Deciding to Cloth Diaper Twins - The Financial Factor

Last August I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant with twins. My husband and I were ecstatic as were our families. Our little ones would be the third set of twins in my family in three generations. I immediately started researching cloth diapering. My sister had dabbled with it for her second child and thought it was great but everyone else including my husband thought I was crazy to do it with twins. Why would I want to add that to my to do list and they told me I could never keep up with the laundry. So I decided to stick with disposables at the beginning and once we settled into our routine I would look further into it.

My babies were born at the end of March and I was overwhelmed not only by the number of diaper changes and how often we needed to feed them, you know, the normal baby care. Then we made the decision for me to leave my job and become a full time stay at home mom. One income down and two babies to feed, diaper and care for…we are on a tight budget!

My first goal to help with the budget was to breastfeed both babies. I love the health benefits that breastfeeding brings and also the connection I have with each of the twins. (People are in awe when I tell them or they see me tandem breastfeeding.) I also love the savings that breastfeeding has given us - we are lucky and have not had to purchase any formula - a HUGE savings.

Next up to tighten the budget was to try cloth diapering. I went to a local new mom's store and talked with the sales girl for over an hour and she quickly gave me a tutorial on everything she thought I needed to know. I decided to buy a 6 pack of OsoCozy prefolds, 2 snappies, a wet bag and two Thirsties covers - one fore each baby. I had everything for over a week before I took the plunge and prepped & washed everything.

When I told my mom I purchased cloth diapers, she made a face and told me I was crazy. She thought I had enough to worry about and do with and for the babies, why would I add this to the list. Then I found Kelly's Closet and began doing more and more research during my night time feedings. As I educated myself more and more I realized all of the benefits that cloth brings to the babies and to a family. The fact that I can diaper two babies for about $500-$800 instead of $3000-$5000 for disposables is amazing! My husband supported this adventure, especially after I told him all the money we'd save. Plus, the benefits for my kids to be in cloth is remarkable.

Over the past two months I have become a big fan of Kelly's Closet and have made several purchases. So far we have 6 Thirsties Duo Covers, 12 prefolds, 2 Best Bottom Covers, 6 Best Bottom Inserts, 4 BumGenius 4.0 Seconds, 2 Babykicks pockets, 1 Tots Bots, 1 Grovia AIO, and a few hemp inserts & doublers. In addition, I've purchased some great accessories: fleece liners, 4 snappies, 1 Planet Wise Wetbag, 1 Planet Wise Pail liner, 24 baby washcloths (for cloth wipes) and some booty spray.

To date I have spent about $450 on all of my supplies and I am able to cloth diaper my twins and wash every other day. And I have only used one 80 count package of disposable diapers in a month (we are using disposables at night and when we have traveled) - amazing and money saving!

I have a few go to diapers depending on the time of day…you know, for when I think they'll be pooping or taking a nap. But I have not found the all around "perfect" diaper for us just yet. I am still searching for my perfect overnight solution and I want to make my own wipe solution and fleece liners but with time I will get those things figured out too. For now, I am proud of how far we have come in 2 short months of cloth diapering and how much money we will be saving. And my twins look so adorable in their cloth!

By Jamie


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Deciding to Cloth Diaper Twins - The Financial Factor

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Diapering More Than One: Some Pointers

The two most valuable things I have learned about cloth diapering, whether its one child, or more than one, are that wet bags are invaluable, especially for eliminating plastic bags from your life, and also that One-Size diapers are a life saver. We are also experimenting with cloth wipes for additional cost savings and waste reduction.

In case you hadn't heard of them before, planet wise wetbags are these fantastic fabric, waterproof bags, that you can use to hold your diapers. Whether you are on the run, on vacation, or at home. They come in different adorable prints, and 3 convenient sizes. So far, I've ordered the small art deco and the bumble deco--which has a cute bright yellow lining inside. These bags are great for carrying two to three diapers from my toddler or newborn.

