Cloth diaper covers advice please

[Elle]

I'm pretty sure we are going to go with cloth diapers, using a diaper
service. For those who are interested the service is $14.95 (all prices
in Canadian dollars) a week and you get 70 diapers. This seems like a
good deal to us, as a 40 pack of Pampers Swaddlers or Huggies (don't
know which kind) both cost $13.99 (plus 15% tax) in most stores in my
city.

We can buy covers through the service -- they carry Bummis at what
seems to be a good price compared to other retail places ($8.50 for the
original and $9.50 for the whisper wrap.) Are these good wraps? I can't
imagine the service selling poor-quality ones as surely they want you
to enjoy your cloth diapering experience :)

I was thinking of getting 6 in small (and skipping the newborn size).
Does this make sense?

Also I have no idea how to fold a cloth diaper -- is it just in thirds
then across to shorten it a bit then fan it out in the cover? Can it be
that easy?

Thanks for any advice
Elle
35 weeks

[Anne Rogers]

> I'm pretty sure we are going to go with cloth diapers, using a diaper
> service. For those who are interested the service is $14.95 (all prices
> in Canadian dollars) a week and you get 70 diapers. This seems like a
> good deal to us, as a 40 pack of Pampers Swaddlers or Huggies (don't
> know which kind) both cost $13.99 (plus 15% tax) in most stores in my
> city.

why not wash at home then? in the early days you would use more than 40
disposables a week, in fact for some newborns, 70 in a week might not quite
be enough, changing around a dozen times a day is not unknown.

>
> We can buy covers through the service -- they carry Bummis at what
> seems to be a good price compared to other retail places ($8.50 for the
> original and $9.50 for the whisper wrap.) Are these good wraps? I can't
> imagine the service selling poor-quality ones as surely they want you
> to enjoy your cloth diapering experience :)

I've not heard of them, but comparing them to your other prices they sound
quite cheap for wraps, we paid at least 50% more than that for the cheapest
of our wraps, we've been very happy with all of them, we've found it's more
how they fit the baby that is important, one particular one just never
seemed right on our son, but we lent them to a friend who liked them.
>
> I was thinking of getting 6 in small (and skipping the newborn size).
> Does this make sense?
>
depends on what size you think your baby will be, we used the smallest size
for almost 6 months, and are still using the next size up, probably won't
need to get the biggest size ever.

> Also I have no idea how to fold a cloth diaper -- is it just in thirds
> then across to shorten it a bit then fan it out in the cover? Can it be
> that easy?

a good fold for a newborn is this, with the diaper foldered in half and half
again, so a square a quarter the size of the original diaper hole the corner
where all the original corners are in your left hand and pick up one of them
with your right hand and open it out to make a triangle, you end up with a
triangle at the front with a square at the back, turn over and roll the
square up to make a pad in the middle.

Cheers

Anne

[emilymr]

I've been using the prowraps (looking up the website for you) which are
cheaper than Bummis; they've worked really well for us. We started with 4
in newborn size -- these are nice since they have a little dip for the
umbilical cord. We've now moved up to regular size, and I'm going to try
and get away with 3 instead.

Folding the diaper is really easy -- you plop baby down on it and fold the
top down a little bit, and then each side toward the middle. There's a
little video on our service's website that demonstrates it. Our service
also sells 'snappies' which work so much better than diaper pins, once you
figure them out (they're much faster to put on, and there's no risk of
pinning your baby by mistake) -- my mom was very disdainful of them at
first, but now she's a convert. ;)

OK, it looks like the website is down right now, but go to tinytots.com
and you'll see descriptions of prowrap (or prorap, can't remember how you
spell it), snappies, and the video. I LOVE diaper service -- it makes
cloth diapers at least as easy as disposables.

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

[Anne Rogers]

> OK, it looks like the website is down right now, but go to tinytots.com
> and you'll see descriptions of prowrap (or prorap, can't remember how you
> spell it), snappies, and the video. I LOVE diaper service -- it makes
> cloth diapers at least as easy as disposables.

doesn't it mean you have a lot of smelly nappies hanging around? at home I
was our reusables twice a week, here were are using disposables and I find
that just as much faff (as washing our own), they take up so much space, you
either have to buy them regularly or deal with carrying a huge box that
doesn't fit under the pushchair, then disposables really smell so I have to
take the dirties out daily, another faff we're on the 11th floor so it's a
long way to the bin!

