Let me first preface this with the disclaimer that I am not an "expert" - I'm just going to share what I've found works best for me, and what hasn't worked. There's such a huge variety of cloth diapers for the very reason that every mama and baby are different, and my experiences may be vastly different than someone else's! But I have been using cloth for the main part of 4 years on 3 different children, so those are my "credentials". :-)
First, Manda left a comment with a few questions:
Do you find that covers contain blowouts?
Absolutely! Especially those with gussets at the legs. In the past 4 years, I can count on two hands the number of blow-outs in cloth I've had to deal with, where, with disposable diapers, I experience leaks or blow-outs daily!
How many do you have, and what kinds??
I have probably 8-10 covers in each size. I don't use that many in a day, but I like having decent back-up. I especially like Proraps (inexpensive, super durable, and extremely dependable), Thirsties (gussets on the legs, lots of fun, vibrant colors, and a great fit), and Bumkins (trim, lots of cute prints, but a bit pricey).
What do you do when infant prefolds are too small and regular are too long?
Hmmm... I am trying to remember. I honestly don't know if I've run into that problem. I've been able to use trifolded infant-sized prefolds up until toddler age, but I also didn't use them exclusively once the boys got to that size... I've always used a variety of things at that age! Regular prefolds do tend to be a bit bulky. So, I don't know that I'm of much help on that one, my apologies!
A friend in "real life" was asking me about the popular "one-size" diapers. I have tried them, and in fact, for my sister-in-law's baby shower, our family chipped in and got her a good rotation of them. In both my personal experience, and my sister-in-law's... they aren't worth the price. On newborns, they are very bulky, and after a good 6 months or so of regular use and washing, we encountered elastic failure as well as lots of leaking. My sister-in-law's began leaking so badly that they were completely unusable, before she even used them for an entire year. So much for infant-to-toddler usage! So I don't recommend investing in them, especially since they are pricey but don't live up to expectations. However, they are extremely popular, so others must have had better luck with them than we did. I will say that once past infant stage, I really loved the fit- very trim and easy to use, and I really, really wanted them to be the "perfect" diaper for us. I was disappointed when they proved to be unreliable.
I also wanted to explain more about how I use my cloth diapers. For the infant stage, I've been using preemie sized prefolds, rather than infant. However, preemie sized don't have as many absorbant layers as infant, so I've been doubling up. First, I lay the prefold into a cover, trifolded in the front, but flaring out in the back to help catch messes and keep the covers clean. Then I trifold another preemie prefold and lay it in the middle of the first one, so that there's a double layer of absorbancy. Here's a picture, since its tricky to explain (click to enlarge for better detail):
For wipes, I use baby washcloths. I fold them in half, lay them in an old plastic wipes container, and pour a little warm water in to get them moist. That way both the diapers and wipes can just be tossed into the diaper pail and washed!
Cloth diapering can sound intimidating at first, but I would assure anyone interested that it is very easy, economical, and, of course, "green" ;-) Feel free to ask any other questions you might have, I'm more than happy to help if I can!
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5 comments:
Hey Erin,
How many cloth diapers do you have in each size and how often do you wash them? What do you do with them immediately after changing one?
Meggan
I've enjoyed you cloth diaper posts. We have been using cloth with the twins for almost two years. I have wonder wraps and prefolds. The wonder wraps are supposed to work from 9 to 35 lbs. They have snaps that make them smaller. The snaps would unsnap every time I adjusted the diapers to put them on. I used them anyway. They have held up well. I rarely have a blow out. We have 3 dozen prefolds and 12 covers. I wash every other day. I just ordered some things for the new baby from www.babyworks.com. They sent me a coupon code MR09. You can save $5.00 on $35.00 or $10.00 on $75.00. Thanks for the fun post!
Sherri
Sherri, thanks for the heads up on the coupon code!!
Meggan, I didn't want to start yet another post on cloth diapering, so I hope you check back and find this!
I have way too many cloth diapers in each size, but I think the recommendation is 4-6 covers and maybe 10-12 diapers per day, in each size, depending on how often you want to do wash. (So, if you want to wash every day, that will be enough, if you want to wash every other day, its good to have 8-10 covers and 20+ diapers, I hope that makes sense!) I wash about every other day.
Immediately after changing them, I put them into a small, lidded trash can that I use as a diaper pail, and just leave them until wash day. Then I carry the trash can to the laundry room and dump them into the washer, so I don't have to touch dirty diapers. I'll disinfect the diaper pail (trash can) while the diapers are washing. :-)
When I'm not doing EC, I have gone back to the good old prefolds as well! They are so economical and easy to use. Though I have quit using covers so now I know when he wets immediately and can change him. That is when we are at home...I do use covers when we are out!
As to the infant prefold question--we use infant prefolds and just fold them down to make them the right length for our babies. Also adds a bit more absorbancy. ;-)
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