great diapering debate: cloth vs disposable.
Karen
say that with my first two, I didn't even consider the cloth issue,
but the possibility came up since I am taking care of a friend's baby
who is using a cloth diaper service. These are my thoughts:
Diaper service is rather high cost in my area. The delivery charge (I
believe it is $10 /week (my diaper budget with my girls was roughly
$40 a month on disposables after the first month) makes it a pretty
poor comparison to disposables--unless you plan to buy very high end
disposables. I used luvs with both of my girls, so the cost wasn't
terribly high especially since I clipped a lot of 1.50 and 2.00 off
coupons.
I despise separating wipes and disposable trash from the diapers.
What a mess--two bags.
Touching the absorbant part of a wet or soiled diaper is pretty yucky.
With disposables, you can completely enclose the absorbant part in the
outer cover and tape it closed.
It seems like I am using more wipes when I have to clean up the baby
and wipe out the cover. I am doing something wrong?
Time is of the essense, disposables go on and off and into the diaper
pale so much more quickly. With an older, more wiggly baby it seems
like this is going to get worse. Disposable diapers are literally,
clean up the bum, slide it under, stick the tapes, done. Cloth is
clean up the bum, slide it under, fold it, fold it again because the
baby has grown a bit, get the clippy thing on, adjust the diaper, put
the cover on, adjust the cover to cover all of the cloth, I am finally
done.
Rebuying covers. The covers seem kind of pricey to me considering
that you run through several sizes in the first 4 months.
Washing my own. There really isn't a way that I would take this on.
With two toddlers in the house, I don't have the time or energy to get
this done added with the extra time it will take to get the diapers
changed.
Mobility issues concern me. The cloth diapers seems to allow for the
baby not to move as easily due to bulk. The sure size of the cloth
diaper takes up a lot of clothing space as it is.
Convenience is of course an issue as well. My friend who is using
them commented on how inconvenient it is to change a cloth diaper
outside of the house. Okay, I have heard this before, so for
convenience sake if you are going to use disposables when you go out,
where is the money savings. The delivery charge makes it so that
cloth cost about the same amount whether you use them all the time or
just at home. Add the cost of convenient disposables (I'd guess you
would use 10 or so a week just to run errands and have a bit of a
life) and your savings really goes down the tubes.
So, here is the question. For those of you who have contemplated this
decision and decided on cloth, how did you realize savings? For those
of you who have contemplated this decision and decided on disposables,
do you have any regrets?
Karen
lynne_m.
wrote:
>Okay, so I am comparing cloth and disposable. I will be honest and
>say that with my first two, I didn't even consider the cloth issue,
>but the possibility came up since I am taking care of a friend's baby
>who is using a cloth diaper service. These are my thoughts:
>
Well, I don't know what other people did, but I washed my own diapers.
Once you get the hang of it, it's kind of like washing two loads of
pillow cases a week. And you fold the diapers when you stack them up
so changing is pretty easy and quick. I'll admit it: I'm cheap: pay
$50 for diapers and they last for years.
Lynne
Ericka Kammerer
> Touching the absorbant part of a wet or soiled diaper is pretty yucky.
> With disposables, you can completely enclose the absorbant part in the
> outer cover and tape it closed.
I never saw this as a big deal. I didn't touch the diapers
much at all. I used flushable liners, so the liner went in the
toilet and the diaper in the pail and I hardly came into contact
with anything icky at all.
> It seems like I am using more wipes when I have to clean up the baby
> and wipe out the cover. I am doing something wrong?
I never wiped out covers. If the cover was just a bit
damp, I would just hang it to dry over the handle of the basket
in which I kept the diapering supplies (to be used at the next
change). If it was dirty, it went straight into the laundry.
> Time is of the essense, disposables go on and off and into the diaper
> pale so much more quickly. With an older, more wiggly baby it seems
> like this is going to get worse. Disposable diapers are literally,
> clean up the bum, slide it under, stick the tapes, done. Cloth is
> clean up the bum, slide it under, fold it, fold it again because the
> baby has grown a bit, get the clippy thing on, adjust the diaper, put
> the cover on, adjust the cover to cover all of the cloth, I am finally
> done.
I didn't experience it this way. For me, it was as fast
to cloth diaper as disposable diaper. Flop the diaper and liner
on the cover, velcro around baby. No adjusting or folding in
my case. We did use the contoured diapers.
> Rebuying covers. The covers seem kind of pricey to me considering
> that you run through several sizes in the first 4 months.
I didn't find this to be a major issue. We went through
only a couple of sizes in the early months, so it wasn't overwhelming.
