Life without the Diaper Genie

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Jonathan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:03:43 GMT

Cloth diapers are not nearly as intimmedating as people make them sound. Just like anything you get used to it pretty quick. I work at a diaper service called My Green Diapers in Lafayette, IN, and it makes me feel better knowing that every diaper I clean is one less in a landfill. If you dont want to clean them yourself use a Diaper service (if you have one around). It is usually still cheaper than disposables and you never have to worry about running out of diapers. mygreendiapers.com

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Stephanie — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:26:19 GMT

Not to mention that they sell these great clothe diaper liners now. They come in disposable and reusable. You simply take the liner out of the cloth diaper and flush, or shake then wash with your diapers. Eliminating even more of what some of you might call the yucky factors. The disposable ones process just like toilet paper creating no additional landfill mess.

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Diana — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:59:49 GMT

When I had my first, in 1990, my frugal mother in law made me plain flannel foldables. I was a little surprised at this shower "gift". She looked at me and said "What? You don't think you can afford disposables?" We were living with her at the time. LOL. With him, and my 3 little girls I used both but mostly cloth. I grew to love folding the fresh little diapers. Instead of gross, it was a sweet little act of love, especially hanging them on a drying rack or outside. To soften them up you can throw them in the dryer for 5 minutes, without any fabric softener (it hurts absorbency). I used pinnable diapers, shaped like disposables called Snugglebottoms. They also sell nice, vinyl "plastic pants". Go for quality and get them on the internet. Or look for Chinese Prefolds, they get fluffier and more aborbent as you wash them. the high end ones I used AIO (or All in Ones) just velcro on without pants over them. My DD had to be in diapers until 5 (medical issues) and these didn't look like diapers to her. They were called Bumkins.

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

kf in In — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:50:49 GMT

Thank you for posting all your wonderful comments. I am due with our first child, and we are considering cloth diapers. While i love the "green" aspect, as well as the knowledge that both my brother and i were allergic to disposable diapers (and can thus head off at least one potential problem), i am worried about how they actually work. Could anyone please offer just a basic, "how to" of cloth diapers to help in my decision? We have recently purchased a washing machine, so we can wash said diapers as often as needed, but do you really have to fold them differently for a boy/girl? What sort of pins are best to not stab my future child? Are there other options than safety pins? Please help, i greatly appreciate all your insight so far!

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

jc in al — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:52:47 GMT

As a gift for my first child, an older neighbor lady signed me up for the diaper service. I LOVED it! Although it was a bit embarassing at first when you can't fold or pin one correctly : ) I ended up purchasing several 'wraps' that worked as plastic covers and closed with hook'n'loop (so no pins needed).

2nd child got cloth but I went disposable when we traveled. 2 now in diapers.

3rd was born in Alabama and when I tried to find a diaper service I felt like I was speaking another language.

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Jan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:00:56 GMT

With my 3 kids, I used cloth diapers at home, but kept a small supply of disposables to use away from home. Away from home, it's sometimes hard to find a way to rinse soiled diapers, then you have to have a water-(and odor!)proof bag to transport the dirty diapers. I had a big selection of 'regular' cloth diapers and pre-folded cloth diapers with velcro closures. I had a diaper pail with a tight fitting lid and it's really not a lot of trouble to wash, dry and fold a load of diapers every other day or so.

I rinsed soiled diapers by holding a dry corner and dunking the diaper in the toilet a time or two. The mess usually rolls right off.

As far as disposables 'wicking moisture away' from the baby's bottom...cloth or disposable diapers should be changed as soon as they are wet or soiled. It's kind of gross to see parents using disposable diapers as a sort of holding tank for 2 cups of urine. Cloth feels much better on the skin and we never had trouble with diaper rash.

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Kristin — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:50:54 GMT

I use cloth and love them! But I do use the "expensive" fleece pocket diapers. They wick the moisture away from the baby's skin and so the baby feels as dry as if he were wearing disposables. They are easy to wash, and I put them out in the sun to dry to save on energy (the sun also bleaches them out nicely). There is very little "yuck" factor to the nice cloth diapers so easily available these days. There are tons of great brands. You can buy a potty pail to rinse out the diapers over the toilet so that you are not dunking them and getting your hands in it. The benefits to cloth are enormous and I wish more people would consider them once they see how easy they truly can be!

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Adam — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:44:51 GMT

My wife and I have been cloth diapering for 2 and 1/2 years. We have cost savings, less trash, and the benefit in having our children feel the wetness so they know when its time for a change. See Robin's post above regarding cleaning them. Robin is so right. vh on the other hand is so wrong! Coth diapering reduces incidence of diaper rashes and many of the other problems associated with disposable diapers.

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Carol — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:26:12 GMT

I raised four kids with only cloth diapers, and had up to three in cloth diapers at once, including a set of twins. The trick is to wash them everyday. I would run them thru the rinse cycle first, and then a hot water wash. I used to get compliments on my beautifully white diapers hanging on the line to dry! Cloth diapers are not nearly as awful as their reputation, and even if money was not a problem, I would use cloth again if I had to do over - but this time, hopefully, I would also own a clothes dryer!

re: Life without the Diaper Genie

Robin — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:10:15 GMT

We use cloth diapers and it really doesn't take a huge amount of time or effort. We wash them ourselves and hang them to dry. We have a sprayer that attaches to the toilet to spray off messes so no dunking involved there either. Since the solids are sprayed off, there is no stink in the diaper pail. The solid waste is going to a treatment plant, not leaching into the soil in a landfill.

I am using the same diapers for my 2nd son that my 1st son wore--no stains or smells. We did invest in some nice pocket diapers so that nice warm dry fleece is next to the baby's skin (and no leaks!), but the cost savings is substantial, especially if you plan on having more than one child.

I highly recommend anyone thinking about cloth diapers to do some research. It really is nothing like what is described here in these comments.