anyone use them

what kind

pro's

con's

how many do you need 

how often do you wash

how do  you wash?

Looooong question to answer :)

 

anyone use them - We do!  

what kind - I'm a huge fan of pockets.  We've got pockets, All-in-ones, and prefolds/covers.  The pockets are hands down my favorites.  Among those, my favorite are Fuzzibunz, followed closely by Rumparooz.  Unlike most people, I hate hate hate bum genius!  

Don't buy into one brand or type, because once you start diapering you'll learn quickly what you like/don't like.  Find a few of each, see what you like, then build your stash from there.  I'm in the process of getting rid of some of the ones I didn't personally care for so I can have more of the ones I love (Fuzzibunz!).

pro's  - Better for baby (no chemicals, less diaper rash if you have a good wash routine/detergent, easier to potty train later). . .better for the enviroment (note, studies to the contrary are almost always funded by disposable diaper companies!), SUPER CUTE!, unlike disposables I find that cloth doesn't leak and can contain some NASTY blowouts.

con's - Getting the wash routine nailed can be hard, microfiber dipes are known for getting stinky if they aren't cared for just right, sometimes you get tired of the routine/run out of diapers (most of the time I LOVE it. . .but once in a while it gets old), they are bulky, difficult to travel with (of course, you could just use sposies in that case)

how many do you need  - 18 to 25

how often do you wash - Every other day.  Don't go longer than that, even if you have enough, because they will get really nasty.

how do  you wash?  I have two wet bags - dirty dipes go into a wetbag in a standard lid can.  I pull the whole bag out and put a fresh bag in.  Bag of dirties goes to the wash as follows:

a.  Short Cold Cycle, no detergent

b.  Restart washer, add 1 gallon hot water (we have an HE front loader. . .not necessary if you have a top load), 1/2 a capful of Vaska detergent (or tiny bubbles/charley's/Rockin' Green, Ruby Moon, or Original Tide), and every other wash gets about 1 ounce of Oxyclean as well.  Wash HEAVY load on HOT, cold rinse, EXTRA rinse (this is important).

c.  Every other wash when I do the oxyclean, I also run a second hot wash no detergent.  So far, I've NEVER had stinky microfiber! ! !

d.  Dry on low.  Once/month lay each one out in the sun to get rid of stains. 

e.  Stuff.  Repeat :)

HTH!

http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/cloth-diapers-which-ones 

I also link to a post on that one that I had made way back in the day when I was still preggers.

We use cloth, but are currently in sposies because of a yeast rash.

I have 12x bumgenius 4.0s, 6x Fuzzibunz OS pockets, 1 fuzzibunz elite, 3 Grovia AIO, 24 Sunbaby pockets, 12 prefolds w/ 5 covers by Bummis.

I also have reusable and disposable liners. 1 small wetbag, 2 medium wetbags, 1 large wetbag, and 1 pail liner. A bumgeius diaper sprayer and CD safe cream.

PROS- I am keeping chemicals off of my daugther, for the most part. They are cuter, softer, more absorbent, and aside from this yeast rash (Which is my fault because I had ringworm and she got it from me) she has never had a diaper rash. Cost wise, I am saving money. I have way more than I need right now (but if I have 2 in diapers I am all set.) Either way, when I am done I should be able to sell my diapers, or along the way if I want to switch out  my stash.

HOW MANY-I think a safe number is 24. You should be doing laundry every 2-3 days. Obviously younger babies go through more diapers, older babies go through less. IF you go all one size diapers, most don't fit until your LO is around 10lbs.

CONS- Not all creams are safe for cloth diapers. If you get a yeast rash, you have to disinfect your diapers. I stripped mine, but it wasn't enough to kill the yeast, so I am working on that.

WASHING- I wash every 2-3 days. Since DD is breastfed (exclusively bf until 6 months) the EBF diapers do not need to be sprayed out. THey got directly into your pail and then get washed on wash day. I have a front loader with hard water. So my wash routine might be different depending on your water type and type of washer. I start with a cold wash with NO detergent and NO spin cycle. I add 1-2 pitchers of water when the washer is filling up. THen I got a full wash cycle Hot wash/Cold rinse with an extra rinse. It will depend on your washer, but if you have a front loader you should be doing the wash cycle that adds the most water to your machine, so you might have to read your manual. I also add water to that cycle. If there are suds I do another rinse with more water.

To dry the diapers I LOVE having them dry outside. The sun naturally removes ALL stains if there are any left after your rinse cycle. If you do use the dryer, you should be drying on low heat, as high heat can damage the  PUL. Never use dryer sheets or dabric softeners and make sure to use a CD safe detergent.

thank you so much wonderful info, i was a bit scared but you make it seem manageable 

It really isn't bad. The beginning is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get used to it, it isn't a big deal at all!!

I really found watching videos to be helpful, and I started following these guys on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ClothDiaperChannel

The FAQ section on the bump is actually pretty helpful too.

If you are really looking to save money the best deal I have found on diapers is the sunbaby ones. 24 diapers is $108. They are pockets, and are actually like my favorite diapers now! They do run a bit bigger so it definitely won't be usable for the newborn period if you plan on CDing with a newborn!

Im currently looking into Alva or Kawaii. There cheap and I heard there great

How many covers would you suggest if i plan to start around the time our baby reachs 12 pounds 

Are you planning on going the prefold route then?

You don't need as many covers as you would prefolds, since you can reuse the overs so long as they are "clean". I  was good with 5 covers . DD was 12 pounds at 7 weeks so we were still changing pretty frequently.

Would you suggest ones with size over one size fits all or

 start with small ones and once they get to about 6 ir 7 mths change to the one size fits all 

If you do prefolds w/ covers you need to do sized.

I have almost all one size diapers, aside from the small prefolds/covers and I love them! DD fit into OS really well when I had them at 7 weeks. I haven't had an issue with fit/leaks with my OS diapers, but some people do and prefer the fit. To me, it was worth the cost savings to do one size.

I found the "small" size to be too big for the newborn period, so they didn't really fit well until ~5 weeks. I really needed the newborn size. THe size small prefolds fit just as well as the OS down to their smallest settings.

here is DD at 8 weeks in her bumgenius one size. She was at the lowest rise setting, but already had two snaps out in the waste!

Here she was at just shy of 2 weeks in size small prefolds. I would say that OS should definitely fit a full term baby around 5 weeks or so. So my plan for the next one is to buy the extra small/newborn sized diapers for that period, and then move directly to OS. You might find that you like the sized ones though so it is hard to say!