Trying to get a friend started

[delicatefade]

I have a friend who wants to cloth diaper her twins, on a very small budget. She doesn't know a whole lot about cloth diapers (at least not "bought" cloth diapers) and so I want to get her some good info!

It's been a few years since I've had to buy anything, and I haven't been playing around with brands like I used to, so I was hoping you ladies could give me some good advice.

I suggested that she go with flats and a one size cover. She specifically asked for something one size, so that was what I came up with.

She is buying a new front loading washer in the near future and so I figured flats would be the best option for washing clean.

Are there any good "systems" out there that I don't know about? Anything inexpensive that you could suggest? TIA!

[DJ_ClothDiapers]

Are they still in utero or older babies?

If newborn twins I recommend Prefolds and Covers while at home and pocket diapers for when she's out and about to the doctor, church, etc.

Prefolds are forgiving and absorbent. Flats are awesome but for someone totally new to cloth they could appear confusing and more work, although they are economical.

Pocket Diapers I love are Thirsties Duo Diaper, BumGenius 4.0, Diaper Rite OS.
http://www.diaperjunction.com/pocket-diapers.html

With twins, even if she doesn't want to do diaper laundry every day, chances are that if she waits too long she'll have more than one loads worth. I recommend washing every 36 hours.

Since twins are sometimes born premature there's a chance that if she buys one size diapering systems that they'll be too bulky on the babies at first.

Definitely feel free to ask if you have more questions. I'd love to help get her little twins into cloth diapers!

[delicatefade]

They are 2 1/2 months old and over 10 pounds, so pockets should be fine. She just told me she was looking at Alva Baby. Any thoughts on those?

[DJ_ClothDiapers]

No personal experience but I have heard they're similar to to Sunbaby and Kawaii. Diaper Rite is our economical pocket diaper brand. We do also sell Kawaii.

I think it will be important for her to know that if she only has enough to cloth diaper them then the diapers will get a lot of wear and tear and sometimes the cheaper diapers don't last as long as some of the tried and true brands. So if she goes the cheap route she'll want to have more diapers in her rotation than just the exact amount she needs to get through XYZ days. Does that make sense?

[Haleybailey]

Maybe a combination of Flip and Econobum? Pockets are nice when out, but for two they take up sooo much space! When going out with the twins I nannyed for we had pockets. We had a pretty small stash 24 prefolds, 6 covers and 4 FB pockets. I washed every day and a half. You dont want to get more diapers than will fit in the washer.

Just looked on cottonbabies.com. 8 econobum covers and 30 prefolds is $107.

Thats less that a month of disposables for twins!

[MomBecks]

I love flats, but she might get tired of folding for twins. Maybe a mix of flats and prefolds? And I really like Econobum, Blueberry, and Sweet Pea one-size covers. I actually sell a prefold package that would work if you added a few AIOs or pockets for easy sitter/going out changes. That's so sweet of you to help her get started! I wish I had a friend like you when I was getting started!

[delicatefade]

Originally Posted by Haleybailey Maybe a combination of Flip and Econobum? Pockets are nice when out, but for two they take up sooo much space! When going out with the twins I nannyed for we had pockets. We had a pretty small stash 24 prefolds, 6 covers and 4 FB pockets. I washed every day and a half. You dont want to get more diapers than will fit in the washer. Just looked on cottonbabies.com. 8 econobum covers and 30 prefolds is $107. Thats less that a month of disposables for twins!

This might be a good idea. I did suggest the Flips. I really think that with the price and the fact that she has a front loader, the Econobum would be a great option.