We are due in July with a new little one.. I have never used cloth before but started looking into it today because we may soon have to start paying for our trash.. Just thinking about using them when we are home.. I work from home so i spend a lot of time here.. I also lost 400 dollars a month income this week.. I run a home child care.. ONe of my parents lost his job. So looking at all the ways i can cut our house hold cost down. Just wondering if anyone has used them before.. what brands have you used and how did you wash them>? Any help would be great.. Thanks BEAN

I used cloth with my youngest. I did save when compared to what I would have spent on disposables.

For diapers, I do not recommend the cheap Gerber ones. They simply do not absorb very well. I do recommend Chinese prefolds if you want to use cloth diapers with covers. I found mine online.

If you are looking for a cheap option for covers, I suggest considering the Gerber vinyl covers that can be bought at Walmart as opposed to the many options you will see online for far more. I found these worked well for daytime use. I did spend a bit more for night time diapers, preferring Fuzzibunz earlier on and then switching to Bummis wraps but I only needed a few for night wear.

I used Snappi fasteners and I absolutely recommend them. These take the place for the need of pins and are so easy to use.

 Hey Bean, you had some cloth diapers on your bum when you were little. Back then you had to use those nasty big pins and plastic pants. Babs(Mom)

I am sure i did.. Just looking at getting a few to use at home.. You know my mother alway is saying you have to find ways to say money... BEAN

Check the internet before you go to wal-mart they had some there before now don't know but in the long run I rather put this on my childs butt then those throw away kind now if a babysitter was at the house ok or traveling on the road then I can see it but at home cloth would be good just get the washer to do a secound rinse then drain out then put them on the line3 or the dryer but be careful of the fabric softners sometimes baby might be allergic to it and if not rinsed the secound big ol skin rah otherwise they are great...

My little man is 4 months old and I have been cloth diapering him for the last two months or so.  The best website I have found is cottonbabies.com you get free shipping on orders over $75 and odds are good that your 1st order will be at least that much! I got lucky, my mom and my aunt each gave me a dozen prefolds and my mom gave me 6 plastic pant covers, as well as several diaper pins. This really isn't enough, but I've managed to make it work. I can go about 3-4 days between washing the diapers and I wash the covers a bit more frequently.

Here's my system: my bathroom showerhead is a removable sprayer so my setup is in there. (If you don't have a sprayer, check the bathroom dept. in walmart. They have cheap ones for around $9 and it is definitely worth it! ) I have a diaper pail that I fill halfway with water and add a scoop of color-safe bleach (the cheap powdered stuff). After changing a diaper I take it to the bathroom, put on plastic gloves (mostly because I hate washing my hands a million times a day, I get the big yellow ones 2pair/$1 at a dollar store) and spray off the poopy goodness with HOT water and then put the diaper in the pail. I rinse them right into the tub because it's breastfed poop and can't clog the drain. The covers I rinse really well in the super hot water then hang them to dry, unless they are really gunked up, in which case I set them aside until several are funky and then wash them in the sink with hot water and a little dish soap. Sometimes I have to get down and dirty to get the poop out of the gussets by scratching it out with my nails. I'm sure there's a less hands-on approach, but I'm too lazy to figure it out and it doesn't gross me out. When the diaper pail is full (or if I only have a few clean left!) I haul the pail to my washing machine. I have another pair of gloves there because they're just so dadgum useful! I try and wring some of the water into the pail before tossing them into the washing machine, and then put them through a quick spin cycle. THen I wash them in hot water with detergent. I did some research on the "best" detergent to use for CDing and what works best for my diapers and wallet is actually the Aldi brand of detergent. I can't think of the name, but it's less than $3 a bottle and lasts a long time. To dry them, I just toss them in the dryer without a fabric softener sheet (fabric softeners are no good for diapers). When the weather is warm enough I plan on line drying them. Not only will that save energy but sunlight is supposed to do wonders for poop stains. I'm not too worried about stains since their purpose is to catch poop and no one even looks at them unless they're changing a diaper. But that's just me.

