Post Punk Kitchen Forum

13 months in disposables, not a single blow-out. I think blow-out prediction is equal parts 1) consistency/force of how your kid poops and 2) how well the legs of the diaper fit. Probably some kids will have fewer blow-outs in 'sposies and some will have fewer in CD, depending on the brand of CD - and my understanding is that you may need to try more than one brand to get a good seal on the leg. (And it's also possible you're using the wrong size 'sposies or would be better off with a different brand. We have been lucky that the cheapest brand is also a brand that works for us!)

We are still just wishful thinking CD-ers without our own washing machine (STILLLLLLLLLLL!).

I've used both from time to time (though both kids have been in cloth most of the time) and I've had more blow outs with disposables, more pee leaks with cloth. Oh, except for Earths Best disposables, which I've had both pee and poop containment issues with. I hate those forkers.

For disposables, I have heard that if you are having a lot of blowouts, it's worth trying a pack of the next size up.

Thanks for the input ladies. After my whining we actually had a blow-out free day yesterday. I am wondering if it is user error because yesterday I was with the kiddo all day and did all the diapers and usually Dad does them all. I went to get him up this morning for a feeding and found that his back was all wet and discovered that one side of the diaper wasn't even latched!!! So maybe he is putting them on too loosely. He has issues with not wanting to "hurt" the little guy such as when swaddling he basically loosely places a blanket around him...ummm...missing the point!!!!

Has anyone tried replacing the Velcro tabs on their bum genius diapers? I have 2 that are basically non functional right now and cleaning out the lint and whatnot didn't help.

Yes!
I would definitely look into any used cloth diaper buy/sell newsgroups in your country -- I got all of mine used (except a pack of Disana tie-ons that were cheaper new!) and it saved me so much money.

Otherwise, maybe you could plastic pants it until you have enough dosh for better covers. They're not fabulous, but they do work.

We've only had one blow-out with cloth and it was at our first pediatrician appointment-- I've told the story. We used disposables for the first time last week while traveling and were afraid of them not working as well, but they were fine (we used Whole Foods brand). Our success might have to do with having a baby with the chunkiest thighs I've ever seen. :)

Ok so opinions on what else I will need in our diapering journey?

Right now he is 11 months and 24ish pounds. Fits well into red edge prefolds and thirsties size 2 covers. I am hoping the thirsties size 2's will last till he's potty trained? But I am guessing we will need the next sized up prefolds. I am thinking to make life easier I will get the workhorse ones for the next size up so it is easier to do while he is standing. Thoughts on this?

For pockets we have mostly Fuzzibunz size med. Right now he has them snapped on the tightest fitting most of the time, depending on what we stuff them with.

Those of you who have a bit older babies or kids past diapering, what will I need for the rest of diapering? Do you think he will ever need size large pockets?

Did anyone use cloth training pants/ pull ups or whatever? I am also wondering about those.

I know a lot of this depends on how big he gets and when he potty trains but I just want to know what others delt with in terms of sizes.

I cursed myself saying it was easy. Today I let her hang out sans diaper, and she did all those things. And then tried to feed me some, so YUCK!!!!

I may be unusual, but my Thirsties Duos size 2 didn't last until potty training. The waterproofing layer started to peel off when Lydia was around 21-22 months old. I wash diapers + covers every 2-3 days, use a mild detergent, and have never put them in the dryer. They do dry outside in bright CA sun though, so maybe that's part of the problem?

Re:prefolds, I mostly use the large GMD brown edge diapers now at age 2, but I probably could have used the red ones until potty training if it had been necessary since I use the red ones as back-up all the time. We also still use the red ones every night because two of them is the just the right amount of absorbancy without excess bulk. Lydia is fairly skinny though, so I'm not positive that you could snappi a red diaper on a bigger toddler even with the larger sized snappi. I've noticed that if I put her in a red edge diaper now (during the day), it won't hold more than one pee or so, but as long as I don't go more than 2 hours between changes, that's not a problem. If you're thinking about using other types of diaper more often, I think I'd hold off on buying the large prefolds until you're sure you're really going to use them.

How often are y'all changing diapers? We continue to struggle with pee leaks. I'm going to order a couple of the pants mentioned above and see if that helps. We have tried 5? brands now...leaks leaks leaks (only been doing cloth really since about 6 months because we had way too many other struggles before then). We never ever have leaks in the disposables (NatureBaby/Naty) except on some overnights.

I'd planned to try Thirsties when we were in the States over the summer, but the shop selling them was closed for remodeling and then we just didn't get around to ordering them, etc.

We got a bunch of cloth ones to try on a loan program just a couple of weeks ago, but had the same trouble. We only actually got to try 2 of the brands though because she sent ones that were way too small. Anyway..I've really been checking them as we encounter leaks to see what's happening. One of the brands = have no idea why it's leaking, but a couple of the others we've used seem to be really wet/soaked and leading to leaks that way. The thing is, we've only had the diaper on for an hour, sometimes less. Do I really just have to wash like 19 diapers a day?

