Any advice for a first timmer?

Hi Everyone -

New to this board...I am expecting baby#2 in July and since we are going from 2 incomes to one soon - I am trying to save $$$$$... considering using cloth diapers for baby #2...

DH is hesitant for some reason - not sure why b/c he LOVES saving money - LOL
Also we are not sure if this will be our last or we will be having one more baby so its harder to calculate our overall savings. I know I can try to resell them though when we are done.

So I have been doing some research and it is very overwhelming... All in ones look pretty easy I think? I guess I am scared to jump right in and spend the $ on the dipes then relize its not for us and wasting the money... so I was only going to buy like 2 diapers of maybe 3 different types and if we like it then buy more...

Does anyone have any suggestions for first timers?

Any ways I can ease DH's mind about it?

I think I would still use disposiable when leaving the house and stuff (at least till we get the hang of it. I will be a stay at home mom and plan to do at least 1 wash a day if not more. Do I need a special pail or would any old bucket or pail from Target work?

Also what type of diaper would you suggest for a first timer? All in 1? All in 2?
What type or brand most cost effective? I don't want to buy all cheapies if they don't last ya know?

Did anyone try cloth diapering and then stop? If so why?


Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!

Hi and welcome! Don't worry--it does seem totally overwhelming before you start, but it's really very easy once you get into it. Promise!

I did cloth diaper and stop, but it was over a year, and only because my DD turned out to have freakishly sensitive skin. When we were BFing it was fine, but as soon as she was fully on solids, her diaper rashes were just getting too bad and persistent. That is the OPPOSITE of most people's experience, though--usually cloth diapers lead to fewer rashes. You can see, though, since I'm still hanging around here, that I really love cloth diapering and definitely would do it again in a heartbeat if we ever have a second baby.

I would not suggest looking only at AIOs if you're mainly looking to save money, since they tend to be the most expensive way to cloth diaper. Prefolds with covers are cheapest, and MUCH easier to use than they seem before you try. However, with a reluctant DH, maybe you will want to split the difference and try something like fitteds with covers. All types of diapers have pros and cons, and you'll figure out what works best for you as you go. Not investing in a huge stash until you know is pretty smart, but you also can sell them and get a lot of your money back, so don't be afraid to try things, either.

There are lots of resources on the internet, but just to throw a few out there, Green Mountain Diapers has good quality diapers at good prices and a LOT of information. I also found that this site gave me a good grasp on what I'd need to get started. Good simple How-To :)

You don't need any special pail or anything--I used a regular step trash can--but I put a wet bag liner in it (you can get them on most cloth diaper websites) so I could throw it in the wash and not have to wash the actual can all the time. It's no harder to CD out of the house than in the house, especially with a newborn--you can get small wetbags, or even just bring a plastic grocery bag with you to put the dirty diapers in to bring home. As long as it's sealed up, you're fine.

Good luck!

If your primary reason for CDing is to save money then you should go with prefolds and covers. Anything else only becomes cost effective if you buy one-size (OS) diapers and those don't fit until baby reaches about 13 lbs. If you want to try them out you can buy a dozen NB prefolds and two covers for like $35. That will be enough for part time CDing for like 2 days. You can also look into having a diaper service deliver for you. I bet there's one that services your area. Its like a no-commitment trial and you don't have to deal with cleaning them.

There are also websites out there that do a "Sample" pack of diapers that gives you like 5 CD of different kinds.

My DH was reluctant to CD. He won't do prefolds, so I have a combination of pocket diapers and the Flip system which is a cover with insert. All of my diapers are one size because we didn't start CDing until DD was 4 months or so. AIO's can take longer to dry and tend to be more expensive.

I started cloth diapering with my 4th child and I love it. It is overwhelming while you research, but actually doing isn't hard at all :)

I did a diaper trial when DD was just born. It was $40 and I got about 20 different diapers (variety of brands and styles) to try out for two weeks. It was money well spent, because when it came to purchasing, I had an idea about what I liked.

I did prefolds and covers at first, and then as she got older started using pockets. They both wash up well and dry faster than AIO's. Pockets are super easy, but prefolds take a bit of practice. My DH actually liked the prefolds best and got pretty good at folding them. The cheapest pockets out there are Kawaii and Sunbaby brands. I have Kawaiis and am happy with them. They are less then $80 for a dozen!

My DH was skeptical, but he couldn't argue with those prices and since I do the majority of the diaper changes... ;) He thinks changing poop diapers (once she started on solids) is disgusting, but the fact that we didn't have a single blow out with cloth was a big plus, because those are really gross!

