Thursday, 12 February 2009
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Know Anything About Cloth Diapers? I Need Help!
I have a friend who is due in April and wants to use cloth diapers. She has used them for the 1st year on her first 2 children. However, she is having major trouble finding what she likes. I've been scouring the internet (diaperswappers.com, hyenacart.com, etc.) and I'm not having much luck.
Here is what she wants:
- Cloth flat fold diapers (NOT prefold). She wants it to be the same thickness throughout, not thicker in the middle. The only ones she has found are Gerber and they are way too thin for a diaper--better for burping rags.
- She also admires the All In One type diapers, but cannot see paying $20 each. She says she'll probably need at least 20 diapers to start out with. The most affordable ones I have found are Kushies at walmart.com for $45 for a 5 pack.
I wish I had known what she wanted before now so I could have been looking longer. I have become very educated on cloth diapers, though. I never imagined there were so many types! I really like the All in Ones. When I get pregnant, I'll probably start building a supply of them as soon as possible. You know, between researching this for her, and researching everything from cribs to breast pumps for my sister in law, I am getting overwhelmed--and I'm not even expecting! Maybe I'm not so ready to have a baby...or maybe I'll let them have the babies first and get their gently used hand me downs for free or cheap!
PLEASE--If you know anything about cloth diapers, help me! If you can suggest sites or brands or anything, please do! I'm desperate!! I've been looking nearly nonstop for 2 weeks and my brain is turning to mush!
Also, if you know any good breast pump options, let me know. I'm trying to help my sis in law find a good one affordably. Should you buy a used one? Is an electric pump necessarily better? She will be working 2 or 3 days a week for 1/2 a day each. This is her first baby.
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- From: princess_deidre
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Comments (20)
Try diaper services. Some of them sell the new diapers to the public and that's where I found the kind she wants. They were very inexpensive and brand new sealed in packages of 10 and I think I paid $40 for 10.
I had 3 babies in diapers at once. 1 of my own and two foster children and it was the only way I could afford them all! lol
It looks like a lot of money upfront but have her do the math. She's going to need about twenty diapers, at around 20 dollars each -- that's 400 dollars up front --- but then she's not going to have to buy diapers again for a long time!!
Does she have a reason she wants the flat diapers?
@BEAUTIFULCINNAMONQUEEN@xanga - I agree with the diaper service too. Especially the first couple of months. They will pick up and drop off everyday or every other day. I found a service where I live that's 17 dollars a week, that's still way cheaper than buying disposable every week, unless you are buying Target brand diapers.
I can't give you any help on the cloth diapers, but I can give my two cents on breast pumps. *They* say that for sanitary reasons you should never share or buy a used breast pump. However, if you have your own parts there is only a one-in-a-million chance that the pump itself could have gotten bacteria from breastmilk in it. To each his own. I purchased a new Medela pump (the nicest, non-hospital grade pump) when I started having supply issues. My cheap Evenflo one just wasn't cutting it. Medela electric pumps are FANTASTIC and if your sis-in-law really wants to continue breastfeeding after she goes to work, she really should consider investing in the expensive one. OR she could probably do a month-by-month rental from an area lactition consultant's office. I would probably recommend renting a Medela pump for one month to see how she likes it and then going out and buying one if it works out.
I don't know about cloth diapers, but I can you about breast pumps. I used the Avent Isis hand pump and loved. In fact, many people I talked to used it too, and they all loved it. With my first baby, I worked 2 days a week, 1/2 days. But, with my second, I exclusively pumped for 6 weeks straight (he wouldn't latch on). This pump was very convenient and cheap. In fact, I bought an electric one to see if it would be any better (lanisohl double pump). I didn't like it at all and stuck with my hand pump.
hey there!
i have four kids, have cloth diapered them all and breast fed them all... i use the medela pump. i am a SAHM and feed on demand, but liked the pump to have a supply in the freezer- i never had a supply issue, but did have a hard time getting much in the pump- without the strong suction of the electric- i wouldn't have gotten much of anything- also being able to pump both sides at once helped a lot.