I use prefolds mainly because that's what I have, but even if I were to buy CDs I would stick with prefolds. (unless I had money to blow, then I want those bumgenius! they look awesome!) They do the job, are the cheapest option, and are simple enough to use. It only takes me seconds to fold all two dozen and with a little practice diaper changing goes pretty quick too. For diaper covers, I would love to try something like the bummis whisper wrap or proraps classic because they would be easier to take on and off than the classic nylon pants, but the nylon pants do a great job of preventing leaks and are by far the cheapest option. I've seen the snappi things but I'm not too thrilled by them. they need replaced every three months while my pins could last through several kids. Sure, there's a chance of pricking the kid (or yourself) but it's not like it's going to leave a scar. My mom cloth diapered all seven of us and we survived any accidental *** without any physical or psychological damage! With pins though, be sure to get the gerber brand or something equally trustworthy. Someone gave me a random no-name pack and they are actually so dull that they have trouble going through the fabric. I'm more likely to accidentally stab the kid with those than the sharp ones!

Oh yeah, and I would say you would need 6-8 diaper covers in a day. If the idea of rinsing and re-using covers grosses you out you may want plenty more than that. The number of diapers you need is actually kinda limited by how big your diaper pail is. I can fit about 1 1/2 dozen in mine which works out fine for me since I only have 2doz! I wish it held more though, because I would love to get another 2 dozen and only wash diapers once a week. I'm lazy like that. You could easily get away with a 4pack of diaper pins since they don't need changed often unless you want to wash them frequently (I never bother). They're cheap enough though that a second pack as back-up won't hurt. Plus they come in handy for random things.

Something I am also trying is cloth wipes. I had a flannel receiving blanket that I was given and would never use, so i cut it up and put them in a container of water with a little squirt of baby wash. Whaddya know, it worked great! I actually think they worked better than the store bought wipes because the fabric grabs the gunk better. Also his bum feels cleaner. I can get away with only using one or two max per diaper change. If you make your own (and it's not that hard at all) be sure to hem them in some way. I was impatient and used them after cutting them and they came out of the wash in a big knot! I had to cut them apart! I have several other flannel receiving blankets that I was given at my baby shower and plan on holding on to them in case I want to make more wipes later. The best part about these is it solves the problem of tossing disposable wipes. They end up in various trash cans and look kinda gross. With cloth you just rinse them with the diaper, if they even need rinsed, and wash them right along with everything else.

As for going out, I do use disposable, but I'm actually still using diapers I got at the baby shower (after 4 months! I'm so proud of me...). I haven't yet decided if I will buy more when I run out. Most likely not, but that's just because money is so tight for us right now. Be sure to keep a plastic bag in your diaper bag in case you need to change a cloth diaper when you are out. I was given a pack of the little blue scented ones, but could easily use a plastic shopping bag, or gallon ziploc.

Wow, sorry this went so long! I got carried away... Hope this helps you out!

MariaP:

Sure, there's a chance of pricking the kid (or yourself) but it's not like it's going to leave a scar. My mom cloth diapered all seven of us and we survived any accidental *** without any physical or psychological damage!

 Ha! I got edited! The removed word rhymes with brick and means stuck with a pin, but apparently they are afraid I meant the male unit. Teehee, I'm amused...

We have 6 children, (eldest now is 35 and the youngest is now 14). Back then we bought ours at K-Mart, they were hard to find. We found pre-folded ones very helpful and more absorbent.  We found the non-pre-folded ones were also able to be used as "spit-rags".

To rinse them out we would hold on tightly to one end and swish them around in the toilet bowl. You then flushed the toilet while still holding onto the one end. It rinsed, out the solid matter from the diaper. Once rinsed we would wash the diapers in the washing machine in a load of only diapers.

Thanks for all the info !!!!! I am still thinking about it.. how to set it up best here at home... I think I would not use them out and about.. but would at home.. and since i work from home this would be a bulk of the time.... Thanks again for all the help and info.. BEAN<>

I also used cloth diapers. The above suggestions are great. I didn't fill the pail with a water/cleanser solution between washings. If you get the do-do out, and rinse the diaper well in the toilet, I found that soaking the now rinsed diaper in a bucket with water and solution wasn't necessary. I washed a pile about every other day. Used the dryer to dry as already suggested. Never had a problem with rashes and diapers always smelled fresh. I would also "hand wash" the plastic pants. I used a deep bucket filled with a bit of bleach and detergent. I placed the bucket in the tub to fill with hot water. Using a plunger, I really bobbed those soiled, (yet  rinsed) plastic pants up and down. They always came out clean. After rinsing the soap off under the tub fauce,t I hung the pants from the shower. They would be dry in a few hours or by the morning. I hope more of the next generation of new parents will consider using cloth diapers.

Darlene