I’m happy to answer your questions. I had a lot of the same ones before we started to use cloth.

Regarding the amount of time involved, for us it is probably five to ten minutes each time we do a load of diapers, which for us is every other day. When we take a diaper off one of our kids, we put it in a diaper bin/pail/garbage can lined with a mesh laundry bag in our garage. When we have only a few clean ones left, we dump all of the diapers into our washing machine along with the mesh bag. We add detergent (we used to use regular old Tide but switched to Charlie’s Soap recently to save cash and the environment–http://www.charliesoap.com/), and wash on a hot long cycle. We have a front-load washer, and for us, this cycle is called “whitest whites.” When the cycle is done, we throw them all into the dryer and dry on a regular cycle. When they are dry, we just dump them into our diaper basket and bring it back upstairs. So, as you can see, it is just like doing a regular load of laundry. Keep in mind that we use disposable liners to deal with the poop (see my explanation above), so we never rinse or do anything extra to the poopy diapers. I highly, highly recommend the disposable liners.

Regarding the number of diapers, we had 19 bumGenius diapers for our two older boys who are 22 months apart, and now we have 35 (I think) for our newborn twins and for our 23 month old. Both times, the older one was starting to potty train when the younger was born, so we didn’t have too many months when we were diapering multiple kids (in addition to the twins). I would probably recommend starting with about 25 diapers and then adding a few at a time until you reach a comfortable point in regard to how often you wash. We prefer to wash at the beginning of every third day (which is what we did with 19 when we had only one in diapers), but now that we have three in diapers we are washing every other day with 35.

Regarding your question about how often to change, of course we change as soon as there is a poop, but otherwise we change probably every 2 1/2 hours. The great thing about bumGenius diapers (and other pocket diapers) is that you can adjust the absorbency depending on how much your child “goes.” So, for example, during naps and at night for our 23 month old, we stuff our diapers with the liner that came with our bumGenius diapers, and then we also add two microfiber cloths that we bought from the automotive department at Target. They are cheap and really absorbent. You wouldn’t need to change your routine of changing every three hours, even if your daughters go a little at a time.

Regarding diaper cream, we use Desitin with every change, but because we also use the disposable diaper liners, we don’t have any problem with build up. I don’t know how people handle that issue if they don’t use the disposable liners.

Regarding the brand, we LOVE bumGenius. We have tried Fuzzi Bunz and another SAHM home-made brand, and we liked both, but we LOVE bumGenius. They are expensive, but well worth it. Because they are designed for babies from newborn to potty training, you will not have to buy any other diapers.

Regarding the laundry, you won’t need to go to your basement other than when you are running a whole load. We don’t do any rinsing, other than the one that is included in the regular wash cycle.

If you have other questions, feel free to email me. I am happy to help. For us, the hardest part of cloth diapering was figuring out our system–all the same sorts of questions you are asking. Once we had our system figured out, it became much, much easier. My email is michelle.h.simmons at gmail.com. Good luck!

Michelle

For all the cloth diaperers out there….
I see a lot of figures for how much cheaper they are, but, as far as time goes, how much time per week do you spend washing, etc?

My twins are 7 months, just starting solids. If I were to make the switch, how many diapers would you recommend?

I see on various cloth diaper websites that you must change after they’ve “soiled”. My daughters seem to pee a little bit at a time, I change them after every nap, unless there’s poo or pretty wet {every 3 hours or so}. Do you find you change diapers more frequently with cloth?

I read on the Fuzzi Bunz site that you can’t use diaper cream on babies who use their diapers – something about the buildup. So, if they get diaper rash – what are you supposed to do?

What brand do you like the best and why?

My greatest hesitation is that our laundry is in the basement….out and around to the back of the house and I don’t always have the time to get down there daily, let alone several times/day to rerun the rinse cycle, etc. I know there’s lots of people who use them who don’t even have a washer/dryer and I really admire those people. But, realistically, I’m just worried about the time factor.

Thanks!