> Washing my own. There really isn't a way that I would take this on.
> With two toddlers in the house, I don't have the time or energy to get
> this done added with the extra time it will take to get the diapers
> changed.
Frankly, there isn't any way I'd do a diaper service. I
found washing my own to be much more convenient, and frankly the
load of laundry it added every two or three days was hardly a blip
on the laundry radar. That's all it was--one measly load of laundry
every two or three days! Dump the entire diaper pail in the washer,
hot rinse, wash cycle, toss in dryer, done. I did it on my own
time frame and didn't have dirty cloth diapers sitting around for
a whole week.
> Mobility issues concern me. The cloth diapers seems to allow for the
> baby not to move as easily due to bulk. The sure size of the cloth
> diaper takes up a lot of clothing space as it is.
I found this to be an issue in terms of clothing (some
clothing isn't cut with enough room for cloth diapers), but
not in terms of mobility.
> Convenience is of course an issue as well. My friend who is using
> them commented on how inconvenient it is to change a cloth diaper
> outside of the house. Okay, I have heard this before, so for
> convenience sake if you are going to use disposables when you go out,
> where is the money savings. The delivery charge makes it so that
> cloth cost about the same amount whether you use them all the time or
> just at home. Add the cost of convenient disposables (I'd guess you
> would use 10 or so a week just to run errands and have a bit of a
> life) and your savings really goes down the tubes.
I think the big savings is in washing your own. If you
do that (which, as I said before, I think takes *very* little
effort), the cost savings are *huge*. Not to mention that it's
also nice not to worry about running out of diapers. We did use
disposables outside the house, but even with that the cost savings
were significant. I agree that the cost savings aren't much if
you use a service. I've just never seen that the service is that
much of a convenience.
> So, here is the question. For those of you who have contemplated this
> decision and decided on cloth, how did you realize savings? For those
> of you who have contemplated this decision and decided on disposables,
> do you have any regrets?
As I said, we realized the savings by washing our own, and
that didn't seem like a burden at all to me. We have used both cloth
and disposables. I don't see much of a difference, personally. The
downsides of the disposables were cost and the annoyance of running
out and having to make an inconvenient run to the store to get some.
The downsides of cloth were remembering to switch to disposables
when going out and getting enough absorbency to make it through
the night. I didn't find washing the diapers to be a significant
issue at all. (What's one more load when you're already doing
a couple a day?) I found the whole thing a wash, personally. If
money were an issue, I wouldn't hesitate to do cloth for a moment.
If money's not an issue, I'd base the decision on other criteria
(environmental, skin sensitivity, lifestyle, whatever).
Best wishes,
Ericka
Denley
trouble. I use shaped nappies which need no folding and to be honest I find
them much better than disposables - plus they will have paid for themselves
in six months. I am forced to use disposables at the moment as my washing
machine has died (new one coming tomorrow YAY) and am really fed up with
them. ds's bum don't look nice, they leak frequently (poo and pee).
If you shop around and get a system that suits you (you don't have to use
foldy ones) they are really not much more time consuming that disposables.
HTH
Nik
"Karen" <glaes...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:biuu8u45iu99j8i8v...@4ax.com...
Cheryl M.
I think it speaks for itself.
Cheers,
theother Cheryl
"Karen" <glaes...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:biuu8u45iu99j8i8v...@4ax.com...
Mary S.
> I despise separating wipes and disposable trash from the diapers.
> What a mess--two bags.
Unfortunately, it's illegal to just throw away disposables. Once there
is solid poop, you need to flush it; all disposables will state this on
the package. Poop isn't supposed to go into landfills or dumps; it's
supposed to be treated as sewage to avoid contaminating water sources
and spreading disease.
I know nobody does this, but it *is* what you're supposed to do (dump
the poop into the toilet, then throw away the disposable), just so you
know. I only know of a few people who actually follow this instruction,
so it's more a point for the conscience department. With cloth, it's
all washed out into the sewage system and treated.
Mary S.
--
Mary Sweathe (and wee Charlotte-sprout, 3/3/02)
San Francisco, CA
Michelle S. Spina
not the larger Mega packs (which are cheaper per diaper). Ok, that's
probably not going to make a HUGE difference, but it irked me! They also
assume that you wash your own, which the OP specifically said she did
NOT want to do. In addition, they didn't add in the cost of detergent,
water, and wear & tear to your washer & dryer, so while they
*overestimated* the cost of disposables, they also *underestimated* the
cost of cloth. Neat trick!
