Diapers Q&A

cloth diapers?

Some questions: About how many cloth diapers should you begin with for a newborn (assuming washing every other day). What detergent do you use? Some sites say only the scent/color free, but others say the scent/color free has oils that break down the diaper... what do you suggest we use for a washing machine that needs HE detergent? We want to use the all-in-one diapers... anyone have a particular all-in-one brand that they liked? Thanks! :-)

Public Comments

1. lol for a newborn probably about 20 or so at least- newborns go a lot
2. 10 to 15 and try the tide with baking soda soap powder be careful to watch for a reaction to the baby's butt to see if the soap powder is going to break him/her out good luck with the cloth diapers.
3. We started with 36, also washing every other day, and that was been plenty, although we do use disposables when we're not at home. Inf the first two months we went through roughly 12-14 diapers daily, and by the third month it was about half that. We initially used Dreft, but the first week, we tried one washed in regular detergent, and as there was no negative reaction, have continued washing regularly. As for the all-in-ones, I'm not sure. I just got the plain 12 pack sheet diapers and diaper pins. Good luck!
4. I used the Pocket Diapers from All Natural Mommies and I loved them.
5. Honeslty... a newborn needs about 12 diaper changes per day, and you will have the often leak and or blow out (however, rare with cloth) BUT... all in ones don't fit all that great on a newborn. They work best between 10-12 pounds. My 7 week old is just now fitting into smalls and is 11 pounds. I don't recommending spending the money on xs, because you won't use them for that long. ALSO, as a new mom... the last thing you want to deal with is laundry, so it might be easier to hold off for a few weeks. It was for me. I wish someone suggested that to me, becucase I spent lots of money on diapers I didn't get to use. My suggestion, wait a few weeks to simply "adjust" and let the baby grow into all in ones. My favorite diaper so far is either bum genius one size or fuzzy bunz pockets. Either are AIO, but the pockets are so easy to stuff. The only two AIOs that I tried were blueberry and wonderworks. THe blueberry is just OK , the wonderworks are awful! Either were very absorbent. That is why I like the pockets because you can add absorbency. We use charlies soap, and it's good for an HE washer... only thing is that it's such a good soap, it fully clceans out your washer everytime you use it, picking up old soaps and putting them onto your dipaers. For a true squeaky clean, I'd use the charlie's on everything you own!