Anne

[Plissken]

Elle > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I'm pretty sure we are going to go with cloth diapers, using a diaper
> service. For those who are interested the service is $14.95 (all prices
> in Canadian dollars) a week and you get 70 diapers. This seems like a
> good deal to us, as a 40 pack of Pampers Swaddlers or Huggies (don't
> know which kind) both cost $13.99 (plus 15% tax) in most stores in my
> city.
>
> We can buy covers through the service -- they carry Bummis at what
> seems to be a good price compared to other retail places ($8.50 for the
> original and $9.50 for the whisper wrap.) Are these good wraps? I can't
> imagine the service selling poor-quality ones as surely they want you
> to enjoy your cloth diapering experience :)
>
> I was thinking of getting 6 in small (and skipping the newborn size).
> Does this make sense?
>
> Also I have no idea how to fold a cloth diaper -- is it just in thirds
> then across to shorten it a bit then fan it out in the cover? Can it be
> that easy?


Honestly, buying your own and washing them yourself is just as easy IMO.
Most diaper services require you to rinse all soiled diapers anyway. Once
they are rinsed I just place them in a can with warm water and borax and
when its time to wash just dump them in the water with some detergent and
vinegar then dry them. It's really not very much work. Much cheaper too!

[NotMyRealName]

> We can buy covers through the service -- they carry Bummis at what
> seems to be a good price compared to other retail places ($8.50 for the
> original and $9.50 for the whisper wrap.) Are these good wraps? I can't
> imagine the service selling poor-quality ones as surely they want you
> to enjoy your cloth diapering experience :)
>
Yes, Bummis are good. Of course, there's the caveat that different covers
work better for different babies, period, but I've liked the Bummis Whisper
Wraps, and generally other people seem to as well.

> I was thinking of getting 6 in small (and skipping the newborn size).
> Does this make sense?
>
Depends. My baby was 8 lbs. 11 oz. at birth and 21 inches, and she grew
quickly. But we did need the newborn covers with her for a few weeks. I
didn't use the Bummis WW at that point though; I used other brands then
(Proraps and Gerbers), so I don't know how the Bummis covers are in small
and newborn. Also, some brands (and ISTR that Bummis may be like this) have
an umbilical cutout for the newborn size. Okay, I just looked at the Bummis
site (bummis.com), and it says that their newborn size is roughly 7-10
pounds, and their small is roughly 8.5-15 pounds (seems to be slightly
different for the regular Bummis wraps). I could have gone right for smalls
if I had used Bummis from the start. Maybe get 6 newborn and 6 small, but
don't wash them ahead of time, so that you can return the newborn if you
have a large baby? Fwiw, I also liked the Proraps a lot; their newborn says
5-10 pounds and the small says 9-14, but the smalls were huge on my baby for
the first few weeks, even though she was nearly 9 pounds with chubby thighs.
The Gerber EZ covers were also good; their newborn is up to about 12 pounds,
so we used those for several weeks.

I highly recommend looking at jardinediapers.com for diaper covers. I've
gotten almost all of mine from her, and she's great. They have the Bummis
Whisper Wraps for $8.75 each. Also, if you ever order any 6 covers from her
at once, you qualify for free shipping on all future cover orders of any
quantity. I've really appreciated that feature, and also, she ships really
quickly. I'm across the country from her, and I've never had an order take
more than a couple of days to arrive.

> Also I have no idea how to fold a cloth diaper -- is it just in thirds
> then across to shorten it a bit then fan it out in the cover? Can it be
> that easy?
>
Pretty much. :) Experiment with folding them, and see what you like best.


--
-Sara:)
Mommy to DD, 2 3/4
And Someone Due 2/05

[Pip]

Just jumping in here :) Thanks for this Anne. I was racking my brains the
other day trying to remember how to fold this was and you have just reminded
me. Many many thanks. I do a different fold for when baby is bigger but
couldn't remember this one.

Cheers
Pip
29w4d

"Anne Rogers" > wrote in message
news:1105577533.429dc03e3d9b46ba87e254aa1b915570@t eranews...
>
snip snip:

> a good fold for a newborn is this, with the diaper folded in half and half
> again, so a square a quarter the size of the original diaper hole the
corner
> where all the original corners are in your left hand and pick up one of
them
> with your right hand and open it out to make a triangle, you end up with a
> triangle at the front with a square at the back, turn over and roll the
> square up to make a pad in the middle.
>
> Cheers
>
> Anne
>
>

[Maggie]

Elle spake thusly
>I'm pretty sure we are going to go with cloth diapers, using a diaper
>service.
>
>We can buy covers through the service -- they carry Bummis at what
>seems to be a good price compared to other retail places ($8.50 for the
>original and $9.50 for the whisper wrap.) Are these good wraps?

