Cloth Diapering & Breastfeeding

[Hunni Bee]

I really want to cloth diaper my baby, and that totally depends if we can find an affordable apartment with a washer and dryer.

But, we all know that breastfed babies go through up to 12 diapers a day...how did any of you mommies manage that with cloth? How many diapers should you have? Did you have to do laundry every day (that may seem like a strange question but we've always had to schlep to laundromat)?

Thanks

[MotherNature]

Try out prefolds & covers-cheap & super easy, especially w/ a newbie. Also-diaperswappers is awesome. Cheap used diapers saved us soooo much $. I have only bought a few diapers new, & the rest I've picke up at garage sales, CL, DS. I seriously love DS! Oh- & I bought used diaper service uality prefolds from the local cloth diaper store. They also sell them online. PM me if you want their info.. $15 a dozen & we started w/ 3 dozen & 6 covers.

[cheerfuldom]

absolutely recommend prefolds and covers for an infant. the sized diapers, especially one size, are almost always too big for an infant. your cheapest option is almost always going to be prefolds and covers. I would purchase 10 to 15 per day. wash every other day or every third day. purchase two covers per day. so if you can swing washing one load every third day, go with around 30 or more prefolds, 6 covers and that should be plenty. if you have a little more to spend, I highly recommend hemp or bamboo fabrics. they are softer, trimmer and more absorbent than cottons....but cottons work too! resale value on cloth diapers is fairly good, especially if you buy secondhand to begin with. I am also on diaperswappers.com and have purchased A LOT there too, with good success. try to purchase from sellers that have decent feedback....like 25 or more. you can also get on CL or see if facebook has a local cloth diapering group (my town has one). with cloth diapering four kids, I have literally saved thousands of dollars! we also use cloth trainers as well.

[MarinaVanessa]

When my new baby is born I plan on using cloth diapers again (I still have my DS's previous ones) and doing the prefolds too while still an infant because of the cost difference between those and the infant size pocket diapers.

I'd get 3 days worth of prefold diapers and some of those Snappi diaper clips along with the covers. 36 prefolds, about 6 snappi clips (just in case you lose/misplace some) and about 6 covers should be more than enough. I always plan on getting more than what I need because you can never be too prepared. You never know when you'll get poo-poo on a cover or accidentally on a snappi. I also don't like doing laundry everyday so I get enough to allow me to wash the diapers every other day and still have another day's supply on hand.

Once my baby is big enough to fit into our Bum Genius pocket diapers (I have the adjustable ones with the snaps) I'll switch to those.

[itlw8]

my boys were way before todays diapers but do not let how many get in your way of your decision. ALL babies got through a lot of diapers. Choose what you think is best for you and remember you can always do both if that works for you.

[Hunni Bee]

Thanks gals

Exactly what I was looking for. I went on DS...it looks a little confusing but I have some time to figure it out. It looks like a great resource though...will definitely be using it if the apartment thing goes well.

Im trying to do as much as I can now...our lease isn't up until right around the time the baby will be born. Which is a huge issue in itself, but it also whether to buy stuff now and pile it up, or wait. Im anxious because with the nature of my pregnancy, there's a good chance I'll have to stop working sooner (how are even going to.move on one income), she'll probably be early, and I'm definitely in for a complicated c-section, which will.have me out of commission for.several weeks.

I'm just stuck between not being able to do much, and needing to do so much...its overwhelming. We have absolutely nothing in place yet, and the weeks are flying by.

Sorry for my outburst

[preschoolteacher]

I cloth diaper and breastfeed my son. I actually think that if you cloth diaper, it is much easier to breastfeed rather than formula-feed in terms of doing the laundry.

Breast milk poo is water soluble, so it dissolves in water. You can just throw all your dirty diapers in the washing machine without having to rinse or scrape like you would have to with formula poo. Do one rinse load, then do one load with detergent, throw them in the dryer, and you are done!

Now that my son is eating solids, I use biodegradable liners in his diapers. The liners can flush down the toilet. I just lift them up and throw them and whatever else is there in the toilet, then the whole diaper goes in the wash. Easy peasy.

We use Bummis tots bots all-in-ones. I love them because they are just ready to go. No stuffing or folding or whatever. The velcro clasps are great for a wiggly little guy.

Logistically, I have a wet bag (Kanga Care brand) that hangs from a command hook on the side of the changing table. I put the dirty diapers in there. Once a day, I take the bag downstairs, throw the whole thing in the wash including the bag. I replace the hanging bag with our second wet bag and the two bags switch place as I do the laundry.