We use only One-Size diapers, just in case I forget to bring a diaper for someone (a lesson I learned when my first two were in disposables, a baby can fit in a toddler diaper, but a toddler cannot fit in a baby sized diaper. This is assuming you remember to pack diapers at all, haha!) I ordered one size diapers for my toddler when she was 19 months old. I ordered one sized diapers in the hopes that we would be able to use them for the new baby once the toddler was out of diapers. My husband was still reluctant to use cloth on the baby we were expecting, so I thought I would take it slow and see how it went. As a compromise, we agreed to switch to cloth for the toddler, and we would also use cloth on the newborn, but not for the first 6 weeks, when laundry would be daunting. We requested diapers as one of the games at my baby shower, and had more than enough disposables, in fact, I haven't had to buy any since the baby was born (5/19/11). We ended up cloth diapering after about two weeks, since I ended up being able to deliver normally (VBA2C rather than c/section), and I was getting back into the laundry rhythm for our toddler.

This happened to be around the time that bumGenius was running a buy 5 get one free sale, so we stocked up on those, for both kids, and I also ordered several Kawaiis, Rumparooz, and most recently Fuzzibunz. My absolute favorite thing is that if I run out of diapers before I can run the laundry, I can simply adjust the snaps (or elastic) for whomever I am using it for. We have also tried to take advantage of the Kelly's Closet one-size diaper coupon deals, whereby you get one free diaper with a certain minimum purchase. I have been having some leakage issues with my newborn, but I think it is more of a matter of him being in between snap sizes than anything else. I am experimenting with fit to figure out what's going on. One-size diapers have been wonderful for us. I definitely don't miss the $20/box expenditure that we were making before we made the switch, and that was when I only had one in diapers full-time, and one wearing them only at night!

Diapering More Than One: Some Pointers

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Double Doody (Cloth Diapering Multiples)

Finding out we were pregnant with twins after the struggle to get pregnant was such a wonderful surprise. My husband and I always knew we would cloth diaper our baby, but when we found out we were having twins; we really had a reason to use cloth – saving money!

We informed our family and friends that we were planning to cloth diaper the twins and received some cloth diapers at the baby shower.  I really wish I would have registered at Kelly’s Closet for my baby shower, because a lot of people didn’t know what to get or where to buy cloth diapers.

I bought more variety for my diaper stash from Kelly’s Closet and loved that I could use a coupon for a free diaper with my order. I had prefolds, flats, pocket, and hybrid diapers. I wanted to try different types and then stock up once I knew what worked for my two babies.  I decided to buy mostly one size snap diapers because snaps last longer and kids learn early on how to undo hook and loop fasteners.

My initial stash for the twins consisted of 12 pocket diapers (including Bum Genius 4.0s, BabyKicks, Kawaii, and Fuzzibunz), 7 Flip diapers with stay-dry inserts, 4 diaper covers (Thirsties Duo and Econobum), prefolds, and flats.

With the struggles that come with breastfeeding and caring for newborn twins, we decided to wait until we felt comfortable before exclusively cloth diapering. I used pocket diapers in the beginning because they seemed easiest for me and my husband. We then started using prefolds and flats with covers and Flips. I found that I preferred using the Flips during the day and the pockets at night and on the go.

My son had very skinny legs and my daughter had chunky legs, but I found that the Flips fit well on both of their body types. When using the inserts I started off putting the excess of the folded insert in the front for boys and the back for girls, but that got to be such a pain so now I put all the Flip diapers with the excess in the front. I always put my diapers away pre-stuffed; I find it easier for my life to do that.

Lots of people ask me why I would cloth diaper when twins alone are already a lot of work. My biggest response is the money. The first month home with the twins, we were too overwhelmed with other things to start cloth diapering. We spent over $150 in disposable diapers the first month and filled two garbage bags with dirty diapers every week. We were just throwing money away.

Now that we are cloth diapering, I don’t feel like using them is any harder than using disposables. And we rarely have enough garbage now to take the trash can out on collection day. We also don’t have blow outs like we did in disposables, so I don’t have poopy outfits to worry about. I do my diaper laundry every other day and have a drying rack inside my house. I actually find that stuffing diapers relaxes me. It forces me to sit down for a couple minutes.

I’m very happy using cloth diapers and make sure to wash them properly with a diaper safe detergent (Rockin’ Green) so that hopefully, one day, we can use them again on baby #3!

By Christine D. - Christine enjoys her new job as a stay at home mom to her twins, Michael and Malia. She loves natural products and saving money which makes using cloth diapers a no brainer.