I love the Bummis whisper wrap! We found their containment of newborn
poo nothing short of miraculous.

>
>I was thinking of getting 6 in small (and skipping the newborn size).
>Does this make sense?

We started cloth diapering when DS was 3 weeks old and started off with
small and it was fine (he was around 8lb). We only had three covers,
and would have liked four - I would think six will be ample. Most of
the time you can have two "on the go", alternating at each change, just
throwing them in the wash when they get soiled.

>
>Also I have no idea how to fold a cloth diaper -- is it just in thirds
>then across to shorten it a bit then fan it out in the cover? Can it be
>that easy?
>

We used prefolds and a snappi fastener, so can't help you there, sorry.

Good luck! We've found using cloth to be pretty easy mostly (we don't
use a washing service).
--
Maggie

[Elle]

Anne Rogers wrote:

> why not wash at home then? in the early days you would use more than
40
> disposables a week, in fact for some newborns, 70 in a week might not
quite
> be enough, changing around a dozen times a day is not unknown.

Yes most of my friends have reported changing about 10 times a day in
the newborn period -- they all use disposables though, maybe we'd
change even more with cloth? If it looks like I'll run out I can throw
some in the wash. I debated washing my own, which I think is usually a
perfectly good option, but for some personal reasons (I have arthritis
& the washer is 3 stories down from the bedrooms & bathroom so I have
concerns about hauling the bucket etc) I thought the service was a good
compromise.

Thanks!
Elle

[Elle]

emilymr wrote:
> I've been using the prowraps (looking up the website for you) which
are
> cheaper than Bummis; they've worked really well for us. We started
with 4
> in newborn size -- these are nice since they have a little dip for
the
> umbilical cord. We've now moved up to regular size, and I'm going to
try
> and get away with 3 instead.

That's not too many at all!

> Folding the diaper is really easy -- you plop baby down on it and
fold the
> top down a little bit, and then each side toward the middle. There's
a
> little video on our service's website that demonstrates it. Our
service
> also sells 'snappies' which work so much better than diaper pins,
once you
> figure them out (they're much faster to put on, and there's no risk
of
> pinning your baby by mistake) -- my mom was very disdainful of them
at
> first, but now she's a convert. ;)

The wraps I am looking at don't need pins or anything, which is cool.

> I LOVE diaper service -- it makes
> cloth diapers at least as easy as disposables.
I am very glad to hear that!

[Elle]

Anne Rogers wrote:
> > OK, it looks like the website is down right now, but go to
tinytots.com
> > and you'll see descriptions of prowrap (or prorap, can't remember
how you
> > spell it), snappies, and the video. I LOVE diaper service -- it
makes
> > cloth diapers at least as easy as disposables.
>
> doesn't it mean you have a lot of smelly nappies hanging around? at
home I
> was our reusables twice a week, here were are using disposables and I
find
> that just as much faff (as washing our own), they take up so much
space, you
> either have to buy them regularly or deal with carrying a huge box
that
> doesn't fit under the pushchair, then disposables really smell so I
have to
> take the dirties out daily, another faff we're on the 11th floor so
it's a
> long way to the bin!
>
> Anne

Smell is definitely something we worried about, but then realized that
after all we only have garbage & recycling pick-up every two weeks and
green bin (wet composty stuff) every week and we aren't stunk out of
the place so there should be a way to manage the diapers.

[Elle]

Plissken wrote:

> Honestly, buying your own and washing them yourself is just as easy
IMO.
> Most diaper services require you to rinse all soiled diapers anyway.
Once
> they are rinsed I just place them in a can with warm water and borax
and
> when its time to wash just dump them in the water with some detergent
and
> vinegar then dry them. It's really not very much work. Much cheaper
too!

As I wrote above I am tempted to try washing my own but just don't
think it will work for me. We don't have to rinse the diapers, they are
very clear that you just take it off and put it straight into the dry
bucket with liner that is provided.

I can totally see how washing your own makes sense though, and I
actually enjoy doing laundry strangely enough!

Elle

[Elle]

> Yes, Bummis are good. Of course, there's the caveat that different
covers
> work better for different babies, period, but I've liked the Bummis
Whisper
> Wraps, and generally other people seem to as well.

Good to hear. Are you familiar with these fuzzibunz? They seem hugely
expensive (I can't imagine using them exclusively), but very convenient
& attractive.

> Maybe get 6 newborn and 6 small, but
> don't wash them ahead of time, so that you can return the newborn if
you
> have a large baby? Fwiw, I also liked the Proraps a lot; their
newborn says
> 5-10 pounds and the small says 9-14, but the smalls were huge on my
baby for
> the first few weeks, even though she was nearly 9 pounds with chubby
thighs.
> The Gerber EZ covers were also good; their newborn is up to about 12
pounds,
> so we used those for several weeks.