So, although entertaining and *somewhat* factual, not a terribly
accurate comparison, especially for the OP who would use a service. :-)
m.
--
=======================================================
Michelle S. Spina, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Research Program Manager, Spoken Language Systems Group
MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu
=======================================================
Wendy
Ericka Kammerer <e...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Mobility issues concern me. The cloth diapers seems to allow for the
>> baby not to move as easily due to bulk. The sure size of the cloth
>> diaper takes up a lot of clothing space as it is.
>
> I found this to be an issue in terms of clothing (some
>clothing isn't cut with enough room for cloth diapers), but
>not in terms of mobility.
This is the one issue she brought up I really relate to. Ben is
seriously immobilized by his current diapers/wraps. I've ordered a
Bummi to try and in the meantime am letting him go naked/wrapless or
in disposables as much as possible. It's horrible to see how his legs
just fly through the air when they're finally free and then get pinned
down. :-(
--
Mama to Ben, born 10/08/01
"What if we're all meant to do what we secretly dream?
What would you ask if you knew you could have anything?"
Cheryl M.
posted a specific URL when I meant to post the main one from borntolove.com
(a Canadian company so you may have to convert a little).
http://www.borntolove.com/diaperfaq.html
The facts are laid out clearly and the main site does take into account the
cost of washing diapers. It also discusses the use of diaper services. The
real point is that it's not just economics. Diaper services do bring the
cost up but there are other very valid reasons for considering cloth aside
from the economics alone - some of which include environmental issues.
Many apologies for the pasting error. Furthermore, I'm sorry you were irked
by their use of premium diapers as comparison. They have to use something -
just convert the dollars into the number of diapers you buy.
Cheryl
"Michelle S. Spina" <sp...@mit.edu> wrote in message
news:3C8FC386...@mit.edu...
Alison Tooth
> Touching the absorbant part of a wet or soiled diaper is pretty yucky.
> With disposables, you can completely enclose the absorbant part in the
> outer cover and tape it closed.
I'm just not easily grossed out, I guess :) I always wash afterwards, it
doesn't seem to be a problem ;-)
Actually, my 3 yo wears diposables at night, and my 17 month old wears
cloth all the time, and I find that when changing dirty nappies, my
hands smell really bad after changing the disposables - even if I
actually get something on my hand when changing the cloth, it doesn't
have that lingering yucky smell - is this just me, or has anyone else
noticed it?
> It seems like I am using more wipes when I have to clean up the baby
> and wipe out the cover. I am doing something wrong?
Not sure why you're wiping the cover? Use toilet paper for it, if you
don't want to use more wipes, maybe?
> Time is of the essense, disposables go on and off and into the diaper
> pale so much more quickly. With an older, more wiggly baby it seems
> like this is going to get worse.
Yeah, changing cloth does take me longer (a couple of minutes, as
opposed to 30 seconds?), but it doesn't bother me. But then, we have a
fairly laidback life, and I don't worry about an extra minute and a half
here and there.
> Rebuying covers. The covers seem kind of pricey to me considering
> that you run through several sizes in the first 4 months.
I've used 3 different sizes in 17 months. The largest size are going to
last a long time more. Still a lot cheaper than the diposables.
> Washing my own. There really isn't a way that I would take this on.
> With two toddlers in the house, I don't have the time or energy to get
> this done added with the extra time it will take to get the diapers
> changed.
Don't know how old your toddlers are - mine were nearly 4, and nearly 2
1/2 when no.3 was born. I do a wash every 3rd or 4th night - which
compared to the amount of washing I do the rest of the time seems like
nothing!
> Mobility issues concern me. The cloth diapers seems to allow for the
> baby not to move as easily due to bulk. The sure size of the cloth
> diaper takes up a lot of clothing space as it is.
I use prefold by day and they are not bulky at all. (My son was walking
at 9 months - if they caused any mobility problems, I have to say I'm
glad!) Never had a problem with clothes.
> Convenience is of course an issue as well. My friend who is using
> them commented on how inconvenient it is to change a cloth diaper
> outside of the house.
Don't understand that at all. Sorry.
> So, here is the question. For those of you who have contemplated this
> decision and decided on cloth, how did you realize savings?
I use washable liners - fleece are great, I have spent about, I dunno,
$12-15 on liners in a year and a half, and I love seeing the cute
patterns inside his nappy! (Does that make me sad .... ?)
I use washable wipes - a couple of towelling remnants cut up.
I use prefolds and terries, not shaped or AIOs.
I started doing cloth for economical reasons - couldn't stomach the idea
of just handing over all that money to the nappy companies again
*again*, after using disposies for my first two. But I really love them
now!
