Hellobee Boards

-when did you switch to cloth?
Yup! He was one week old when we started

-did you start out with something like the AppleCheeks starter kit or just do a full stash?
I had a combination, Fuzzibunz, GroVia, Bumgenius and Lotus Bumz. My favorite diaper was Bumgenius so I recommend those! Also I hear the Thirsties AIOs are amazing so I wished I'd tried those too. Maybe next time!

-do you use a storage sac/wet bag or cloth diaper pail?
I bought two pail liners, one was kissaluvs and the other was planetwise and then I bought a stainless steel step trash can from Target. I also liked the bummis zipper/draw string wet bag and that could easily be used on it's own. I recommend having two liners/wet bags because you'll need one while you're doing the laundry.

-what do you recommend for stain and/or odor eliminator?
Sunning! I didn't think it would actually work - so I was amazed when it did! Seriously it was amazing! Just leave the diapers/inserts damp from the washing machine and lay them out in the sun or hang them outside. Works wonders.
I never had any odor eliminator but I've heard from other mamas that both vinegar and baking soda work great; however be sure not to use that as a consistent solution because both of them can wear down on the PUL and elastic causing your diapers to deteriorate prematurely.

-detergent recommendation?
I used melalueca unscented, but have heard great things about Charlies, Rockin' Green and Tiny Bubbles!

-do you think a sprayer is necessary? Liners?
I liked the liners once he started solids because his poop was no longer machine washable. But you can alleviate the cost and skip it if you don't mind the extra work.
A diaper sprayer once they start solids is nice too, but not necessary if you don't mind dunking your diapers in the toilet or rinsing in the bathtub.
My sister bought a showerhead that had a handle sprayer and she used that.

-any tips and tricks for washing?
I did a cold rinse first to rinse urine/poop, and then a hot rinse with half the recommended amount of detergent to avoid buildup. Then I hung dry the covers to make them last longer and avoid color fading, and only put inserts and cloth wipes in the dryer.

Did anyone receive a lot negative comments about cloth diapering?
OMG YES. ugh it was awful. Way to put a new mom down It made me feel all the more guilty when I had to quit because we moved to an apartment building.

Good luck and I hope you love it!

-when did you switch to cloth? Did you use right off the hop? (I am thinking to make the switch after mec poops are done with)
We started when she was 3-4 weeks old. We waited until all visitors had gone. I didn't want to think about diaper laundry on top of having company.

-did you start out with something like the AppleCheeks starter kit or just do a full stash? (worried about fit - as of the moment I'm thinking of having a combination of AppleCheeks & BumGenius)
We just used our full stash. We had sized diapers to use for a long time. One size diapers like BGs don't fit well until at least 12 lbs... at least they didn't for us. Sized diapers are great!

-do you use a storage sac/wet bag or cloth diaper pail?
Small wet bags for out and about. Regular step trash can with Mommy's Touch wet bags for the nursery.

-what do you recommend for stain and/or odor eliminator?
Bac-out when it's really bad. You shouldn't need any odor eliminator in the wash if you have a good routine. We throw a few Arm & Hammer discs in the diaper pail. Line drying in the sun is the best for getting stains out.

-detergent recommendation?
Regular Tide Ultra

-do you think a sprayer is necessary? Liners?
A sprayer isn't necessary. We use fleece liners and GroVia liners now that LO is on solids.

-any tips and tricks for washing?
Use the "extra water" feature if you have it. Don't put too many diapers in the washer at one time. Our routine:
-pre-wash (no detergent)
-hot wash (Tide to at least the 2nd line of the scoop)
-extra rinse (LO tends to get contact rashes, so I just want to make sure everything gets rinsed out so they don't get more aggravated)

-We started probably around week 2-3? I waited until we were a bit more comfortable at home before jumping into it.

- We started out with our stash. However, he was quite small to start (6lbs5oz), so he only really fit into our Lil' Joeys to begin with. It probably wasn't for a few more weeks after that until we were able to use our one size dipes.

- We have a couple of pail liners that we use along with a regular footpedal trash can. I also have a couple of different sized wet bags for when we're out and about.

- We use BacOut on the diapers before we put them in the pail. I've had some staining on some of the diapers, but usually a day out in the sun fixes things. For really tough stains, I just do a soak in the washing machine for an hour or so and then some extra sunning.

- I love my Rockin' Green for hard water.