Double Doody (Cloth Diapering Multiples)

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12 Days, 8 Month Old Twins, and Cloth Diapers

I have just returned from a 12 day trip with my 5 children. My oldest being 6 years old and my youngest being 8 month old twins. I took them without my husband, who had to work, to visit my family in Wisconsin, which is a 6.5 hour drive if you only have to stop once for gas. Add 5 children, including nursing twins, and it took 9 hours to get to the Eau Claire area. I was not in a good mood upon arrival but we all survived and made it home again 12 days later.

I knew I had to bring my cloth diapers on this trip because I was going to be gone for nearly two weeks and had access to do laundry when ever I needed too. Really, how could I not bring them? I would have had to bring about 160 diapers to make that amount of time in disposable diapers! On a side note I figured it out that I would need 315 diapers a month with twins! Double that when they were newborns! My mom also is happy that I use cloth and tells me all the time that my diapers are welcomed to be washed at her house.

Packing up the diapers and figuring out just what I would need to make it about 2 days so I could wash every other day was a bit of a process. It was only a process because I have many different diapers and I like each one for different reasons. I opted to take mostly pocket diapers. I choose pockets because I like the ease of use on the go. I prestuff them so it is easy to just grab and go.

Here is a list of what I took with us. Keep in mind that this is for twins. If there was only one child I could have gotten by with only half of this amount. 24 pocket diapers, which included some bumGenius!, FuzziBunz, Nubunz, and Cutiepoops. I also had one BumEssentials along for the trip. I brought two Small Weeds Hemp inserts and 2 Thirsties Hemp boosters for night time diapering. I did grab some Duo Wraps and a couple Bummis Diaper covers to go with the diapers I am testing for a company, for my back up diapers if I ran out of pockets during laundry day. I had about 20 cloth wipes with too. I washed when I was down to one or two wipes left. I brought along a large Planet Wise wet bag to hold dirty diapers until wash day. That wet bag is AWESOME! I was able to stuff all the diapers I needed for the trip when they were clean in this bag while traveling! I also had one WAHMIES regular sized wet bag for the diaper bag. Of course I brought my own cloth diaper detergent, Lulu’s in the Fluff Glamour Wash in Zippity Doo Dah. That scent reminds me of Fruit Striped Gum. That list seems so long! But it all fit nicely in my Planet Wise wet bag except the detergent of course.

While at my mom’s I had to improvise with no clothes line so I use clothes pins and hangers to hang them on the side of my mom’s deck. After a few days like that with such high humidity I ended up just using the dryer on low because it was taking too long to dry outside. The one really great thing that happened was my ammonia issue went away! No more stinky diapers! I couldn’t figure it out right away then I realized that my mom’s hot water was a lot hotter than mine. So much so that I was only filling it half way with hot water before switching it to warm because I was nervous my PUL might delaminate. I guess just like boiling inserts is sometimes the only way to get rid of the stinky and ammonia issues maybe just turning your hot water before diaper laundry could do the trick for diapers too!

Using my Cloth Diapers while taking our many day trips to visit and go shopping was a breeze. The only difference than using disposable diapers was that I took mine home with me at the end of the day. Otherwise, I had no leaking issues even when the babies had to wait for a diaper change longer than usual. When we took a long car ride I just put in one of the hemp inserts along with the normal micro fiber insert and away we went. I never had a leak! The twins were only changed once during the drive to and from our home in Northern Minnesota. I did have to be sure a hemp insert was in the diaper at night as they both were waking to nurse in the night because of teething and not being sure of where they were sleeping. Even babies know the comforts of home.

I was fortunate to visit many family members and friends while in Wisconsin. During those visit I was also able to show off my cloth diapers! So many people were awed in how nice and easy cloth diapering has become and I could see the wheels tuning in their heads. I would love to say that my cloth diapers were the thing people commented on the most but, they took a back seat to people realizing I took the trip by myself with 5 children and how adorable our twins are and how much they have grown. Ellie’s little bum certainly looked pretty underneath her dress at a family wedding.

By Alyssa N.

12 Days, 8 Month Old Twins, and Cloth Diapers

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Why I Went Cloth, and You Can Too

I wanted to write this to hopefully encourage other parents who may be considering cloth diapers. I have been cloth diapering my youngest three children for a year and a half, and I love, love, love it.