--
Alison
http://www.theportico.co.uk
Mary S.
>
> At least with
> my cloth diapers I can fold it the way the baby is most comfortable.
Comfort for the baby is a big thing for me, as well. We're using
disposables until sproutkin grows into her "small" prefolds (they're
HUGE compared to her!), and I really hate the red ridges that the
elastic gathers leave around her legs and waist. We've tried both
Pampers and Huggies newborn, and while they are a little roomy on her
they both leave that angry red skin around her legs. I can't wait until
we can get her into some soft cloth instead. That's the reason I bought
bummis wraps instead of plastic pants, also (I remember elastic gather
rash from my babysitting days with the plastic pants). At least, I'm
hoping the issue will go away once we're able to switch to cloth.
Valerie Rake
know how US daycare centers feel about cloth diapers? I've got this notion
they require the use of disposables, but I may just be assuming.
Valerie
Alison Tooth wrote:
Cheryl S.
> Unfortunately, it's illegal to just throw away disposables. Once there
> is solid poop, you need to flush it; all disposables will state this on
> the package.
Mine don't say it's illegal, they just have a vague request to be
"sanitary" and dispose of loose soil in the toilet.
> Poop isn't supposed to go into landfills or dumps; it's
> supposed to be treated as sewage to avoid contaminating water sources
> and spreading disease.
I've been wondering ever since last time this came up, what is so much
worse about baby poop than the poop of all other species on the planet
which poop outside? Isn't poop poop? And probably 99% of the world's
poop does not go through the toilet into waste treatment plants. What
do people do with the poop in their cat's litter box? Just genuinely
curious. :) (And yes I'm still flushing the poop before throwing away
the diaper. :)
--
Cheryl S.
mom to Julie 3/19/01
No one has ever altered the future by simply worrying about it.
Julii Brainard
> So, here is the question. For those of you who have contemplated this
> decision and decided on cloth, how did you realize savings? For those
> of you who have contemplated this decision and decided on disposables,
> do you have any regrets?
I actually think cloth diaper (nappy) services are too expensive, more
expensive than disps, anyway, and pretty much defeat the environmental
reasons for using cloth. AS you say, bags of both rubbish & cloth
nappies sitting around all the time. As to other points you made...
You have to handle poop anyway you look at it. I don't find disps any
easier than cloth on that point. We use disposable liners to dispose of
solid waste, which can be hung up to dry & reused if only wet. I would
prefer not to touch sodden wet nappies, but I find that less disgusting
than runny noses, personally (which we have to deal with all the time in
this house!).
I don't use wipes. I'm not sure why you're wiping out the cover (I
wouldn't worry about a little wee residue in there).
The mechanics of movement (rolling over, walking, crawling) don't really
conflict with bulky cloth diapers -- honest! DS walked at 9 months and
looks likely his sister will follow suit.
I don't know what covers you're using; Isabel used one size for the
first 3 months, onto next size for 3 months, next size for 6 months,
etc. Certainly we don't go thru several sizes in the first 4 months.
I use some All-in-One cloth diapers (cover+nappy together) outside the
house for convenience. Also fitted ones for wiggly toddler DS inside &
outside the house (for the 5month old, folding is fine). All of my
friends have to pin their 2yo children down for nappy changes, too, may
as well pin ours down on a folded nappy as a disposable. I'm the only
one talented enough to tape a fitted or disp. nappy on DS when he's
walking around (I would have thought that was an essential skill! :-)
I have 2 in cloth at the moment, and the hassle comes in when 2 children
present dirty bums simultaneously, and both are screaming about empty
tummies at the same time. The extra 30 seconds or so that cloth
involves doesn't really significantly add to my stress.
We use disps at nursery -- that's been the only stumbling block --
because they get freaked out if the kids get the tiniest bit of wee on
their clothes. And at this age, over 2yo, DS wees *a lot* when he goes.
I'm sometimes tempted to go with disp. for him because his nappies are
starting to leak a bit if the fit isn't excellent. This is only a
recent problem, though.
-j
--
Julii, Mum to Daniel (Nov. 99) & Isabel (2 Oct. 01).
Julii Brainard
> Actually, this is related to something I've wondered about. Does anyone
> know how US daycare centers feel about cloth diapers? I've got this
notion
> they require the use of disposables, but I may just be assuming.
It's going to vary by center -- you just have to ask!
