# If you don't use cloth, why not?



## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

I'm in the middle of writing a piece on cloth diapers and I wanted to address the other side. Real reasons/problems/etc against cloth. The more specific you could be that would be great. I'm aware of the biggies, like laundry, pins, plastic pants.

I would love to hear about your experiences if you tried cloth and then switched.

Thanks mamas!


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## KweenKrunch (Jul 25, 2009)

We tried cloth with my first but switched to EC. Love it!


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## kristi96 (Mar 31, 2009)

Plain and simple I don't have the time, energy, or desire to use cloth.


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## indie (Jun 16, 2003)

I used cloth for my first two children and for the first 4 months for my third. Since then I've been using disposables because they are easier and leak less and many of my cloth diapers got to the point where they were worn out and I didn't want to reinvest in more. The kids nighttime diapers were really difficult to get absorbent enough so we switched to disposables at night and it was too tempting to grab them during the day too, especially for my husband.


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KweenKrunch* 
We tried cloth with my first but switched to EC. Love it!

















ECers don't count. Let me tackle one subject at a time!

we part time EC







We both WOH FT but are trying!


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## oceanbaby (Nov 19, 2001)

I've used both, mainly cloth. I love cloth diapers. But the biggest issue I ran into was the bulkiness of my diaper bag if I was going to be out for most of the day. It made me kind of crazy. 3 or 4 diapers and I am carrying a suitcase around. Those days I was very tempted to just grab a few disposables.

Also, if were going to be in area/situation where I wouldn't be able to change as often or pack around a dirty diaper I would grab sposies.

But the bulkiness of the diaper bag was the biggest downside for me.


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## jewelsJZ (Jan 10, 2008)

i only use cloth when i have one child in diapers at a time. when it's two kids at once, it is just too overwhelming and we switch to disposables. i wish i had the time and energy to have two in cloth at once but i just don't.


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kristi96* 
Plain and simple I don't have the time, energy, or desire to use cloth.

can you elaborate?







what is your lack of desire like? Do you think cloth is too crunchy? Over hyped? Hard to get into? What kind of time and energy do you think goes into it? (I know tone is hard to read and this could come off as snarky, but I really am just trying to get some actual talking points from the 'other side'. I am totally blinded by the fluffy fever! My piece would be horrible lopsided verging on the point of unbelievable if I didn't have your thoughts to hit on!)


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## mama_lola (Jul 4, 2007)

We used cloth exclusively from the time our LO was 6 months until she was about 18 months. I just got sick of changing her diaper every 20 minutes. She drinks a ton of water, and it was making me crazy! She would wake up 3-4 times a night because of leaking. I got tired of the stress and the issues over DIAPERS. It was wonderful while it lasted!


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## LiLStar (Jul 7, 2006)

I'm hardcore cloth to the extreme.. to the extent of packing an entire extra suitcase when we travel, just for diapers







:

anyway, one thing I can think of that might turn lots of people off is how much research has to go into it! Theres SO many brands and types. prefolds, covers, fitteds, contours, aios, pockets, one size, pocket aios... then plain and simple, some work well, some don't work well. some are expensive, some are pretty cheap. they all have such vastly different fits and different babies are going to fit better in differen't ones. hook/loop, snaps, side snaps.. and wet bags, liners, inserts, doublers, snappis, washing routines, detergent, repelling, stinky build up, stripping.. rash creams that are safe for cloth, night time solutions that work for a heavy wetter, wool, wool wash, lanolizing!!! For us experienced cloth users, its pretty easy to keep it all straight, but I can see how the learning curve might intimidate less adventurous newbies who might find it easier to simply choose between huggies and pampers!!


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## LemonPie (Sep 18, 2006)

I got into CD with my second baby when she was 10 months old and fully planned to CD my third.

Except that my newborn HATED cloth and would freak out and wake up any time she wet it. With 2 other young kids to take care of, it just wasn't worth it to me. I've tried again from time to time and she just doesn't do well with it. I'd rather have a baby who sleeps.

So I'm in the process of getting ready to sell my stash. I don't think I'll even bother if we have a 4th.


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## octobermom (Aug 31, 2005)

We ended up doing both if that counts any? Around about a year my DD got a horrible yeast type diaper rash (it happens) but sadly it got worse and warped into a staph infection. After that she seemed extrememly prone to rashes more so than ever before. We went on a quest to find the perfect nighttime diaper as that was our problem area leaks no but rash wise.. Thats when we discovered her new super sensitive skin meant no more poly fabrics fleece and such seemed to just cut right through her skin...







So after a long trail and error we finially found a sposie at night and cloth (prefolds and cotton fitted) by day was our best combo. She jsut needed the ultra dry effect sposies gave when I couldn't change her 12 times a night.
For personal reasons we actually plan to see if this system will work on our next baby right from the start. In the end it was for us the simplist and best of both worlds.

Deanna


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

living in an apt and having to use a laundromate.

plus my then dh didnt want to use cloth. too much trouble for him. we tried a diaper service. but it was a hassle for him.

so ended up using sposies.


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## holothuroidea (Mar 30, 2008)

They just don't fit. DD is very petite and was from birth. She has skinny little legs and extremely narrow hips. To give you an idea of how narrow, she is now 12 months but is wearing size 3mo pants (as shorts, lol).

I planned on using cloth from early on, did tons of research, and I invested a lot of money ($300) into a good stash. I was really dissapointed when she was born and I put the diapers on her, they litterally made her lay lopsided no matter how I folded them. So, we went out and got some disposables hoping she would grow into the ones we have. She hasn't.

We've tried different kinds but I have not found a cloth diaper that doesnt make her look like she's wearing an innertube.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

the year was 1996 -

Cloth can be very expensive. I didn't have the money to get a stash going before she came and I certainly didn't have any money after she came.

There is a lot of cloth snobbery I encountered. and the crazy amount of hype. all the stuff people think you need to research. its like if they make it crazy complicated it makes them that much better. I don't know. people spending $200 on A diaper was such a turn off to me. I was really proud of myself for using cloth and then people started talking down about gerber dipes and plastic pants (which worked just fine on all my children thankyouverymuch). Good heavens even my pins weren't up to par because they weren't dritz. and for the record my $.99 diaper pins lasted through 3 kids, stayed sharp, and never ever bent going in. they were far and away my favorites. it was seriously equated with abuse to use less than whatever the diaper de jour was. so I stopped for a while. I didn't want to hurt my kids with using evil pants and I didn't want to be associated with "those" people. it was so much craziness. The excitement and uppitiness and constant hashing out of details creeped me out. they were poop catchers for crying out loud. no need to get obsessive about it.

I hated the bulk. it was hard to find clothes that fit and I wanted my baby to be cute.

then came baby number 2.....it was the year 2000.

Screw everyone and their criticism. I was comfortable in my prefolds and plastic pants. and cheap pins. my friend tried to get me to use mother-ease but really $20 for a diaper and cover - scandalous. I couldn't do it.







and she really made me feel bad about using my gerbers but I marched on. She could say what she wanted. I actually used cloth all the time. she petted hers and bragged about hers and put sposies on her baby.

but I didn't use disposables on her hardly at all. she was a really complicated baby who hated having her diaper changed from the day she was born until the day she potty trained so sometimes I would just get over whelmed and take diaper vacations. a week here or there with sposies. otherwise 100% cloth. but I don't care what anyone says. sposies are easier. so much easier in every way.

third baby came along - 2002 -
If the child felt the slightest drip of wetness she would wake up screaming. didn't care when she was awake. didn't care when she was potty training







: but it was decidedly the end of the world if she was sleeping. so she wore disposables while she was sleeping.

I won't lie. I loooovvvveed the smell of pampers......loved it. its still like heaven to me.

Oh yeah and around a year she was walking funny. we thought one of her legs was decidedly shorter than the other. so we put her in disposables for the night once but a water pipe broke and while we were hanging out in the hallway of the hotel we noticed she was walking just fine. so we kept her in sposies for a while until she was walking a little better. the cautiously went back to cloth.

so three different kids. three different times. lots of different reasons for using disposables.


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## pinksprklybarefoot (Jan 18, 2007)

Let me preface this by saying that I used cloth with DS1 for 18 months. We switched to sposies when he outgrew the diapering system that we were using (gDiaper covers with cloth inserts) and made the decision when we got pregnant with DS2 (1 month later) that we would not go back to cloth with him. It was for several reasons, mostly related to time. Time wasn't much of an issue with DS1, because I was a SAHM. Although I stay home now, we are transitioning me to being a full-time student (trying to get into pharmacy school). Time is a precious commodity ATM.

-With cloth, I was chaging diapers ~20 times a day (I can't let a kid sit in a wet diaper that *feels* wet). Sposies need to be changed way less often. This is the main reason. With two in diapers and nursing, that is ALL I would be doing all day. Nurse. Change diaper. Repeat.

-It takes longer to change a cloth diaper (the ones we had, anyway). We had to stuff the new diaper, wet down the cloth wipe, swish poopy dipes in the toilet. With sposies, I just put the thing on.

-We live in an apartment, and we don't use paper towels. So we already have a ton of laundry. At this point, I just can't add any more (or hog the machine any more).

-Like a PP mentioned, I hated having to haul what amounted to a suitcase if I wanted to run errands in order to contain all of the CDs. Eventually, I started using sposies when out, even with DS1.

-Another thing that a PP mentioned that drove me away - the bulk. I love buying cute kids' clothes, and when DS was past the age where onesies and babylegs were cute, sposies started to look a lot better. I couldn't fit cloth under jeans. I felt like I was restricting his movement and making him miserable.

I would love to be able to do cloth, but right now, it would just be one more thing. And in order to do school with a family and a DH that works two jobs, I have to eliminate some of the "one more things."


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## hempmama (Dec 16, 2004)

I don't like to admit all these on here, but in the name of research, here you go:

I have 3 kids. With the first we used mostly cloth. Plastic when travelling, out, or she was sick.

My second got horrible rashes in cloth, not as much in plastic. So we went entirely with plastic with him.

With my third, we use cloth sometimes. We are out a lot of the day very often, and I don't like carrying dirty diapers around half the day. If we'll be mostly in, or only out for a couple of hours, then she gets cloth. You'd think the extra laundry would just feel like a drop in the bucket (it did with my second, no big deal), but I am just so drowning in it that it's kind of beyond me to take on the extra laundry that a full time CD regime would entail. I hate hate hate laundry. But part time. We can do part time. Sometimes.

I also really hate nursing poops with CDs. I find the whole process a lot easier and less annoying once they are mostly on solid foods. CDs also leak more than plastic(except for 7th generation- the plastic I mean are the hardcore Pampers, etc). They can get pretty good, but there's really no getting as good as those super engineered plastic things. Philosophically I really like CDing, but it's not always worth the trade offs in our family.


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## SpiderMum (Sep 13, 2008)

We've taken a break from cloth at the moment because we don't have a washing machine and having to drag diapers to my aunt's house to wash was majorly stressing me out.


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## pinksprklybarefoot (Jan 18, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilyka* 
and I won't lie. I loooovvvveed the smell of pampers......loved it. its still like heaven to me.

Pampers smell *just* like Cabbage Patch dolls. I love it, too.


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## NursingStudent (Apr 12, 2007)

I use cloth now, with my second. With my DD1 I used a service for almost a year, and then we moved to a different state with no service. I was really excited about washing my own, but wasn't very exposed to it so I didn't know what I was doing. Bought some cheap (but pretty well made) flannel fitteds off of Ebay. I was combining disposables and cloth, and it didn't take too long before I ruined *all* of the diapers I had just purchased by leaving the pail too long. I don't want to go into too much detail, but they were ruined. I tried really hard to save them with crazy washing and bleach and it was a total failure. I felt foolish and out of money and








So I quit and went to sposies for the rest of her diapering days.
Now with DD2 I had service for 1 month, then did combo of prefolds and sposies, and then I found the diaper lust, and it's crazy, and I use cloth exclusively now.

And now I am, like you:

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kriket* 
I am totally blinded by the fluffy fever! My piece would be horrible lopsided verging on the point of unbelievable if I didn't have your thoughts to hit on!)

So to answer your original question I didn't because of lack of knowledge about washing techniques and lack of exposure to the awesome and cute stuff that is available. I think if one person had even asked why I didn't use cloth I would have thought about it and... started again.
Good luck with your paper. I am interested in the cloth from a business perspective as well so let me know when it's done so I can read it.
Thanks!


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LiLStar* 
Theres SO many brands and types. prefolds, covers, fitteds, contours, aios, pockets, one size, pocket aios... then plain and simple, some work well, some don't work well. some are expensive, some are pretty cheap. they all have such vastly different fits and different babies are going to fit better in differen't ones. hook/loop, snaps, side snaps.. and wet bags, liners, inserts, doublers, snappis, washing routines, detergent, repelling, stinky build up, stripping.. rash creams that are safe for cloth, night time solutions that work for a heavy wetter, wool, wool wash, lanolizing!!!

Yeah, I'd say that about covers it







. It just seems too overwhelming to even start. I'm afraid I'd blow a bunch of money on stuff and then have it not be the right stuff. It just seems too complicated.


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## LuckyMommaToo (Aug 14, 2003)

I went to both extremes. DS wore almost exclusively CDs, even at night, until the day he was potty-trained at almost 3 y.o. Then came DD. Our house was under renovation, DH was working constantly, I had a toddler and a newborn, and I could not do it. I know a lot of moms on here do, but it really felt like the last straw. The researching, the buying, the washing, drying, folding, prepping them so they were ready, the diaper bag issue.