[youretooloud]

Breast milk poop is so much easier to deal with than formula poop.

I like prefolds and covers best. Or even a good flat diaper and cover.

But, don't even consider the gerber diapers... shop online for some good deals.

For a newborn, I would get Kissaluvs0. But, find them used because newborns aren't in them very long. Just get one small stash, because again, it's such a short time.

I don't like one size fits all for newborns either. But, by about three months, those are wonderful.

[youretooloud]

http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/...splay.php?f=19 This is the for sale or trade board. There are lots of them there. This is just the fitteds board. Cloth diapers hold their resale value, which to me is weird. You can sell your cloth diapers for almost what you paid for them new.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=kissaluvs0&_sacat=0&_from=R40

But, this is personally, the easiest inexpensive system.

http://www.cottonbabies.com/index.php?cPath=138

[Lavender]

I loved my hemp/cotton fitteds with bummis whisper pants covers personally. It was trim fitting and not once did we get a blow-out (we did with disposables). I didn't find it to be much work. The soakers snapped out of the diapers for quicker drying. Everything just went into a diaper pail with a washable bag until full. Then it went into the wash (extra rinse cycle plus special wash additives) then dryer.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I really want to cloth diaper my baby, and that totally depends if we can find an affordable apartment with a washer and dryer.

But, we all know that breastfed babies go through up to 12 diapers a day...how did any of you mommies manage that with cloth? How many diapers should you have? Did you have to do laundry every day (that may seem like a strange question but we've always had to schlep to laundromat)?

Thanks

For a newborn have around 36 min. if you want to do laundry every other day.
If you can swing it, Lil Joey Rumparooz are awesome all-in-one diapers for the newborn stage. They also have great resale value. You'll pay about $15.00 new, and can resell them for about $10.00 each postage paid.

[LoraJenkins]

I LOVE flats & prefolds with a cover. Flats are terrific for tiny babies because you can fold them to size. I have 6 dozen flats & 5 dozen prefolds along with 10 covers just for my 2 DC babies. I wash on Wed and Fri. And don't forget cloth wipes! At least 2 per change so 4 dozen should be good for 2 days.

[canadiancare]

My parents bought me a diaper service for the first few months and then after that I washed my own. We lived in an apartment but I didn't use their machines for his diapers. I would soak them in a pail and then once a week go to the inlaws to wash diapers.

[AmyKidsCo]

Prefolds and covers are definitely the easiest, cheapest way to go. I've never been a fan of "One Size" diapers because I don't think they fit as well as sized ones, but they are cheaper.

My cloth diaper site has some articles that may help:
How many: http://www.zany-zebra.com/how-many-cloth-diapers.shtml
New to cloth FAQ: http://www.zany-zebra.com/new-to-cloth-diapers.shtml
How to wash them: http://www.zany-zebra.com/wash-cloth-diapers.shtml

A lot of it is personal preference; I started with prefolds/covers and they were OK, but I really liked AI2s (all in two) better. They're not as cheap as prefolds/covers, but they worked for us better.

[Size18]

Here is a rundown of the old-fashioned method I used.

- 36 diapers to start. (Three dozen is a nice round number to start with for one baby)

- 2-3 sets of diaper pins

- 4-6 pairs of rubber pants (you'll need more, but a few pairs are more than enough to get started)

- plastic diaper pail (large 10 gallon diaper service sized is best I found)

- disposable (flushable) diaper liners (optional, but what a godsend for those early messes/sticky meconium poops)

As far as number of diaper changes per day goes, yes, newborns (in cloth diapers) do require frequent and regular changing... up to 15 changes a day, but changing cloth diapers becomes quite matter-a-fact like, and after a week or two of practice, you won't even give the idea of using cloth so much as a thought.

As for storing/washing, I dry-soaked, because filling the pail (even a little) with a wet solution/soak adds weight to the pail making it really heavy, and as for laundering, every second to third day is ideal. (Having an outdoor clothesline or wooden drying rack is bonus when cloth diapering)!

The old-fashioned method is the cheapest and most frugal method around, and once you get the hang of folding, pinning, and rubber panting, you'll thank the heavens above for old-fashioned diapers!

I haven't bought diapers in years... but everything shown in the picture cost me under $100 at the time, which, IMO, should be able to be had for near the same cost (today), and you'll have diapers and pants for years to come.

Good rule of thumb for the number of cloth diapers you'll need, 3 dozen for one baby... an extra dozen for every baby after. i.e. 3 dozen one baby, 4 dozen two babies, and so on.