Diapers Q&A

are there "easy" cloth diapers?

With my first son, I went back to school (fulltime college student) when he was only six weeks and then back to work part time a few months later, and didn't really have the option to use cloth diapers. He does fine with disposables now but he has my sensitive skin. Baby number two is on the way and I'll have at least six months to be a full-time stay at home mommy. I would love to use cloth diapers but honestly they seem like so much of a pain. Not to mention my son will only be 18 months when my daughter is born and I don't have the time or patience for folding some sort of intricate diaper origami. Is there an easy way?

Public Comments

1. I used bummis with my son, and with several of my daycare kids. They're AWESOME. and really easy to use. http://www.bummis.com/en/Index.html
2. The easiest are all-in-ones such as Bumgenius. Second easiest are pocket diapers such as Happy heinys or Fuzzi Bunz. Diaper oragami is totally unnecessary these days! Even prefolds can be stuck in a diaper cover and velcroed on just like a paper diaper! Wasshing is easy too. Just throw the dirties in a pail, dumo them in the washer before you run out of clean ones and wash with a little free and clear detergent. I did a load about every 3 days. Check out http://www.diaperpin.com for more details.
3. Honey, when I thought of clothe diapering my third baby, I thought, "well, I would rather light myself on fire." But, actually, she seems to be VERY sensitive to that "sand" that is in disposables and breaks out in a monster rash if she wears them all the time. There are SEVERAL different ways to clothe diaper. You can use the traditional clothe diapers, with one new wonderful twist. Instead of those funky, nasty plastic pants, you buy diaper covers (or make them if you know how). You can use either PUL (waterproof fabric) or wool which has been lanolized. Wool is sort of a pain because it can't be washed normally, and you have to re-lanolize it every month or so. PUL is my favorite, as it gets washed along with the diapers and air dries quickly. You will need roughly 6-10 of these per day. Usually, you change the diaper BEFORE it soaks through to the cover. My baby likes to hose her diaper down completely and I have never been able to reuse the cover. Alas, the cover prevents her from peeing on my lap. These covers cost $8-$20 each, but, if you can sew, you can make them for roughly $3-$5 each. You can also check Craig's list for people selling their used covers and I see nothing bizarro about this, just wash them twice with vinegar and baking soda. They do make all-in-ones (cover and diaper all in one). I'm not a fan because these take FOREVER to dry and are EXPENSIVE (around $22-30 each). I use a clothe diaper from Kissaluv which has snaps and is super absorbent and super soft. I like them because there is NO origami involved. My covers I make myself, but I have a few whisper wraps by Bummis. The most inexpensive place is baby bunz & co. You can check them out online. By the way, here's a quick trick to avoid the nightmare of dunking poopy diapers. Buy the organic cotton wipes (they sell these at Walmart). As you wipe your baby's tush, tuck the wipe in the clothe diaper. It will get washed with the diaper and you will have a clean diaper liner once it's dry. Then, you line your clothe diapers with the cleaned and dried wipes and when your baby poops, you just dump the liner and poop in a diaper sack and into the garbage it goes.
4. Oh, honey, get ready! You're in for a surprise! http://www.cottonbabies.com/index.php?cPath=28
5. The least expensive way is to probably use a Bummis Super Whisper Wrap over a cloth diaper (Indian or Chinese prefold diapers - they look like burp cloths - you can fold them in 3rds and place in the whisper wraps. The prefolds are about $25 a dozen and the Bummis are about $9-$12 a piece. You an reuse them if its not a poopy diaper). I also use Kushies -they are an all-in-one diaper and easy to wash. They are about $10 a piece (but try searching for better deals on Ebay). The best is probably Fuzzi Bunz - they are very snug and the least bulky - it has an insert that you take out for washing & drying (making drying time less). They can be expensive so check out the discontinued colors and 'seconds' on the diaper websites. You can get good prices and info for cloth diapers at the following websites: www.greenmountaindiapers.com www.kellyscloset.com (you can get lots of stuff in bulk) www.punkinbutt.com Good luck to you!!!
6. i dont think so!
7. AIO (all in one's) work basically exactly like disposables, they are one piece and usually do with with snaps or velcro. You toss the whole thing in the wash and go, they do not need folding nor additional covers/rubber pants, etc. However they do take longer to dry than many other kinds of diapers, and have some other trade-offs. FYI you can also buy flushable liners that you put over the cloth diaper and use to lift the poop and flush it away. They work better with firmer poops of older babies. There really is a whole world out there and tonnes of different kinds of cloth diapers. I couldn't get into all the options here. Do some research and join a cloth diapering group or two (or 10). Then you can hear from lots of different moms about what worked and didn't for them: I like yahoo groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=cloth+diaper
8. cloth diapers of today are sooooooo not what you think i use fitted hemps......i flippen love them....i haven't regretted a single second of cloth diapering after 3 months i snap them on my baby....she uses it.......it gets washed easy as that i use growing greens hemp/cotton blend type here is the link.....and they frequently put up sales on their "seconds" on ebay for less go quality....you cannot go cheap on cloth diapers and expect to be happy.....and these growing greens are the top of the line on quality, durability, wear (one size fits all), convenience good luck!....and be careful......cloth diapering quickly becomes an addiction and FUN....i love diapering my baby