I felt really guilty, but sposies were SO much easier. DD is fully trained now, so the stash is donated, and I've moved on.

And for the record, I've never run out of sposies and had to make a midnight run to the drugstore. (I will always have a soft spot for an adorable wool cover, though!)
-e


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## alexsam (May 10, 2005)

I was a newbie with no support. I got AIO's thinking that would be the easiest to learn. My washing machine was as old as the hills and we lived in a place where I could not line dry regularly due to the weather and my baby kept getting terrible rashes. I used a cream which killed 2 expensive diapers







. Still rashes, rashes getting worse, yeast... Talk of stripping, bleach (or no bleach), vinegar, specific creams I could and could not use, soaks... I got overwhelmed. I sold the diapers and went to disposable.

However, when DS1 was about a year old we moved to where there was a diaper service. No more worries about washing, yeast, creams, soaking or any of that! And, they cost about the same as disposables and require no special care at all. Remove from baby, toss in bag, set out for pick-up once a week. I don't have any extra laundry and they are always totally sanitary, clean as clean can be and delivered in a nice pile I just plop by the changing station. We signed up with the diaper service, I got a few fold-and-tuck covers and we've never looked back (and with 4 yrs of professionally laundered diapers, not a single serious rash on either kid). Really, the diaper service is the only way I could (can) cloth diaper. I'm lucky its here as I couldn't CD without it...


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## mummyofan (Jun 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jewelsJZ* 
i only use cloth when i have one child in diapers at a time. when it's two kids at once, it is just too overwhelming and we switch to disposables. i wish i had the time and energy to have two in cloth at once but i just don't.


exactly that.

Along with laundry for the normal 1 change a day, it was too much.
Also the mention earlier of bulkiness was true in part for me, too, especially with 2.
We used them up till a year ago then switched. Also, mine did get a little worn out as I was methodical about changing them every 2 hours because my son was always wet and if I left it longer, they'd leak.... so they got worn out quicker.

With me it's not SO much the time and energy; I could hire them or whatever, but more the ability without spending much of my day at the machines.


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## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

I'll answer for my sister since I use cloth and she's not on MDC.

She works full time and her MIL babysits. MIL is okay (but not really supportive) of feeding my niece EMB, organic baby food and not CIO but cloth would just be too much for her. My sister doesn't feel that its worth anything to just use cloth on her days off.


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## durafemina (Feb 11, 2004)

so. . . we're hardcore into cloth (I have 2 in diapers and we have no dryer, and I've only ever used sposies on dd when we were travelling to another continent - 48 hrs of straight travel).

That being said - if I was ever tempted to ditch cloth it's during those horrible, messy diarrhoea toddler poo episodes. Crap, I've been tempted to throw the cloth diaper away rather than scrape/rinse/touch that stuff - especially while pregnant!

_(instead I let Dp deal with them all! he's a saint!)_


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## MadameXCupcake (Dec 14, 2007)

We used cloth till we moved to our own home[from an apt] the washer in the new home didn't work. We ended up purchasing a used washer off craigslist for 50$ works fine for clothes but I don't think it could handle diapers.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Mine might be a bit unusual, and not very helpful, but:

I used mostly cloth with my three oldest. I always kept a pack of sposies on hand, in case my kid suddenly went through the last 4 clean diapers before I could wash them. We used them for traveling. That was about it.

When we had Aaron, ds2 was still in diapers. We used sposies for a while after Aaron died, and I made two attempts to start using cloth again. That didn't work out. We ended up throwing out about half a pail of diapers, with the pail, when we both switched back to sposies and forgot that there were cloth diapers soaking. Blech. (That's embarrassing to even admit in "public", but we were in a pretty bad way, mentally.)

So, now dd2 is two months old. I haven't got around to finding a new pail. Until I do that, we're using sposies full time. I feel like I'm cheating...except when I almost run out and have to make a dash to the store - _way_ bigger hassle than a load of laundry, imo!

ETA: I've noticed a few people mention bulkiness. I have had frustrations with this over the years. I don't care how they look, but a lot (most?) of manufacturers of baby clothing definitely size the clothes based on the assumption that a trim little sposie is under there, not a bulky cloth diaper. It can be a pain to get clothes that fit with cloth.


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## mamaofthree (Jun 5, 2002)

at this time we are not using them because when we moved across country the house we were renting was suppose to not have a washer or drier, and since i had no idea where a laudry mat was, and how often i would be able to get to one do to heavy snow (we moved in winter), i gave them to a grateful mama and went to posies. but when we got there he had bought a washer and drier. we just didn't have the cash on hand to restock the fluff, so i just still use them. it makes me sad because i love cloth, i love all the choices and all the lovliness. the love hanging cloth on the line, i love the big padded butt. they made me happy. and honestly i did have some pricey stuff but my favotite was the big birdseye type and a good wool cover.
ah well, i made another mama happy with my stash. and when we have another baby, i will be stocking up!

h


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## UptownZoo (May 11, 2003)

You know, I CD'd all three of my kids, but I have to agree with those who mentioned snobbery as a turn-off. When I had my first two in 1993 and 1995, there was no internet and I didn't know anyone who CD'd (though my mom and all her friends had of course used cloth), so I didn't know any different than to go out and buy a stack of pre-folds, some pins, and vinyl pants. Worked fabulous, no problems every. Yes, my kids looked weird when double (and then later triple) diapered for bedtime, but they didn't care, so I didn't either.

Then I had my 3rd in 2002 and it was a whole new world. I mean, I used the same old system I'd always used and you'd have thought I'd chosen to diaper my child with chunks of moss covered with a bread bag. Yikes! Unreal. "Here, try this (aio, pocket, whatever) diaper and you'll never want those prefolds again!" "OMG, how can you use pins? You'll hurt him!" (FTR, I did once pin a diaper to my eldest baby in the middle of the night. He survived with no visible scarring.) Also, when I decided to CD my older two, a primary reason was we were really poor and it made sense to CD - way cheaper. When I had my youngest, we had enough money for sposies but I figured I'd save money again, just because that's a good thing to do. I couldn't figure out why I would want to make CDing just as (or more!) expensive as using paper diapers.

So, yeah, there's this weird culture around CDing that I really don't like. Actually, that's true about almost everything that has to do with parenting, but you didn't ask about sports, BFing, homework, or anything else.


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## HarperRose (Feb 22, 2007)

#1: Didn't know ppl still used cloth till he was around 12 mos. (My 2nd bro was cd'd when I was about 6-7 yrs old, so it was on my radar, but not common in my circle.)
#2: Horrible rashes, no matter what I did for her.
#3: He outgrew all the diapes by 3-ish mos. I did prefolds & wool covers that I made from old sweaters. I would have had to move up to toddler size and I couldn't afford it. Also, w/ 2 other kids, time was crucial. And the laundry was atrocious. With 5 ppl in the family, more laundry was just a bad idea.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

I used cloth for all three of mine, almost exclusively, because to put it bluntly, I couldn't afford to put three kids in diapers at the same time with disposables without having to cut other things in my budget that I really didn't want to.

To be honest, most of the "diapering community" really really really turned me off. I mean, I guess if it makes you happy to spend $40 per diaper for a cute print that your baby is going to poop on, there's no harm in it, but as another poster mentioned, the snotty comments about prefolds and pins really was a little much for me. So I could see a newbie getting caught up in that, and it doesn't boggle my mind anymore when people complain about the expense. (If you shop around a bit, prefolds and wraps are CHEAP!!)

I also had the luxury of being a SAHM with a hubby that also worked from home. So I can understand how some mamas, with little to no support at home, don't want to deal with doing 3 loads of laundry a day if they only have a modest stash. And if people have to haul 'em to the laundromat or down apartment flights, ugh. I applaud those that do it, but...I know flat out there's no way in hell I would have. Not with baby twins and a toddler, sorry.

I wholeheartedly support people who CD. I did. It's not exactly rocket science. Unless you're buying the tony dipes, it's also very cheap. (though now that I'm thinking about it--since we're on a well and don't pay for water AND because of my household support and extra hands I was able to make most of my own washing solution/detergent...I could see it not necessarily being cheaper for other people) But I don't think anyone needs to be lashed with a wet diaper if they decide it's not for them. If CDing is going to stress a mama out to the point that she has to choose between babycare, eating, and washing, cut the CDs first. My priorities for mothers with babies and young children is that one should maximize the time and energy given to the child, with a strong second being nurturing oneself, and thirdly what you put on your kid's butt. For many people, myself included, CDing CAN be a part of mama-nurturing because it makes US feel good. Some children can't tolerate the adhesives or other things even in 'natural' diapers (like my DD) so CDing becomes essential to their health. But for those who it will be a huge burden too and whose children are unhappy with it--you know what? It's okay not to CD. If CDing makes you a better mama, then go for it. If it detracts from your energy in a bad way, then I don't think it's a thing to martyr oneself for. And I'm talking about it from the perspective of someone who CDed 3 children simultaneously for almost 3 years.


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## IntrovertExtrovert (Mar 2, 2008)

We switched to disposables at night around 15 months--at that point my son was still waking up 2 times/night to eat. Changing his diaper would wake him up enough that it would be difficult getting him back to sleep, but the cloth diapers would become uncomfortable from all the pee from night-drinking, and that woke him up, too. He started sleeping more hours as soon as we switched to disposables.

We sometimes use disposables during the day because the babysitter is unwilling to use cloth. It took enough work to find a babysitter I trust--cloth was not a hill I was willing to die on.


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## heidirk (Oct 19, 2007)

Toddler poo.

It is just very stinky, and sticky, and hard to clean.

not to mention the fact tht none of ds1's covers ever actually fit ds2. Babies come in so many different shapes, yk?

I loved cd's for runny BF poo. I never had poo blowouts in a good cover like I did with sposies. And in that stage where they pee throught just about everything, wool mad all the difference.

really it depends on what day it is. i keep going back to cloth, because lots of sposies give my ds's an allergc rash.


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## VBMama (Jan 6, 2004)

This is kind of therapeutic, reading that I'm not the only one who has given up on cloth.







I don't think the OP started the thread with that in mind, but I'll take what I can get.

Baby #1 - CD'd almost exclusively, at home and out & about. Switched to sposies for pull-ups when we got near the end of potty learning.

Baby #2 - Up to about 18 mos, CD'd at home, sposies for going out. Packing the diaper bag with cloth was too challenging with two kids, both because of the bulk and the need to plan ahead. Starting switching more & more to sposies when life got complicated by pregnancy #3, a move, and diapers began wearing out and leaking. We are on a well, and hard water made laundering routine ridiculous to try and manage the build-up/leaking.

Baby #3 - Tried to do cloth for her even though toddler ds2 was in sposies, and even freshened up my stash with another $100-150 of new dipes. Skinny baby meant fit was difficult, we moved twice before she was 6mos, I'm pretty sure I had ppd and was just completely overwhelmed by life. Sposies were easier - no laundry, no sorting, no explaining to dh the rules about which diaper fit which way. I tried a few times to go back to cloth, but everything I have leaves wicked scratches on her skinny hips from the velcro, we are on the go so much more with 3 kids now, and I'm pretty much done investing money in cloth. I have guilt over it, but there it is.


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## fwlady (May 11, 2009)

I have CDed with all 7 of my children, at one time or another. I have been pretty hard core at some times; like 2 in cloth pullups and 2 in diapers. I LOVE to make them. I LOVE to come up with new improved patterns. I LOVE the feel of them. I LOVE the look of them. I have also used a service before. Without going into any stories about my very long ups and downs with cloth; for 12 yrs now; these are some things I had to consider as downers.

#1; investing in a serger or new sewing machine; right now, I am shopping for a new SM (again) with my CD fabrics sitting next to me to be cut out

#2; wanting the cutest ones ever, but yet, cannot afford them. Or want one sizers, but again, the money; snaps are expensive but preferred over Aplix/velcro

#3; knowing the amount of work it is to actually make them all over again, because I donated my dipes AGAIN

#4; Dh HATES cloth, even with aplix or snaps. He won't do prefolds, and I hate having to change the diapers all the time. My oldest children can change sposies easier to also help out. Cloth will make changing almost solely MY job.

#5; extra laundry; with 9 in the house, ugh.

#6; no real savings, even using energy efficient front loaders; because of initial investment and not happy with prefolds (although I have used them many times). I have used recycled fabrics for dipes, and that helps a lot.

#7; smelly washer, and over the years of washing (even after discovering vinegar and baking soda), my front loaders will still transfer the odor to the next load of clothes. Stopped the CDs, and the washer is back to normal. I would almost rather take them to the laundromat. DHs biggest objection too.

#8; having a baby in and out of hospital puts a real damper on doing CDs. That was our biggest reason for going back to sposies FT with #7.

#9; night time changing is a hassle once they are old enough to sleep through the night.

#10; feeling like we need to invest in a used w/d just for the diapers

#11; I know this may not be agreed upon, but the research that I was told (could be incorrect) was that one isn't really "greener" over the other.







:

I think that is about it. But, I find it easier to do cloth, even with 2-3 in diapers; wash and dry. No need to pick up diapers (or get multiple sizes), take out the trash even more times a week. Prefolds can be used with both children, or the one size diapers that I will be making soon. And, right now, I am so glad that my baby is no longer in and out of the hospital and we are anticipating a healthy 8th child. And, I can now put them BOTH in.