I am a normal Mom. I really am. If, I can do it, so can you.
When I decided to go cloth, I found myself with a 4 year old, a 2 year old and 3 month old twins. My husband single handily supports the six of us. So, money.is.always.an.issue. I nursed the twins, so formula, was happily an expense we could avoid. But the diapers…oh the diapers! I found myself going through an obscene amount diapers. Between the babies and my two year old, I was going through about 210 diapers a week, and 840 disposable diapers a month. I even joined our local wholesale club simply for the diapers. But the cost still stung. Every time I bought the diapers, it hurt. I could not see throwing away (literally) money like that anymore. Life was as busy as it gets, but yet I made the decision to go cloth. And, I’ve never looked back.  After deciding to go cloth, I faced a few obstacles:

1) The Hubs:

My husband was going to be a tough sell. He’s one of those diaper-changing-gags-me types. So, the idea of washing diapers in our own house wasn’t going to be overly appealing to him. I knew if I was going to convince him, it would be with the numbers. So, I set about doing the math.

I realized that I was spending a little under $300 a month on diapers that I was ultimately throwing away. I factored in that my two year old would be potty training within the year, and would only require a diaper for naps, and a diaper for sleeping at night, as well as the fact that the babies wouldn’t always be using as many diapers in a day. I came to the rough estimate that we could save about $2640 the first year, and $1616 in the second year and $960 in the third year of cloth diapering. This totaled $5,216! WHAT? Oh, and this doesn’t even include the cost of wet wipes.

After an initial refusal, even he couldn’t deny the SAVINGS and came on board. And, I just asked him yesterday if he had any regrets, now that we’ve been at this for a year and a half. His response? “Why, would I regret it? It hasn't bothered me?” So, there you have it. Diapers are still diapers, only now there are no more out of pocket costs.

2) The naysayers:

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF?”

Admittedly, I was as busy as I had ever been in my life. Days were long and action packed. It did not seem like I needed to add anything else to my plate. But, cloth diapers seemed like the answer to our budget. People’s reactions ranged from supportive, to unsure to borderline rude. But, ultimately, we went with what we knew was right for us. And I’m so glad we did.

3) Figuring out how to cloth diaper:

This step in the process was very daunting. Once I started researching cloth diapers, I was overwhelmed. A process I had assumed simple, seemed to actually be quite complex. There were so many different brands and types and words that made no sense to me. What’s an insert? What’s a doubler? Bamboo what? Pocket vs. prefold vs. all in ones? A sprayer?

I needed to figure out which style/brand of diapers I wanted to buy, how many I would need, a place to store dirty diapers (both at home and on the go), how I would wash them, when I would wash them, and what accessories I would need. (The only accessory I was sure I needed were Baby Legs. Because, have you seen them?? Edible). But, other than that, I was lost.

Then, I found Kelly’s Closet and the Diaper Whisperer. This helped me so much! Seriously. Do your research, and read as much as you can on this site. It really does help to demystify cloth diapering.

4) The doubts:

The upfront cost was going to be considerable. To make it worth it, I needed to buy enough cloth diapers, to be able to exclusively cloth diaper the twins and the toddler. I didn’t have the luxury of trial and error, figuring out my brand of choice and slowly building my cloth diaper collection. (Every box of disposable diapers that I would buy would potentially eat into the savings we could accumulate by switching to cloth). Once we agreed to go cloth, the plan was to order the diapers and have them delivered before I needed to buy another box of disposable diapers.

I now tell people that switching to cloth diapers is one of the best parenting decisions I have ever made. What? Is that overly dramatic? It’s true. And, like all parenting decisions, this one came with its own share of hesitations. This was going to be a hefty bill, and I was really nervous to hit the submit button on my order. What if this was a mistake? What if I hated it? What if I couldn’t keep up with it? What if I didn’t build the right supply?

But I did my research, read tons of reviews and in the end, placed my order. The day my diapers arrived I was over the moon. I loved them immediately, and am happy to report, that love has only grown. Our diapers paid for themselves in eleven weeks. Everything after that was pure savings (or profit, depending upon how you look at it). I feel so good about putting them on my kiddos. I look forward to continuing to cloth diaper and truly wish I had made the switch sooner.

