I cloth diapered my son starting at about 6 months and my daughter pretty much from birth. We have a pretty big stash of one size pocket diapers (3-4 dozen) and a ton of prefolds as well so we don't have much to buy for the new baby besides a few newborn covers and if the baby is a boy, I'll order some more gender neutral pockets. My daughter will be just over 2 when I deliver so I will likely have 2 in diapers for a few months

Thanks for all the advice, I think we will go cloth.. I'm a little bit of an environmentalist, so when I read that 1 baby produces 1 ton of diapers a year, and diapers are one of the worst pollutions out there because they do not decompose, I was sold.

One more question though.. i'm confused about size.. are they one size fits all? Do you need newborn diapers? And how many would you need for 1 child?

Thanks!

There are "one-size" diapers out there, but just know that "one-size" usually doesn't fit newborns well. My boys were both around 8lbs when born and didn't fit well into one-size until around 6-8wks. The biggest probably is usually the skinny thighs on a newborn. But once your newborn puts on a little weight and some chub, one-size diapers will last most people until potty training. I use BumGenius Elemental one-size diapers and they still fit my 28 month old son who is about 31lbs.

If you want to use one-size diapers then I would also get newborn diapers for those first few months. There are newborn diaper rentals out there if you don't want to invest money in diapers you will only use for a little bit, or you could buy prefolds and covers to diaper inexpensivly for those first few months. Newborn/infant perfolds or fitteds under a PUL cover worked best for both of my boys for the newborn stage. You can get prefolds at almost any online diaper store and for fitteds I like Kissaluvs and Muttaqins with Thirsties covers.

For newborns be prepared to change their diaper often - ever 1-2hrs honestly. I would have at leat 3 dozen diapers on hand, but more like 4 dozen if you want to go at least 2 days inbetween laundry and not worring about running low in the process. Once they are a little older, 3+ months, they poop less and you can go a bit longer between diaper changes. For me, using BumGenius diapers I like to have 24 of them and wash everyother day.

My first order of cloth diapers just arrived today!! Super excited and just wanted to share lol There was an earth day sale on NB Kissaluvs so I bought six. They're so tiny and cute and Soft! Next order will be from GMD for prefolds and workhorses. Trying to build this stash slowly so that I don't go overboard.

busyPK - How long did your babies fit in nb Kissaluvs? Just curious--guess I'm hoping my baby isn't too too big so that they don't grow out of them super fast! Lol Two months at least?

Thanks! That's awesome to hear! Been trying to do my research For absorbency I was going to get some hemp inserts--is that something that can be laid in a fitted against baby's skin or are those only for pocket diapers? Also what are your thoughts on NB covers, Velcro vs snaps? I like snaps overall but I've heard you can get a better fit on newborns with Velcro?

Thanks! That's awesome to hear! Been trying to do my research For absorbency I was going to get some hemp inserts--is that something that can be laid in a fitted against baby's skin or are those only for pocket diapers? Also what are your thoughts on NB covers, Velcro vs snaps? I like snaps overall but I've heard you can get a better fit on newborns with Velcro?

I would not put hemp (or microfiber) against baby's skin. You could still use them and put them on the outside of the fitted or prefold though. Like the other lady said, prefolds aren't stay dry so you will be changing diapers quite often because most newborns don't like to feel wet. There are inserts out there (BumGenius makes some) that have microfiber on one side and a layer of fleece on the top that will make baby feel more dry and can be put against baby's skin. I would get some velcro newborn covers. They do provide the best fit for that itty bitty stage and make for a quick diaper change. Once my boys got out of newborn diapers I only did snaps though.

I don't have any potty training tips for boys...yet My son will be 2 the end of July and I'm going to attempt to potty train soon. With my daughter I had her potty trained by 2.5 and it took consistency AND I found that putting her in big girl panties was the trick. It let her know that was the real result of peeing was getting wet (as we used disposable and I don't think she really put it together until wee was everywhere) Now I have been given advice from mommy's with boys, and they have said to just put them in underwear (which I've bought) and that's its easiest in the summertime (if you live in a warm area) as when they're outside playing you can just pull their pants down and let them wee. And for getting them to pee in the potty to put cheerios in the potty so they can aim and fire (which I think my son is a little young to enjoy that?) That's all I've got!

Love this forum and all the diaper chatter...excellent.

I was wondering what you with older kids do for night time diapering. I have seriously tried everything...my son is a heavy wetter adn I found that wool worked great to keep the sheets clean and dry but haven't found anything that will keep him feeling dry as the night progresses and short of changing him before I go to sleep I am looking for ideas. At the moment that's the one time I use a disposable. I would love to potty train him but find he has come quite good at holding his pee until I put a diaper on him or some training pants...so any ideas on potty training as well would be nice.

My son turned 2yo in January and is not potty trained yet and we use fitteds under fleece soakers at night time. He's in that for about 12hrs. I like the following brands Muttaqin, Goodmama and Dunk n' Fluff. The diaper will be bulky, but it will hold everything you son gives it overnight. I know Mutts and Dn'F both have more of a stay dry feel against baby's skin, but you could also add a layer of micro-fleece to make your little one feel dry. I hope you find something that works. It took me awhile to find out that fitteds with all around absorption are the ONLY thing that works on my boys for nighttime.

