Monday, April 16, 2012

Cloth Diapering- What i've learned so far

Hey guys, i have had a few people ask me about cloth diapering. I haven't been doing it long but   i love it so far. I will show you what i've bought and how i clean them.

I had been given some bum genius for a shower gift which is what i originally wanted to use but they are so expensive! The are anywhere from $16-$35 a diaper. When i talked to people they said they had about $18-$20 diapers for one kid. let me do the math for you real quick. 
At $16 each for 20 Diapers that's $320 bucks and that's just he diapers not the detergent or wetbag or stain and odor spray. 

G Diapers
So i returned the bumgenius and was left with $150 to put towards my cloth diapers. I talked to a friend who uses the G diaper and she loves them so i tried them out and actually ended up getting two small diapers and and some inserts that some friends kindly bought us. but when i tried them with Z he leaked out of them almost every time he wore them and they were so tight on his legs i think the problem was they were just too small. So i plan on using them for our next child but the reason we didn't buy that cloth diapering "system" or brand is because it was also very expensive. 

Here is how the G diapers work.
G diapers are hybrid diapers which means you can use cloth or disposable inserts with them.
They do not grow with your child they have sizes small, medium, and large.
Small 8-14 lbs
Medium 13-28 lbs
Large 26-36 lbs
So you need a cloth diaper with the liner (the liner is what the insert fits into) for a pack of two that it costs $28. 
You need about 6-8 covers with the g's.
So for 6 diaper covers that's $84

 This is a picture of the diaper with the liner snapped inside
Then you have to purchase the inserts.
You can buy the cloth inserts which come in a pack of 6 for $27.
Most people said you needed a minimum of 18 cloth inserts. So that's $81 for the minimum amount needed.
Or the disposable inserts which come in a pack of 40 for $15.
 These are great for traveling or when you are on the go cause they are basically just like disposables you just pull the dirty insert out throw it away put another insert in and reuse the diaper cover. I loved that about them.
So that is basically what you need for the G's but they have different sizes small, medium, large.

Ok so even if we didn't use the disposable inserts we would be spending $165 minimum for the G's and that is only one size. 
So say you just wanted to do Small and Medium size diapers that's about $330 for diapers for you baby up to 28 lbs.
Which will still save you money on diapers but we could not afford to put that much money up front.
The nice thing is the covers come in S,M, and L.
but the inserts come in S and M/L 
So you save a little money there by being able to use the same inserts on the M/L diaper covers. I really wanted to use the G diapers and for them to work but i just couldn't put that much money into it up front.

Alva baby
So after figuring all this up i did a lot of research watched video reviews and checked ebay to try to find the best price. 
While looking at ebay i found a diaper that was only $5 and couple bucks shipping. 
They were Alva Baby's. So i youtubed alva baby reviews and came across quite a few videos of people who loved the diaper.

Alva baby has two main types of diapers.
3.0's and 4.0's 
4.0's are also known as the double gusset color snaps. 

These are the 4.0's are $6.99 each.

Here it is opened up
 They have double gussets which just helps keep number 1 and 2 in the diaper.
 It also has a snap in liner so it doesn't get moved all around in the diaper. The other nice thing is you can throw the whole thing in the wash without removing the insert and it will make it's way out of the diaper in the wash. I tried this the first time i washed them and the only problem was i only sprayed the diaper with the odor and stain remover not the insert and the poop didn't come off the insert as well so i just remove the insert before i wash it if it's poop if it's just pee you can leave it all together and just throw it in the wash.
 the 4.0's also have these awesome color snaps. Which make it easy to snap the diaper quickly because you know which button to snap by the diaper.
The 4.0's come in blue, green, black, red, cow print, a swirl patter and camo.
These are the 3.0's they are $4.79 each
They don't have any of the features above but come in cuter patterns. 
 They don't have the double gussets but i think these are a little thinner so if i know he has already pooped that day and he's only going to pee i just put the 3.o's on him.
Alvababy.com offers free shipping which takes about 3-4 weeks because they are made in China. But if you order 20 items you get free express shipping which is what i did and mine came in less than 2 weeks.
I got 19 diapers each diapers come with an insert so that's 19 inserts as well and 1 wetbag

My Stash
Here is my stash, minus a few.

These are my washable wipes, they are just washcloths that i folded so that they come out of the box like disposable wipes.
It make so much sense to be able to just throw everything in the wash.
I still need to buy a small spray bottle so i can spray them down with water before i use them. but i haven't been able to find a small water bottle anywhere. Anyone know where i can find one??? 
 The laundry detergent i use is on the left and the spray bottle on the right is the odor and stain remover that is spray on the diaper before i throw it in the pail.
This is the diaper pail i use. it was a couple bucks at walmart.
I would like to eventually get this wet bag  that i can hang in his room, it stores better and would hold all my diapers.
 dirty diapers :)
My wetbag was less than $5 and is great for when we are out and about it hold about 7-8 diapers. 