By Mary D.

Why I Went Cloth, and You Can Too

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6 Degrees Away From Cloth Diapering

In the world of social media it has been stated that any two people are only 6 steps away from any one other person. It is the whole “a friend of a friend of a friend” kind of thing. In this new age of turning people onto “Green Living” I think we, we being cloth diaper users, can use the concept of 6 Degrees of Separation to expand our numbers. I do it all the time!
For example, a couple weekends ago I was at a baby shower for a friend. This friend had come to visit at my house a while back and I had of course had to show her all about my cloth diapers. This is her first baby and I wanted to get her hooked right from the start. She looked and said they were pretty neat. She didn’t say much more than that so I didn’t push. Later I heard she wanted to at least try cloth and see what she liked so we chatted a bit and I said, “Ok, for your shower gift I am going to get you some cloth diapers.” Now fast-forward to the shower. When she opened the gift she held it up for everyone and showed them the unbleached Indian prefolds and Thirsties Duo Wrap in size 1 that I bought along with a One Size Pocket Diaper I had gifted to her. I also had given her some baby wash cloths from the dollar store to use as cloth wipes. I love mine and it is so affordable to buy them that way! Confidently tucked on the bottom was the neat instruction sheet Kelly’s Closet puts in every order to help you figure out how to wash and prep you diapers. (Thanks Kelly’s Closet!) I could see from some people they were a little confused on why I gave her that gift. On a side note we decorated one-sies for the baby and I made one that said, “Does this diaper make my butt look big?” I thought it was fitting!

After the gift opening I had a group of about 10 gather around the table as I showed this friend how to use the diapers I had given her. I even had my 7 month old twins along in the same Duo Wraps that I gave her to show her how they looked on a baby! While I answered their questions I had several who were pregnant or wanting another baby get really interested and ask me to just write an email to this friend so she could forward it to them! We went ahead and photocopied the instruction sheet from Kelly’s Closet (Thanks again!) so they had the basics in hand. One even asked if I sold the diapers. I of course said no and she said you should!

I think to most of the gals when they heard that you could save up to $2000 or more using cloth on your first baby and it would be even more for your second or more children they got more interested. Of course the infamous “poop” question was asked and when I explained the options and that it really isn’t that bad the idea of cloth again looked more appealing.

By the end of the day I was using my status as being a friend of their friend to teach some friends of a friend all about cloth diapers and even converted one bride to-be to cloth diaper her future children! How great is it that even though her wedding is towards the end of summer she was already on board with using cloth diapers for the children she planned to have! I can’t wait to give another gift of cloth diapers to her when her first child is born!

If we all inform another mom about our cloth diapers and some of the great facts that go along with using cloth diapers maybe we can cut down the 6 degrees to 3 or to really have high and lofty goals how about 1 degree away from knowing people using cloth diapers!

By Alyssa N.

6 Degrees Away From Cloth Diapering

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Twin Adventures in Cloth Diapering

It was April 7, 2009 and I discover I am pregnant. It was a surprise pregnancy. For the next two weeks we assume I am having our fourth child. I started to have suspicions that I might be carrying twins. At 6 weeks and 4 days it was confirmed that we were going to be having a fifth child as well. It was TWINS!

At this point our oldest child was 5 and a half years old and our youngest had just turned 2. We were preparing for a very busy road ahead. I knew the cost of diapers and had toyed with the idea of cloth diapering with our first child. I received so many “really you want to cloth diaper” comments that I never really thought about it again. That is until we were about to have twins. How much was it going to cost to diaper these two babies? It turns out it was nearly $100 a month without the cost of wipes. So in May of 2009 I found a great deal on some second quality cloth diapers and bought 24. In the box they stayed until January of 2010. Our twins were born a month premature. Our daughter Ellie was only 4 lbs 3.2 ounces and 16.5 inches and our son Eli was 5 lbs 1.7 ounces and 17.5 inches. They were so itty bitty my one size diapers didn’t even come close to fitting. I was in survival mode after they were born so we used disposables until Eli was close to 9 lbs. I put the cloth on him at that time and have never gone back.