- We haven't ventured into liners or sprayers yet - but that will probably change once LO starts solids.

- I usually do a cold rinse, followed by a hot wash with detergent, then another cold rinse.

-when did you switch to cloth?
We started when he was less than a week. He was done with tar-poop pretty early. I didn't find it hard to deal with the laundry, because we were creating a whole new life routine for the baby anyway.

-did you start out with something like the AppleCheeks starter kit or just do a full stash?
We also did newborn rentals (from a website called modern cloth). We had 12 xs Fuzzibunz & 12 xs bum genius. He was 7lb13oz at birth & outgrew them by 6-7 weeks (around 11 lb). They still fit, but didn't absorb enough. Now we've got 20 bum genius (14 OS pockets & 6 OS AIO).

-do you use a storage sac/wet bag or cloth diaper pail?
We've got a kissaluvs pail liner for a plain old target foot pedal trash can & a large planet wise wet bag that we rotate. I prefer the liner, but the wet bag will be good for mobility. I've also got a medium sized planet wise wet bag for short trips.

-what do you recommend for stain and/or odor eliminator?
The sun for stain removal! It's crazy how well it works! We also do a couple spritzes of Bac-Out on poopy diapers before putting in the pail.

-detergent recommendation?
We were using Ecos Free & Clear, but switched to Rockin Green

-do you think a sprayer is necessary? Liners?
Right now for EBF diapers, neither. We'll most likely end up with a sprayer when solids start. Liners sound great but our pipes won't abide them.

-any tips and tricks for washing?
Rinse more than you think! We weren't getting repelling, but they were very ammonia smelling because we didn't rinse enough. And DS was getting a little rash.
We: cold rinse; hot wash with detergent & extra rinse; cold rinse again.
We line dry when it's warm enough (don't want those wet diapers freezing into "diap-sicles"!) or else tumble dry.

Also, we use hemp inserts to double up on absorbency overnight. They saved us! We really like cloth diapers (DH enjoys it too) and I'm glad we went for it. That's part of why we got newborn rentals - to try it out. If you've got enough diapers in your stash, it's not bad at all. In the first weeks we were washing every day; now (8 weeks) we're mostly washing every other day. Good luck!

-when did you switch to cloth? Did you use right off the hop? (I am thinking to make the switch after mec poops are done with)
We started with sposies and switched after the umbilical came off (which was forever for him).

-did you start out with something like the AppleCheeks starter kit or just do a full stash? (worried about fit - as of the moment I'm thinking of having a combination of AppleCheeks & BumGenius)
We were gifted many different types of diapers to try. The fuzzibuns fit better when he was really small but ultimately, we restashed with Grovia hybrids. It worked better on him and for our family (I'm not a stuffer).

-do you use a storage sac/wet bag or cloth diaper pail?
wet bag when out and about and a diaper pail (old trash can) in the house

-what do you recommend for stain and/or odor eliminator?
For stains - sun
odor eliminator, we don't have much of a problem with this unless the diaps sit for too long.

-detergent recommendation?
We use Dropps. We tried Rockin Green but it didn't help our ammonia problem.

-do you think a sprayer is necessary? Liners?
I love our sprayer. I think that it is a necessity if you aren't gonna use liners. We have never used liners (but we have sposie inserts for the hybrid we use sometimes just for poops).

-any tips and tricks for washing?
Lots of water and rinsing. We have extremely hard water and the predominate mineral is different than most hard water. So, we do a prerinse on cold with no spin. Then a warm wash (per the diapers) with a cold rinse and an extra rinse. Then I do another cold wash with extra rinse and 3 or 4 more rinses. It's the only way to strip our diapers. We use the extra water feature for all of these loads.

I didn't get any negative comments. My sister and friend both cloth diapered so they helped. And our daycare (in-home provider) is willing to cloth diaper so that has been fantastic.

Helpful hint: Look into used diapers. That was the best way and cheapest to stash up.

-when did you switch to cloth?
We started after his umbilical cord stump fell out--right around 2 weeks.

-did you start out with something like the AppleCheeks starter kit or just do a full stash?
We had a full stash--18 AIO OS Bumgenius Freetime. My MIL then bought us 6 more Elementals, so I have 24 total.

-do you use a storage sac/wet bag or cloth diaper pail?
We have 2 large Planet Wise wet bags.

-what do you recommend for stain and/or odor eliminator?
The sunning thing is amazing. I was so skeptical, but it's awesome.

