OP here. I’m wondering how the diaper services compare in cost to the investment in cloth diapers for the first 4 months. I looked up some DC area services today parentheses modern diapers and root diaper). Has anyone used a DC area service? If so, could you please comment on the cost and experience?

If we go with daycare, it definitely seems sensible to use cloth only at home and use disposables at the daycare.

My sister who cloth diapered three babies also noted that cloth diapers are a lot easier before solid foods. So again, if I could get used cloth diaper covers, I am wondering if the first four months of effort/cost are worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the daycare as many have said. (I'm another that had a daycare that agreed but then seemed utterly confused by them). As many say you can do a combo. Another option that might be good in your situation is sign up for a service for the first 4 months and then see where you're at (then you don't have the up front capital investment in the diapers, just covers).

I also feel like the first few months is the ideal time to do cloth, because as the poster above notes, pre-solid food diapers are pretty easy to deal with. It's more complicated when solids are introduced - that was when we stopped doing cloth at daycare as it just seemed like a bit much to ask (but do cloth at home).

THIS! Plus, when mine was a newborn he freaked out every time he got even slightly wet and we were going through 95-110 diaper PER WEEK. Oh my god, having someone else do that laundry was heaven.

We've done disposables here and there, but he breaks out every time. Clears up promptly when he goes back into cloth.

You realize they do not feel wet in a disposable diaper so you would never have gone through that many. More than 10 a day...must have been changing him every second he was awake!

I've done both cloth and disposables and that was not my experience. I changed the baby just as often in a disposable as a cloth diaper. None of my children was willing to sit around in a used diaper of any sort for any length of time. Cloth was less expensive, but it was quite a lot of laundry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the daycare as many have said. (I'm another that had a daycare that agreed but then seemed utterly confused by them). As many say you can do a combo. Another option that might be good in your situation is sign up for a service for the first 4 months and then see where you're at (then you don't have the up front capital investment in the diapers, just covers).

I also feel like the first few months is the ideal time to do cloth, because as the poster above notes, pre-solid food diapers are pretty easy to deal with. It's more complicated when solids are introduced - that was when we stopped doing cloth at daycare as it just seemed like a bit much to ask (but do cloth at home).

THIS! Plus, when mine was a newborn he freaked out every time he got even slightly wet and we were going through 95-110 diaper PER WEEK. Oh my god, having someone else do that laundry was heaven.

We've done disposables here and there, but he breaks out every time. Clears up promptly when he goes back into cloth.

You realize they do not feel wet in a disposable diaper so you would never have gone through that many. More than 10 a day...must have been changing him every second he was awake!

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the daycare as many have said. (I'm another that had a daycare that agreed but then seemed utterly confused by them). As many say you can do a combo. Another option that might be good in your situation is sign up for a service for the first 4 months and then see where you're at (then you don't have the up front capital investment in the diapers, just covers).

I also feel like the first few months is the ideal time to do cloth, because as the poster above notes, pre-solid food diapers are pretty easy to deal with. It's more complicated when solids are introduced - that was when we stopped doing cloth at daycare as it just seemed like a bit much to ask (but do cloth at home).

THIS! Plus, when mine was a newborn he freaked out every time he got even slightly wet and we were going through 95-110 diaper PER WEEK. Oh my god, having someone else do that laundry was heaven.

We've done disposables here and there, but he breaks out every time. Clears up promptly when he goes back into cloth.

Depends on the daycare as many have said. (I'm another that had a daycare that agreed but then seemed utterly confused by them). As many say you can do a combo. Another option that might be good in your situation is sign up for a service for the first 4 months and then see where you're at (then you don't have the up front capital investment in the diapers, just covers).

I also feel like the first few months is the ideal time to do cloth, because as the poster above notes, pre-solid food diapers are pretty easy to deal with. It's more complicated when solids are introduced - that was when we stopped doing cloth at daycare as it just seemed like a bit much to ask (but do cloth at home).

Anonymous wrote:Serious question--doesn't this mess up your washing machine? Or do you use a service to clean them? Bleach?

Not the OP but CD'ed. No, it doesn't mess up your machine at all. Breastfed soiled diapers are completely washable. After that, you're supposed to rinse them off into the toilet first, before washing. No solids in the washer.

I rarely bleached. From what I heard, most people rarely bleached as well - just to sanitize/strip, which is not every wash.

Serious question--doesn't this mess up your washing machine? Or do you use a service to clean them? Bleach?

If your child has sensitive skin and gets a rash easily, I recommend applying aquaphor or something like butt paste after every change and instructing daycare to do the same. It really helps prevent rashes before they start. Once a baby with sensitive skin gets irritated, it's a huge PITA to try to dig your way out of it.