I use cloth when I'm out. I've got a washable bag that I keep in the diaper bag and can toss in the laundry when we are home. I wash diapers every third day, but you could easily do every second day and buy fewer diapers. I have a wet bag (washable, waterproof bag) that hangs from the bathroom door knob. When I do laundry, I just flip the whole thing inside out, dumping the diapers in the wash, and toss in the bag too. There are lots of different ways to do it. Diaper pails filled with water aren't needed.

Hope that help! Feel free to ask!

We started CD with this baby #2. I used disposable until umbilical fell off then immediately started with bumgenious OS pockets. They work great and fit my baby at 8lbs. Honestly those first few weeks were the hardest. I was still recovering from birth and getting minimal sleep and the extra laundry almost killed me. (Plan to wash every other day.) Made it through though and love CD. We mostly use One Size, Pocket Diapers. They dry so much quicker than AIOs, plus I like that I can quickly line dry the covers to make the elastic last longer and machine dry the insert which takes so much longer to dry on a rack indoors. Although, in the summer I line dry everything outside for stain removal, energy saving, and more. I also have quite a few prefolds and covers. I like these and would use them even more except that DH doesn't like them much and we have so many BG. Pockets are just so much more simple for DH and others who may change her.

Ask for cloth diapers for shower, it is a huge money saver that way! :)

Oh, I just use a regular covered pail with a trash bag in it. And CD on the go is simple, only complaint is they take up more room in diaper bag than disposables ;)

Thanks so much for all your help...after doing some more research i def decided against All In Ones. Leaning more towards prefold and covers (for me) and some pockets for DH. He is very hesitant so I can only buy 2-3 to try and then if we like them he said we can discuss buying more. I need to keep educating him over the next 4 months and i think I can break him down - but when I first bring it up all he is thinking about is old fashion prefolds with pins only...and thinks he won't be willing to do diaper changes and it will cause fits between us - also he thinks i plan on spending $300 on them then not liking it and having it be a waste of money...

Also since this is my 2nd I won't be having a shower - but I do plan on making a small registry in case some people (like Grandparents or whatever) want to buy a gift - I won't advertise it though - only if someone asks... so I hope to find some prefolds or ocvers at Target or BRU to register for...

My DH was on board because he felt challenged by it, like "Who says men can't handle cloth diapers?! I'LL SHOW THEM." :) He also liked the environmental and money factors, but he's way more poop-phobic than I am, so it was still helpful to have that extra reason for him to want to do it :) (Although I did all the laundry anyway.)

You can also tell your DH that there is a healthy market in used cloth diapers, so if you don't like them, you can always sell them and make back most of your money. To give it a fair shot, though, I would suggest that you get a minimum of least a dozen, since newborns tend to go through a LOT of diapers. If you want to try pockets, Sunbabies are extremely cheap--$60/dozen. Honestly if you get those and stuff the diapers when you take them out of the dryer, there is NO DIFFERENCE to your DH vs. disposables. Not until the solid poop stage, anyway, and hopefully by then he'll be a convert :)

I don't think Target has anything that I'd recommend using, but BRU has quite a few online (BumGenius, Flips, Econobum, Charlie Banana, gDiapers). I know some B&M BRUs have BumGenius and gDiapers since I've seen those.
Okay, I take that back apparently online at Target you can find Thirsties, BumGenius, and FuzziBums). Never seen anything IN a store though.

My husband was NOT thrilled with me and he thought I had gone completely nuts. But he didn't really change diapers and it wasn't like he was ever going to do laundry, so I did it anyway. For the longest he'd only use pockets that were pre stuffed. When we moved last December and didn't know if or when we'd have access to a washer next, we had to use disposables. After only 24 hours, DH started complaining about the smell and how they just weren't as cute and soft. He wanted to know when we were going to be able to go back to cloth. He's been using a lot of prefolds and even the occasional flat (as long as I've pre folded the flat lol)!

I started off with 6 prefolds, 2 covers, and 3 pockets. I quickly realized that I wasn't happy with just part time CDing and bought more. Quickly as in within 24 hours was back online ordering more. :lol:

I've only been CDing for two months but we use mostly prefolds and covers. I have a few pockets and itti bitti tuttos that I got off sale sites but those just started fitting (DD is 10lbs now). DH was on board for using cloth but not excited about the "folding and pinning" or washing. Once he had done a couple he actually said that he thinks putting on a prefolds is just as easy as a disposable. We use snappis and the angel wing fold. You could look into doing fitted with a cover so DH doesn't have to do any folding.