So here's the money breakdown.
 14-4.0's= $98
 5-3.0's=$24
Wetbag=4.79
Alva Baby total was $127
White Bucket $3
Washcloths or wipes i got a great deal at Ross. I found an 12 pack for $2 so i bought 2=$4
The bac out odor and stain remover was a gift but you can find it on amazon.
The laundry detergent i use is also Biokleen it was also a gift but you can find it on amazon


So far i've spent $135 on Cloth diapering.
Since i was given $150 worth of bum genius diapers that i returned i still have $15 left!


Detergents and Washing
I wash diapers about 2 times a week sometimes 3. The  more diapers you have the less laundry you have to do. 

Detergent
So if i did 10 loads a month the laundry detergent would last me 3 months since it does 32 loads. That makes the laundry detergent $2.50 a month. but i'm sure you could find a cheaper detergent a lot of people use Country Save which is usually in a powder form and i have a front loader so i can only use liquid.
When washing cloth diapers you just want make sure there are no fillers or softeners in the detergent these bread down the absorption of the diapers and liners.

Stain and odor remover
The bac out i spray on all poopy diapers so i think it will last me 1 and a half to two months. i'll keep you updated and let you know.
The bac out would be about $7 a month maybe less.

I haven't been able to figure out how much out water bill will go up but it is about $11 a month and adding 2-3 loads a week can't add that much maybe 2-3 bucks a month.

So that's less than $13 a month on diapers. - the prices i figured into my per month were by amazon's prices. my mom got them both on sale so 

How i wash my diapers
I do a cold wash first with no detergent then a warm wash with detergent and an extra rinse on both cycles. Don't wash them in hot water your PUL can delaminate. 

So far i am loving the Alva babies. The only difference in the cloths and disposables while i'm changing Z's diaper are i spray his cloth wipes with water and when i'm done i spray the dirty diaper with Bac out. Everything else is just like disposables which makes it so simple and easy! 

I hope that wasn't too confusing. If you have any questions please let me know i am still learning but will answer them as best i can!
(Pictures from babies r us, and google)

6 comments:

Allison said...

It's been ages since I've caught up with you, last time I read any of the blogs I follow you were scheduled to have your c-section! So glad to see so many sweet pictures, your boy is beautiful!
The rolling pin is from Anthropologie, it was a Christmas gift, so they might still have it in stores or online.
So good to read up on your thoughts about cloth diapers, I've been wanting to do research of my own, especially now that the newborn pooping ALL the time phase is long gone!
Have fun with Z!

Unknown said...

Let me just say that you did an EXCELLENT job explaining all of that! I do not have kids yet, but have debated cloth vs. disposable diapers for when I do. You just saved me a ton of research in the future. Thank you so much! It's pretty awesome that you have chosen to take the natural/environmental route instead of falling in line with the norm. Again, thanks for taking the time to research that and share about it. One question though, do you dispose of the poopy diaper contents before putting them in the bucket/washing them?

Laina said...

Allison- thanks! I love that rolling pin! You should try the alva babies, even if u buy one of each that's only $12 you would have wasted if u didn't like them :) and in that case I may need some extra so maybe I could buy them from you ;)

Raven- thanks for the feedback and right now Zion's poop is breast milk poop so it's like colored pee. But once I put him on solids and it gets more poopier (just made that word up) I will probably invest in a diaper sprayer and just spray it off into the toilet. 
Also- I was checking out your blog and I love those ombré bowls I checked your ersy shop and didn't see them so I guess they are sold. The dressers you did were awesome too! I love the finish!

Shinny said...

I did cloth diapers with my daughter and I didn't use any prespray like the bac-out. I did use Melaleuca laundry detergent and the brightener, after ruining many of my diapers with bleach and then giving my daughter a rash with Oxy-clean. I highly suggest that. If you know someone who is a member the price is alot less then if you just bought it on your own. Once I started using that on her diapers I only had to do a double rinse, sometimes I didn't and it was fine, and she never had another diaper rash. I liked that it came with a pump that measured the amount for you. One big bottle would last me months using on the diapers and our regular laundry. The brightener removed stains like a pro, better then bleach or Oxy. I also never had to strip the diapers of built up soap like I did when I used regular laundry soap. Just some information I figured out toward the end of her being in diapers. ;) Good luck and I just love how cute cloth diapers are now. Your baby is pretty darn cute as well. I line dried my diapers too, that helps keep the waterproofing working and it doesn't break down as quickly as they will from repeated runs in the dryer. I learned all this the hard way. ;)

Kathy said...

{New to your blog...and so glad I found you!} I'm planning on cloth diapering and this post was extremely helpful! Thank you!!

Katie {katie lately} said...

THANK YOU for this post. You explained everything so well! How many of the 4.0 and how many 3.0 do you have? Also did you start him on cloth from NB or wait til he was a few weeks old?

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