Did I mention that I LOVE cloth diapers? LOL Kymberli


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## stormborn (Dec 8, 2001)

<snip>

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alexsam* 
However, when DS1 was about a year old we moved to where there was a diaper service. No more worries about washing, yeast, creams, soaking or any of that! And, they cost about the same as disposables and require no special care at all. Remove from baby, toss in bag, set out for pick-up once a week. I don't have any extra laundry and they are always totally sanitary, clean as clean can be and delivered in a nice pile I just plop by the changing station. We signed up with the diaper service, I got a few fold-and-tuck covers and we've never looked back (and with 4 yrs of professionally laundered diapers, not a single serious rash on either kid). Really, the diaper service is the only way I could (can) cloth diaper. I'm lucky its here as I couldn't CD without it...

That.







With my 1st there was no diaper service and I was already doing laundry for 4 adults (so at least 1x a day) plus working full time. There was no way I would even consider adding more laundry at the time.
Now that I've done cloth I think I would do it even without a service, though. The smell of disposables is naaasty to me. I'm weird about smells so it was great to start cloth and realize that JUST pee/poop without the strong perfume doesn't make me gag.


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## lishoprah (Feb 13, 2009)

I've spent a ton on cloth and we keep going back to disposables. There are a few factors for us.

Our daughter hit a stage where she pees a lot. If we didn't change her every hour she would wet through her clothes and need an entire outfit change -- meaning I would have to go upstairs either while hugely pregnant or holding a newborn sleeping baby. We didn't have enough changes of clothes for this. It's also very difficult to change a toddler every hour while holding a newborn.

We didn't have a good place to keep them -- they took up our whole coat closet and our downstairs was starting to stink.

All of the clothes we have been given barely fits over the diapers so she could hardly crawl.

I loved wool for night and would use those during the day but no clothes fit over aristocrats soakers.


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## Cherry Alive (Mar 11, 2007)

We use both.

The main reason I use cloth to begin with is I have a latex sensitivity, and the latex free disposable diapers are quite expensive to use all the time. DH and I are also lazy... We find it easier to do occasionally laundry than throw bags of stinky diapers in the garbage all the time.









Normally, we use cloth during the day. During the night, we chlorine free/latex free disposables (7th Gens). We use the disposables at night because they are less bulky, don't need to be changed as often, and easier to change (than prefolds...BGs are super easy).

By using both types of dipes, we never run out. If we miss laundry, we switch to disposables. If we run out of disposables (and don't have time to hit the store) we just use cloth full time. Usually neither happens, but it is nice to have backup options, KWIM?









Despite the fact we sometimes use disposable dipes, we always use cloth wipes. We have a HUGE stash of these as they don't take up much room. Even our doctor (who is more mainstream) recommends cloth wipes over disposable ones. He says that cloth wipes are way better in preventing diaper rash. If you don't want to invest in them, he says just to get a few cheapy wash clothes.

I mostly pack cloth dipes in my diaper bag-though I have 2 backup disposables. I also keep a backup diaper bag in the car (a great bit of advice from my hair stylist), and it's only filled with disposables as they don't take up much space (I rarely remember to fill the backup bag so I want to keep it filled with as many dipes as possible).


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## AirMiami (Feb 3, 2009)

Two reasons.

1. From my daughter's birth until this week, I've lived with my family. There are 7 people + baby living in this house, and I knew my mother would have a problem with me "wasting" water and using up her washing machine so much. It was much easier to just avoid yet another fight in an already stressful living situation.

2. I'm lazy and my daughter is high needs. I can barely get my own laundrey done, let alone be on top of her diapers. Yes, I know, the mei tai, but honestly? She screams bloody murder if I bend over in the darn thing! No idea why, but I must be UPRIGHT in it at all times if she's in there. I just don't want to deal with it.


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

There were times I didn't use cloth.

1. At night. Despite doing EC, DS was practically sleeping through the night from birth, I value my sleep, and he just WET so much at night that it was very uncomfortable for him. (perhaps part of his sensory issues as well).

2). Sometimes when we were out for a very long day. Or like when we went camping. Pretty self explanatory there.

3). I am very glad we did EC - my DS cloth nappies stopped fitting him around 17 months of age. He is huge - he was huge born and still is big for his age. Hes not fat - hes well porportioned. Hes just big. At two, most people thought he was a five year old! (which comes with its own annoying issues lol)

I think cloth is fab. Its pretty addicting too! We just use them as a back up though because we mostly EC. When we have used disposables (for reasons listed above) its been eco friendly ones (which we could afford as we would get them on ebay! - yay ebay! lol). So we are not that horrible














hehe


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## Phoenix~Mama (Dec 24, 2007)

Time and energy...

I WOH full time and I have fibromyalgia... I have to do about a load of laundry a night as is to keep up with it and not be overwhelmed to knock it all out over the weekend.

Time is very precious to me, and so is finding the balance in my life to not be overwhelemed with my illness. I knew there was no way I'd be able to keep up with cloth.


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## cedoreilly (May 21, 2005)

With twins and then two singletons close together, I just did not have the time to spend washing anymore than I already was. There are no diaper services in my area.


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## russsk (Aug 17, 2007)

I cd'd DS full time until he was about 6 months (except for long trips). Since then he wears cds at home and sposies when we are out and at night, so I'm not sure if I count or not. But I stopped using CDs out because they are a pain in the neck! I don't like carrying a huge bag and rarely have a stroller with me, so it was very inconvenient. We stopped using cloth at night when DS started sleeping (slightly) longer and having larger pees. I was never able to find a nighttime system that worked for us. DS would always leak, or wake up unhappy. Being wet really bothered him; he sleeps much better in disposables.

Another, minor reason, we chose to use sposies outside the house: clothes. Its was a pain trying to find pants that fit over a big old diaper butt. It wasn't that hard when he was little, but as he grew it seemed to get harder. This wouldn't have been a huge issue on its own, but we were given a lot of clothes that we would have been unable to use with cloth, so it was nice to get some use out of them. He does have wool pants and such, but I don't want him wearing those out in the dirt, you know?


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

I never used cloth. I did consider it. But I didn't have a lump sum of money to invest. Dh was unemployed at the time. Then ds turned out to be the kind of baby that could. not. be. put. down. at. all. I could hardly prepare food for myself, let alone manage extra laundry.

My sister did cloth for a while. Getting clothes that fit over cloth was difficult. That is probably more of an issue with girls because their clothes tend to be cut slimmer.


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## mama2mygirl (Dec 14, 2005)

Money is so unbelievably tight.
I used cloth with first baby and loved it. Thhat baby is 6 so only two of hers were still around.
I use the cloth that was given to me but no way is it a real stash. I use the sposies mamas have given me. For whatever reason, I know a lot of people who have given me bags of diapers. A very few were newly purchased for me but most were from things like an adoption fell through and lots more from people who bought a bag and their baby grew out of them before they could use it. I was actually going to buy more a few weeks back but was again given three bags. I can't justify spending the money when we absolutely need it for other equally important things.


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## MaterPrimaePuellae (Oct 30, 2007)

I have toyed with the idea a few times, but keep coming back to these objections:

1. I am NOT a good housekeeper. Keeping up with laundry is hard for me, and I'm afraid I would ruin the diapers by letting them sit too long/mildew between washings. It wouldn't be the first time (but it probably WOULD be the most expensive time!) such a thing happened to me.









2. Expense. I'm a big coupon shopper and never bought diapers (even 7th Generation, which we used exclusively after i found them) unless they were on sale-- so diapers did not put too much of a dent in our budget. (_Maybe_ $30 a month?) I calculated the cost of CDs and figured I might save a couple hundred dollars over the course of DD's diapered life, but that didn't seem like much of a savings when I considered the convenience.

3. I'm not convinced that the environmental impacts are very different (it seems hard to find unbiased studies), especially in areas with more limited water supplies.

Objection #2 doesn't really stand if one considers reusing the diapers on future children.... but then I can't really count of being able to do that, because of the incompetence described in Objection #1.

I do flush all solids from the disposable diapers, so the ick factor isn't much of one for me (already lots of poop-handling around here), and I am _considering_ Cd with this baby.... but I'm still unsure. I may get one of the trial packs and give it a go, or at least use CD around the house. Some of those diaper covers are so darn *cute*!


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## LionTigerBear (Jan 13, 2006)

Postpartum depression. I tried using cloth diapers for a while or both of my boys, but gave up after a few months because it was so much work and just miserable. I hated the feel of the diapers when baby had a really big pee and they got a bit soaked, I didn't want that feeling against my baby's skin. The poopy diapers were difficult to clean and also, I didn't like the idea of any trace of poop in my washing machine. The diapers never fit very well, on either my skinny-butt baby or my chunky-butt baby, so with each boy there were always leaks. On the whole, for a depressed mom, switching to disposables was such a breath of fresh air. I love sposies.


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## Youngfrankenstein (Jun 3, 2009)

I used CD for my first two kids. With the third, I just used sposies. It was so much easier and not so many changes.

With this forth I plan to CD but it will probably be a balance of sposies the first few weeks then switching to a 70%/30% of cloth and disposables.


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## radishes (Mar 25, 2008)

I didn't use cloth at all on my 1st because I had to change so many cloth diapers (the old fashioned kind) on my younger siblings that I was completely against having to go through that again. Five years later sees me pregnant with my 2nd. I wanted to do part time EC, cloth, and very few disposables. I was totally overwhelmed by the cloth choices, and ended up with prefolds and plastic pants, cheaper and hey, they actually work! Anyhow, baby is born. She is tiny, as in nothing fits her. By 4 months she was under 10 pounds. We also had severe sleeping and breastfeeding issues and sometimes she'd poop up to 15 times a day. So, the combination of getting less than 2 hours of broken up sleep a day, an extremely high needs baby, her incessant pooping AND crying, and cloth not fitting her, left me too overwhelmed to even think about cloth unless she had a diaper rash. Now, at 11 months, things are better, but I'm still overwhelmed and have just lost my enthusiasm for cloth. Sad, and I'm a little ashamed, but true.


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## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Well, we're a little different that we actually were huge CD advocates with DD1. She was exclusively CD until around 28 months. I mean, a sposie never touched her bottom. I was very....um...judgmental about people who used sposies too.









So what happened? Well, for DD1 she developed sores on the inside of her thighs that just would not heal. The only thing that healed them was sposies. Also, she was a super, duper heavy wetter. As she got older it was IMPOSSIBLE to find a CD that wouldn't leak. Especially at night. It didn't matter how much I stuffed them with or what kind of covers I used. We tried everything.

Once DD2 came along she was CD for about a month, then I switched to sposies. I was totally overwhelmed with the extra laundry. Also, DD2 is very sensitive to wetness. Any time I've ever had her in CD for more than a day or so she gets a raging rash.

Finally, I have honestly not found CD to be a huge money saver for us. Washing & drying them drives up our electricity & water bills so much it actually is MORE than what we spent each month now on sposies. We spend about $30 on sposies a month, but our electric alone easily goes up by $30-$50 a month when we're washing diapers full-time.

I love cloth & still advocate for it, but it's just not a good choice for us at this point. Maybe if we ever have another babe we'll try them again. For now I'm contenting myself with lending all my CD stuff to a good friend who just got a 7 mo foster son.

Hope this helps!


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## azedazobollis (Feb 27, 2003)

I love cloth. I am a die hard cloth diaperer. But the last month, Ive had DD in seventh generation sposies. She has some neurological and orthopedic issues. I cant get her to lay on her back at all. She is so wiggly and strong, I cant get the snaps done on her diapers. She is also very small- 8 months old and 14 lbs. I have a nice selection of diapers. All the velcro closing diapers leak at the top because of the way she moves, she works them down in the front. It's so hard during diaper changes. I hate that Im using sposies..... I just cant keep her still enough to get the diapers on her. I put sposies on backwards. I would like to get a bunch of bumgenius'. Those would work. But I cant spend that$ right now.


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## sunnmama (Jul 3, 2003)

My toddler prefers disposables. We used cloth until he was 20 mo, and started using a disposable at night (he was waking from the wet, bulky night diaper). He started refusing the the cloth diapers, so I figured the disposables must be more comfortable for him. They certainly are a lot less bulky, which didn't matter much when he was a baby/young toddler...but maybe makes more of a difference for an older, active toddler.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MaterPrimaePuellae* 
3. I'm not convinced that the environmental impacts are very different (it seems hard to find unbiased studies), especially in areas with more limited water supplies.

Oh yeah, and this too. Water is quite expensive here and we often have water restrictions. In an effort to curb usage, they started doing this tiered billing thing where the more water you use, the more you pay per unit. I'd be willing to bet I spend less or the same on sposies than I would on washing diapers not to mention the fact that water here is in shorter supply than landfill space.


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## Quinalla (May 23, 2005)

I'm planning to do cloth part time. DH thinks it will be too much of a hassle and when we looked at the cost of disposables, it really isn't that expensive for us. I also think it will be too much of a pain to deal with it at daycare, though they will use them if we want. So I will have some cloth on hand to use sometimes, but disposables as well, and we'll see how it goes. I don't mind laundry (I actually kind of like it







), so that's not a concern for me. I do use cloth pads for myself as they are much more comfortable and much cheaper.

And I agree that all the options are a bit overwhelming. And there is a small group of the cloth diapering community that are a bit over obsessed with their cloth and that honestly can be a turn off if you encounter a lot of those folks. Bottom line, I need a system that works for my family, so if cloth diapers end up working, great, if not, disposable is fine too.


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## The4OfUs (May 23, 2005)

Because we were barely able to stay on top of our regular laundry while both working full time when the kids were babies (I can count numerous times we've run out of socks/other clothes)...and because frankly, I have to really concentrate on not wretching when being anywhere near poop, I can't imagine having to rinse/soak/wash/etc. poopy cloth.

