Cloth Diapering - Vancouver, WA

http://www.fernandfaerie.com/frugaldiapering.html

you can make wool covers from adult wool sweaters you find at goodwill.

Make fitted diapers from old tee shirts the ones with holes work great.

making cloth diapers is a great way to recycle old clothes

Just do a search for cloth diapers and you will find tons of patterns and advice.

Take a look at www.greenbabyguide.com, written by a local author with lots of advice on green parenting, including cloth diapers. It also gives lots of frugal advice.

Hey K.! We sometimes cloth diaper and have had a great experience with it. Friends had a diaper service early on until they were sure that they would be able to maintain it and bought their own diapers. Check out your local Attachment Parenting group on meetup.com since there will be many moms who can offer a lot of advice and support while you're trying to get ready for your little one! Pm me if I can be any more help!

Hi K.,

Thanks for asking this question! It sounds like you've gotten some pretty good advise so far, but I'll share my suggestions (and steal some suggestions from your reponses too...wow!)
We used a diaper service for our first child for 5 months, but couldn't find a daycare that would work with cloth diapers, so we switched to disposables. However, with our second child, we launder our own and use cloth diapers on evenings and weekends. We don't use wool covers (although have thought about them), we use a brand called "Prorap" diaper covers, they are cheaper than Bummis, and they are easy to launder, but probably not as eco-friendly as you'd prefer. They work great though, and my kids rarely wet through anything. I purchased most of them through the local diaper service, but you can find them online at places like TinyTush.com (They are around $6 - $7 each, but you only need 3-5 of them if you do laundry daily). We also use Chinese Prefold diapers, it's only because that is what we were used to with the diaper service with our first child, and they work great. You can find used ones for really cheap on Craigslist and some baby consignment shops, but the best deals I've found for new diapers are on TinyTush.com (they range from $2-$3 a piece). I'm terrible, but I never even thought about using cloth wipes. We just buy packages at Costco (the Kirkland brand), but now I'm thinking we'll try a couple of the suggestions you got below. We also use Charlie's Soap...they have a couple retail locations in Washington (we visit Olympia to get ours), but it's not very expensive to purchase it online (I think you get free shipping if you purchase $25 or more too). We use that soap for all of our laundry...a small bag lasts us months for a 4 person family. It's awesome.
Good luck with this, we love our cloth diapers and will be using them again with our third child (due in 6 weeks).
Take care!

We used prefolds with with prowraps on our daughter. I broke down and bought a couple bumgenuis and wish I would have bought them the first time. With number 2 on the way I will definetly make a purchase of the bumgenuis 3.0. They washed up fantastic and were much easier to use than the prefolds. I might even be able to get the hubby to change a few cloth with the bumgenuis.

I am a first time mom of a 14 month old and have used prefolds and Bummies covers since she was born. Prefolds are the most economical way to go. Plus a Snappi fastener to hold it on. I am really happy with the cloth. I have used some disposables for traveling early on, and I found cloth to be easier. No running out of diapers, just have to throw a load in the washer.

I also use cloth wipes. This way, i don't need both a cloth diaper pail and a garbage pail in the room. I just toss them all in the pail together. I use the ImseVimse wipes. They are thick and soft. I put aloe vera gel, vitamin e oil, and a bit of dr bronners soap in a squirt bottle with some water, and individually wet each wipe. It is really easy.

There are lots of resources on the web to make your own covers. see the bottom of this link for links to make your own: http://www.litegreenliving.com/cloth-diapers

And no, the debate is over, cloth diapering is more environmentally friendly than disposables, even factoring water use (unless you live where there is no water, like Arizona). Good luck, it is easier than you think!! I was terrifies at first too, but you get into a groove and it becomes easy.

I have a friend who is a cloth guru and is super in to wool...she blogs on her yarn selling site..

yarnpirate.com

We purchased "one size" all-in-ones (bumGenius and another kind I can't remember, Mama's Touch or something like that) These are diapers that have the cloth and the cover built in. They seem kind of "spendy" up front, but in the long run you only need 10-12 of them and they "grow" with your child.

We used a diaper service when our daughter was a newborn until about 5 months or so, then switched to the AIOs.

The absolute best soap for washing them is Charlie's Soap. I purchased it directly from their website as it's hard to find on the West coast. It's all natural, rises clean and causes no residue build up, which can decrease the absorbency of a cloth diaper.