We started out with pocket diapers from a small unadvertised company Sweet Doll Baby, as stated before they were seconds so I knew when I purchased them. After a couple of weeks they started to delaminate and I felt they were really bulky. They still functioned as the laminate wasn’t torn but, I needed some new ones. That same company had redesigned their diapers and came out with the new Nubunz premium one size pocket diaper for $9.50 which included two microfiber inserts! I ordered 6 in a variety of closure styles. They offer round tab hook and loop, square tab hook and loop, and snaps. I loved these diapers from the moment I opened the package! Much better quality and the redesign was great. So great in fact that I started using them on Ellie who is more petite than her brother. She was around 8 lbs when I started with her and they fit her great. They were narrower through the crotch which helped with the bulk problem. We have used them for two months now on both twins and never had a leak issue. Usually we use one insert during the day and then two at night. I reach for these before my BumGenius’ all the time!

After our first go round with cloth I ordered a few different types of diapers to see how I liked them. My order consisted of 3 BumGenius 3.0 one size, two Flip covers, 3 Econobum covers and nine Indian prefolds. I love all of these diapers for different reasons. I like my BG 3.0s for night with the doubler that comes with the diaper. I like my Flips for my go to cover over my prefolds. I don’t have the Flip inserts because I ordered just the covers but I did make my own stay dry inserts from some extra microfiber inserts and some fleece to sew onto the top of the insert and they work great. The Econobums are just an excellent economy choice no frills just a get the job done type cover. I never knew how much I would like covers and prefolds or stay dry inserts! On the days when all my covers are clean I have prefold days and don’t touch my pockets!

I know the burning question in everyone’s mind is how many diapers do I have or need with twins and how often do you have to wash. Well, I have 21 pocket diapers, one AIO, 3 Flip covers, 3 Econobum covers, 9 prefolds, and 6 stay dry inserts that I made (more are on the way). I have ordered a few more covers because I like them so much and it will help my stash last a few more changes.

I wash every other day but sometimes it is every day. For instance I may wash in the morning one day and then at night the next day but, there is always about 2 days worth of diapers in the pail when I wash which, I guess for a single baby that would be about 4 days worth of diapers! No wonder I have to wash nearly every day! Right now I am having a bit a stink issue but I think I just need to change my detergent again. Still figuring out what detergent will work best with our water.

So between nursing the twins and caring for three older children I don’t have much extra time and you will find crumbs on my table and definitely on my floor! Such is the life of a busy mom but, the kids are smiling and that is what really matters to my heart, not my floors.

Twin Adventures in Cloth Diapering

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Cloth Diapering is Like a Judgement Magnet

Yes I have twins, and yes I am cloth diapering. Those outside the cloth diaper community tend to gasp when hearing this information. However, no one gasps louder than my family members. I am not what people think of when picturing someone who cloth diapers (but who is?). The stereotype is the hippie, organic woman that asks with more than a hint of disgust "You're still putting your child in that plastic underwear?" I am more the "Oh my gosh those shoes and that bag were made to be in my closet" kind.

So when we announced proudly that we were cloth diapering my family nearly fell over. My sister-in-law said "I give you a week, then you quit." How nice, right? But the feeling of confusion

was felt family-wide. All brows furrowed in question of our choice and people found no problem announcing their lack of respect for our latest decision.

But the truth is, we like it. Its not that messy and there is just an allure that is truly unexplainable for me. I have not yet managed to pin point whether it is the help to the bank account or the environment OR whether the little fuzzy underpants are just so adorable I can't help myself.

At family functions when I pull out a cute little diaper that is nicely lined with fleece, the shock continues. Cloth diapers have come a long way from what people remember them to be. The first thing that usually comes out of their mouths is "THOSE are the diapers?! But they are too cute to poop in!" They are cute, but I am thrilled when the poop is actually in those beautiful little diapers rather than on my children's clothes!

It seems that although they find the diapers just as cute as we do, they still don't "get it." They may now be "in the know" of our diapering habits however, they still are not converts. But thats okay. We aren't out change everyone else's lives, just ours. We can put our heads on the pillow at night knowing we are throwing a few thousand less diapers in a land fill. And as my husband puts

it, "cloth diapering just seems so much classier."


-Amanda S.
Mom to James and Ella (3 1/2 months old)

Cloth Diapering is Like a Judgement Magnet

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