I did, *very* briefly, use regular old flat gerber birdseyes i had already and was using as burp cloths, with a borrowed cover when DD was pooping on a schedule and I knew she would only be peeing for a day (she pooped every other day in the mornings for a couple months)...but after throwing out two poopy cloths when her "schedule" changed I realized it just wouldn't work for me/us. I just can't deal with poopy cloth. Period. This may be juvenile, I'll freely admit it - but it's also not a character flaw I feel the need to spend any time working through at this point.

And really, I can agree with the snob factor re: cloth - like many things that start out with admirable intentions, it has in some places/instances morphed into something it wasn't originally intended to be...kind of like natural toys, organic food, babywearing, etc. etc. - when it becomes super trendy and obsessive and a status symbol, it turns me right off immediately. Part of NFL, in my understanding, is embracing a level of simplicity and rejecting consumerism...and getting caught up in the hype of any of it because it's "cool" totally misses the point IMO.


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## crunchymamatobe (Jul 8, 2004)

With my first child, we used cloth all the time, except when 1) the washing machine was broken or 2) we were away from home for more than two nights and didn't have access to a washing machine.

The laundry gets overwhelming at times and we did consider quitting. Our machine (a european front-loader) could only take tiny loads. Like, literally half of what I can fit in my parent's conventional american top-loader. It takes 2-2.5 hours to complete a wash cycle. With a baby in diapers, we had to do a load of laundry every day, every single day, or we would fall into a bottomless laundry pit.

With #2 on the way, we will start with cloth, and hope to continue. Washing machine #1 broke down and machine #2 takes slightly bigger loads. But, we may end up moving into an apartment with shared/pay laundry facilities. In that case, we will do the math and figure out if it makes financial sense to keep using the cloth. If it costs as much or more to wash diapers as it would to have a service or buy disposies, I will lean towards not using/washing our own diapers.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

I have a few:

the initial expense
dh and I both work(ed) full time and both boys were in daycare, which would not use cloth
time and energy put into washing them
my youngest son is horribly allergic almost everything that touches his butt, we went through every different disposable before we found one that would work.


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## aran (Feb 9, 2005)

Two reasons:

I read and read and read about all the cloth options, and was like a deer in headlights. I didn't want to spend the $$$ just to find out it wasn't a good fit, leaky, etc. The whole thing seemed confusing...

Plus, DH is the main laundry do-er and he didn't want to deal with the extra laundry. He has supported *every single* other hippie crunchy decision about parenting I have made (and there are many, and he is very conservative so they are all weird decisions to him) so I compromised on this one.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

I used cloth on DD up until a few months ago (she's 18 months). I really like it as far as diapering her goes, but as DH has some deficiency in understanding how to not fill the washer to capacity, laundry has always been my task. It was ok, but I WOHM, and counting commute an dlunch I'm gone 11 hours of the day, so I'd be a little harried trying to get diaper laundry done in the few hours I was home.

Then DH got a job. Then we got custody of the youngest two DSC which means my laundry load way increased, plus after work time really is taken up by homework and dishes. Then the washer broke. We haven't fixed it yet, so doing regular laundry has been a pain.

BUT,

DH says I'm way less stressed out now that there's no diaper laundry.

So that tears it.

I miss her little diaper booty though.


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## bandgeek (Sep 12, 2006)

I only use cloth about half the time....does my response count?









We use disposables because they are easier, plain and simple. I've got a lot going on in my life and a DD with a SN and medical problems. It makes it easier when I take her out. An quite frankly, she's FTT and skeletal looking and a cloth diaper under her clothes just looks horrible, making her weight loss more noticeable. Yeah, silly reason I know. But I hate people staring and it's just a small way to help her blend in a bit.

Also, I can only wash 1-2 times a week because I don't have a W/D and I use my DBF's. So having huge amounts of diapers to wash is super annoying, especially when they won't fit in one load.

There ya go. Not the best reasons. I could certainly do cloth 100% of the time if I really wanted to. I don't feel like it...I'm lazy.


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## Violet2 (Apr 26, 2007)

1. Overwhelmed by the choices and unable to figure out what was a good brand or how to identify quality diapers.

2. Giant baby. By the time I started really considering cloth DD was big enough for the largest sizes and we still had a year or more of diapers ahead of us. I did order one Fuzzi Bun aio and it fit, on the last snap. So not cost effective for the investment.

3. Didn't know about the liners that make clean up easier.

4.Didn't know anyone who used cloth, had never seen it modeled.

5.Cloth uses a lot of water--extra rinsing, stripping etc... _A lot_ of water. I'm not sure I buy that they are so much lighter on the earth. EC is probably the best green option.

6.Most people end up using disposables too along with cloth, which I didn't find an endorsement of cloth. If cloth is so great, why do people need disposables at all?

V


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## crl (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kriket* 
I'm in the middle of writing a piece on cloth diapers and I wanted to address the other side. Real reasons/problems/etc against cloth. The more specific you could be that would be great. I'm aware of the biggies, like laundry, pins, plastic pants.

I would love to hear about your experiences if you tried cloth and then switched.

Thanks mamas!

I did not use cloth for our first. I meant to. I even bought a few diapers to try out. Then DS came home. He was 14 months--adopted. He needed to held ALL THE TIME. Our w/d were in the non-child proofable section of our basement. Laundry was nearly impossible to do. So, basically laundry as you mentioned.

I am seriously conidering trying again for our second--if that ever happens. Our w/d set up is much more accessible now.

Catherine


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## mamaofthree (Jun 5, 2002)

can i ask where you all live that there is a cd community that is snobby and even gives a hoot what you put on your child? the homeschool group we belonged too had lots of cd families and everyone used different stuff and no one said a thing ever about who used what. we even traded with each other if someone out grew something to help each other out. no one said "I won't use pins and prefolds" . it seems so strange to me... just wondering.

h


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## NiteNicole (May 19, 2003)

The more research I did on cloth, the more confusing it became. I was just overwhelmed. Cloth diapers come with their own language. Everyone has an opinion and they're all conflicting. The initial investment can be quite big (as opposed to spending a little at a time with disposables) and you can very easily invest in the wrong kid that's not the best fit for your kid and life, or at least that is the impression. My rational mind thinks, come on, there are only so many ways to wad up a hunk of fabric to catch pee, just pick something and buy it! Then this person swears that diaper changed her life and that person swears the same one led to endless rashes for her child.

I don't know anyone in real life who uses cloth so I didn't have much going on in the "trusted friend who had been there and done that" area to at least talk me through it. Everytime I mentioned it in front of older relatives who had used cloth (my mother, my grandmother, my aunts and great aunts) everyone acted disgusted, like I had just proposed washing them by hand on a rock in the river. I tried explaining that cloth had come a long way and why someone might want to use cloth but then I was so overwhelmed and swamped with info it's not like I put up a very convincing argument.

It was, in the end, less confusing to just go to Target and buy Pampers. My daughter came almost a month early and I still hadn't decided or ordered anything. I kept thinking that I would just keep researching and switch because she was going to spend a few years in diapers, I had time. Then we spent so much time going back and forth to the doctor (small health issues) and in the car and she never slept, puked constantly, and cried round the clock. Honestly, I was glad not to have one more thing to worry about.

Should we have another, I'll make another go at choosing cloth. I don't think I'd ever use cloth full time because of the bulky diapers and having to carry um, used ones around with me but at home it would be nice to use cloth. I'm still a little unsure as to whether the water useage with cloth doesn't outweigh the landfill issue with disposables but...I have plenty of time to think about it.


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## JavaJunkie (Jan 16, 2009)

I used cloth for a time with my first. The laundry was overwhelming for me, and that was with only one child and dh and me! I'm not good at keeping up with laundry, and cloth sends me over the edge.


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## Dera (Sep 9, 2008)

I used cloth with my first for 6 months or so but when I was late in pregnancy with my second and got that pubis disorder thing, I was overwhelmed. The number one that did it for me was how hands on you have to be with poop. Everyone told me that once they are toddlers, you just roll it off into the toilet but it never worked that way. His poop was always smooshy so I would have to scrape it off with tp, it would be stuck to the cloth wipes, the liners were gross and didn't work. When it was solid enough to roll off, it splashed the water into my face. Vomit. Poop smelling laundry. Then I got ppd (and still struggle with it) and it was all just too much for me. With how much laundry I was doing, I couldn't believe it was better for the environment. Filling landfills sucks, but we are also in danger of running out of clean water. So I chose the evil that wouldn't make me nuts in the process and decided to not feel bad about it. I miss how cute they are though. Oh and they cost a fortune. I get dipes at Costco and we just don't spend that much on them.


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## KirstenMary (Jun 1, 2004)

working 60 hours/ week + baby + laundry for five people = sposies


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## LauraN (May 18, 2004)

With my first two, I was working full time, the daycare would not have been able to handle cloth. With my third, I bought the diapers, but the laundry was overwhelming. Way too much. I was doing laundry all the time. I couldn't believe that was in any way better for the environment that sposies. So I tried, couldn't do it, switched to sposies and have never looked back. I'm gentle to the environment in so many other ways, but this one was just insurmountable to me.


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

I really feel for people who get into cloth and find it confusing. If I hadn't come from a cloth diapering family myself, and recently cared for my younger God-sister who was in cloth, I fear I might have given up trying to navigate all the choices and systems and language, etc.

Thank goodness also for cloth diaper service! Though we only used them for the first half year of ds' life, they really gave us a foot in the door.

I did do cloth, and actually *had* to do cloth for a while for financial reasons, but I never managed to do it 100% of the time. We always used disposables at night because:

1. With ds, he peed TONS at night...he was a frequent peer. We would have been up all night changing him to keep him dry and avoid leaks. The brand of disposables we tried to a fantastic job at both keeping him dry and preventing leaks. We decided sleep and thus sanity, in addition to our son's comfort had to weigh more heavily in that case.

2. With dfd, she got rashes using cloth overnight, even when she hadn't peed. I'm not sure what it was. We were at that time using a cloth system that had been given to us, and I didn't have the money to invest in other systems to see if something else would have stopped the rashes.

We also sometimes put disposables on the kids when we were going to be out of the house through more than a single change. I wasn't as attached to doing that, but dw felt that lugging around the cloth, etc. was among factors that discouraged her from going out...and she really *needed* to go out. Also, if you put the dirty diaper cloth in a plastic bag-- albeit a reused one-- you have to throw that bag away afterward, and that has its own environmental issues (plastic bags are a HUGE problem environmentally).

And finally, we sometimes took a month or two off here and there. Like when we were moving cross country. We had enough going on with the packing up our lives to add even a little extra laundry on top of that.

My kids (who are eleven months apart, BTW), are 3 and 4 now, and out of diapers...dd as of earlier this summer. They each graduated directly out of cloth, not out of disposables or an in-between option such as plastic training pants. We briefly entertained the idea of doing EC back when the kids were babes, but it just didn't work out.


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

P.S. Even though we couldn't afford it by then, anyway, I should note that when we moved we went from a community that had two or three diaper service companies to choose from to a community with no diaper service at all.

I am a true believer in diaper service for folks who can swing it (and it really isn't that much more expensive than disposables), as I think it gets folks past the barrier or the laundry.

I know some cloth advocates say, "it isn't that much more laundry than I already had with the baby," but when you are already overwhelmed by laundry, adding on diapers can truly push it over the edge.


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## EFmom (Mar 16, 2002)

There were lots of reasons. I work full time out of the home. My non-work time is precious, and I wanted to spend it with the kids, not doing more laundry. I've been around people who cloth diaper and it is more work and more laundry.

My day care provider would not have been enthusiastic about cloth, and frankly, in her position, I don't blame her. It didn't make any sense to me to invest a wad in cloth diapers that I couldn't use half the time.


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## Grace and Granola (Oct 15, 2005)

I tried cloth when my first son was about 5 months. I used MDC as my research tool. I bought what I thought was the most highly recommended, which was fitteds with inserts + covers. I was excited about it. They totally leaked! So then I tried Fuzzi Buns with exta padding, and they totally leaked. So, I gave up. I felt like I tried...either I was doing something wrong, or my ds's pee-ing style was so unusual that cloth diapers would not work for us!!


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## Right of Passage (Jul 25, 2007)

I'll do it the math way too!

coin-op washer
+
low flow water to said washer
+
needing multiple washes to remove most of the stink but never all of it
+
horrific bleeding diaper rash that changed baby's ability to sleep through the night
=
Sposies!

In the end sposies have been cheaper where I'm at because of my only washer option. I was spending $10+ a week on washing my diapers. That's as much as I spend on our normal laundry! DS2 slept through the night from day 1 until our landlord changed our washing machine and the diaper rash began. It hurt so bad he couldn't sleep.







Everytime he pee'd he would wake up screaming. The day we switched to sposies, his diaper rash started to clear, and he slowly started to sleep all night again.


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## mouthcave (Oct 9, 2008)

I am easily confused for one thing, haha. I feel overwhelmed every time I look at information on cloth diapers. I don't know anyone in real life that uses them. In fact, everyone was very negative and rude any time I mentioned wanting to try cloth!
The start up was too expensive. I asked for them as baby shower gifts but no one bought any! People are still giving us disposables though. I tried to learn to sew just so I could make some cheap but I don't know anyone that sews either! I felt overwhelmed by that too, haha.
I don't mind doing tons of laundry for some reason, so that is not an issue.


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## Norasmomma (Feb 26, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kristi96* 
Plain and simple I don't have the time, energy, or desire to use cloth.

I actually have the desire, I don't have the funds to invest right now, I also can barely keep up with laundry as it is. Also for me if I had bought them with DD I would have been happy to do cloth, now I am expecting baby #2 and am done after this, so the investment seems a like a bit of a waste.