-detergent recommendation?
We use Charlie's Soap Powder, and have had no problems with it so far.

-do you think a sprayer is necessary? Liners?
Right now for EBF diapers, neither. We'll most likely end up with a sprayer when solids start. Liners sound great but our pipes won't abide them. (Ditto.)

-any tips and tricks for washing?
When we started I did a cold rinse with half a scoop of detergent, then a hot wash with another half, then a cold rinse again. Then we got lazy, and just do a hot wash with one full scoop + a cold rinse, and it's been fine. We'll probably have to readjust again once he starts solids.

I didn't really get any negative feedback, exactly, but I got A TON of skeptical looks. Both my mother and MIL were all "sure, right, just wait..." My SsIL thought I was nuts. To be fair, they were all picturing old school set-ups with diaper pins...but now that they've seen them in action they're all really impressed. My MIL is in love with them. She shows them off to her friends and raves about them.

DH was skeptical too, when I was first talking him into it, but he's even more gung-ho about them now than I am.

I love cloth diapering. I've had some days when I ran out and had to put him in disposables while they were drying (I keep a small stash), and I always feel a little icky about it. And his skin doesn't like them much. I don't know if we've broken even yet (DS is almost 4 months old, and we went for the pricey ones), but we will soon. And I love that I'm not contributing diapers to a landfill. And they're super cute. I just feel better all around having him in them.

Good luck!

Our LO isn't here yet, but we plan to CD. So, I'm subscribing! Lots of good info!!

@lolabee:

We switched about 3 weeks in! I bought everything ahead of time, and thought cloth or bust, at 3 weeks I was really apprehensive and to be honest no longer interested in CD'ing. Not sure why, but I said to myself I bought them, at least use them to get the money we paid for them covered. I committed to two days that week that I would CD, and then do the laundry for them and switch back to sposies, and see what I thought for the next week.

I never looked back! I love them.

I have a full stash of prefolds and covers, Bum Genius, and FuzziBunz Perfect Fits, I had options!! I thought I would use the prefolds and covers to start, but jumped right to the BG's and FB's and rotate through them!

I have a small rubbermaid container and wet bag I use for dirty diaper storage, I am currently not happy with the system....also using disposable wipes (I have cloth wipes too, just haven't switched as we got so many disposable wipes as gifts) which makes it a pain as I still have garbage with the wipes, and storage for the dirty dipes!

I am not having any stain or odour issues as of yet, my stains are coming out in the wash, it's now too cold here to put them on the line for sun bleaching!

I use Eco Sprout detergent http://www.kawarthacloth.com/ecosprout.htm and am super impressed with it so far.

We have liners ready for when poops are more "fun". LO is just 6w and EBF, so easy poops for now, liners for sure when poops get more poopy. Not sure about sprayer, we'll see.

Wash tips? I hand rinse/wash my dipes in my laundry tub before they go in the wash, soak them overnight every 3rd or 4th wash day, and I don't know if that's what I should be doing, but it works, and I am really impressed with how clean they come out. I have a front loading HW washer and do a heavy setting, hot wash/cold rinse, extra wash, extra rinse -it's a long cycle!!

I also got lots of "omg you're doing cloth" my one cousin who really thought I was nuts said her biggest complaint was the size of them. When she first met LO I hadn't switched, but on Sunday when she was holding her, she tried to joke about me not switching yet.....and I was like.....she has one on! Shut her up pretty quick, lol.

I also recommend checking out greenmountaindiapers.com and Abby's Lane. They're great about troubleshooting through email, and so many of my CDing questions were answered on their websites.

Also to add: Our favorite diaper cream is Coconut Oil. There are times the redness gets really bad and we have to use some real diaper cream but as a preventative this works great. Even her daycare works say that within 1 diaper change any redness clears up!

@artbee: I may have to try those liners. I saw this post about these versus GroVia and they look pretty comparable although Grovia are cheaper.
(Image from Amazon link above)

@lolabee: when I picked out the rentals I chose both snaps & Velcro (even though I know Velcro doesn't last as well) to see the difference. I also got AIOs an pockets to see the difference. I liked the fuzzibunz a lot, but they didn't have any OS at my local store. I also heard great things about Thirsties from our pediatrician (they're locally made here in CO I think?), but again no OS.
I knew we could only afford to get a stash of one-sized diapers so we ended up with Bumgenius. There was a sale on the Velcro AIOs so we got some of those. I've heard of places that will convert the Velcro to snaps though (modgblog.com linked to someone in one of her cloth diaper posts).
It's probably a good idea to try different brands if you can afford it, but I was scared to buy diapers that I wouldn't end up using.