diapers. i use the nonfolded flat kind with velcro fasteners. i use the plastic pants on the outside- and if i needed more absorbtion, i used the disposable inserts. ..after multiple kids, i found these worked the best. my son's OT said that many cloth diapers are so thick that they actually delay things like sitting and can cause issues with walking later- causing very bowed legs. the ones i use aren't super thin, but they aren't very thick either- think they are just the gerber ones..and they were always enough. thin enough for the kids to move around, thick enough to absorb... sometimes i had wetness leak out, but hey- i do laundry every day anyways. :)
feel free to contact me with any other questions- this is certainly all just my opinion.
http://www.chunkymonkeydiapers.com/page/page/5012333.htm
When I was doing cloth, these were my favorites. They were the cheapest at the time and held the most since my daughter was a very heavy wetter. They are very well put together and seriously, they held almost as much as a disposable. Still pretty pricey but well worth it IMO.
Jane
Clothdiaper.com has great package deals. Your friend is getting pre-folds confused with fitted or contoured diapers. prefolds are not folded. they are flat just like the gerber ones from walmart* but, they have been sewn together to be thick enough to actually use for a diaper. I don't know why they call them pre-folds. clothdipaer.com does sell flat dipaers, but I would order 1 small pacakge (a dozen) to see if they are thick enough. I don't think they will be. If I were to do it again, I would use fitted diapers instead of the flat/prefold. When they get older and start to move a lot, it is so much easier. The fitted diapers are already shaped so you don't have to fold them before putting them in the cover. Some of them have their own snaps so you don't have to use them with a cover all the time. It allows their skin to breath more freely instead of always being in a water-proof cover. All in ones are great, but hard to clean. I would go with a pocket diaper instead. Its the same as the all in one but you can take it apart. You are less likely to get detergent build up (diaper stink), and it takes less drying time than the all in ones.
Cloth diapers are a big investment up front, but well worth the money. You only have to buy them once, you spend way more money on disposables. I will be able to use my cloth diapers with my next child so that's even less money that I will have to spend.
As for a breastpump, I use Medela. Never had any problems with it.
ETA: My son never had any problems with sitting, standing,or walking. His legs are not bowed from the use of "thick" cloth diapers, but then again I did look around for all in ones that did not give my son sumo wrestler butt.
Both of my cloth diaper babies are in college now... my grandmother (who was 79 years old when I had my first baby) made all my cloth diapers for me. Believe it or not, I just retrieved one from under the kitchen sink rag bin to describe how she made it.
She took used two pieces of flannel 18" x 12" and 2-3 other pieces that are 10" x 16". She put the smaller pieces on the wrong side of one of the big pieces and zig-zaged them on. Then she sewed the two big pieces together like a pillowcase, wrong sides facing, flipped the whole thing right side out, and sewed the open end shut.
This gives you a thinner 1" border around the outside that's easier to pin, and thickness in the center where you need it.
I could take a picture to show you what it looks like, but it was used for two babies, and now I use it for when I'm canning stuff like grape juice that has a tendency to drip... it's pretty badly stained, but still going strong after 21 years!
I have a friend who makes them herself, and uses the velcro diaper covers to hold all the cloth in.
I love this site: www.greenmountaindiapers.com for all the diapering info you could ever want or need! They sell flats (that's what you're looking for). Prefolds have a thicker middle and your friend doesn't want that. That site also sells all-in-ones, and I am pretty certain they are less than $20/ea. I have cloth diapered 2 kids and love it! Its not about saving money for us, its just the way we want to diaper our kids :)
Hi - I cloth-diapered all 3 of my kids who are now in their 20's. The flat diaper you're thinking is too thin really isn't once you fold it properly. You're probably talking about a large square of birdseye fabric - maybe 24" square? If you email me privately, I'd be glad to mail you a piece of paper folded properly. I have folded so many I could do it blindfolded with one hand behind my back while nursing LOL! Just remember that when you use this type of diaper (as with pre-folds) you still need a waterproof outer cover such as Gerber's plastic pants. I admire your friend for going the cloth diapering route and would like to help. It's not as easy as disposables, but oh so much better for baby, pocketbook and the earth. sew_content @ yahoo. (Can't remember my Xanga sign-on right now - but will pm you once I do LOL)
Hey! I have been cloth diapering my son for a year now! If your friend is interested in AIO's (All in One's) they aren't all $20 new.
