO isn't a big nighttime wetter.  I would guess that if you have a big nighttime wetter, you might need a different night diaper.  I love how slim the Flips are, and they're quite affordable. 

Honestly though, we ended up switching to disposable awhile ago.  It was just a set of various circumstances that didn't make cloth work for us anymore.  I was, however, very happy with them while we used them, and they certainly paid for themselves.

[saqsay1]

I have considered using cloth diapers, but unfortunately my baby is going on 41 and they don't fit....

[ah2bqat]

Just wait, saqsay, this too will change.  Pretty soon too many boomers are gonna be researching alternatives to Depends (that's an adult disposable diaper for you non-USA folks).  I know we used them for my Dad's last couple of years.  Mom didn't give a fig about the environmental impact, just what worked most easily for her.  And I don't blame her.  Living in a relatively small condo, one has to be very neighbor conscious on both smells and laundry room usage.  Besides, at 80-something, she just didn't want to mess with the mess.