I also have bought a bunch of diapers for pennies a piece due to my couponing and sales shopping, I seriously have nearly enough diapers for the baby's first year for way less than I would spend on cloth. I'm actually saving money. Plus I also practiced the 12 month window EC and she was out of diapers by 20 months, so I guess I am ok with it.


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## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *UptownZoo* 
You know, I CD'd all three of my kids, but I have to agree with those who mentioned snobbery as a turn-off. When I had my first two in 1993 and 1995, there was no internet and I didn't know anyone who CD'd (though my mom and all her friends had of course used cloth), so I didn't know any different than to go out and buy a stack of pre-folds, some pins, and vinyl pants. Worked fabulous, no problems every. Yes, my kids looked weird when double (and then later triple) diapered for bedtime, but they didn't care, so I didn't either.


Until Gerber switched to PEVA, I used the same system. I love prefolds and pins.







There's nothing better for the "take diaper off and pee on the floor" stage.


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## ~Boudicca~ (Sep 7, 2005)

I didn't cloth diaper kid#1, because it wasn't even on my radar yet so we used sposies. This was before I came to MDC and then I became a total hippie.









With DD2 we used Bummis wraps, Proraps, and prefolds. The prefolds worked great for a long time so when she got much bigger I decided to stick with them but use wool covers and longies. So I had ordered a bunch in toddler size to take us through to potty training.

Well...around 18 months when she started eating much more solid food, her bum became so irritated. Her pee burned her so bad and the prefolds just rubbed her raw, so we switched to sposies to give her hiney a break. And then I took most of the advice I read here in the diapering forums and tried troubleshooting (playing musical detergents, boiling, liners, etc) and after about a month of that I said to hell with it and we have used sposies ever since. I also didn't have a lump of money to drop on a new stash of Fuzzibuni or whatever. In July when money started to become really tight I tried switching her back to the cloth because I figured she was wearing underwear and potty training for the most part so the time that she would be in a diaper would be pretty limited, but the second I put them on her and she peed in them she got a raging diaper rash.

As she got bigger I was also annoyed with how I couldn't fit pants over her diapers, she was kind of chunky to begin with. I could only do the cloth with baby legs for so long because I could barely get the baby legs over her thighs by the time she was a year old.

So here we are.


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## lara1828 (Aug 11, 2005)

I just couldn't stand the idea of those wet, smelly things in my house and my washing machine. Yuck.


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## ollyoxenfree (Jun 11, 2009)

Baby #1 - I had a long, government-supported parental leave with additional employer-supported benefits. Lots of time and energy to deal with cloth diapers and keep up with all the laundry. We used disposables for traveling - both grandparents lived about 2 hours away, and we were on the highway a fair amount that first year.

Baby #2 - I had gone back to university. She was born between finishing a post-graduate degree and starting an internship, with no parental leave benefits (i.e. no money). I had a 3 y.o., a newborn, an intensely demanding and competitive job that required 60 to 80 hours per week. DH picked up the slack in a big way at home - luckily his job was more flexible, but he was still working a 40 hr. week. She wore disposables almost always. I can't say I felt hugely guilty about it either - you do what you have to do.


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## pjs (Mar 30, 2005)

I used cloth with my first two. With my third, I'm still trying to figure out how to keep up with laundry without having a load of diapers in the mix (soaking/xxtra sanitary cycle taking so much time). Number four is on the way and I already do 2+ loads of laundry just about every day (less in the winter as we're not out and about- getting sandy at the beach or sticky from dripping watermelon juice) so I'm not even thinking about attempting cloth unless $$$ gets really, really tight.


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## Masel (Apr 14, 2008)

I had to come to terms that even if I couldn't do CD full time I would do what I could. Day care flatly refused to use them even though there is a provision in my state's day care regs that specifically mentions cloth.

My mother has arthritis in her thumbs and found doing the snaps on Motherease diapers difficult. If my mom was watching DD I'd give her options depending on what kind of pain day Mom was having.

When we'd go camping or on long drives I'd use disposables. I didn't want to spend my vacation in a laundrymat.

I think that there was this atitude that if you can't do cloth 24/7 then why bother. It just wasn't that big of a deal for us. Ever nasty disposable that we kept out of a landfill was a small victory to me.


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## babymommy2 (May 14, 2009)

I didn't use cloth becasue

#1 I am lazy and didnt' want to bother with storing and washing used diapers. I felt guilty about it, but not guilty enough to switch.

#2 occasioanlly I would think about switching and research the internet and ther is SO MUCH INFORMATION, and SO MANY KINDS, it was too overwhelming and I didn't know where to even start.

#3 BM stool doens't bother me at all, but the nurse in me could not get over putting solid food poop, ecoli and all that bacteria into my washing machine on a regular basis, even thought I have a disinfection cycle on the washer.


----------



## CamoShades (Aug 5, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pinksprklybarefoot* 
-Another thing that a PP mentioned that drove me away - the bulk. I love buying cute kids' clothes, and when DS was past the age where onesies and babylegs were cute, sposies started to look a lot better. I couldn't fit cloth under jeans. I felt like I was restricting his movement and making him miserable.

I'm glad to hear someone else say this. Honestly, it's probably my No. 1 reason for not sticking with CDing. I hated how they looked on my daughter, and I tried just about every combo out there. Vain, but true. And when we tried prefolds, no matter how I folded them, it looked like she had a FUPA. Not a good look on a baby. DH hated the look, too.

Besides that, I WOH FT, and we spend a lot of time visiting our families two hours away. Most weekends in summer are spent at the lake, and I hated the thought of bringing along enough bulky diapers, storing dirties during the weekend and then hauling them home. Too much hassle.


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## rugbymom (Mar 21, 2007)

I started with cloth. I don't mind laundry, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was that my son HATED cloth right from the beginning. He would not sleep at all in a cloth diaper and cried like every 5 minutes only to be soothed by a diaper change. We quit the cloth until around 6 months. He didn't mind it as much then. But, I was very used to the look of clothes without all that bulk. Stuck with cloth for the most part for a while, but am now in a bad sposie phase. I just really don't like the way he looks in the bubbly bottom cloth diapers. And, you totally need to have different clothes for each, so that makes switching back and forth between them hard. Plus, it is much more convenient to be able to run errands and not have to worry about diaper changes. My son isn't even bad about diaper changes, but it's so much nicer not to have to stop all the time to change a diaper.


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## Anastasiya (Jun 13, 2006)

I used sposies with our first. Then when our second came, we started cloth.

At first, like pps have mentioned, it was overwhelming. Now, I stick with simpler = better. Those pockets and AIOs - hate 'em. They don't last. They leak, at least for us. Constant buildup, constant stripping. The best thing I did was sell them to another sucker.









Now, we do both. I've gotten a more simplied system that I love







: and have used it for my second kid, my third kid and now my fourth kid. So it's been a huge $$$ saver for us and all the dipes have held up perfectly.

My "rules" are:
We use *sposies* at night.
We use *sposies* when we're in a pinch and the diaper stash is out.
We use *sposies* when we really want a trim butt.
We use *sposies* once kiddo is eating solids (in my house right around one year old) and I get to the point where I can't take the gross poops anymore.
We use *sposies* when I'm pregnant and have morning sickness, then resume with cloth when the MS is gone.
We use *sposies* if there's any inkling of a rash and I want to use rash creams.

Every other time we use cloth.

Never had a problem with our cloth being too bulky for clothes, but I do buy only very trim fitted diapers and covers, and we dress the babes in onepiece rompers and stuff, so there isn't a "waist/butt" issue like in pants or jeans. And any girls wear dresses or onepieces anyway.

(And as for the bulky issue, I'd much prefer seeing a baby with a big cloth butt than seeing a baby with overloaded-sposie-sag any day. I know too many sposie users who literally let their kids max out on the sposie capacity and by the time a change comes, that thing is hanging to their knees! That's just gross.)


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## SaraC (Jan 11, 2002)

I have used cloth in various forms for all of my children.

DD #1-started CD at 6 month until potty training. She did wear a pull-up at night since she wet the bed until 3-4.

DD#2-used from birth until she was almost 2. We remodeled our house and moved the washer/dryer. We were without W/D for about a week and our house was a mess due to the remodeling so she was in sposies from then until potty training.

DD#3-used from birth until about 20 months. We moved and I was pregnant and just couldn't keep up with the laundry. She used them from time to time since then but only wears a diaper at night and it is a sposie.

DD#4-used from birth until about 2 months(she is almost 5m) and off and on since then. If I get to far behind on laundry then I go to the sposies.

I hate using them and I hate the cost but I have a hard time keeping up on the laundry.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Cherry Alive* 
Despite the fact we sometimes use disposable dipes, we always use cloth wipes. We have a HUGE stash of these as they don't take up much room. Even our doctor (who is more mainstream) recommends cloth wipes over disposable ones. He says that cloth wipes are way better in preventing diaper rash. If you don't want to invest in them, he says just to get a few cheapy wash clothes.

This. I need to get some more. We lost a bunch of ours (they're here, but I don't know where) over the last year or so, and I've been using disposable wipes. I really don't like them much.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sancta* 
(And as for the bulky issue, I'd much prefer seeing a baby with a big cloth butt than seeing a baby with overloaded-sposie-sag any day.

I _love_ the look of big cloth butt. It's adorable.

Quote:

I know too many sposie users who literally let their kids max out on the sposie capacity and by the time a change comes, that thing is hanging to their knees! That's just gross.)
Yeah. I've seen that, too. It's grotesque. It's happened to me once or twice, when I was out or something and had forgotten extra diapers, but it's really gross.


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## momma_unlimited (Aug 10, 2008)

I gave up because my son poops a million times a day. Well, now 5 or 6. Double that when he was an infant (he's 2 now). And, for whatever reasons, his poo is almost NEVER solid- it's like mayonaise texture, and won't "shake off", so I literally had to get a spatula and scrape it off while wearing plastic gloves, and if it doesn't land just right in the toilet, it splatters all over, or lands on the dry part of the inside of the bowl and doesn't flush off, and I have to clean my toilet almost every time I empty a diaper, wash my spatula, wash my hands, etc. The process took 10 minutes, or 50-60 minutes a day for poopy diapers only! And he pees like every hour in addition. I could really use the additional 1.5 hours a day to do something else. I don't think his poop texture is diet related- because my 4 yr old has the same diet as him and always has more solid stools- it's just this kid's constitution.

Also, if for some reason we had a busy week and I didn't get to wash the diapers within 48 hours, several times I found MAGGOTS. I do not know how the heck they got into my diaper pail, the thing looked like it sealed rock tight to me... maybe occasionally it wasn't shut just right? but it was so disgusting... I would have thrown the diapers away if they didn't cost like $17 each!!!


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilyka* 
the year was 1996 -

Cloth can be very expensive. I didn't have the money to get a stash going before she came and I certainly didn't have any money after she came.

There is a lot of cloth snobbery I encountered. and the crazy amount of hype. all the stuff people think you need to research. its like if they make it crazy complicated it makes them that much better. I don't know. people spending $200 on A diaper was such a turn off to me. I was really proud of myself for using cloth and then people started talking down about gerber dipes and plastic pants (which worked just fine on all my children thankyouverymuch). Good heavens even my pins weren't up to par because they weren't dritz. and for the record my $.99 diaper pins lasted through 3 kids, stayed sharp, and never ever bent going in. they were far and away my favorites. it was seriously equated with abuse to use less than whatever the diaper de jour was. so I stopped for a while. I didn't want to hurt my kids with using evil pants and I didn't want to be associated with "those" people. it was so much craziness. The excitement and uppitiness and constant hashing out of details creeped me out. they were poop catchers for crying out loud. no need to get obsessive about it.










Wow! That's pretty insane. I agree, I CD, but to me, they're just poop catchers.







90% of my diapers were hand-me-downs. I've spent less than $100 on diapers so far, and my son will be a year on Monday.

I can't speak for myself, since I do CD, but a friend of mine who used cloth with her first two has her youngest in sposies, because he has to be in daycare, and the daycare will not use cloth (not sure why she doesn't use a combo, was never interested enough to ask). Maybe you could include something in your paper about care providers who refuse to use cloth and how that factors into the decision?


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momma_unlimited* 
several times I found MAGGOTS.

uke


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## LionTigerBear (Jan 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momma_unlimited* 
And, for whatever reasons, his poo is almost NEVER solid- it's like mayonnaise texture, and won't "shake off", so I literally had to get a spatula and scrape it off while wearing plastic gloves, and if it doesn't land just right in the toilet, it splatters all over, or lands on the dry part of the inside of the bowl and doesn't flush off, and I have to clean my toilet almost every time I empty a diaper, wash my spatula, wash my hands, etc.

We had that issue, too. YUCK!


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## natural_mama89 (May 4, 2007)

I have used mostly cloth with both my kids and LOVE cloth. The only time it really didn't happen though was when I lived in an apartment with coin-op laundry. The machine wasn't very good and it was just too expensive. I did hand wash dipes sometimes and hung them to dry most of the time, but in a tiny apartment it was hard. Maybe if I had the $ to get a proper drying rack it would have been better. I found myself buying a pack of sposies each time I got paid, but still used cloth as I could. I am lucky that daycares I have used were ok with cloth. I may not have done it if I had to buy sposies for daycare anyway.