Also, if she is interested in one size fits all pockets (they are like the AIO, except you put the absorbency layer in yourself so that way you can adjust the absorbency for like long car rides or naps)Cloth Diaper Wholesale has them for $13.25 new including an insert and these are one size fits all, so she can use them from birth to potty training! Or, she can buy used diapers for cheap...or even fitted diapers, and a cover for them (they breathe like the flat or the prefold, but are shaped like an AIO and are almost always one size fits all)! If you need more help, feel free to message me!
I used the Bum Genius one size diapers. They go from 7-35 pounds. We used them about 3/4 of the time until our DS was 11 months. He was having allergy issues and it affected his diaper area. For some reason the cloth diapers aggravated it more than Pampers did. They still paid for themselves in 9 months time, we figured. We got them at a store in St. Louis, but their website is www.cottonbabies.com. They are an investment. But for most kids, they are better than the disposables and definitely better for the environment.
I would recommend the washable wipes, too. They even have a warmer. Here's why...you can just throw the wipes and diapers in the same pail. If you have disposable wipes, you have to have a place to get rid of those. It's just kind of gross.
$20ea. for a reuseable diaper isn't that bad!!! Think about how much you would save in the long run???
I personally couldn't do it though, but I hate doing laundry...
All in ones are the way to go. The Kushies leak unless the baby stays upright, that's why they are cheap. I use Yucky Ducks and found 6 for $40 on ebay from some store called diaper mart.
There are also countoured diapers with covers that work pretty good. I got them off of kissaluvs.com. They have an outlet store that is "open" once in a while.
Also check clothdiaperoutlet.com
Cloth diapers are awesome and NOT that hard to clean, and they save you SO much money. I don't know why more people don't do it!
I carry a great variety of different diapers in my store. I dont know of other flats besides Gerber, although there possibly are. Is there a reason she wants flats?
Thirsties carries a great All-In-One for $17 each. If you think that disposables cost approx 25 cents per diaper, each time you reuse a cloth diaper you are saving money! You spend approx $1600-2000 for disposables in the 2-3 years of diapering. You won't spend nearly that much for cloth, even the pricier diapers, especially if you buy One-Size like bumGenius or Happy Heinys. The One-Size are mainly pockets though, not All-In-Ones.
Let me know if I can answer more questions.
Bayla
Soft and Cozy Baby
www.softandcozybaby.com
I love cloth diapering! I discovered them about 5 1/2-6 months after my second child was born, and looking back, I wish I had known about how easy they really are when my daughter was an infant!
We use primarily all in ones and pocket diapers, but we really love the prefolds as well. They are not as difficult as one would think. I think http://www.diaperswappers.com is a great website for tons of information. Also, if it's not too gross in your friend's opinion, you can buy gently used cloth diapers there as well!
Look at the old fashioned package from Integrity Diaper Company.
http://www.integritydiapercompany.com/index.php?cPath=30The package comes with 36 flat diapers, nylon pants, wipes, and doublers. It's a very nice deal.
I've heard that they are available at Target...
Go with flats - you can just google search for cotton birds eye flats and find them or they sell them on amazon. Much more sanitary, clean and dry better and faster. Easier to fold and trimmer than a prefold. DO NOT get gerber prefolds, they have batting in the middle instead of eight layers of cotton. You need 3-5 covers to go with your flats, depending on how much you want to change. I would get at least 24 flats and 3-5 covers for each size. Try wigglewormbottoms.com for your covers. Cheapest ever and you design your own with either snaps or velcro and you pick the fabric. Get the ones with plain PUL inside so you can wipe them out, let them air dry and use them again. Otherwise you up your cost significantly because you have to change the cover with every diaper change.
Also, flats are easy to fold, smaller on the butt than a pocket, prefold or anything else AND they have ten layers of fabric in the middle instead of 8 like a prefold. They are definitely the smartest and cheapest choice.