What is the procedure for using cloth diapers?

Question

I am trying to determine if this would be beneficial for me, i have looked thru some of the resolved questions but they seem a bit one sided and im not excatly sure the procedure. the questions i have are basically about

storage (for at home and for outings) , frequency of washing (like how many in a load), necessity of diaper covers?, and if its possible with a busy schedule...

i dont know anyone personally who uses them, i heard its lighter on th wallet than pampers but im trying to figure out if its really practical for my life....

i ALREADY know the benefits, i need to know from experience what REALLY goes on...

Answer 1

I use exclusively cloth diapers for my children. Right now I have one full time in cloth and one wearing cloth for bedtime only (I had two in cloth full time for over a year and a half). We have tried a few systems - prefolds with covers (PUL, wool, fleece), All In Ones, Pockets. We now use exclusively Fuzzi Bunz - pocket diapers.

Storage:
clean:
*I have a basket I keep clean diapers in at our changing station (in the livingroom).
*When we go out I have a few diapers in the van and I can throw a diaper in my big purse.

dirty:
*in the bathroom I have a flip top garbage can ($8 from Target) that I put an XL Bummis wet bag in (http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=270) - dirty diapers go in the wet bag - I dump any solids in the toilet and then shake the inserts out of the pocket diapers in to the pail
*on the go I have a small zippered wet bag (http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/store/whamiesfunprintswetbags.html) to put dirties in or I just use a plastic grocery bag - when I get home I dump the diapers in the big pail

Washing:
We was when the pail is full - that is the right amount of diapers for the washer to safely wash - with 1 full time in diapers and 1 wearing diapers only at night - we wash about every 3 days.

our wash procedure:
cold rinse with a couple of drops of tea tree oil
hot wash/cold rinse with about 1/6 of a regular scoop of Tide and about a teaspoon of Oxyclean
cold rinse
low dryer


Only you can determine if you can manage with a busy schedule. We often put the diapers in to wash first thing in the morning and add soap, do the rinse and put in the dryer throughout the day and in to the night. My husband and I share the diaper responsibilities which makes it easier on me. We save a LOT of $$. The initial investment is pricey but in the long run it is well worth the cost.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I've used cloth diapers with all 3 of my children (all under 5 yrs old now).

Storage:
- most clean diapers stay in a basket in the bathroom (prefolds), with a few in the diaper bag (pocket diapers).
- At home we use wool covers - they stay in the bathroom when not in use.

Washing:
- I wash every 1 to 2 days. I try for every day, as the only diapered child here is a newborn, and goes through about 20 diapers a day still.
- I rinse any particularly nasty diapers before putting them into the diaper pail
- Wash routine is a cold wash cycle with detergent (I don't have the option of just a rinse or I'd do that) followed by a long hot wash cycle.
- We don't have a dryer, so I hang to dry (another reason to wash daily - the drying time for us).

Covers:
- optional, but unless you want a constantly wet lap, a good plan.
- we use wool at home (more breathable)
- Pocket style diapers have a built-in waterproof cover

Schedule:
- No more time than with disposables.


Personal Experience :
- MUCH cheaper if you stick with the basics (prefolds and covers), but you can spend a fortune when you look into the high-demand, custom-made diapers.
-Pocket-style diapers (Fuzzi Bunz, Mommy's Touch, etc) are great for outings as you just stuff them with something before putting them in the diaper bag - a fast easy change when you're out.
- Keep a large ziploc bag in the diaper bag to bring dirty/wet diapers home with you when you're out.
- A new baby already creates extra laundry, so the extra loads each week don't get noticed so much (most people do not need to wash daily - I have a small washing machine and hang dry). It's usually only 2 to 3 extra loads each week.

Answer 3

First of I have to admit...it has been almost 15 years since I used cloth diapers but if I had to do it again, I would still use cloth diapers. I used a plastic diaper pail with a 'step open' lid and soaked the diapers in a borax solution. About every 3 days I had to wash a load of diapers.
The covers you are referring to, I know nothing about. I used the old fashioned 'rubber pants' over the cloth diapers and had no problems.
I have to confess...if we were heading out for the day, I put disposable diapers on her. Just made it easier than carrying around dirty diapers. And at night time we used disposables. But for during the daytime hours while at home they were wonderful.
Hopefully this will help you in making your decision. :)
Good luck.

Answer 4

I use both cloth diapers and disposables. If you want to use cloth for environmental reasons their both just as bad for the environment if you think about all the energy, water, soap, and bleach used. They also cost about the same especially if you decide to use a service. Although, they say that the cloth diaper child is earlier to potty train.

I use Mothers Ease cloth diapers which I love, they can be found online. It’s a one-time investment but worth it. The same diaper will fit a newborn thru toddler and then can be use again on your next child. They are very soft and easy to use with little snaps and cloth covers that ventilate .

As for disposables I buy the Target brand, they are the best buy out there, they work very well and are softer the Huggies.

Answer 5

My friend uses cloth diapers. First off she uses a velcro diaper cover (I don't know if that's what it's called) but the cloth diaper is folded inside of it and then you just put it on like a disposable diaper. She uses a diaper service who comes and picks up the used diapers (which she has rinsed off) and replaces them with new ones. I think they come 1x a week.

Answer 6

the benefit is your forced to change lil johnny cause the cloth wont hold anything.
so should be less diaper rash etc. the procedure is to get a linen service. now do you really wanna rinse egg-salad-leftovers from cloth diapers remembering the service comes once a week.

Answer 7

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/981007g.cfm


Here this should give you all the info you need.