@lolabee: We haven't starting CDing yet (DS isn't here until Feb), but I did a lot of research and most people said to buy different ones, instead of a full stash.

We've got a bunch of Bumgenius 4.0's, a few Elementals and Freetimes, Charlie Banana's, Lotus Bumz, Diaper Rite (diaperjunction's store brand), Kawaii, Rumparooz, and quite a few Grovia hybrids. I wanted to try out a variety of types (AIO, AI2, and hybrids) before buying a TON of diapers. But it seems I already have a ton! They are so cute - and once you start buying them, it's hard to stop!

-when did you switch to cloth? Did you use right off the hop? (I am thinking to make the switch after mec poops are done with)
We started at birth using gdiapers newborn dips.

-did you start out with something like the AppleCheeks starter kit or just do a full stash? (worried about fit - as of the moment I'm thinking of having a combination of AppleCheeks & BumGenius)
I started with a stash of gdiapers but I hated them and switched to pocket dips. I now have 24 Minky Kawaii's(cheap but I love them), 7 Bumgenius 4.0's(plan to get more), 4 Bumgenius Flips, and a few WAHM dips I bought on Etsy.

-do you use a st,orage sac/wet bag or cloth diaper pail?
I use a garbage can with a lid and waterproof washable laundry bag.
-what do you recommend for stain and/or odor eliminator?
sunning andwe haven't had any issues with smell.

-detergent recommendation?
I use All Free andClear

-do you think a sprayer is necessary? Liners?
We are still EBF so we aren't to this point yet but will probably use liners.

-any tips and tricks for washing?
Rinse alot.

@lolabee: DH had younger siblings who were cloth diapered with safety pins, so he said anything but the ones you have to fold yourself. He was on board for the usual reasons: environmental, financial, health for baby's bum. He even suggested cloth wipes! So, yes he likes them

Also, as a tiny note, don't feel like you're doing it wrong if you use disposable wipes. I've never ever liked the cloth ones, so I don't even bother. I also use disposables at night, just for the quick morning change, honestly. Don't feel like you have to be 100% all in or nothing.

@MsMini: I meant to tell you that I got leaks when my snap-rise OS diapers were on middle rise. I kept them low rise for a long time. Mid rise was a problem, so I went to full rise and it's much better...for about a month I just needed to pull them 'up' a bit once I got them on

-when did you switch to cloth?
When we got home from the hospital. Was planning to do cloth in hospital but baby was born a bit earlier and I wasn't ready, but I'm glad we did disposables in the hospital for the ease, since I was in there for a few days. He was in NBs for about 6 weeks. They still fit, but didnt absorb enough pee (he's a prolific pee boy) so I had to switch to the 'big boy diapers' at that point.

-did you start out with something like the AppleCheeks starter kit or just do a full stash? I started with one type of newborns and a variety of OS that I didn't use til later. Then I bought more of the OS diapers that worked best for us. (BG 4.0s)

-do you use a st,orage sac/wet bag or cloth diaper pail?
Hanging wet bag by Sling Sisters.

-what do you recommend for stain and/or odor eliminator?
I remember being so worried about this. Seriously not important. For BGs you will add bleach once a month and that eliminates the 'microfibre stink' that creeps up. For my newborn cotton AIOs, they did stain, but putting them in the sun was magic. I didn't really care about the stains though. All the diapers I have now barely stain.

-detergent recommendation?
Rockin Green

-do you think a sprayer is necessary? Liners?
Diaper sprayer is great now that we have solid poop. I do plan to buy liners for when we travel. Luckily he has his major poop first thing in the morning, so I don't need to worry about poop when we are out during the day.

-any tips and tricks for washing?
It is not as hard as it seems when you read about it. Don't use too much detergent. The rockin Green tells you how much to use and it seems right for us.

And yes, when I told people about our cloth choice lots of people gave me a hard time. Even still people say "I couldn't deal with the poop", but seriously I think that disposables have more 'leaking poop' issues than cloth, so those people end up 'dealing' with poop all over their stuff, which I never did. I have had lots of FB friends now ask me about cloth and some even switch to it many months into having their babies.