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## AirMiami (Feb 3, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momma_unlimited* 
I gave up because my son poops a million times a day. Well, now 5 or 6. Double that when he was an infant (he's 2 now). And, for whatever reasons, his poo is almost NEVER solid- it's like mayonaise texture, and won't "shake off", so I literally had to get a spatula and scrape it off while wearing plastic gloves, and if it doesn't land just right in the toilet, it splatters all over, or lands on the dry part of the inside of the bowl and doesn't flush off, and I have to clean my toilet almost every time I empty a diaper, wash my spatula, wash my hands, etc. The process took 10 minutes, or 50-60 minutes a day for poopy diapers only! And he pees like every hour in addition. I could really use the additional 1.5 hours a day to do something else. I don't think his poop texture is diet related- because my 4 yr old has the same diet as him and always has more solid stools- it's just this kid's constitution.

Also, if for some reason we had a busy week and I didn't get to wash the diapers within 48 hours, several times I found MAGGOTS. I do not know how the heck they got into my diaper pail, the thing looked like it sealed rock tight to me... maybe occasionally it wasn't shut just right? but it was so disgusting... I would have thrown the diapers away if they didn't cost like $17 each!!!

Well, you've sealed the deal. I will probably *never* cloth diaper now!


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## victoriaaustin (Apr 22, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *holothuroidea* 
They just don't fit. DD is very petite and was from birth. She has skinny little legs and extremely narrow hips. To give you an idea of how narrow, she is now 12 months but is wearing size 3mo pants (as shorts, lol).

I planned on using cloth from early on, did tons of research, and I invested a lot of money ($300) into a good stash.

Yes, this. I bought a whole stash of BG OS and figured we'd be good to go when DC was around 8 lbs. Figured s/he would be born around 7 lbs and it wouldn't take long. Well, DD came 4w early at 5 lb 10 oz, so they didn't fit for a long time. Then they leaked, even though they seemed to fit. I waited a few weeks, tried again...leaks. Waited, tried again...leaks. After the third try, I gave up. The stench didn't help, the extra laundry didn't help, the stains didn't help...it just wasn't for us.

Luckily, I sold my stash to my SIL and her very chubby baby is happy in them, so it's all good. I hate paying for disposables, but I love that you just throw them away. I know, I know, I shouldn't love that...but I do.

I tell anyone who's planning on CDing to wait before buying a ton of anything and to try a wide variety, such as the starter pack from Jillian's Drawers. I think CDing is a great idea, but it just wasn't working for me, and I didn't want to keep throwing money into it.


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## doubledutch (Oct 23, 2007)

i would like to use cloth and while pregnant with ds2, i started amassing a small collection of used cloth to try it out. it didn't work out for us. i'm overwhelmed by housework as it is, and although i felt guilty about using disposable diapers, i had to just let it go. it's an ideal, something i think is good and that i value, that i'm not going to live up to (like homeschooling! and growing my own food!). i try to focus on the things i am able to do with/for my kids and the greater community, rather than beat myself up about giving up on cloth diapering.


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## busymama77 (Jun 16, 2009)

I am cloth ignorant - have tried to figure it out for our next baby, but I don't know where to start, what's the best route to take, etc.,. We're not a crunchy family by any means - some things we do are semi-crunchy, but moreso, we're mainstream. Sposies are more convenient for us and for the grandparents that watched our DS when he was an infant and still in diapers.
Also, the laundry aspect. H is highly grossed out by the fact that poopy diapers will be in the same wash as his clothes or in the same machine altogether - so it's a hygene factor for him. I don't care either way.
Also, my DS was in daycare when he was an infant and is now in preschool, but potty trained. When he was an infant, it just makes things easier for everyone. So, more than likely, we'll continue to use sposies for our next baby. We'll consider the 7th generation brand or the pure and natural from Huggies, but that's about the extent of it.


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## Funny Face (Dec 7, 2006)

Why we didn't cloth diaper with our last child was a mix of reasons listed and also you can't just go to a store near by and see a diaper, see how it fits, how it feels or compare to other dipes. You have to buy online (which makes me want to buy as much at once as possible to save on shipping) then get it home, try it, find it doesn't work for you and then hope to re-sell it on DS.

I can say that if we ever have a newborn in this house again there is no way I'd CD a newborn. Ds went from 8 lbs, to 12, to 24 in 3 months. I was out of some serious cash. Not to mention he had to be changed hourly around the clock and still got rashes. But at 8 months we are trying again, as you can see by my siggy.

ETA: Reading this thread was probably not a good idea for someone re-embarking on the cloth diaper journey. I'm feeling suddenly uneasy about my recent investment!


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## ~LadyBug~ (Aug 14, 2009)

I guess I was not NEARLY as crunchy then as I am now. I never considered cloth an option (I had not found MDC yet!) and I truly regret it 100 percent. I got dozens of disposable diapers at my baby shower and didn't consider cloth. I wish I would have. I encourage my friends to use cloth though, so does count


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## ~LadyBug~ (Aug 14, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momma_unlimited* 
Also, if for some reason we had a busy week and I didn't get to wash the diapers within 48 hours, several times I found MAGGOTS. I do not know how the heck they got into my diaper pail, the thing looked like it sealed rock tight to me... maybe occasionally it wasn't shut just right? but it was so disgusting... I would have thrown the diapers away if they didn't cost like $17 each!!!

Oh. My. God.


----------



## Jojo F. (Apr 7, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LiLStar* 
I'm hardcore cloth to the extreme.. to the extent of packing an entire extra suitcase when we travel, just for diapers







:

anyway, one thing I can think of that might turn lots of people off is how much research has to go into it! Theres SO many brands and types. prefolds, covers, fitteds, contours, aios, pockets, one size, pocket aios... then plain and simple, some work well, some don't work well. some are expensive, some are pretty cheap. they all have such vastly different fits and different babies are going to fit better in differen't ones. hook/loop, snaps, side snaps.. and wet bags, liners, inserts, doublers, snappis, washing routines, detergent, repelling, stinky build up, stripping.. rash creams that are safe for cloth, night time solutions that work for a heavy wetter, wool, wool wash, lanolizing!!! For us experienced cloth users, its pretty easy to keep it all straight, but I can see how the learning curve might intimidate less adventurous newbies who might find it easier to simply choose between huggies and pampers!!

I love cloth diapering!!! But this list here does make it intimidating, once you know it turns into an addiction (so there IS another con for cloth!







)

For me it's about my child's sensitive skin, then it's the Earth, then it's the $$. But the $$ part is getting more important so more sewing and less paypaling







And I never get a poopy blowout with cloth. When I tried sposies it happened all . the . time. Ohhh the onsies I changed!!!

We did the cheap route with DS- prefolds and covers for daytime and wool covers and hemp houblers for the night. That's all we could afford, we did not buy them all at once so it was a mixture of cloth and sposie but eventually I built a stash that worked. DD is using them now, I have added a few fitteds and am in the process of turning my stash into all fitteds, I can't wait!!







Hopefully I can knit a few wool longies for the winter or turn some old sweaters into wool covers. If you can make your own diapers you can save even more $ and really customize them to fit your baby.

If we went camping, traveling of any sort we bought an eco brand sposie.

One good thing about cloth is it's resale value. If it doesn't fit, leaks, etc. you can sell it for almost the same price but, I have seen diapers selling for OVER the original price!! And I agree, get 1 of every style to see what you like and what works best.

The laundry aspect- my diapers are the only thing I keep on top of. My house isn't neglected but, it isn't neat as a pin either. Once a week I nag DS and DH to help do a deep clean, they made part of the mess too


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## phrogger (Oct 16, 2006)

I do CD, but had considered not doing it just because it was overwhelming to try to figure out what we needed. I thank god I had a friend who made my son 10 fitted diapers and sent me a ton of covers. I bought 12 AIO's and they SUCKED and will never buy another one again. My mom bought some prefolds and now that is all we use, the fitteds and prefolds.

The laundry could very easily be a deal breaker for me, thank god my kids do their own laundry. One good thing with having kids 10 years apart.

I however make sure we only use cloth while traveling in the car. Disposibles have leaked so much more.

I do think I will consider disposibles once DS starts sleeping longer at night or he starts getting wetter and I will probably use them if I have to travel to visit family. I know my sister is grossed out by the idea of cd's in her washer and while she is considering cd'ing, she will probably get a second washer just for the diapers. I would if I have room for the second washer.

I am lucky though, I don't pay for electricity or water so that isn't a problem so cost, especially since I get free cd's from friends and family, has been REALLY cost effective for us.


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## merryns.mom (Jun 10, 2009)

i wish i cloth diapered, but don't because. . .

-too expensive (at one time)
-have no clue where to start
-grandmothers kept dd for the first 4 months would not cd
-daycare doesn't cd
-our water bill is super high now, can't justify the water usage; and i hate doing laundry
-i'm obsessive about accessories and stuff and would buy every diaper cover and cd accessory even if i didn't need it
-dh will change a sposie, but never a cd


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## mamakah (Nov 5, 2008)

I tried cloth at first, they always leaked, stained sons clothes, I hated having a tub that I was constantly soaking stained clothes in, I was overwhelmed as it was as a new mother and it was just TOO MUCH!!!!!


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## zebrachick83 (Nov 2, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *UptownZoo* 
You know, I CD'd all three of my kids, but I have to agree with those who mentioned snobbery as a turn-off. When I had my first two in 1993 and 1995, there was no internet and I didn't know anyone who CD'd (though my mom and all her friends had of course used cloth), so I didn't know any different than to go out and buy a stack of pre-folds, some pins, and vinyl pants. Worked fabulous, no problems every. Yes, my kids looked weird when double (and then later triple) diapered for bedtime, but they didn't care, so I didn't either.

Then I had my 3rd in 2002 and it was a whole new world. I mean, I used the same old system I'd always used and you'd have thought I'd chosen to diaper my child with chunks of moss covered with a bread bag. Yikes! Unreal. "Here, try this (aio, pocket, whatever) diaper and you'll never want those prefolds again!" "OMG, how can you use pins? You'll hurt him!" (FTR, I did once pin a diaper to my eldest baby in the middle of the night. He survived with no visible scarring.) Also, when I decided to CD my older two, a primary reason was we were really poor and it made sense to CD - way cheaper. When I had my youngest, we had enough money for sposies but I figured I'd save money again, just because that's a good thing to do. I couldn't figure out why I would want to make CDing just as (or more!) expensive as using paper diapers.

So, yeah, there's this weird culture around CDing that I really don't like. Actually, that's true about almost everything that has to do with parenting, but you didn't ask about sports, BFing, homework, or anything else.










very well said.....we cd here, but we do fine with the gerber pfs when they're little and the chinese pfs when they get bigger. (even though ppl keep saying they don't work) listening to some snobs, i actually spent 20 dollars a piece on 4 aio pockets and they leaked everywhere!!! (big waste of dollars) i did get into sewing dipes myself, which i like, but i will never ever buy a diaper that costs more than 5 bucks again!


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## zoebugsmom (Jan 19, 2004)

I was pretty gung ho about cding my older 2. When I was pregnant with #3 I had major morning sickness and just could not deal. I couldn't keep up with the regular laundry, nevermind diaper laundry. The smell made me feel like I was going to hurl. Then #3 was born and it was just that much more work on top of having 3 kids 5 and under. After the first few weeks I managed to cd part time but was using sposies while out because I didn't want to lug bulky cloth every where and carry dirty diapers around. Then our washer broke. Now he's in sposies full time and while I miss the inexpensive aspect of cloth, I don't miss the work or the lack of clothing options.


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## PPK (Feb 15, 2007)

I gave up for a few reasons:

I have very little time to do *anything* and I finally gave up, even though it doesn't take much time, it still takes *some* time...which I really just don't have.

I live in an apt. with a coin-op washer/dryer downstairs with no seperate "rinse" option. I was really wanting to CD so I bought a mini washer that hooks up to my bathroom sink to wash diapers with ($200). Works well, but added to the expense of the endeavor.

It took me alot of experimentation to learn I really just liked Indian PF's the best with a cashmere wrap..I spent a good chunk of $$ to figure this out though!

Probably the most deterring factor was when the Snappis seemed to be too tight across his belly, and I was intimidated by pins. That only left me the option of tri-folding for wen I know he woulden't be pooping.

Also, when he was 15 months he was using the potty like a pro, so I figured he'd be out of diapers soon enough (of course, he regressed for 6 months, but is starting to use it again more frequently).

I figured that since I'm only having one child, the environmental impact from using disposables isn't as bad as if I were planning on multiples.

Target diapers (w/coupon) are $11.90 for 70 count for my 30lb. son. They're cheap, unscented, and work better than any others.


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## sisteeesmama (Oct 24, 2008)

I use both because sometimes I want ease and sometimes I don't care.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

hmm...there seem to be a lot of us who have used fewer cloth diapers with more kids. Maybe Aaron wasn't as big a factor as I thought...


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamaofthree* 
can i ask where you all live that there is a cd community that is snobby and even gives a hoot what you put on your child? the homeschool group we belonged too had lots of cd families and everyone used different stuff and no one said a thing ever about who used what. we even traded with each other if someone out grew something to help each other out. no one said "I won't use pins and prefolds" . it seems so strange to me... just wondering.

h


honestly most of the snobbery I encountered was here but also the few people in real life whocloth diapered all had super duper dipers and looked down on my "gerber system". the looked down on my washing system (or lack there of - rinse. wash. no special detergents, stripping, cycles. heaven forbid!). I didn't even have a good enough diaper bag.


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

OMG I never thought that I would get this kind of response! Thank you! I am going to have to print this thread and cross reference!

i have another question, for the people that mentioned they didn't know where to start. What would you have liked? A trial? An IRL mom that you could peek over her shoulder while she changed cloth? I know neither of these are always possible, but if the cloth stars were to aline, how would it happen?

