Cloth Diaper Moms

Cloth Diapering FAQs from the Cloth Diapering Board (VERY useful place to start with tons of information)

Cloth Diaper Reviews from members of TheBump (there are multiple tabs to this spreadsheet, so make sure you check them all):




FAQs on CDing answered by March 2012 Moms 

From FinallyMrsBMW:
Does anyone who CDs have a front loading washer?  Does it make a difference?  We do have a front loading washer but it's just as easy to do them in a top loading.  It just uses less water.  We do use an extra rinse or else there can be build up in the diapers.

How often do you do laundry?  Right now, we only do them every 3rd day because we go through so few of them.  DD only uses them at night.  It generally depends on how many diapers are in your stash.  I wouldn't recommend going any more than 3 days because they get stinky.  When DD was 6 months old we had 18 diapers and washed every other day.  We will need more than that for the newborn stage.

What do you do with your diapers in between washes?  We put them in a pail with a pail liner.  Sometimes these are called wet bags.  You don't put any water in them or anything and it's basically like a hamper for dirty diapers.  We use a wet/dry bag (from PlanetWise brand) for when we are out.  It has a pocket for dry clean diapers and another waterproof pocket with a zipper for the dirty diapers.  You can toss these in the wash as well.

Once they are on solids and their poop changes how do you get it off the diaper?  Invest in a diaper sprayer!  It's like a kitchen sprayer but it attaches to your toilet and uses clean water to spray off the poo into the toilet.  Some people are lucky and the poo just rolls off the diaper.  We've never been that lucky and have had to use the sprayer every poo.

Do you have more/less/same amount of blow outs as disposable diapers?  We had many less blowouts with cloth than disposables but we did switch after DD was done with the newborn explosive poo phase.  My SIL uses the same diapers on her newborn and it seems like there are far fewer than I remember having with disposables at that age.

What's your favorite type of CD?  Hands down BumGenius Elemental diapers.  They are an all-in-one diaper so it basically works like a disposable.  Plus it has snaps which you DEFINITELY want when you have a toddler.
What's the best thing about CD?  Even though I'd like to say the health benefits of using cloth, I'd have to say the best thing is the $ that we save by using cloth.

What's the hardest?  Remembering to rinse out diapers.  It's hard when you are taking care of your baby as well.

I've always thought that CD aren't necessarily easier, they are just better (for their bums and for the environment), do you think that's true?   Yes, I think it's true.  It's definitely not any easier than disposables but the benefits is worth the little extra work it takes at times.  An added bonus is that they are super cute!
 From sunnyday016:
Does anyone who CDs have a front loading washer?  Does it make a difference?  Yes, we have a front loader. Just use a teeny tiny bit of CD-friendly detergent. You need WAAAYYY less than you think.

How often do you do laundry? 
In the height of CDing, we were doing laundry every 2-3 days. We have about 22 diapers and I'd do about half of them in a load. If you leave them longer, the stink builds up.
What do you do with your diapers in between washes? 
We use a regular plastic garbage pail with a liner. Like this one.
Once they are on solids and their poop changes how do you get it off the diaper?  I've never used a diaper sprayer. When her poop was "peanut butter consistency", I'd use toilet paper to wipe off what I could into the toilet. I didn't stress about what was left behind on the diaper. The washer takes care of it, and I have never found poop in my washer. Ever!

Do you have more/less/same amount of blow outs as disposable diapers?  We've never had a blow out in CDs. In disposables however...that's another story. There's just no comparison here. CDs contain blowouts-most sposies can't!

What's your favorite type of CD?  We used the Bum Genius 3.0 (pocket diapers). They've since upgraded to a 4.0, but basically the same thing. I HIGHLY recommend the snaps. It's not as great of a fit for small babies (the downside), but toddlers can get the aplix off lickety-split. Plus, the aplix gets nasty after about a year of use. The snaps are looking great after 2 YEARS of use.
What's the best thing about CD?  Definitely the money savings. And they are like 23478397423897x cuter than disposables!

What's the hardest?  I think the hardest part (for most people) is taking the plunge and trying it. It is SO much easier than most think it is. I mean, whether you do sposies or CDs, you're going to have to deal with poop & pee, and that can be gross. But that's just part of the job description of being a parent!

I've always thought that CD aren't necessarily easier, they are just better (for their bums and for the environment), do you think that's true?   Yes, I think they're better! They're cuter, better for the environment, not difficult to use, and do a better job at containing poop & pee. Plus, you'll save SO much money. Your savings go through the roof if you use your stash on a second, third, fourth child.