For wipes, I just went to the fabric store and bought a few square yards of flannel in cute patterns. I then cut it into "wipe sized" pieces, stitched the edges all around and tossed them into the wash to soften them up. They work great, and are wonderful all around wipes, not just diaper wipes. For a wipe solution, I just used a coconut soap based recipe I found on line. After a while, I just used water though.

Of course, her daycare did not use cloth diapers (it's hard to find one that does) so we still bought the Kirkland kind for there.

We're expecting our second and plan to do the same thing: diaper service for the first four months or so, then the AIOs for the rest of the time.

I also recommend a wetbag to store the diapers in until wash time. We bought some really great ones that zip shut and hold about 5 dirty diapers. I think they're made by Whammies.

Good Luck!

Well, we didn't cloth diaper, but I think if we had another one I would truly consider it. If you have some sewing skills I would assume you could learn to make your own cloth diapers (I bought a bolt of cloth diaper fabric the other day at a trade show with my mom and plan to make burp cloths for friends with it), or purchase them on etsy.com from someone that makes them. You can purchas Diaper cloth almost anywhere...as for the wool covers....your local knitting store would be happy to teach you to knit them...or...also something you can find on etsy.com There are plenty of free knitting patterns for the wool soakers out there (I've looked)

Whenever I see a cloth wipe I see them in flannel...I don't know if thats the best material..but that seems to be whats common. I don't think essential oils are necessary...they are VERY expensive...so use a little earth friendly organic soap or something in your wipe "bucket" or whatever.

I think it's totally doable and could possibly be much more affordable.....now that I have a two and a half year old still in diapers and its EXPENSIVE and has been from the start. It's been the most expensive part of having a child.

I think they can be expensive intially to invest in if you don't make your own...but I also think in the long run it could cut costs. I'm not sure if that helps you AT ALL :)

J. Van Riper
Are you a CityMommy Yet
http://portland.citymommy.com
Director of Operations, Portland CityMommy

K.-

I see you have received many responses. But I thought I would let you know a few of my experiences. I love cloth diapers. I use mostly pocket diapers and never have leaks. You do have to be very careful of the detergent you use on cloth. Both to protect the aborbancy of the diaper, and to protect your babies bum from diaper rash. Although some babies don't have sensitive skin, so this may not be an issue for you. You can find detergent in the grocery store. But it must be free of fragrance and brighteners. You can find a list of brands suitable for cloth at CottonBabies.com. I know that if I use too much detergent my baby does get a rash. This has happened twice. It is recommended to use only 1/4 the amount of detergent you would normally use.

You can also find pre-owned diapers at diaperswappers.com. But definitely do some searching online. There is a lot of great info out there. And you will find that the mamma owned businesses are great to work with. They will help with any questions you have.

Good luck and have fun. The added bonus of cloth is that they are so darned cute!

I cloth diapered and loved it, thanks in part to the wonderful fleece covers that we used. They needed no upkeep other than regular washing and removing lint from the Velcro closures. You can use the same wipes as for any diapering. I know moms who just used a damp wash cloth and washed them with the diapers.

Best of luck!

Sarah

Here's a good resource: http://www.punkernoodlebaby.com/

and it's owned by a local mom

Hello K.,

you have already gotten some great advice and I did not even read through all of it...
I cloth diapered until my daughter went to daycare and I went back to work and they did not accept cloth at daycare.
Anyways, I have only basic knitting skills, but making "pantslike" things like diaper covers is super easy once you have tried it a couple of times! I am sure that you can find a free pattern online. When buying organic wool I would consider ordering in bulk and online.
As for wipes, I just used baby washcloths, of which I got sooo many for my baby shower - and I used them with nothing but water. You don't really need any cleaning stuff for breastmilk stools. Later on when you get the more "sticky" BM's a little bit of veggie oil on a wet washcloth does the trick.

Good luck!

