Diapers ??

[SuzySunshine]

Ok this is for both those that do cloth and disposables.

Our BG's are breaking down - after some research I'm finding that this seems to be a normal occurrence after 2+ years, while I'm not happy about it there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it. The warranty is only good for a year and I've washed/stripped them just as recommended over those 2 years.

So here are my questions.

For those of you that do cloth what do you use, do you recommend them? I need easy and I need cheaper, we don't want to fork out another $500 for a stock like we did with the BG's.

For those of you that do disposables where do you find them the cheapest?

If you get them through your hospital (moonlight) how does that work?

We're thinking about leaving A in cloth because hopefully she will be potty trained in 6 months or so but going disposable with R.

Thanks for the advice/information!

I use Seventh Generation, and I buy them through Amazon's subscribe and save (you save 15%). IMO, they really are BETTER diapers than Pampers, Huggies, etc. -- and they're supposed to be just a teeny bit better for the environment.

[HouseofWool]

I have been using prefolds and proraps for Sophie from the begining. If you are still coming down after the holidays, I will sell them to you for a song. Given everything, I don't envision having another baby before time runs out (biologically speaking that is). The only thing you would need would be either pins (which I can give you) or snappies.

How much does R weigh?

[Pollyanna]

We use a variety, mostly prefolds with wraps. These are my favs and they last FOREVER: http://naturalbaby.stores.yahoo.net/rainbowdiapers.html with the Nicky wraps: http://naturalbaby.stores.yahoo.net/shootingstar.html. Not sure why these are not as popular around here but they are really awesome. We have to BG and they are kind of "eh" in comparison, just not impressed with the quality over long term use. My other cloth diaper fav is the baby softwraps (I mostly use them as a cover), I also like Fuzzibuns and have a few in our stash.

When we use disposable for travel I typically buy whatever is on sale but Huggies usually works best with our babes. Not sure why but other brands seem to leak more.

Hey Cheri what do you mean by breaking down? Falling apart? Or just stinky?

Mine are holding up well but I think that is because I hang them to dry. I think any type of covers should not be put in the dryer. They dry so fast anyway! The inserts dry overnight here but sometimes I throw them in the dryer.

Anyway, I saw these advertized: www.econobum.com. Inexpensive prefold plus covers system. Probably there will be reviews on the cloth diapering websites.

[Auspicious]

If you're already used to cloth I'm guessing you'll want to stick with that, but on the disposables front, we use Pampers Swaddlers for newborns, then we switch to store brand for daytime and a Huggies Overnights for nighttime.

Our grocery store store brand and the Target store brand seem to be the exact same diaper with different packaging. Generally the Target is cheaper, but occasionally the grocery store will put them on sale for very cheap, and then I stock up. We usually get the Swaddlers and the Overnights at Target for the sake of convenience. (This sounds a lot more complicated written out than it seems in real life. )

I genuinely like the store brand ones, and the only time we've had a problem with them is when it's been time to go a size up.

Bottom line: we get most of our diapers at Target.

[Urowife]

I use diapers.com for disposables. They are pretty cheap, and there's free shipping over a certain amount (two day shipping, I believe). I use pampers and huggies supreme. Anything else gives DD wicked diaper rash.

Good luck!

[SuzySunshine]

Hey Cheri what do you mean by breaking down? Falling apart? Or just stinky?

The waterproof "lining" on the inside of the outer part is literally peeling off on several. I think basically they are losing their waterproof-ness.

Thanks for the links/tips - I'll look into everything. I'm not sure what we're going to do I'm kind of frustrated that the BG's are giving out after only 2 years since we bought them with the idea of using them for both kids.

[alison]

Oh wahhh! I'm sorry to hear this. They're great, and it's really too bad that they're not holding up. Although, they've been through the wash at few hundred times by now, no?

I've noticed in some of mine that the velcro strips are starting to fray. Have you had that happen?

Let me know what you decide to do!

[poky]

I don't really know anything about diapers, but before you decide to go disposable for cost reasons, especially if the $500 you laid out for all the stuff for A's cloth ones was your total outlay...I'd do the math. Looking at some mega-sets of disposable diapers, it looks like a pretty decent deal is 15 cents per diaper. If you figure 5 per day over 3 years, that's well over $800. And from what I read online, 5/day is a pretty low average. Those things add up fast. Even at just 10 cents each, 5 per day for 3 years is over $550.

The waterproof "lining" on the inside of the outer part is literally peeling off on several. I think basically they are losing their waterproof-ness.

Thanks for the links/tips - I'll look into everything. I'm not sure what we're going to do I'm kind of frustrated that the BG's are giving out after only 2 years since we bought them with the idea of using them for both kids.

I know what you mean, it is happening to a couple of my Happy Heiny's, even with the line drying. Out of curiosity I looked at the BG site today at the care instructions, because they are sized to last all the way through diapering so they should hold up! And they do actually recommend line drying. I didn't know this before. I just do it because I hang most of our clothes to dry ('cos I'm cheap), and noticed that mine were holding up better than my friend's who puts hers in the dryer.

And Poky is right, cloth has to still be cheaper. 5 or 10 cents seems like a deal. We don't buy that many disposables but when I have done from Target or diapers.com they are more like 30 something cents each.

[SuzySunshine]

Unfortunately line drying isn't really an option most of the year in MN, or do you just dry them in your laundry room? I don't know what we'll do, we've also thought about sticking with cloth for A and switching to disposables with R because hopefully she'll be out of them in 6 months or so and then we can switch him to cloth. I think part of the problem is that I'm now having to wash every other day so that probably isn't helping the break down issue. We already use an approved detergent so I know that isn't it.

alison, as for the velcro, the tabs do wear out - I just replaced all of mine about 6 months ago. BG will send you new tabs but you have to be able to sew to replace them, or there are people on etsy that will do it. But you should keep an eye on yours b/c I think BG will replace them for up to a year.

I know this sounds silly but we did the BG's b/c we wanted easy and going to prefolds and covers just doesn't sound easy to me.

I wish I had a yard to line dry or a laundry room!! We have monster sized drying rack always up in the living room, classy I know. You could just get a little one for your laundry room or even just lay them on the dryer, they dry so fast!

[HouseofWool]

You would be surprised at how easy prefolds and a cover really is. Seriously. I can show you what I have that would be the correct size for R. So far, my total outlay for Sophie has been around $200. I should be able to use the current prefolds until she is potty trained and will have to purchase one more size of covers (about a $40 cost). Prefolds and covers are really an inexpensive way to go.

I thought it would be trickier to do the prefold and cover and had some AIO and some with inserts that I had purchased off craigslist and I found the pf and cover to be the least troublesome. I didn't like stuffing the inserts into the cover and the AIO took too long to dry.

[fluffhead]

Second the prefold and wrap idea. We've got wraps from our first that are still working fine with our fifth. (some of them have lost velcro-ness or waterproofity though)