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mother-ease diapers are our faves!

I use BumGenius (all in ones) - but encourage anyone and everyone to give any of the brands a try - they are great! They have been SO easy to use and well worth the money we've spent on them. Thank you for encouraging people to give them a try!

We are expecting our second (boy) in August. I didn't use cloth diapers with our son, who is now 17mo. and soon to begin potty training. I know my mother-in-law did--but I am sure much has changed since then-- and I would love to learn/hear more! I just read some info over @ Simple Mom, which was very helpful. If anyone has any tips, pros/cons, favorite brands, or methods... please, post!!

We've really liked Thirsties diaper covers with pre-folds -- they've worked well since we brought the little one home from the hospital and (five months later) through three different sizes. We've still to see how the cloth diapering works out after she starts solids, and as she gets more mobile, but very happy so far. And not a single case of actual diaper rash yet (some red skin, but no rash).

My two words of advice for parents considering cloth diapering: (1) With all the options available, a local store that carries different cloth diapering styles is invaluable, both so you can see the different options in person and so you can get advice on a cloth diaper system that fits your lifestyle and your baby. (2) Cloth diapering is very easy if you have your own washer/dryer, but requires a whole 'nother level of committment if you have shared laundry facilities.

Another option to remember when you're considering cloth diapers is a diaper service. I remember looking into it before my boy was born and it would have cost about $18/week in Chicago for diapers to be delivered and for the dirties to be picked up and washed.

Great guide! Hope it encourages more people to cloth diaper! Loved learning about cloth diapering when I was pregnant with my first.

Have cloth diapered 2 children, and have tried many different diapers. Here are our recommendations:

Our favourite are Imse Vimse - the organic terry prefolds with bumpy wool covers for night and the organic all-in-one for day as well as Windpro fleece pocket diapers (with hemp trifold soakers inside). (sorry, but had terrible experiences with motherease -- they never worked for us)

Finding the latter is very difficult (due to Fuzzibunz driving the WAHMs out of business), but I did find an online pattern with instructions that seem to be similar to our favourite sort of diaper (we have them in sizes from tiny newborn through to large toddler).

Here is the pattern:

http://diaperfabric.com/sew-a-fleece-pocket-diaper-with-traditional-back-opening/

You can order windpro fleece directly from the Malden Mills online shop -- well, Malden Mills went under, but the employees have recreated it:

http://www.milldirecttextiles.com/dept2.asp

I have posted my recommendations for cloth wipes here many times; at the risk of being repetitive, here goes:

- The best fabric combo is fleece/velour. Get 4 - 6 dozen (from WAHMs); they are cheap and very handy.

- Get a diaper wipe warmer. Really. Makes a huge difference: you fold them and stack in the diaper wipe warmer, and pour wipe liquid on, and they are ready. Cleans with only 1 cloth, unlike disposable wipes.

- Wipe liquid: 2 ounces distilled water, 2 TB pure aloe vera, 1 TB grapeseed oil, 1 TB Dr. Bronner's mild baby soap, 12-15 drops lavender oil, 12-15 drops tea tree oil mixed in a Rubbermaid jug (good for about a week).

Good luck and good diapering!

My husband and I really found it to be fun!

We use fuzzibunz and absolutely love them. We bought 12 and have to do a load of laundry almost everyday, but so worth it. One time he was having a poop issue so the doctor's office had me put a disposable on him and it felt terrible...like I was wrapping him in paper.

Hoorah for doing this! I love using cloth diapers. My favorites are Bumgenius...just can't say enough good things about them. Worth every penny you spend on them. Using disposables now makes me feel weird, I can't really explain it. But everyone must do what's best for them.