Hi,

we've been doing cloth diapers for 13 months now and it works well for us. We use a service "South Sound Diaper" and they are great to work with. Basically we enough diapers for the week and rent 6 bummie wraps from them. We have to wash the wraps ourselves, but they do a diaper pick up/drop off once a week. I wash the wraps in our regular wash. If the wrap gets too poopy, I have to rewash it, in hot wash with bleach if its really bad - I try to avoid the bleach and usually don't have to use it. I use green laundry detergent. The cost is less then $85 a month and that includes the wrap rental. As for wipes, we use pre soaked paper towels. We have a tupperware filled wtih tap water and folded paper towels, works great!!! I'm thing about using old cut up t-shirts to not use paper towels, but haven't gotten around to that yet. Good luck! BTW rumor has it that cloth diapered babies potty train earlier!!! which cuts the investment down even more!
S.

that is a good way to save money because you wash and wear, just remember to wash in a baby detergent and rinse well, I do not know a lot about the diapers but do know that costco has the best price and best wipes the kirkland ones in a grayish blue box they are
$15.00 dollars for a box of about 700 and some nice wipes they are the only ones I like of all as I care for a handicapped young man who goes through lots this box holds eight to ten pouches I would not trade them for nothing I even had to ask them to keep a good stock of them others have followed so they do not last in the store alot. congratulation on your new one to come. S. Vanc.

I'm not really sure about making cloth diapers, but they are the most economical route you can take, even if you buy them brand new at $18 per daiper. We went with pocket diapers (which I'm sure you can make) but we bought them secong hand for about half the cost of brand new. We are also going with cloth wipes. One of the people who sold me diaper included 12 cloth wipes (which had never occured to me before) and we decided to make our own because12 would obviously not be enough. most cloth wipes that are sold by the companies are flannel squares with a hemmed edge. We went to walmart and picked out some flanned and made our own . . . and it cost us 10 times less than buying premade ones. There are great recipies online for wipe "solution" that an be sprayed on the wipe when used.

If you are looking for a good deal, I would look into second hand shops and craigs list . . . making your own will work to, but I'm not really sure of the best place to get patterns.

Good luck! I know the initial investment seems daunting, but just by going with cloth you will save several thousand dollars while diapering your child!

I don't make my own, but use various cloth diapers--mostly all-in-ones we've purchased used on Craig's List. I tend to use only around 10 of them, even though I have more, and just do laundry a couple times a week. No biggie and LOTS cheaper than buying oodles of disposables. My 2 cents. Good luck making your own and convincing any skeptics in your house! You COULD use washcloths or something as re-usable/washable wipes, too, if you wanted to save on THAT expense. I haven't ventured there yet. :)

Personally I don't think it's that much better on the environment to use cloth diapers. The need to be washed and dryed on a regular basis, which uses a lot of energy and $$.

I did use cloth diapers with my son until he was about 7 months. I used the chinese folded style with rubber covers. My son had perpetual diaper rash all the time, no matter what I did. I switched to an all natural paper diaper and the rash was gone within days.

My best friend uses the Bum Genius diapers, which I must say are better than the way I went. However, her son pees through them all the time. If we leave the house and she forgets to change his diaper every 90 minutes his clothes are damp. She must use 10-12 diapers per day just to keep him dry. Also, he refused to wear these diapers until he was 4 months old or so. He would fuss non-stop every time she put one on him. I think they were too big and bulky to be comfortable to a small infant. Each child is so different that it's really hard to say what's going to work until you try.

I would also use a large amount of cloth diapers and only 3-4 paper ones on any given day. Of course it depends how much your child poops, but paper diapers are so much dryer and more absorbant that you use way less. I owned a cloth diaper business for a year several years ago, so I have truly done my research.

Anyway, just something to consider.

K.,

I too thought cloth diapering was out of my budget, until I discovered 2nd hand cloth diapers and covers. We bought ours through craigslist.com and used baby stores at deep discounts in some cases less than a 1/3 of the price of new diapers and covers. Wash them with soap, hot water, and 1/2 cup of white vinegar to clean and sanitize them. Just a note bleach ruins diapers by causing them to wear out faster. As for wipes there are 2 tricks I've learned. I discovered by accident that the cloth or thick disposable wipes can actually be thrown in the washer a time or two and reused before they completely wear out. The other trick is simple too used baby wash cloths for wipes, or buy a cheap multi pack of adult wash cloths and serge/cut them into 4 smaller wash cloths. Make a small pail/container of water with a squirt or 2 of baby bath and a small splash of baby oil or olive oil to soften wipes for baby's sensitive skin, swirl the water, soap, oil mixture and add wipes and cover. Wash the wipes the same way you do the diapers. Rinse unused wipes at night before bed and add new solution. If you have a wipe warmer you can leave wipes in warmer with the same solution for a couple of days. Good luck.