Considering cloth part-time

[LauraK]

I am a slightly overwhelmed mom who has always used sposies. I have two in diapers. I would like my 2 year old to start to move out of sposies at least because she likes the sesame street characters too much and has no incentive to train. I also think they are giving her a rash not really on her diaper area but on her back??

I also have a 5.5 month old I want to try to cloth part-time. I want to try cloth with her without a big financial investment because if I don't keep up with the laundry the experiment will have failed and my dh will call a stop to cloth. I figure I'll have to wash the 2 yr. olds dipes/training pants so I might as well use cloth on the baby too.

I am a little clueless as to what to buy? I know things like the fuzzi-bunz are nice but they are very costly? I was thinking of doing just dipes with covers or will that be too much of a pain?

For the infant I was thinking of just getting something like the semi-fitted package at:
http://www.sunshinediapers.com/shoppackages.html
since it is only $50 and then trying to find some used pocket dipes to supplement my stash?

would that work?

or should I just buy prefolds and covers or will I more likely have success with cloth if I go for AIOs or pocket dipes?


I am not going to have more children so I am not thinking of using anything on multiple kids except what I buy for the 2 yr. old.

I also am looking for some cool character diapers/ beginning trainers for my 2 year old. Something with cookie monster on them would be fabulous. Do anyone know of any WAHMs that do special orders on something like this?

Thanks for your help. I feel so clueless with all the opinions and cloth diaper options but I am sick of shelling out over $100 a month for disposable diapers and throwing diapers out with hardly any pee in them because I like to change my kids often since they are rash prone. I also hate the "addiction" to her cute disposables I see in my older daughter. Any thoughts and help is appreciated.

[milkmommy]

First dont bother with the semmi fitted diapers their not worth it... but I cloth diapered with this system fo a long time and worked great.
http://www.clothdiapersbysara.com/store/ The tiny tots with velcro (gets a better fit and more daddy/sitter friendly) along with dappi pull on pants very simple inexpensive and a great daytime system. A dozen diapers and 4 covers would run under $60.

Deanna

[TheSweetLife]

If you want inexpensive for your 2yo you might want to look at some of the training pants at a store like Babys R Us or Target, or Walmart. They usually have pull-up type cloth training pants for a pretty good price. I have found that Babys R Us has the best selection in our area but it may vary where you are. Also stay away from the gerber prefolds at these stores unless they say "Diaper Service Quality" on them. Otherwise they are "padded" in the middle with polyester batting that is NOT absorbant and is a complete waste of money (unless you are just planning on using them for burp-rags).

[Larissa]

I was going to say the same thing about the semi fitteds. If you can get a good buy on some fitteds with covers...that's the route that I would go. There are alot of women who do the CPF with covers...that love that system. I tried it with my toddler, and didn't care for it....but alot of people really like it...and it is definitely the most cost effective way to cloth diaper.

The pocket diapers are more expensive...but excellent for overnights....you would only need a few for that.

My toddler is now potty trained, but I put a Fuzzibunz on him at night time.
And I also have an infant that I have in cotton sherpa fitteds during the day, and fuzzibunz at night.

I am not sure about a site that does special prints...although I bet there are some out there!

[KoalaMommy]

honestly, I don't think cloth is any harder than sposies. pre-folds are great, with a snapi. I get a great fit that dd hardly ever blows out. She's blown out way more sposie than pre-folds with a snapi. And a dozen will run you $20 new. we mostly use bummies covers, I think they're the whisper wrap ones. Those work great, I have the velcro and snap versions, I prefer the velcro. I use wonderoos at night, just one wonderoo goes the whole night unless she poops, which she hasn't done at night in at least 2 months.

[LauraK]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your help. I just ordered a dozen prefolds, some snappis and two bummis covers to get me started (as a trial run). I also ordered one happy heinys pocket dipe because it was sooo cute with pink and little daisies. I hope this works for us.... I saw some used pocket diapers for inexpensive on the diaper pin forum that I am tempted to buy but my husband might kill me since we agreed to the trial run first. I guess if I bought them since they are used I could probably get back what I paid for them if they did not work out. He would be upset though so best to preserve marital harmony than buy cute diapers!!

One step at a time....

Laura

[Larissa]

Good for you!!! I think you will find that it doesn't add any work to your day! And saves alot of money! I was always worried that I wouldn't be able to handle the extra work load...but now that I have been doing it for 3 months...it really doesn't seem like extra work to me. And I love doing it!!! I also love that I don't have to throw it away after one use...

[Micah]

Have fun experimenting! :)
When I started out I used CPF and Rikki Wraps with Snappi's and had nothing but a great experience. :)

[BeckaBlue]

we started w/ pf's and gerber covers when we were doing part-time cloth. i think prefolds and wraps are the way to go for us, but ppl like different things better.

[Punkie]

If you're still interested in the custom diapers, I really love http://cutebooties.com/
They are inexpensive, never leak, and fit perfectly! I always get the suedcloth inner :)

I have a friend who is selling an almost entirely unused stash of large and x-large cloud nine softies (I LOVE THEM! They are the softest, best fitting fitteds!) and cute booties covers. If you'd be interested, I can see how much she wants :)

[LauraK]

Punkie- Yes please ask your friend how much she wants for the diapers.

My diapers still have not come yet but they should come today and I can try it out on my little one. Another mom on the swap-n-shop was also going to send me some prefolds.

I was also looking at:

http://www.wigglewormbottoms.com/

they are open for customs this week and if I can get some cute covers for my 2 year old she'll tolerate the switch better. The cute booties look nice but they don't have much in stock and are closed for custom orders.

I can see how CDing can get addictive since some of the covers and diapers are so cute.

[LauraK]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the advice. I thought my dd was ready to potty learn. I put her in the gerber training pants and she pretty much trained herself. We have accidents but at home she'll mostly just goes and takes care of business. As long as I just let her handle it she does great.

I have been using prefolds and covers for my 6 month old. I also have two pocket dipes and I just ordered 2 more used fbs. I can use the large fbs on my daughter on the smallest snaps so they should last awhile. I am really liking using cloth and don't mind the laundry. I just got a couple flleece covers used and I really like them so far.

It is fun to see what is out there. Thanks again for the encouragement to try cloth!