Love this forum and all the diaper chatter...excellent.

I was wondering what you with older kids do for night time diapering. I have seriously tried everything...my son is a heavy wetter adn I found that wool worked great to keep the sheets clean and dry but haven't found anything that will keep him feeling dry as the night progresses and short of changing him before I go to sleep I am looking for ideas. At the moment that's the one time I use a disposable. I would love to potty train him but find he has come quite good at holding his pee until I put a diaper on him or some training pants...so any ideas on potty training as well would be nice.

My son turned 2yo in January and is not potty trained yet and we use fitteds under fleece soakers at night time. He's in that for about 12hrs. I like the following brands Muttaqin, Goodmama and Dunk n' Fluff. The diaper will be bulky, but it will hold everything you son gives it overnight. I know Mutts and Dn'F both have more of a stay dry feel against baby's skin, but you could also add a layer of micro-fleece to make your little one feel dry. I hope you find something that works. It took me awhile to find out that fitteds with all around absorption are the ONLY thing that works on my boys for nighttime.

Thanks for the suggestion...never heard of Muttaqin or Dunk N Fluff...will have to do some research. Fitteds humm...hadn't thought about using a fitted...thanks again.

Just bought (used but clean) the start of my cloth diaper stash! She provided a ton of additional prefolds since she was trying to get rid of everything. VERY excited!

5 Bumgenius 2.0 pocket diapers with inserts (4 light blue and 1 yellow)
4 size medium Imse Vimse Organic cotton diaper covers (1 white, 2 farm animals, 1 zoo animals)
1 size medium Green Acre Designs pocket diaper with insert (purple with orange lining) -
1 size small Dry Bees all in one diaper (light blue)-
1 size small Happy Heiny's Sherpa Heiny Huggers fitted diaper (natural color, to be used with a diaper cover)
Prefold diapers - about 20 light green and dark green size, plus about 10 white size. Cloth wipes - 30+ wipes, some are really nice Bumgenius and bamboo ones, others are just regular flannel wipesFleece diaper liners (4)
1 Bumgenius 1.0 pocket diaper with insert (green)
3 size newborn Imse Vimse diaper covers (2 farm animals, 1 zoo animals)
1 size newborn Imse Vimse Bumpy wool diaper cover (natural color)

Now to go through it all and figure out what I still need to get for a full complement of diapers!

I'm so excited to see so many ladies here interested in cloth diapers! I've already said this, but I use cloth on both my boys (28mo and 9mo) and am pregnant again and will use cloth on this baby as well. There are so many options out there to fit almost every family imo - all-in-ones or pockets for the family that wants easy to use options and prefolds and covers for those most concerned with saving money. And if you plan on having more babies you are bound to save money using the same diapers on the next baby. Again, if anyone has any questions feel free to message me - I love to give advice and help others starting out. :happy:

Well done to all you ladies using cloth diapers so much better for the environment. I give you all props!! I myself will be sticking to disposable

Bought 17 used Kawaii diapers for $90 (canadian) - on kijiji (buy and sell local goods online), I have all the liners and a bucket too! I like them because I can use them as small as a newbord child till 2 yrs old or so!


The lady I bought them from suggested I use only a wet bucket (instead of dry and wet for poopy and wet diapers).. She said to fill the bucket half way with water, add a tablespoon of baking soda and some vinegar and just shut the lid.. she did this for her 2 kids...
She just dumps the whole bucket in the wash and does one rince, then a regular wash.. NO stains on any of the diapers!

What do you guys think?

Some people use a "wet pail", but I've never done that. I put all poopy diapers (after I spray most of the poop off in the toilet with my diaper sprayer) and pee diapers in a trash can type container I got at Walmart. I have organic cotton inner diapers and they do stain more easily than other material, but I just have very minimal stains that will come out if I ever decide to sun them (and they've been in use for over 2 years). You will just have to try out different systems and find out what works best for you.

I have some pre-folds with Thirsties-ish covers (about 5 covers and at least 20 prefolds since I want to use them as burp clothes too and I didn't know how big my boy is going to be)

I have around 10 one-size Fuzzybuns pocket diapers

I just got 20+ one-size All in One Bebe d'amour with double inserts

Finally, I have around two rolls of flushable liners

I also registered for some of the more pricier ones, I want to definitely have options - ESPECIALLY considering I'm going back to work full time and will need diapers for the daycare and at home and don't want to do laundry every day!

*Edited to add - I also have 5 BumGenius pockets - One-size

ALL from craigslist!

I haven't done cloth diapers. Wish i did not because of money cause with all the showers i had with my first child i only bought maybe a dozen backs up to size 3 then she potty trained. I may try cloth diapers this time around.

ok the pail question: I was wondering about this. The lady i bought the diapers from gave me a bag but we didn't talk about that. I live in a very small slab home (one floor) so i'm limited on where i can hide a diaper pail. So we've got a suggestion to use a pail filled with water and vinegar and just soak the diapers and dump the whole thing in the wash.....and a dry pail with a bag and bakingsoda in the bottom correct?