Wendy
Cheryl S. <chery...@telocity.com> wrote:
>I've been wondering ever since last time this came up, what is so much
>worse about baby poop than the poop of all other species on the planet
>which poop outside? Isn't poop poop? And probably 99% of the world's
>poop does not go through the toilet into waste treatment plants. What
>do people do with the poop in their cat's litter box? Just genuinely
>curious. :) (And yes I'm still flushing the poop before throwing away
As any composter will tell you, poop is not poop. ;-) This is why I
could change the bunny cage while I was pregnant. I don't really know
enough about the subject to explain it to you, but a good composting
website would probably cover it.
Chookie
Karen <glaes...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> Okay, so I am comparing cloth and disposable. I will be honest and
> say that with my first two, I didn't even consider the cloth issue,
> but the possibility came up since I am taking care of a friend's baby
> who is using a cloth diaper service. These are my thoughts:
>
> Diaper service is rather high cost in my area. The delivery charge (I
> believe it is $10 /week (my diaper budget with my girls was roughly
> $40 a month on disposables after the first month) makes it a pretty
> poor comparison to disposables--unless you plan to buy very high end
> disposables. I used luvs with both of my girls, so the cost wasn't
> terribly high especially since I clipped a lot of 1.50 and 2.00 off
> coupons.
I think that here, use of a service makes cloth almost as expensive as
disposables. I have never heard of anyone who used a service and paid for it
themselves; usually it was a gift from friends for a certain number of weeks.
> I despise separating wipes and disposable trash from the diapers.
> What a mess--two bags.
Yep -- when I use cloth, I go all-washable.
> Touching the absorbant part of a wet or soiled diaper is pretty yucky.
> With disposables, you can completely enclose the absorbant part in the
> outer cover and tape it closed.
I'm not bothered by wee, but I won't deny poo is gross! At least DS only poos
about twice a week!
> It seems like I am using more wipes when I have to clean up the baby
> and wipe out the cover. I am doing something wrong?
Get a better type of wipe? I have noticed that disposable wipes simply aren't
as good at getting poo off as a piece of Chux! (It's an open-weave dishcloth)
> Time is of the essense, disposables go on and off and into the diaper
> pale so much more quickly. With an older, more wiggly baby it seems
> like this is going to get worse. Disposable diapers are literally,
> clean up the bum, slide it under, stick the tapes, done. Cloth is
> clean up the bum, slide it under, fold it, fold it again because the
> baby has grown a bit, get the clippy thing on, adjust the diaper, put
> the cover on, adjust the cover to cover all of the cloth, I am finally
> done.
Um, I normally fold the nappy (I use flat terry ones) *before* I put it on DS.
> Rebuying covers. The covers seem kind of pricey to me considering
> that you run through several sizes in the first 4 months.
Pardon? I use Fluffies or the velcro-type ones, and they come in the same
sizes as baby clothes do. And the Fluffies stretch an extra size.
> Washing my own. There really isn't a way that I would take this on.
> With two toddlers in the house, I don't have the time or energy to get
> this done added with the extra time it will take to get the diapers
> changed.
I haven't noticed any difference in the time it takes to change the nappy, but
I suppose cloth would take longer because you have to fold it. I do about 3
loads of whites a week, up from 1 before DS arrived, and just throw them in
with the sheets etc. I hang the washing out, which takes more time, but
honestly it's not that big a deal. You do have to keep on top of your washing
though, especially if you rely on the sun as I do -- if it's a fine day, I try
to remember to check the washing pile!
> Mobility issues concern me. The cloth diapers seems to allow for the
> baby not to move as easily due to bulk. The sure size of the cloth
> diaper takes up a lot of clothing space as it is.
I have one friend whose son has major motor problems (hypotonia and dyspraxia)
and she was advised to put him in disposables to allow him to get a better
feel for his own movements. For a normal child, it's irrelevant. Haven't had
any problems with clothing.
> Convenience is of course an issue as well. My friend who is using
> them commented on how inconvenient it is to change a cloth diaper
> outside of the house.
Er, why? You put the lot in a plastic bag and take it home. Mind you, I tend
to use disposables for outings.
> Okay, I have heard this before, so for convenience sake if you are
> going to use disposables when you go out, where is the money savings.
Still substantial. I did the calculations for my usage last time we had this
thread, and if I were to use cloth all the time, I would save about $950 a
year. Estimating on the basis of using two disposables a day, I am still
saving about $650 a year.
> The delivery charge makes it so that cloth cost about the same
> amount whether you use them all the time or just at home.
Sorry, I don't know what you mean. Are you talking about using a service?
I've never had one.
> Add the cost of convenient disposables (I'd guess you
> would use 10 or so a week just to run errands and have a bit of a
> life) and your savings really goes down the tubes.
