More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

I know Earth's Best is chlorine-free.

Any other recommendations?

Do the more natural ones work as well?

Also, any recommendations for good parenting websites/chat boards for avoiding toxins in products, etc?

I may start a separate thread on that...

TIA!

ETA- in a related thread, someone mentioned Bum Genius cloth diapers. Any feedback on that?
Amount of work vs convenience?
Cost? The web site says it'll save you money. ??

Message edited 1/17/2013 1:02:13 PM.

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

I have been cloth diapering my son for about 16 months now. We use sunbaby diapers. You definitely save money. I probably spent about $300 for everything. I wash them every 3 days. I made the choice to cloth diaper because I knew I wasn't going back to work after having DS and it was a way for me to save money. I love my cloth diapers!! You can FM me if you have any other questions.

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

I use Seventh Generation. I ordered through Diapers.com and its about $42/4 pack. Its a lil more pricy that regular diapers, but I wanted diapers that had no-fewer chemicals. I researched huggies natural diapers and there is a chemical in the diapers that can still have negative effects on the baby. My 6 month old son has never had any leaking with the 7gen diapers.

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

cloth for every day and 7th generation at night for my son (excema on his booty lol)

I am preggo with number 2, and will also be cloth diapering.

I used folded cloths with thirsties covers, but I also have a few bum genius and thirsties all in ones that were great. just a little bulky and since we were air drying (no drier in our apt) they took way too long to dry.

not sure if they still do it, but Jillians Drawers.com used to send a sample pack, so you could try a few brands to see which you liked best.

HTH

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Love BumGenius AIO. I also have GroVia that I adore as well. But, nothing really beats a prefold and cover when they're itty bitty and nursing. The BG AIO didn't fit DD2 when she was itty bitty and by the time they did fit I had given up on CD because of time with work and stuff. Also, like Ophelia, we had to rely on air drying and the prefolds and covers dried faster. Plus, daycare didn't want to do CD.

I am actually going to be selling my Grovias and BG dipes. The BG have only been used once or twice, so they're brand new. Also watch because BG does seconds sales where they discount the "less than perfect" dipes (which you can't even tell they're not perfect when you compare them)

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For cloth diapers the best online community I have found on the web is www.diaperswappers.com That is probably the biggest forum for diaper and healthy products baby chat. The board is very active. You can spend all day online there, it's huge.

I have gone through so many different brands of cloth diapers and have decided Grovia is my absolute favorite. I will warn you that everyone has an opinion on what diapers to use and especially how to do your cloth wash and what is the best. I find just washing them in a free and clear type regular detergent to work the best to get them clean. If they get stained you can usually sun them to remove the stains. Just pull the wet diapers out of the washing machine and lay them stain side up in the sun. It works great for biological stains :O)

I have used covers and prefolds, pockets, AIO's, AI2's, fitteds, G-diapers. I have used microfiber, hemp, cotton, bamboo inserts. I have used bum genius, flips, mother ease, grovia, swaddlebees, rumparoos. Pretty much every big brand of diaper there is. I don't think you can go wrong with most of the bigger brands. The biggest thing you need to know is how your baby is built. That will determine which has the best fit for you. If you ever want to cloth diaper talk private message me and I'll send your my phone number :O)

As for cloth diapering costs... initially you are going to lay out a few hundred dollars. The more diapers you have, the less work it is for you to do laundry (or time to air them dry) which can take a while since the goal of a cloth diaper is to be absorbent, they hold a lot of moisture :O) Some diapers or inserts dry faster than others. I started out wanting to do prefolds and covers because it was the easiest and cheapest method but I found they just did not work for me very well.

Just keep in mind when considering the cost of the diapers, you will be able to recoup some of that cost so don't worry about how much a diaper costs. If it is a popular brand you can resell it so when you figure in the layout cost you should also keep in mind the recoup costs. Something you can't do with disposables :O) Oh and another thing that is awesome? If you stumble across a seconds sale (bum genius and grovia both do those from time to time) Don't hesitate to snatch up seconds diapers. Usually it's very hard to figure out why they are seconds and it's always cosmetic. They do not sell seconds diapers unless they are 100% functional. If they leak they will probably take them back for an exchange.

It may sound like a lot to spend $20 on one diaper but the resale value on them is around $10-$12. back so in the end you will only be spending $8-$10 per diaper. I would suggest once you find your diaper brand nervana you have enough diapers to cover your baby for at least 2 days. That gives you some wiggle room with the laundry and also doesn't put a lot of wear and tear on the diapers waterproof liner.