While my piece will probably end up my biased unbiased piece, I really want to speak to people who encountered problems and people who are interested but overwhelmed.


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

and for the record, I have left poopy diapers in my car (on accident I SWEAR!) and didn't encounter maggots! That is an extraordinary circumstance! I love my cloth and would have probably thrown those away!

I also forgot to put a cover on my prefold when we were out the other day and me DS and the wrap were all soaked. I have no idea how I forgot that. Mommy brain I guess!









and I want to say shame on the diaper snobs. some people. but your right, you get snobs about everything. I've caught some flack here for not doing organic foods


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kriket* 
i have another question, for the people that mentioned they didn't know where to start. What would you have liked? A trial? An IRL mom that you could peek over her shoulder while she changed cloth? I know neither of these are always possible, but if the cloth stars were to ali[g]n, how would it happen?

It wasn't exactly my response, and we did cd most of the time, but I'll answer anyway...because as I mentioned in my post, had I not had a God-mother who cloth diapered, I probably would have gotten overwhelmed.

I ran across a cloth diaper company online a while back that was offering a free trial diaper. I liked that idea _a lot_.

However, I still wouldn't order the trial diaper *if* I was going to have to return the diaper if it didn't work out...because knowing me I would forget, or not get it together cuz the baby had colic, etc. There would be some reason I would fail to return it, and then I would get charged, and it would just be a hassle...all for a diaper I was unhappy with. I don't think new moms are in a "space" when returning a free trial product as proof that it didn't work out is possible.

I would have happily done a no-effort trial, though, and if I liked the diapers, I would be so loyal to the company that let me try it first.

Also, like I said, I think diaper service is REALLY helpful. I think it is helpful in many ways, including the fact that there is usually an educational component (and I hope most sell good diaper covers to go with their prefolds). Even if a parent just uses the service for a month or two, the information they'll get will serve as a longterm benefit, and meanwhile, they won't have all the laundry until they get the hang of things. I wish every community had a diaper service.

And finally, I think some diaper services have instructional photos or videos, if not on DVD or in print, then online. I think that can be another really helpful thing. I think it would be great if someone made a diapering video that showed most popular diapering options: how they are used, where to get them, and the pros and cons of each.

But if I could really change the universe, honestly I'd just take away some options. Sometimes lots of choices isn't a good thing.


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

Okay, so I just found some videos, including this one:





 (and I totally disagree about the prefolds being the least preferred...I like that you don't HAVE to wash the diaper cover unless it gets soiled...but I actually just fold the prefolds into thirds as a rectangle and then put that in the cover without wrapping it around baby)

Oh my gosh, I can't find a video that does prefolds like I do LOL. I don't see any reason to wrap them around the child's waist. This is the way I learned to do it from my mom, and God-mom. Are we the only ones? Seriously....

Oh, okay, I think now I figured it out. Maybe I do tri-folds, not pre-folds??

Here's a video that seems similar to what I do...she calls it "the newspaper fold..." 



.

See, I am a mom who came from a cloth diapering family and have cloth diapered for four years, and I still have no idea what I am talking about. THAT is confusing.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

Most of the snobby communities I encountered were online. To be really honest with you, I didn't leave the house much when my kids were still babies, and I was the only person I knew for a long time who CDed. I even *started* a low key diapering community and was run off by the snobs and high maintenance people!









So, now, as a more "been around" mama, I know that probably much of the snobbery was the female equivalent of chest-bumping and strutting. But at the time, it was just a big turnoff.

Luckily for me, I worked at a daycare center that offered free CDs (via a diapering service) for kids that went there, so I learned how to change 5 prefolds in 5 minutes just about. ;> And when I had questions, I called up some of my older mentor-friends from that daycare, and I found a diaper seller that gave me a lot of advice about prefold folding and wraps.

But after awhile, you get tired of your pragmatic question thread being buried by 20 "ZOMG HAPPY HONKER HOOTER DIAPERS has RESTOCKED their STORE, AND THEY'RE ALL ONLY $40 FOR A FITTED!!!!!!!!!!" I get that it's a hobby for a lot of people, I start to get hot and bothered when I see a new bento box that I've been chasing forever surface on Ebay OMG!!! And of course there's always an element of cliqueness online. But at the time, I was a new mommy, a very sleep deprived mommy, one that occasionally needed help and encouragement mommy, and I didn't know that yet.

My kids have been out of diapers for 4 years now. I hope that there are more communities out there that don't revolve around boutique diapers, I'm sure things are a little different now. But if not, I'd put in that article that if at first you don't find a supportive community to ask questions that will actually be answered, don't give up, keep trying! And sometimes the best people to ask are the WAH store folks, especially if they sell what you have--most people don't stock things that they don't use themselves, and especially if you're a customer they'll knock themselves out trying to help you find the right folding technique/washing techique, ect.


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## Bug-a-Boo's Mama (Jan 15, 2008)

I used cloth at home during the day. I thought the night time diaper was too bulky (heavy wetter) so we used disposables at night. I sometimes used cloth while out, but we almost always had wicking issues-with different types too-so didn't use cloth while out regularly.

The washing, poop, etc. never bothered me.


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## Epona (Jul 20, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KweenKrunch* 
We tried cloth with my first but switched to EC. Love it!









I've used EC with four children.







But diapers are still occasionally necessary even for EC babies.


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## mamaofthree (Jun 5, 2002)

so maybe the snobbiness is just people on line, you know how people on-line will say stuff they would never say IRL. i was just wondering. because that seemed really odd to me that anyone would say anything to anyone about what they were doing with cloth diapers. i love cloth and would be one to spend $40.00 on a diaper, that being said it was "my thing" and i know not everyone had the money or the desire to spend that sort of money on diapers. but my all time favorite system was the big flat diapers (because they dried on the line so quickly) pins and covers (either the velcro ones or wool). i would have aio for dh to use or when we went out, but when it was just me, that is what i used.
also i never found i needed that big of a bag to carry them in, the flat diapers were so thin to fold up, you could have 5 or 6 in a bag and a couple covers and it really didn't take up more then a couple disposibles. maybe it was because we were in AZ all of the time i cd'ed but i found we didn't use pants when i had put on a wool cover, because they were so pants like (plus they were so cute. lol)

oh well. i really miss it. i wish i had known we would have had a washer and drier.









lol

h


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## leavemealone (Feb 16, 2005)

I didn't use them with my first child b/c I didn't have the money to outlay at the beginning to buy enough cloth diapers. It was easier to me to spend $8 a week on disposables than to shell out the money for cloth. I have seen the cost comparisons and haven't understood where the person comes up with the amount per week for disposables. It's usually something like $20 a week - who spends that much on disposables? Have those people never heard of "On sale with a coupon" or "generics"? I know some kids are sensitive to certain brands, but there are regular sales on most well-known brands.

For my second child, I used disposables until he was about 2.5 years old. Again, I didn't have the money to buy a supply of cloth yet. However, having two children in diapers was a reason why I've, at least part time, switched to cloth. I currently only have enough diapers for one day of cloth so I usually alternate one day cloth, one day disposables. I do still use disposables for nap and bed times, and for when we are out and about. It's just easier for me to do that. However, I use cloth when we are home or only making a quick trip out somewhere. I think some people see cloth as an "all or nothing" situation and it doesn't have to be.


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## baglady (Jul 13, 2009)

I've been planning to do a part time switch to CD when we move (hopefully around X-Mas).

There are several reasons we did not CD at first:

1. I'm not exactly good at adjusting to change, so being a new mom was rough on me. I would not have been able to handle it at that time with all the laundry and constant changing a newborn requires.

2. This sort of goes along with number 1, but I'm just not a good housekeeper. I let things go... a lot. For example, I have 7 pairs of PJs that fit DS right now and last night he slept in a onsie, because he didn't have any PJs clean. Of course I didn't realize this until after bathtime. DH and I often have to dry off with hand towels after our showers, etc.







I'm super ADD (actually diagnosed, used to take medicine but going without it now).

3. We live in an apartment with a 40 year old washing machine. It's okay for clothes, but it's super energy inefficient. I have a few times put a gerber prefold into a sposie at night b/c DS is such a heavy wetter and it took three washes to get the pee smell out. The water and energy this machine uses is equal to or greater than landfill impacts.

4. The initial cost is one. One BG is $18-20. For $20 I can literally get 200-250 store brand diapers. That's probably the exact amount of uses I would get out of BG assuming it fits and works for my child's body type.

5. The overwhelming choices. There is no store around that sells them. I wish I could at least hold them and put them up to DS to see if they would even fit his frame. KWIM?

6. The overwhelming task. stripping, boiling, vinegar wash, etc. Yikes!!

Of course after reading all the mommas who had luck with prefolds and covers I will try that first.

If and when I do go to cloth there are times when I will not use them for sure:

1. At night. DS is such a heavy wetter I have to use a Huggies Overnight Diaper with an additional disposable soaker pad!

2. In public. I can barely stand to change a disposable in public. Not to mention my diaper bag is already packed full. I have no room for poopy dipes.


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## Channelle (May 14, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kriket* 
OMG I never thought that I would get this kind of response! Thank you! I am going to have to print this thread and cross reference!

i have another question, for the people that mentioned they didn't know where to start. What would you have liked? A trial? An IRL mom that you could peek over her shoulder while she changed cloth? I know neither of these are always possible, but if the cloth stars were to aline, how would it happen?

While my piece will probably end up my biased unbiased piece, I really want to speak to people who encountered problems and people who are interested but overwhelmed.


I don't have children yet (Due with first in December), so I haven't answered you're original question, but as someone wavering between cloth diapering and disposable diapering, It really is hard to know where to start. I think ultimately (though this wouldn't happen irl) I'd love just to give my money to a seasoned cloth-diaperer and let them buy everything I'll need for me! Then teach me how to use them! Viola! No more having to research, no second-guessing, no buying the wrong kind, no decisions!


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## Aeress (Jan 25, 2005)

I used cloth on my second almost exclusively and tried to with my 3rd but finally gave up, I was tired of washing, soaking, washing again. This was because we have kinda yucky water and it made washing so hard on my diapers.

I use some Gdiapers and some regular disposables. Honestly, I feel guilty using disposables. I miss cloth.


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

I am seeing all these comments on stripping, boiling, vinegaring, etc. and I am lost! I've cloth diapered for years now, and have never had such a system. I guess I don't spend enough time at the MDC Diapering forum







, which is to say that maybe for some of us, places like this are especially big factors in discouragement.


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## Masel (Apr 14, 2008)

I know. Pretty much all I ever had to do was wash the diapers twice and then dry. They came directly from the pail or wet bag. No soaking, no spatula. Occasionally, I did use vinegar or baking soda to help with lingering odor but all I did was add it in with the detergent (All free and clear). The occasional grape skin the bottom of the washer didn't phase me.

I could have been crunchier and used a greener detergent and air dried them more often. All of this was process I certainly have sympathy for those who's partner or child wasn't on board or were stuck with a bunch of dipes that didn't fit or who had to haul their dipes to a laundromat.

I realize now that we were really really lucky in many ways to have had a successful CD experience. I won't take that for granted with kiddo #2.


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ferrum97* 
Have those people never heard of "On sale with a coupon" or "generics"? I know some kids are sensitive to certain brands, but there are regular sales on most well-known brands.

Personally, I am glad that they don't base those quotes on sale prices. When I was buying diapers, I bought them when I saw a good sale and had the cash, but just as often right when I needed them...wherever I happened to be shopping...which didn't always include a sale or coupon.

When I am trying to budget, I usually take the actual price into account. I still hope for a sale, and benefit from a sale, but I wouldn't want to build a budget around coupons and sales because things don't always work out perfectly that way.

Oh, and my kids could only wear Pampers Cruisers. We tried multiple brands and even tried Pampers Baby Dry, but Pampers Cruisers was the only one that didn't leak for them and didn't irritate their skin or give them rashes.


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## baby0hbaby (May 10, 2007)

We live in an apartment with no laundry on site, nearest laundromat is too far away to walk with a bunch of laundry and a kiddo, and I don't drive. DH does all of our laundry on top of working 6 days a week. Cloth would be too much of an extra burden because of all the extra laundry. Also, years ago DH had his arm partially severed in an accident years ago and doesn't have full use of his left arm. He had a lot of trouble with the pins (we used cloth for a couple of months before moving here). We'll probably try cloth again with the new babe if we move to a place with laundry on site (since I do 99% of the diaper changing anyway







)


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## sewchris2642 (Feb 28, 2009)

I never totally used disposibles. Mostly just cloth. I used disposables on Angela when Joy watched her during Erica's Tball games. Joy could fasten the disposable tighter than when using cloth and pins. And Dylan was in disposables at dc. I could have used cloth at dc but out of consideration of the dc provider, I used disposables. I used mostly pre folds, pins, and plastic pants. I did make 4 dozen fitteds for Dylan before he was born. They lasted for a year. When he outgrew the ones that didn't wear out by that time, I just didn't have the time to make more so he used pre folds. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I love the look of pre folds on babies.


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Channelle* 
I think ultimately (though this wouldn't happen irl) I'd love just to give my money to a seasoned cloth-diaperer and let them buy everything I'll need for me! Then teach me how to use them! Viola! No more having to research, no second-guessing, no buying the wrong kind, no decisions!









ah, see.. where I won't pretend to be as seasoned as some mamas here if you take 5 mamas to the store you're going to come back with 5 different systems! DH and I even use different styles! I only use PFs and covers, maybe a doubler if I know we won't be able to change for a while. While DH uses pockets. There is nothing in the world that I hate as much as I loathe stuffing pockets. Thats why when people recommend BumGenius to new moms I cringe. I don't think I would be CDing now if I would have spent tons of $$ on BumGenius just to discover that system doesn't work for our family! ok doesn't work for me DH would probably like them.