>
> So, here is the question. For those of you who have contemplated this
> decision and decided on cloth, how did you realize savings? For those
> of you who have contemplated this decision and decided on disposables,
> do you have any regrets?
There is another issue -- it simply horrifies me that there are millions of
these things sitting in landfills all over the world. Using cloth most of the
time is a fairly painless way to not pollute the environment. What price do
we put on that?
--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)
Henry Crun: Did you use Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book, Min?
Minnie Bannister: Yes -- it was the first thing I put in.
Spike Milligan, The Goon Show
Alison Tooth
> What
> do people do with the poop in their cat's litter box? Just genuinely
> curious. :)
I used to chuck mine down the toilet.
--
Alison
http://www.theportico.co.uk
Hillary Israeli
Mary S. <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote:
*Karen wrote:
*
*> I despise separating wipes and disposable trash from the diapers.
*> What a mess--two bags.
*
*Unfortunately, it's illegal to just throw away disposables. Once there
*is solid poop, you need to flush it; all disposables will state this on
Just out of curiosity: what counts as "solid" poop?
--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net in...@hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
newly minted veterinarian-at-large :)
Sarajoyo
> > them commented on how inconvenient it is to change a cloth diaper
> > outside of the house.
>
> Don't understand that at all. Sorry.
>
today, and i removed a cloth diaper and wrap once and a disposable once. no
difference in convenience. you need to have a bag for soiled clothing
anyway, so it was no biggie to bring the cloth diaper and wrap home too.
so far cloth is pretty darn easy for us. but she's only 10 days old, lol.
--
-Sara:) nak
Mommy to Laura Anne, 3-4-02
H Schinske
>Actually, this is related to something I've wondered about. Does anyone
>know how US daycare centers feel about cloth diapers? I've got this notion
>they require the use of disposables, but I may just be assuming.
Depends where you are. Seattle has a couple of diaper services, and the
preschool my kids went to was part of a larger daycare that had an arrangement
with the diaper service. I definitely saw lots and lots of diapers delivered
and picked up there, so certainly some kids there were in cloth. I've seen a
list in the diaper service handout of the many daycares and yes, even hospitals
that use their cloth diapers.
--Helen
H Schinske
>disposables. I have never heard of anyone who used a service and paid for it
>
>themselves; usually it was a gift from friends for a certain number of weeks.
For twins it does work out quite a lot cheaper to use a diaper service, because
the main cost is delivery and pickup, extra diapers aren't much at all. For one
baby diaper service is more. It was worth it to us, for quite a while, though,
because I had several problems (which were specific to my baby and my washing
machine and a couple of things about the layout of my house) that made washing
my own rather difficult for me (I did do it for a number of months, but finally
said the hell with it and went with the service).
--Helen
Mary S.
> > What
> > do people do with the poop in their cat's litter box? Just genuinely
> > curious. :)
>
> I used to chuck mine down the toilet.
Me too. Wheat and corn based litters are flushable; just scoop and
flush.
Mary S.
> so far cloth is pretty darn easy for us. but she's only 10 days old, lol.
Laura fits into cloth diapers already? I forget, what size diapers and
wraps did you get? I'm kicking myself now for ordering 'small' instead
of newborn size. I'm really hating what this disposable elastic does to
Charlotte's legs; I'd love to get her into cloth at least some of the
time.
Another general cloth question for the group: how often should you
change them? I have to admit that it's nice to be able to wake up,
nurse, and fall back asleep if she's just wet... but I'm not sure if it
works to go 6-8 hours between diaper changes when you're in cloth.
Qarin Van Brink
>Sarajoyo wrote:
>
>
>Another general cloth question for the group: how often should you
>change them? I have to admit that it's nice to be able to wake up,
>nurse, and fall back asleep if she's just wet... but I'm not sure if it
>works to go 6-8 hours between diaper changes when you're in cloth.
i just started cloth a few weeks ago, when amelia was 10-11lbs or so. i
use a polar fleece cover, a regular diaper, and a terry doubler at
night, and amelia is somehow magically comfortable enough for about 8
hours. she's not a big complainer when she's wet in general, though.
she's hasn't pooped at night since we switched to cloth diapers (i'm not
sure she ever did, since coming home).
during the day i try not to go more than 2.5 hours- longer than that and
the diaper is *really* soaked.
-----
Qarin
Mom to Amelia, b.11.13.01
Denley
"Mary S." <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3C918B0D...@yahoo.com...
> Sarajoyo wrote:
>
> > so far cloth is pretty darn easy for us. but she's only 10 days old,
lol.