Honestly, I'd suggest getting a little of everything. If you decide it's not for you, you can trade or sell (yes used!!) the diapers on diaperswappers for sale or trade (FSOT) board or ebay. (Just keep your cloth diapers in decent condition)


I CD'ed my twins full time except for over nights their first year, then part time and used 7th generation for the other part. I am not CD'ing as much anymore because we haven't been able to keep up with the laundry. DH works a ton now and my toddlers keep me very busy.

I almost exclusively use Seventh generation diapers but it is my understanding that they are only chlorine free, they still have a lot of the chemicals that regular diapers have. Earth's Bests are actually a lot more environmentally friendly. They didn't work for me though, I had leaks. They might work better in the beginning for smaller babies that pee less volume. I do subscribe and save from Amazon for my 7th generation diapers.

Message edited 1/17/2013 3:02:43 PM.

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love bum genius - they are my night time diaper and I use them a lot on my twins during the day - I used them for my older son and now use for my twins

I have an allergy to a chemical in every disposable diaper - a type of adhesive and I wanted to reduce my kids risk of it

my bum genius diapers are over 3 years old -show some wear because I have Velcro ones but they are still working great - it was a great investment - they fit my chunky older son and my skiiny twins

at night I just use the newborn insert with the regular insert folded to smallest setting -this way I have the most soaker material in the front

I use prefolds also - they are the cheaper way into cloth and last a long time and if you don't like clkoth diapering they are great burb cloths or rags

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

Wow, thanks for so much great information, everyone!!!!

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

Gimmethegoodstuff.org

We use cloth diapers and love them. I currently use prefolds with Grovia shells, and BumGenius pockets when we're out.

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

I would totally recommend 7th Generation... besides amazing products, their customer service is phenomenal!

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I wish I could cloth diaper, but DD goes to daycare, so it wasn't an option..we tried Seventh Generation (don't know if they changed, but they were crunchy..LOL..and ran on the small side) and Nature's Babycare (those were good before DD was walking..nice coverage) and finally settled on Earth's Best..very simple, nice coverage and fit and lasted through crawling and walking stages so far, so good..diapers.com is a good deal on them or Babies R Us. com has the cases on sale for cheaper if you can order enough stuff for free shipping..

ETA We've used Babyganics wipes since the beginning (the newborn ones) and when BRU runs buy one get one free, we stock up on the boxes of them...we get like 10 and they last us the year! LOL

Message edited 1/17/2013 9:15:01 PM.

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I use Earths best or huggies pure and natural.

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I CD and love it! I use Alva, KaWaii, BumGenius, and Coolababys. Are you on facebook? There's a great chat called cloth diaper chat. So helpful. There's also a LI group too. The cheapest way to buy is through co-ops. FM me if you have questions!

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

There a little more expensive but Honest diapers are good and have the cutest patterns.
I like seventh Generation wipes.

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

We use cloth 80% of time. Depending on how many kids and the types you chose you can defintely save ALOT of money. Diaperswappers.com is a great resource, you can even sell your diapers on there when your done :o I've already sold my newborn diapers there and gotten most of my money back.

For NBs we used Green Mountain prefolds and thirsties covers.

Now I use a combo of fuzzibunz, blueberry and bumgenious (all in ones and pockets).

My favorite night time diaper is bumgenious pocket.

I find my favorite go to diaper, especially with having 2 kiddos are the bumgenius All in Ones.

Very convenient for us. Saved LOTS of money would definitely recommend if having 2 kids. I personally would've still done with 1 just because I try to avoid chemicals and all.

I also use cloth wipes. I bought a bunch off of ETSY. I also had gotten a bunch of charlie banana wipes from target on clearance. Those are my favorites! So soft and thick.

Good Luck!

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Never used it, but also check out the Honest Co. They have it on Zulily.

We use the Seventh Generation wipes and I will be honest - they do not work nearly as well as pampers!

Re: More "natural" / less processed diapers & wipes? ETA: anyone use cloth, like Bum Genius?

Love bum genius. They were my night time and going out diaper. Ds was also in daycare and we dropped off disposables for him while there, but in the evening, night and weekends we used cloth. Loved it.

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I forgot to mention that if you are going to cloth diaper you really should consider cloth wipes or else you end up with all these disposable poopie covered wipes and no disposable diaper to wrap them up in. I also found that if I didn't have cloth wipes to use sometimes i would forget and stick the disposable wipe inside the cloth diaper and then wash it. It takes no extra time or energy to wash the wipes while you are washing the diapers and that saves some good money too.

I like grovias wipes the best, they clean poop off really well :o)

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We use gdiapers gwipes- they are great.

Message edited 1/20/2013 1:23:51 PM.