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Modern Cloth

 

I get asked ALL THE TIME about modern cloth diapers! There is a lot of great information out there but most people just want a simple explanation. Here it is! If you have any questions just ask!! I will be HAPPY to answer all of your questions in the comments section this evening. My husband will be at the fire station tonight so I'm looking forward to chatting with y'all! xo, Sam

 

Comments

Rachel said…
We are about to start cloth diapering our 1 year old, our 3rd child. I'm just waiting for the covers to arrive.

I have a question about the fleece in the pocket diapers. How do you get it to smell clean after washing? Is it a special type of fleece? My older two still wet at night and if urine gets on their fleece blankets or pjs, they stink. In a last ditch effort I even tried soaking one pair of pants in a vinegar solution and later bleach but it didn't help and I ended up tossing the pants.

I think I would like pocket diapers, but the potential problems from smell is deterring me.
Samantha Caffee said…
It must be the fire proof coating on the pajama fabric that's holding stink. Also a build up of detergent (especially fabric softeners) can cause smells to stay.

Wash routines make a lot more sense to me now since I started cloth diapering.

For the pants I would: soak the pants in blue dawn (yes the dish soap) because that's supposed to strip away the buildup and then rinse well.

Cloth diaper wash routines are what keep the diapers from stinking. Certain detergents are better about leaving no build up (I use tide original). My wash routine is cold rinse, hot wash with tide, and then hot rinse. About once every two months I will add another was of dawn and a rinse to that routine. I have a top loader (a glorious old clunker!) and they are best for washing diaper because they use a good bit of water. When I had my front loader I would add a gallon of water to the wash by pouring it through the soap dispenser, I also used the "heavy" wash setting which tricks the machine into using more water.

If I were you, I would get some reasonably priced diapers (these are our favorites and are the best prices http://www.theluvyourbaby.com/hot-item-ultra-soft-cross-over-square-tab/ ) and give it a try! 6 diapers should get you started part time cloth diapering and if you don't love it they sale for almost the same amount as you originally bought them for on Craigslist!
Samantha Caffee said…
I just did the math, that would cost you about $42 to try them out and even if you just kept them for the times that you have run out of diapers that's worth it!! I hope you love it as much as I do sweetie!!
Brenda said…
I am very interested in cloth diapering. I never did with our first three, now for some reason, I really want to with our fourth. But where to start?! There are so many options. Maybe just tell me what you use and why you like them, and what I would need to start.
Unknown said…
Do the cloth diapers fit a newborn (they say they do...but really)? I've wondered if leaks would come out the leg openings since new babies have scrawny legs! I've debated on using disposables for the first weeks or possibly trying to find cloth diapers meant just for newborns.
Rachel said…
Those particular pjs were ones I made so they probably didn't have the fire coating, but they probably did have softener build up. I'm going to have to remember not to use it on the cloth diapers.

I'm starting with the econobums (covers & prefolds)on recommendation of my cousin. I just bought a couple trial sets for now which should get us through a day, or close to it. They are really affordable but without a liner there won't be anything to wick the wetness away and I think that will bother me.

I like the idea of the pocket diaper and I think my husband will like those better. I'll check out the ones you use. We still plan to use disposables at night, at least for now, as my kids tend to be heavy wetters at night.

Thanks for the info, it can be overwhelming looking at all the message boards and trying to figure out what the abbreviations mean.
Samantha Caffee said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Samantha Caffee said…
Brenda, see the earlier reply to Rachel! I linked to our favorite diapers! Kawaiis are our favorites and very affordable. I would suggest the same to you, a day worth of diapers to try! I hope you love it! It's so much fun!!!
Samantha Caffee said…
Misty, newborn diapers are pricey, but worth it! It's true in the first few weeks the one size are just too big for most babies. You could get by, but it wouldn't be enjoyable. I made 4-6 newborn diapers, bought 8 used, and filled in with prefolds and covers. I washed almost every day, but it only lasted a few weeks (which now seems like minutes)

This is my prefolds tutorial:
http://thehandmadedress.blogspot.com/2012/12/diaper-tutorial-how-to-make-fitted-from.html

And this is some of the diapers I made and bought:
http://thehandmadedress.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

My stance on this is: if you plan to have more children make you up 12 newborn diapers (or buy used) and then fill in with 12 prefolds and 2-3 covers. If you don't plan to have more you could still buy them and sell them for probably the same price you paid. With that many diapers you would be able to wash every other day and be fine.

And ya know what? If you just want to do disposables until the babe fits in one size pockets, do it! This is certainly not an all or nothing thing!

Samantha Caffee said…
Rachel, definitely no softener! It will not be good for dipes. And pockets are definitely easier! I'm just a pocket kinda girl!
Nexus said…
Check the latest Indochino reviews..They are awesome
tarynkay said…
Do you prefer the pockets to the prefolds + covers?

Have you tried wool covers? I have not been brave enough.

We started out using Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers, but our son grew out of them by age one (he had some serious plumber butt. The rise was just not adjustable enough.) I switched to prefolds and covers (Thirsties for the covers) and I like them SO much better. The washing routine is much less involved since there is no fleece, and they don't leak like the FBs did. We just trifold the prefolds and lay them down the middle of the cover, so it isn't more complicated or anything. Anyhow, maybe that is just me, but prefolds and covers are also much cheaper, so this might be a good option for other folks.

On newborns- I see lots of newborn cloth diapers on Craigslist frequently, it seems like it would be smart to buy newborn diapers used and then resell them afterwards (provided you aren't saving them for the next baby.) You could probably break even that way since they fit in newborn diapers for such a brief time, they really wouldn't lose much value in a few short weeks.

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