I think I will do that, we have no idea how big she'll be.

> I highly recommend looking at jardinediapers.com for diaper covers.
I've
> gotten almost all of mine from her, and she's great. They have the
Bummis
> Whisper Wraps for $8.75 each. Also, if you ever order any 6 covers
from her
> at once, you qualify for free shipping on all future cover orders of
any
> quantity. I've really appreciated that feature, and also, she ships
really
> quickly. I'm across the country from her, and I've never had an
order take
> more than a couple of days to arrive.

The thing is I am in Canada so the free shipping doesn't apply and with
the exchange rate & duty it works out to more. I'll see if I can find a
good web source in Canada though, there are very few brick & mortar
stores for this kind of thing it seems.

Elle

[Elle]

Maggie wrote:

> I love the Bummis whisper wrap! We found their containment of
newborn
> poo nothing short of miraculous.

Oh good.

> We started cloth diapering when DS was 3 weeks old and started off
with
> small and it was fine (he was around 8lb). We only had three covers,

> and would have liked four - I would think six will be ample.

I think I will get a few newborn, but as Sara suggested, not wash them
in case the baby is a big 'un.

> Good luck! We've found using cloth to be pretty easy mostly (we
don't
> use a washing service).

Thanks Maggie.

Elle

[emilymr]

They smell a little by the end of the week, but we got the cheapest diaper
pail; I'm guessing the more expensive ones do a better job of disguising
the smell. I would wash my own, except we live in an apartment complex
with shared coin-operated laundry -- it'd be almost as expensive to do my
own wash, and honestly, it's just so much *easier* letting the diaper
service take care of everything -- no rinsing, no nothnig. :)

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

[NotMyRealName]

"Elle" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>> Yes, Bummis are good. Of course, there's the caveat that different
> covers
>> work better for different babies, period, but I've liked the Bummis
> Whisper
>> Wraps, and generally other people seem to as well.
>
> Good to hear. Are you familiar with these fuzzibunz? They seem hugely
> expensive (I can't imagine using them exclusively), but very convenient
> & attractive.

I tried the fuzzibunz for bedtime, and I did like them for that. But yes,
they are expensive, more than I wanted to pay to use them exclusively.
They're a pocket-style diaper, and actually, that's what I'm making to use
with this baby, pocket-style diapers. Basically that means I put in the
absorbent soaker part myself, and I can customize it for whether it's day or
night use, whether the baby's a heavy wetter or not, etc. The fuzzibunz
don't need a waterproof outer layer/cover, which accounts for some of the
high cost. (The ones I'm making do need a separate waterproof cover over
them.)
>
> The thing is I am in Canada so the free shipping doesn't apply and with
> the exchange rate & duty it works out to more. I'll see if I can find a
> good web source in Canada though, there are very few brick & mortar
> stores for this kind of thing it seems.
>
Ooops, sorry, I forgot you were in Canada!


--
-Sara:)
Mommy to DD, 2 3/4
And Someone Due 2/05

[Anne Rogers]

> Yes most of my friends have reported changing about 10 times a day in
> the newborn period -- they all use disposables though, maybe we'd
> change even more with cloth? If it looks like I'll run out I can throw
> some in the wash. I debated washing my own, which I think is usually a
> perfectly good option, but for some personal reasons (I have arthritis
> & the washer is 3 stories down from the bedrooms & bathroom so I have
> concerns about hauling the bucket etc) I thought the service was a good
> compromise.

the service sounds like a very good idea then!

[Plissken]

Elle > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Plissken wrote:
>
> > Honestly, buying your own and washing them yourself is just as easy
> IMO.
> > Most diaper services require you to rinse all soiled diapers anyway.
> Once
> > they are rinsed I just place them in a can with warm water and borax
> and
> > when its time to wash just dump them in the water with some detergent
> and
> > vinegar then dry them. It's really not very much work. Much cheaper
> too!
>
> As I wrote above I am tempted to try washing my own but just don't
> think it will work for me. We don't have to rinse the diapers, they are
> very clear that you just take it off and put it straight into the dry
> bucket with liner that is provided

Well, if you don't have to rinse and you can afford a diaper service go for
it! I would have because I hate doing laundry, but we couldn't afford it and
diaper services here require you rinse the diapers. FWIW I just used the
Kooshies covers which worked well for us. They are just a nylon type
material which are easy to rinse and fairly quick to dry.

Nadene