I will have to address that too! The trial and error factor, you have that with sposies too tho. and you can't resell a 'used once' sposie! lol


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## RomanGoddess (Mar 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sancta* 
We use *sposies* once kiddo is eating solids (in my house right around one year old) and I get to the point where I can't take the gross poops anymore.

This one I don't get. How is it any different with disposibles? The poo is still there. Even when I used disposibles with my first, I always dumped the solid poo in the toilet and flushed. Surely one is not supposed to throw the poo away with the diaper - _Eeeewwww_.

We are currently using cloth with our second, but I tend to use a disposible at night. Cloth diapers were meant to be changed as soon as they become wet or soiled so for me, it just doesn't make sense to keep a baby in a cloth diaper all night if you can avoid it, no matter how absorbant the cloth diaper is.

Biggest inconvenience of a cloth diaper: the bulk. I, too, am a sucker for nice baby clothes and can't stand it when they won't fit owing to a cloth diaper or when baby's but looks three times bigger than the rest of his body.







:


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## nina_yyc (Nov 5, 2006)

I use/used (*please let the potty training stick this time and get DD outta diapers at night very soon*) cloth except for on vacation but I can see some very legitimate reasons why you wouldn't.

For one, they are not super available at the mainstream baby stores, and the ones that they do sell are lower quality and tend not to work well for a lot of people. You have to go out of your way to find a natural parenting store or order online to find a good quality diaper.

Also, once you plan to cloth diaper, you run into a lot of naysayers, so spending $400 on a stash of pockets/AIOs for something you might not stick with is really intimidating. I was committed enough that I was willing to pony up $200 for a Bummi's starter kit and learn to fasten a prefold, but that's not going to be everyone.

When we started CD'ing, we believed the Bummi's package directions which claimed that no snappi was necessary - that was a lie. Also DD was too small for the first month.

Some daycares will not do cloth.

Last and most compelling reason not to CD - no social support for it. When you're getting ready for baby stuff, you're likely to get all kinds of advice from your family and friends....if everyone tells you not to cloth diaper and/or can't help you with snags that you hit when you try to cloth diaper, you have to be pretty committed to stick with it. Again - not for everybody. As an environmentalist, I find this appalling, but as a parent, I can see where cloth diapering is a small issue in the grand scheme of things and it's likely not to affect your child's long-term development.


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## baglady (Jul 13, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nina_yyc* 
Last and most compelling reason not to CD - no social support for it. When you're getting ready for baby stuff, you're likely to get all kinds of advice from your family and friends....if everyone tells you not to cloth diaper and/or can't help you with snags that you hit when you try to cloth diaper, you have to be pretty committed to stick with it. Again - not for everybody. As an environmentalist, I find this appalling, but as a parent, I can see where cloth diapering is a small issue in the grand scheme of things and it's likely not to affect your child's long-term development.

Oh yeah. That's a big one. Everybody looked at me like I had three heads when I mentioned this to family. All of the women my mom's age and up couldn't imagine why I would cloth diaper if I didn't have to. My mother-in-law liked using cloth, but she hasn't used it for 30 years. She was using them when the only option was the flat diaper with rubber pants that you soaked in a wet pail. Prefolds were the big technological break. She has no idea about modern covers and washing techniques, so she's not very helpful. Plus they used to sell good quality diapers at local stores because everybody used them.


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## Anastasiya (Jun 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RomanGoddess* 
This one I don't get. How is it any different with disposibles? The poo is still there. Even when I used disposibles with my first, I always dumped the solid poo in the toilet and flushed. Surely one is not supposed to throw the poo away with the diaper - _Eeeewwww_.

I do not plop the poop out of disposables, nor will I scrape it out. No way, no how. If I'm investing all that effort I may as well use cloth. I know that's what you're "supposed" to do, but I've never met one person in real life who does that.

Also, breastfed baby poop smells a world different from solid poop - eventually I get to the point where I don't like the "bad" poop smell in my house anymore.


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## Beene (May 19, 2009)

Someone probably already said this, but cloth diapers are worse for the environment than eco-friendly, unbleached sposies (IF you can afford them, that is). Unless you are handwashing your cloth diapers, you are using too much water and too much energy to make up for the "crunchy reasons for using them. Source: The Organic Pregnancy book


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## baglady (Jul 13, 2009)

Ironically, today I found out about a new store in town that teaches a CDing class. You get schooled in techniques and types, and they do a try it out for free (with a deposit) deal with a variety of types. I'm so excited. September 12th I am so there!


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Beene* 
Someone probably already said this, but cloth diapers are worse for the environment than eco-friendly, unbleached sposies (IF you can afford them, that is). Unless you are handwashing your cloth diapers, you are using too much water and too much energy to make up for the "crunchy reasons for using them. Source: The Organic Pregnancy book

Not to be off topic, but that's actually untrue. Disposable diapers not only pollute, etc. but they actually take quite a bit of water to make. Just because you are not washing them in water doesn't mean they don't use water. Plastic products are almost always hugely wasteful of water. Any idea how much water it takes to make one of those little plastic water bottles folks buy in bulk to carry around with them? HUGE waste.


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## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lara1828* 
I just couldn't stand the idea of those wet, smelly things in my house and my washing machine. Yuck.











I'd never used anything BUT cloth on DD1, and the smell didn't bother me. In fact, I would have *sworn* there wasn't a smell.

Until we started using sposies that is. Certain brands of sposies do smells (Pampers, for whatever reason, make me gag when they're wet), but with most I notice no smell at all.

Every time we've tried going back to cloth since the smell IS an issue. My IL's used be so bothered by the smell of DD's CD that they'd rinse them out in the tub before putting them in the wet bag. I used to think they were crazy, but now just the smell of one or two hanging in the wet bag on my girls' bedroom wall is very noticeable.

Also, we did have issues with the washing machine eventually smelling & needing to be stripped. Yet *another* "load" of wash to run....


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## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sierra* 
I am seeing all these comments on stripping, boiling, vinegaring, etc. and I am lost! I've cloth diapered for years now, and have never had such a system. I guess I don't spend enough time at the MDC Diapering forum







, which is to say that maybe for some of us, places like this are especially big factors in discouragement.

Honestly, you have probably been lucky to have "good" water.

When we lived in town, and had town water, I rarely had problems with lingering odors or stains.

Once we moved back to the country, and have hard spring water, I was *constantly* having to rewash loads, strip, adding vinegar... baking soda... TTO! Try Calgon for the hard water...nope...maybe Sportswash...nope again. Grrrrr.....







:

Honestly, the only thing I've found that doesn't have a lingering odor with hard water are prefolds or fitteds with a snap in liner. Regular fitteds are too bulky or something. And pockets/AIO just always smell unless washed on the absolute hottest water our tank can make. But then 1/2 the time the hot water would ruin the waterpoofing on them.


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## Beene (May 19, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sierra* 
Not to be off topic, but that's actually untrue. Disposable diapers not only pollute, etc. but they actually take quite a bit of water to make. Just because you are not washing them in water doesn't mean they don't use water. Plastic products are almost always hugely wasteful of water. Any idea how much water it takes to make one of those little plastic water bottles folks buy in bulk to carry around with them? HUGE waste.

It's only totally untrue IF you buy plastic diapers. There are eco-friendly sposies (like I said, IF you can afford them). Seventh Generation or 365 (whole foods brand) don't use plastic or bleach and are grrrrrrreat!







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## sewchris2642 (Feb 28, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kriket* 
OMG I never thought that I would get this kind of response! Thank you! I am going to have to print this thread and cross reference!

i have another question, for the people that mentioned they didn't know where to start. What would you have liked? A trial? An IRL mom that you could peek over her shoulder while she changed cloth? I know neither of these are always possible, but if the cloth stars were to aline, how would it happen?

While my piece will probably end up my biased unbiased piece, I really want to speak to people who encountered problems and people who are interested but overwhelmed.

I grew up with cloth; apparently we're the only family in existence that still has a history of cloth. I learned how to fold flat diapers from my mom. I used prefolds and pins with all 4 of my kids. I made fitteds with pins for Dylan. Joy uses fitteds (made by grandma) with velcro and wool with her kids.

I never found using and washing cloth to be hard or overwhelming. I didn't use special laundry soap for diapers. But then I've always bought laundry soap that didn't have anything in (no bleach, perfumes, softeners, etc) it in the first place. And I always had 4-7 dozen diapers so washing diapers only added one more load of laundry per week. I grew up with a clothes line and hanging out clothes to dry was always my default, not the dryer. I already knew about vinegar and Borax ( or Arm & Hammer Washing Soda) so there was no learning curve about washing diapers.

So much was lost between my mom's generation and my dd's generation. All in one generation. It's scary.


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Beene* 
It's only totally untrue IF you buy plastic diapers. There are eco-friendly sposies (like I said, IF you can afford them). Seventh Generation or 365 (whole foods brand) don't use plastic or bleach and are grrrrrrreat!







:

But it still uses water to make, which was the whole argument against cloth...that cloth is not environmentally more sound than disposable because of the water useage.

That's not a criticism. Our kids leaked and got rashes in the "eco-friendly" diapers, on the rare occassion we could afford them, and we used Pampers when we weren't using cloth.

But I'd rather base my "not use" reasons on accurate info







.


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## Beene (May 19, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sierra* 
But it still uses water to make, which was the whole argument against cloth...that cloth is not environmentally more sound than disposable because of the water useage.

That's not a criticism. Our kids leaked and got rashes in the "eco-friendly" diapers, on the rare occassion we could afford them, and we used Pampers when we weren't using cloth.

But I'd rather base my "not use" reasons on accurate info







.

Water AND electrical use for washing machine. Even for a diaper service, those industrial guys use more power and water than it takes for manufacturing them. The way water and electricity use add up in a household situation when you wash your own, it is still way more wasteful than using biodegradable sposies. I use Seventh Generation and they don't leak or have any problems other than their cost.


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## dziwozony (Aug 27, 2006)

we use disposable nappies at night because we found it was the only way for all of us to get a good night's sleep! cloth nappies would leak/overfill too much & babe would wake up wet & unhappy...or they just didn't sleep well with the wet against them. i know there are cloth ways around this, but with 2 under 2 i couldn't manage to get the resources together to find a solution!

but during the day we use cloth. i really don't see why people find it so confusing...all you need is a piece of cotton & a waterproof/resistant cover! everything other than that is just different people offering different variations of this.

for DS1 we didn't have a washer, so i handwashed them. extra work? yes. but if you set out knowing that disposable isn't an option for you, it's just the way it is. now i have 2 under 2 & cloth is still the only option i saw fit. i just can't imagine throwing away allllll of those nappies everyday. i couldn't do it with a clear conscious.

we line dry all of our nappies & use water straight from the mountain stream in an area that rains regularly, so you simply can't argue that our use of cloth is at all wasteful. (plus our washer is run from power we generate ourselves). you can have your own personal excuses for not using cloth, but trying to argue that it's more damaging to the earth overall as a blanket statement is not convincing or accurate.


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

I want to stay away from the "are they green?" arguement. Its a never ending battle! It seems depending on who funded the servey, you get different answers! Plus, is that really a factor that is going to push you over the edge into or out of a decision? Probably not. Thanks everyone! I am printing this thread monday and starting!


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## The4OfUs (May 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sewchris2642* 
So much was lost between my mom's generation and my dd's generation. All in one generation. It's scary.

This is so true - and a real shame in a lot of instances, IMO.

(There are many things about the "good old days" I have no desire to go back to - but traditional skills are one thing I wish hadn't been lost)


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## mamaofthree (Jun 5, 2002)

:
my mom used cloth also! but most everyone i know in real life was in posies. strange how just one generation can lose so much good information. it is like we threw out the good with the bad. hmmmm. that is a topic all in itself! lol

h


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## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sierra* 
But it still uses water to make, which was the whole argument against cloth...that cloth is not environmentally more sound than disposable because of the water useage.

That's not a criticism. Our kids leaked and got rashes in the "eco-friendly" diapers, on the rare occassion we could afford them, and we used Pampers when we weren't using cloth.

But I'd rather base my "not use" reasons on accurate info







.

Don't forget about the added fuel costs of disposables. My cloth was transported from factory to store to me just once. When I used sposies, I bought a new box twice a month, so they went from factory to store to me 36 times.


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## weliveintheforest (Sep 3, 2005)

I use cloth but some reasons why someone would not:

- some diapers just don't work well. cheap fitteds and aios sometimes don't fit very well, or they leak or wick and then they are useless. If that's what a person buys or is given, I can see why they wouldn't use them. Also, without the internet someone might not know to avoid fabric softener or other laundry 'no-nos' that make diapers work less well.

- cloth diapers are hard to come by irl. I can think of towns (I live in one) where you would not be able to buy cloth diapers unless you knew to look for them online, and that doesn't occur to everyone.

- lack of laundry facilities or diaper service

- cost is high initially

- cloth diapering requires planning when going out


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## Latte Mama (Aug 25, 2009)

Oh how I wanted to use cloth, I spent hours researching all the different types online. However, I live in a small apt. building with only 1 washer. I also WOH. I added up the $ factor it would cost monthly for cloth along with extra time spent for maintenance of same and cloth would actually cost more than sposies.

I also feel funny using a communal washer for dirty diapers. I'm not sure that my neighbors would appreciate it, maybe they wouldn't care but some people get funny about stuff like that. If I had my own washer, I definitely would have used cloth.


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