I was fascinated with cloth diapering when my daughter (now 3) was born, but I was too chicken to try it. The economy and a "renewed commitment to the Earth" made my give it a go for my son. We actually use a combination of AIO's and prefolds or Motherease with Thirsties covers... just depends on how we're feeling that day. Which brings me to this point: Monday through Thursday, my son wears mostly disposables because I work those days and I just don't feel like fooling with 'em... neither does his babysitter. But Thursday night through Monday morning, he is a happy cloth diapered baby! My advice is just to do what you're comfortable with and give yourself a break on the rest! Every little bit helps and I'm pretty sure that just cutting out disposables those few days has lightened our trash by at least 25 pounds...!

With both my kids (almost 4 and 1.5), we've potty trained them for poop at around a year old. It really isnt that hard - babies are very obvious about when they poop. Complete toilet training is much harder, my son didnt get it till a little before 2.

We transitioned to cloth diapers once the kids are completely poop trained. A major negative to cloth is the whole idea of washing poop out of it. At least for us, I wasnt comfortable with the whole process of scraping poop into the toilet from the cloth diaper, pre-soaking etc, and then washing poopy diapers in our washer. Cloth diapers work so much better and easier and with much less ick-factor once poop is out of the equation.

I've used both the super-simple and fancy cds. I like simple best. My pref is a 100% cotton prefold (hard to find but easy to make from old flannel sheets and terry towels), pinned, with a nylon pull-on cover. The nylon lasts really well and is super wet-protective. Vinyl is cheap and easily accessed but tends to crack - but I recieved a package well over a year ago that's still going strong, so maybe they've improved? Anyhow, prefolds are one-size-fits all which is a must for folks without much extra space. You can alter the fold to accomodate size (I twist in the center and fold down the front for a more bikini-type fit, giving more absorption in the front for my boys).

I do NOT like anything with a poly-u lining (PUL) whether as a separate cover or sewn-on. In my experience and that of several friends it is more like water-resistant than water-proof. Pee leakage all over the place.

For poo - I've heard good things about the rice paper liners (looks just like toilet paper). You pull off a few squares and line the diaper, then dump the whole contents into the toilet - the paper is toilet and septic safe. If it's just a wet diaper you can rinse them out well, dry and re-use (too expensive IMO to throw out without poo).

Also, for those who might be interested in the really old-fashioned diapering - just a massive square of cloth, there's this video on an easy fold pattern on this blog: a 5-year old did it in less than a minute.

http://ccostello.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-long-does-it-take-to-fold-diaper.html

Re: PUL leaking (and fleece too) -- or smelly:

It's an issue of what detergent used for washing. Regular detergent does not work well, and even "free and clear" detergents can cause build-ups which make covers leak.

SportWash has worked for us -- we have never had pee leakage.

http://www.atsko.com/products/laundry-care/sport-wash-residue-free-detergent.html

It is the identical stuff as SensiClean, they just put a different label on it. It's great for ALL laundry!:

http://www.atsko.com/products/laundry-care/sensi-clean-iritation.html

We started with a diaper service here in Manhattan and quickly went to doing it ourselves. The weekly pickup was 1) not frequent enough and 2) inconveniently timed for us. Ultimately, we ended up using BumGenius pocket diapers, and I wish we'd started with that (would have saved some money). We sometimes use g-diapers when we're out and about, but we've occasionally had problems with having them clog the plumbing. I think for our family the real test will come at the end of the summer when we move to a new apartment and shared laundry facilities.

My experience with cloth versus disposable (other than the absolute shock at how many disposables we go through) is that the cloth is practically leak-proof compared to the disposables. I've found cloth to be very easy to use, and we've had almost no problems with diaper rash.

If you're interested, I would strongly suggest a using a trial program such as the one offered by Jillian's Drawers

http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/tryclothfor10/tryclothfor10

This will allow you to try out several different brands to see what will fit your child best.

We love our cloth. We use mainly prefolds and thirsties covers. We also have splurged and have a few goodmamas. We wash everything in country save and have no problems with stink!

I use bumgenius all in ones and I love them. Yay for cloth! It's really only a few extra loads a week and if you're doing laundry all the time anyways - I say go for it!