>
> Laura fits into cloth diapers already? I forget, what size diapers and
> wraps did you get? I'm kicking myself now for ordering 'small' instead
> of newborn size. I'm really hating what this disposable elastic does to
> Charlotte's legs; I'd love to get her into cloth at least some of the
> time.
>
> Another general cloth question for the group: how often should you
> change them? I have to admit that it's nice to be able to wake up,
> nurse, and fall back asleep if she's just wet... but I'm not sure if it
> works to go 6-8 hours between diaper changes when you're in cloth.
I change mine (well Williams!) very frequently during the day - every 2-3
hours to compensate for the fact that he keeps the same one on overnight (I
know this doesn't really work but mentally it helps me!). Overnight is
about 12 hours in our case. If I wake him up to change him it causes far
more distress than sitting in a possibly wet nappy. I have had him in
disposables for the last couple of days has my washing machine died and to
be honest I found these less absorbant than my cloth nappies, and they leak,
and his bum looked more red, and the dog got the dirty nappies and I'm soooo
glad to be back in cloth! ;-)
Nik
Cheryl S.
> I'm really hating what this disposable elastic does to
> Charlotte's legs; I'd love to get her into cloth at least some of the
> time.
Try the Babies R Us store brand diapers. They don't leave any mark at
all on Julie's legs; never did. And she had a lot less poop blowouts in
them than the brand names.
Sarajoyo
>
> > so far cloth is pretty darn easy for us. but she's only 10 days old,
lol.
>
> Laura fits into cloth diapers already? I forget, what size diapers and
> wraps did you get? I'm kicking myself now for ordering 'small' instead
> of newborn size. I'm really hating what this disposable elastic does to
> Charlotte's legs; I'd love to get her into cloth at least some of the
> time.
>
her waist isn't too chubby, her thighs are). I've got Newborn sized
diapers, which I was told would work until about 4 months-ish and then as
doublers afterwards; they're a bit chunky on her now, but they work pretty
well. I've got Newborn-sized wraps too, though I've got some more Newborn
and some Small on order - because of her weight, she's almost ready for
Smalls in some brands. I first tried the cloth when she was about 3 or 4
days old, after the meconium was gone, and they worked pretty well then.
> Another general cloth question for the group: how often should you
> change them? I have to admit that it's nice to be able to wake up,
> nurse, and fall back asleep if she's just wet... but I'm not sure if it
> works to go 6-8 hours between diaper changes when you're in cloth.
>
Hehe. I decided to test this theory last night. I changed and fed her at
about midnight, and she slept happily until about 4 am. When I fed her
then, she fell right back asleep after a good nursing session, and I decided
not to change her and wake her up (she doesn't like having her diaper
changed, as it makes her cold, and I decided I wasn't crazy enough to make
her upset at 4 am, lol). She slept until 6:30, when I fed her again; she
still hadn't leaked so I didn't change her then either. When she woke up at
7:45, she had leaked, so I probably should have changed her at 6:30. So
far, it doesn't seem like her bottom has gotten any redder though, but I'm
not convinced that 6-8 hours is okay either. I've got a Fuzzi Bunz on
order, and I'm hoping that'll help draw the wetness away from her skin for
the longer stretches of time.
--
-Sara:)
Mommy to Laura Anne, 3-4-02
Sophie
>Actually, this is related to something I've wondered about. Does anyone
>know how US daycare centers feel about cloth diapers? I've got this notion
>they require the use of disposables, but I may just be assuming.
Military base daycares only do disposable.
--
Sophie
mom to Charlotte (6/98)
Patrick (11/99)
Lewis (12/01)
See us at http://www.mcgehees.com
J,T&M
your local fabric shop and cut some liners for your prefolds. We cut
them 11x5 for Maddy but she is 6 months old... maybe make them a bit
smaller? Since it is fleece it does not fray and does not need to be
finished.
I can put Maddy in a prefold with a bummi wrap, add a fleece liner and
she will sleep 12 hours!
Just a thought :)
Tammy
Sarajoyo
"J,T&M" <koz...@telus.net> wrote in message
news:3C9249E5...@telus.net...
> Another thing you could do Sara is go and get some fleece remnants at
> your local fabric shop and cut some liners for your prefolds. We cut
> them 11x5 for Maddy but she is 6 months old... maybe make them a bit
> smaller? Since it is fleece it does not fray and does not need to be
> finished.
