Cloth Diaper Questions

CountingOnMe

So...I am toying with the idea of cloth diapering, mainly because it is cheaper.  But, I have a few questions....

Where have you found the best deal to buy them? 

What diapers do you like/not like?  I had a friend cloth diaper, and I remember not liking changing her babies when they had the snaps...I preferred the velcro closures

Did you buy ones that are one size fits all and essentially gorwn with the baby?

How many did/would you buy?  I know this depends on how often I want to wash, but what is a good round number?  I am actually considering using a diaper service to wash them, so I know I would need a lot more diapers that way. 

I had a link saved that had cloth diaper friendly daycares.  Does anyone still have that list?  And is is a total pain the a$$ to find a daycare that will do this?  My thought is if I have to go disposable for daycare, I will just do all disposable. 

I would appreciate any info!  TIA!

NebraskaBride06

I don't cloth diaper... but am considering for #2 when that times comes. I've been doing some design work for DiaperDaisy.com --- so I was meandering around their site and saw they have a Cloth Diaper Trial package. Robyn will be able to help you out more --- but I think it's kind of a cool thing to try them out for two weeks before committing fully: http://www.diaperdaisy.com/Cloth-Diaper-Trial-Package_p_8.html

katie00224

We like one size Grovia & fuzzibunz. I don't know exactly how many I have, but I can go 5 days without washing if I need to. I would recommend counting how many dipes you change in a day, doubling that an adding a couple if you want to wash every other day. As for where to start, I would recommend a trial if you don't know which type of system you'd like to try (prefolds/covers, pockets, AIOs etc) or if you think you know what direction you are going then buy some used dipes (check Spots on www.hyenacart.com, go to TTB's Fluff Again sale in March or check out the consignment drawers at Baby Junk). Good luck, cd'ing has worked really well for us!

cracky!

CountingOnMe:

So...I am toying with the idea of cloth diapering, mainly because it is cheaper.  But, I have a few questions....

Where have you found the best deal to buy them?  Used. 

What diapers do you like/not like?  I had a friend cloth diaper, and I remember not liking changing her babies when they had the snaps...I preferred the velcro closures.  I prefer the velcro, too, because of the ease and fit you can get with it, but an important thing to know is that velcro wears out and attracts A LOT of crap/build-up on it.  Therefore, the snaps will out perform.  That said, I have a mix of velcro & snaps.  My most favorites are AIO (all-in-one) diapers because there's no stuffing involved like with pocket dipes.  BumGenius Elementals are great (and I think they're actually called an AI2.).

Did you buy ones that are one size fits all and essentially gorwn with the baby?  Yes. 

How many did/would you buy?  I know this depends on how often I want to wash, but what is a good round number?  I am actually considering using a diaper service to wash them, so I know I would need a lot more diapers that way. Why the dipe service, you think?  I'm not sure how many we have, but my guess would be around 20.  I wash every 1-2 days, not because I have to, but because I can stand to let them sit longer than that.    We also use disposables at night, so we don't go through them too quickly.

I had a link saved that had cloth diaper friendly daycares.  Does anyone still have that list?  And is is a total pain the a$$ to find a daycare that will do this?  My thought is if I have to go disposable for daycare, I will just do all disposable. 

Omaha Area Natural Parents or something like that on facebook has a list.  I think, a lot of times, it's just showing that DCP how easy and sanitary it is (especially if you're using AIO or pockets).

I would appreciate any info!  TIA!

SuperCuteBenz

CountingOnMe:

Where have you found the best deal to buy them? Used from Diaperswappers, Spots Corner, etc.

What diapers do you like/not like?  I like pretty much everything. We have prefolds/covers, fitteds/covers, AIO and AI2s, pockets, etc. I use them all. I do prefer aplix for ease of use, but my snaps hold up way better. My aplix diapers look like crap, and I am not handy enough to replace the aplix.

Did you buy ones that are one size fits all and essentially gorwn with the baby? Yes, all of ours are one size except for prefolds.

How many did/would you buy? From what I have heard, services are expensive, so if you are doing it based on cost alone, then you might want to stick with disposables

You don't want to know how many I have. I could cloth diaper quads. No joke. Anyway, you could probably get away with doing 24 and washing every other day. I wash every 2-3 days.

brynners

I bought most of mine from one person on DiaperSwappers that was getting rid of her whole stash.  The other place that would be a great place to look is at the Fluff Again event put on by Top to Bottom Baby Boutique.  It'll be on March 24th at UNO this year.  You could talk to Jess at TTBBB before that too, I know she was selling some of the used stuff ahead of time because they have so much of it.  

So far we have only used the Tots Bots.  They leaked a bit for the first couple weeks until she really fit into them, but we have been leak free now for awhile, and once I figured out how to get them on tightly!  I have prefolds and covers to use at daycare, but we haven't tried them yet.  I like the Tots Bots because the insert is sewn in, but it unfolds out so that they dry in one dryer cycle.  They have the velcro closure, but it is the good stuff and looks like it will last awhile.

