Cloth Diapering Info

It is sort of hard to weed through the information and figure out exactly how many diapers you will need and which types you will like. It sort of takes some getting used to in the beginning but then you catch on quickly.


How many will you need?

Babies nurse a lot in the early months and they eliminate very frequently – like every 20 minutes they can go pee and they poo about 5 times a day until 3-5 months. We were diligent about changing Jonah’s diapers and were using around 12-14 a day with a diaper service.



Most people typically recommend 2-3 dozen diapers depending on how frequently you want to do washing. I have 28 diapers and I wash just about every other day – we switched to using our own cloth prefold diapers a year ago because they are thicker and washing them didn’t seem like a big deal.



If you use prefolds then you will need to purchase covers as well, about 4-6 covers should be enough, you let them air out in-between uses and don’t need to wash them until they are soiled or smell. We also used a Snappi (http://www.snappi.co.za/) which helps contain poop and holds the diaper on better than just the cover – but you can just use the cover.



We recommend doing a little elimination communication because it was really nice to not have to contend with that many poopy diapers – he just went in the toilet or potty. (infant potty learning - http://www.timl.com/ipt/)



Diaper Care

To keep your diapers clean and smelling nice, mostly you just have to do an extra rinse cycle when washing diapers and then just follow the care instructions for the type of diaper you are using (for hot or warm water requirements).

Breastfed baby poo doesn’t smell that much and you don’t have to do anything special to the diapers, you can just keep them in a bucket with water until you are ready to wash – or even just toss them in the pail/bag with the other wet diapers.

Usually you will have the best results with a more ecological washing powder – no perfumes or softeners as they can cause irritation and make the diapers less absorbent.



Some Popular Diaper Brands

http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php

http://www.kissaluvs.com/

http://www.mother-ease.com/

http://www.blueberrydiapers.com/


Links

http://www.thediaperhyena.com/

http://www.diaperpin.com/home.asp

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/diapers.html

http://www.diaperpages.com/index.php - example photos using prefold diapers

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=221 – discussion forum