>
remnants around here. :)
Barbara Foster Williams
"Mary S." <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Another general cloth question for the group: how often should you
> change them? I have to admit that it's nice to be able to wake up,
> nurse, and fall back asleep if she's just wet... but I'm not sure if it
> works to go 6-8 hours between diaper changes when you're in cloth.
During the day, when Jamie wears regular prefolds and wraps, I change
him every 2-3 hours. Now that he's older, he's not *always* wet every
time I check, which is nice. At night, he wears a FuzziBunz with 2
JoeyBunz hemp inserts inside, and with that combo, he can go from 7 pm
until 6 am and not be wet. :) Well, obviously the hemp inserts are
*soaked*, but the fleece is only slightly damp if at all, and he's very
comfortable. :)
--
Barbara, mommy to Jamie (5 July 2001)
See Jamie at http://pixel.citadel.org/jamie/pics
Mary S.
> I've got Newborn sized
> diapers, which I was told would work until about 4 months-ish and then as
> doublers afterwards; they're a bit chunky on her now, but they work pretty
> well. I've got Newborn-sized wraps too, though I've got some more Newborn
> and some Small on order - because of her weight, she's almost ready for
> Smalls in some brands.
Ahhh, newborn sizes... that's where I went wrong. I felt it deep in my
bones that sproutkin would be an 8 or 9-pound baby and would be into the
"small" prefold size (which organicbebe.com listed as starting at 10
pounds) within the week. I'm debating now whether it's worth it to
order newborn sizes or just stick it out until she fits these. I never
thought about using them as doublers afterward, though; that makes it
more sensible. Where did you order yours from, and what kind of wraps
have been working best?
Sarajoyo
they tricked us! I got my diapers and most of my wraps from
jardinediapers.com - she ships very quickly, and her prices are good. A
dozen newborn diapers was $18.00. Wraps. . . let's see. . . I have some
Diaperaps - hate these. Fortunately I got them gently used and cheap.
Laura's got chubby thighs and a thin waist, but the Diaperaps are loose
around her legs. That hasn't been a problem yet, but I've found that
wetness wicks through the "waterproof" layer and gets her clothes wet;
they're okay for short periods of time. I've got some Gerber EZ Covers, and
these seem to work pretty well; they fit around her legs well, are
waterproof, and don't seem to leave marks on her skin from the elastic.
They're not super breathable though, so I doubt I'll use them when she's
sleeping through the night for longer periods, but they're good for now, and
I trust them for taking her out of the house in them. :) I also just got a
couple of Prowraps in the Small size (jardinediapers.com has a deal where
you get free shipping on future orders if you once order any 6 covers at a
time, so I went ahead and got some Small size when I ordered some extra
Newborn), and she'll be using them soon, as the Small starts at 9 pounds.
These are nice and soft and lightweight and not too bulky - very roomy
though; they're a little loose around her legs. Seem to be very waterproof
too, and maybe more breathable than the Gerbers, though I'm not sure. I
just started using these yesterday, so I may still be working out how tight
to make them, but it seemed that the elastic left some red marks on her
waist and thighs. I also got a FuzziBunz for nighttime use and tried it
last night, with a liner to catch poop - it seemed to do a good job wicking
the wetness away from her skin and into the diaper, and it's very soft, not
bulky, and seems very natural. I also like that it's got snaps so I can
adjust the waist and legs separately - can't do that on the Velcro ones as
well. It's a Small, and again, slightly big for her now; I don't think it'd
be as useful for a small baby though, as they poop so often that you need to
change them a lot anyway (and they're expensive - $14 each as opposed to
$6-8 for the others - but if I could afford it, I'd use these much more
often), but maybe with a liner. . .
Anyway, that's what I've been doing so far. I also have some disposable
diapers that we use sometimes, and that I keep in the diaper bag, though
eventually I won't buy them anymore either. So far the cloth doesn't seem
to be any more difficult to use, really, and what I've been doing for
washing them is this: at night I take the diapers and wipes and put them in
the washer with a full washer full of hot water, some detergent (All Free
and Clear), and some OxiClean, and I let it soak overnight. The next day, I
run a regular cycle, and then a second rinse, and then I dry them in a hot
dryer. I've done this a couple of times, and there haven't been any stains
nor any odor problems; I soak on Sunday and Wednesday nights. The wraps I
air dry if they're just wet (though I rinsed the FuzziBunz and let it hang
to dry), so that I can use them again in a pinch if I need to, but when I
wash them (which is Tuesday and Friday), I wash them with the rest of her
clothes, on a warm gentle cycle and dry on low heat. So far, so good. :)
HTH!
--
-Sara:)
Mommy to Laura Anne, 3-4-02