I'm using a brand called 'bright bots' -- I got them for free, so I don't know a lot about the competition. Mine are a size 'Large', and they fit Raygold with room to grow (he is 2 and a half and wears size 18-24 months clothes). Beetroot potty trained way later (3.5) and outgrew these (and most of our cloth diapers) by the time he potty trained. So, I'd say hold off on getting training pants unless you see a really good deal or it seems like potty training is on the horizon.

I get asked this question a lot by people interested in cloth diapering and I never know the answer because we never even kinda count. We wash every other day regardless and I can usually tell if we used more or less by the water setting I have to use - usually it's medium sometimes it's large. I think we probably use somewhere between 8-10 a day. 10 being the absolute most. There's always those times when you change her and then she immediately starts laughing because she's pee'd almost immediately after she's changed or she's not quite done pooping yet and I change her before she's finished. But 8-10 seems about right with one nighttime diaper that is has a 1 micro-fiber and 2 hemp inserts.

We use 90% bum genius pockets and the rest are a mix of bum genius freestyles (AIO) and fuzzi bunz pockets.

Sounds about right. We change her 4 times in the morning, because there is an unending supply of pee. And then during most of the day she is fine, except obviously that she pees right through a diaper whenever we are just about to leave the house and need to be somewhere at a given time. Then there is one big poop that appears at some point during the day. And then 1 or 2 right before she goes to bed - another change - oh wait? you weren't done? So really a firm 7-8.

Tank, re: sizing: for giggles, the Emperor (3 years old and about 34 lbs) tried on one of the Magician's size M FuzziBunz on... Fit him quite well, even over his underwear. Size 2 Thirsties still fit him too I think, or did when he was 32 lbs anyhow.

Re: frequency of changing: I aim for every 2 hours in the daytime just so he's not swimming in pee. But if I'm honest about it, there are lots of times (esp. If we're out) where he goes 4-5 hours in the same diaper. Overnight he wears the same diaper for 12ish hours because no way in hell am I waking up a sleeping baby to change him unless he's leaking something.

We use a service, so I have to have an accurate count to make it through the week. I like to have 80-85 on hand a week, but we end up using 70-75. So 10-12 a day, sometimes more or less.

coldandsleepy, you are not alone in occasionally letting 'em go for a few hours - neither of my kids have ever cared about being wet so we definitely go 3 hours a lot of the time, and sometimes longer for Sierra because she isn't a heavy wetter yet. And we rarely need nighttime changes, even before Dahlia pottytrained we had her in a double prefold in a size L Thirsties cover overnight and no problems.
I think it just totally depends on the kid, whether their skin is sensitive etc too.

does anyone use Flip diapers? we like their covers A LOT because I got 3 of em for $13 when Sierra was just too teeny for even size S Thirsties and since then, they are our main diaper with some generic prefolds we bought for Dahlia. I've never used their inserts (they make both cloth and disposable) but just bought a package of the disposables to use on the plane and I am hoping it won't be a total disaster. (I'm expecting Sierra to have explosive poop so we're bringing all 5 covers we own just for the 6 hour plane ride haha.)

Without fail everytime the plane took off guinea piglet pooped. Everytime! That s when i found out not all planes have changing tables. A lot of improvising in a small space.

that is the experience I was looking for c&s. I think I might need to buy a few more diaps soon because a few are getting too worn (they were used) and a few he is growing out of so I wasn't sure if it would be a waste to buy a couple more med FB or something similar sized.

Okay cool, so I'm not out of line for thinking that she should be able to go 2-3 hours sometimes. I can't believe I find myself wondering if Freya just pees a lot. Motherhood is so weird.

Motherhood is weird. Today Leela (without diaps) asked me to come to her for a snuggle, so I picked her up and snuggled her and she peed all over me, and then got off my lap and went to play with the cat.

It wasn't even close to the worst moment of my day. In fact, I was left with a warm feeling of love and urine.

Pretty sure no one else could ever manage to do that for me.

Hahaha! I can see Leela just moving on about her business.

My baby poops all the time. Seriously. We never have blowouts or leaks, though. Did I really just type that? Now I'm doomed...

I aim to change Sven every two hours. Ever since he hit 8 months he's been peeing like crazy and we are having a lot of diaper leaks. I finally got smart and started double-stuffing his diapers. I still don't have an overnight solution to the increased urine output! It's crazy how fast he fills up a diaper (he still nurses a ton at night).

There must be a growing trend among babies of pooping and peeing on their mommy's. This weekend while I was letting guineapiglet roam without a diaper before bath time she pee'd on me after she nursed. I burst out laughing because she got off the breast, looked up at me smiled and then let out a little pee like "oooohhh that was so relaxing mama". Then later she pooped on the floor. The dog saw her pooping and looked at me like "what are you going to do about this" when I just cleaned it up and didn't make a fuss about it the dog then looked at me like "I can't believe you let her get away with that! I could NEVER get away with that" Typical older sibling to younger sibling jealousy, ha ha - "mom would have never let me get away with that!!!"

This is heartwarming. Malka peed in the middle of a diaper change yesterday and she seemed so surprised by it (she was peeing on her feet).

I'm amazed at how many of you let the babies roam diaperless. That is something that has never occurred to me and certainly isn't happening after these stories!

Ha, yeah, the one firm rule around here is "no naked nursing." No diaper, no nurr. Dems da rules.