The Tots Bots are one size.  They do have a Tiny Fit version for newborns, and we did a 2 month rental in that size from TTBBB.  The one size would not have fit her at 7 lbs, but they fit well now at 12 lbs.

We have around 30 of them, and I wash them every other day.  This kid poops like a champ!  I was honestly worried about the extra laundry because I can barely keep up on regular laundry, but it's really not that bad.  I run them through the wash while I'm getting ready for bed, them toss them in the dryer before I go to sleep. 

brynners

I should add that DH has finally gotten around to changing a couple of diapers and he is doing well with them.  If he can do it, anyone can!  

kms34

CountingOnMe:

So...I am toying with the idea of cloth diapering, mainly because it is cheaper.  But, I have a few questions....

Where have you found the best deal to buy them? I buy used.  Craigslist, the CD board on the Bump, the cloth diaper swap group on FB

What diapers do you like/not like?  I had a friend cloth diaper, and I remember not liking changing her babies when they had the snaps...I preferred the velcro closures.  We have a mixture of velcro (Tots Bots) and snaps (Fuzzibunz and BG Elementals).  I like them all but our Fuzzibunz are WORN OUT and will not last long enough to be used by Zach.

Did you buy ones that are one size fits all and essentially gorwn with the baby?  We use one size but do have some Fuzzibunz in smalls and mediums (for overnights)

How many did/would you buy?  I know this depends on how often I want to wash, but what is a good round number?  I am actually considering using a diaper service to wash them, so I know I would need a lot more diapers that way. Personally I wouldnt' use a service but if you do they provide the diapers.  You would likely need a LOT b/c they only wash once a week.  I have 24-26 and that's always been enough.

I had a link saved that had cloth diaper friendly daycares.  Does anyone still have that list?  And is is a total pain the a$$ to find a daycare that will do this?  My thought is if I have to go disposable for daycare, I will just do all disposable. Don't give up on CD just b/c your daycare won't do it.  You'd still save a lot of money by Cding part time.

AudreyHpbrn

CountingOnMe:

So...I am toying with the idea of cloth diapering, mainly because it is cheaper.  But, I have a few questions....

Where have you found the best deal to buy them?  I first did the newborn rental at $75 (then purchased covers) for the first 3 months, then I did a 2 week rental to decide which diaper I liked the best.  This is all through Top to Bottom.  At the end of the day, we went with Rump-a-rooz velcro. 

What diapers do you like/not like?  I had a friend cloth diaper, and I remember not liking changing her babies when they had the snaps...I preferred the velcro closures

We went with velcro closures because during the newborn trial, I was afraid to snap too tight on baby and the velcro you have may more flexibility of positioning.  The only snaps we do have on ours is the sizing because it is a one size fits all.

Did you buy ones that are one size fits all and essentially gorwn with the baby? I love our one size fits all even though I know some have stated they think RARs fits small but I haven't had any issues.

How many did/would you buy?  I know this depends on how often I want to wash, but what is a good round number?  I am actually considering using a diaper service to wash them, so I know I would need a lot more diapers that way.  I ended up buying 30 of them.  We keep 5-6 of them as "nighttime" diapers by doubling up the inserts and then the rest as regular every day use.  We do laundry about every other day to every 2 days.  This is because of the answer below and our daycare provider.

I had a link saved that had cloth diaper friendly daycares.  Does anyone still have that list?  And is is a total pain the a$$ to find a daycare that will do this?  My thought is if I have to go disposable for daycare, I will just do all disposable.   My daycare provider is in home and is wiling to do cloth diaper.  With that said though, S goes to daycare in a cloth then she uses disposables because she supplies disposables for the families.  Then she puts S back in a cloth before we pick him up....hence the laundry load cycle is not bad during the week.  Again, I do not buy disposables, she supplies them but we always provide the cloth so if she wanted to keep him in cloth she can and some days she uses more cloth than disposables.

I love cloth diapers and I am so happy we went this route.  We have saved so much money and if we do have another kid, we will save even more.  I really don't mind the laundry aspect of it either and 98% of the time, I don't mind the rinsing of the diapers either since we have the diaper sprayer attached to the toilet.

If you want my daycare provider information, let me know.

 

I would appreciate any info!  TIA!

Wilwarin

Here is one of the lists for finding a cloth diaper-friendly daycare: http://daycare.realdiaperindustry.org/cloth-friendly-daycare-list

We use prefolds (my husband's faves) and fitted prefolds (my faves) from Green Mountain Diapers and really like them. Our front-loader washer just didn't get the other types of diapers clean (Fuzzi Buns, etc). 

Don't use a service, it really isn't time consuming AT ALL to wash them. 

AudreyHpbrn

Also, I bought my entire stash brand new but I found then for a discounted price and Top to Bottom was willing to price match for me.