Someone recently asked me if I'd do things the same way if we have another child. Would we EC again? That's easy. Absolutely! I'd definitely do it. Possibly with more dedication than we did this time. Of course, then we'd have 2 kids so that might make timing more difficult so it might not be practical. It will certainly be something we try though.
Cloth diapers? That's hard. We've had a lot of trouble with cloth diapers and I'm not a huge fan despite the fact that we're still doing it. I'm not really sure what I'd do. If we had another child magically right at this moment... I'd probably cloth diaper since I'm already doing a small load for my currently diapered child, adding more to that load would mean no extra work.
But what kind of diapers... I don't know. We've never really dealt with poop since my daughter was consistently using the potty for that by the time we started CDing. Our current favorites, all-in-ones, don't seem to make sense for a newborn because it would be harder to rinse newborn poop out and that would need to happen all the time. I generally hate prefolds and one sized diapers. But both end up bunchy and my daughter got rashes quickly from anything that wasn't better fitted. That would make me crazy if I wore them so I lean away from that for my child. So that means I'd probably look into fitted diapers. (These are the diapers that basically look like diapers with elastic around the legs but don't have a waterproof cover attached.)
I've only tried one fitted style with my daughter and I didn't like it because it was enormous and the cover we had then fit very poorly. I'd like to be able to enjoy the tiny-ness of my newborn, I think. I don't think it has to be huge though. I'd look into fitteds that were of other materials like possibly hemp (we like our hemp liners that we use for night time) or ones sewn out of prefolds. Maybe I'd even make my own. (Right... I don't really sew.) But I'd probably consider something along those lines.
For covers... I don't really like the plastic-y kind. They don't breathe well. I keep hearing that cloth is much better for babies because it breathes more. I think that used to be true when disposables were mostly plastic, but disposables have evolved to be more breath-able and cloth becomes less so when it's wrapped in a plastic cover. It's been my experience that I get better temperature control and breath-ability with disposables.
I think I'd like a more cloth-like cover for general use and then perhaps a plastic-y one for out in the car or something. I have a fleece cover that I like a lot, but my toddler can easily defeat it (velcro) and requires me to use our pre-folds (which I trifold instead of wrap around her) so all that is a lot to do with a wriggly toddler. I'd seriously consider it with a newborn though. Especially if I already had a good fitted diaper I liked. The downside is that a very full diaper can leak through with pressure. For example, putting a kid with a wet diaper in the car seat and cinching it down might squish moisture through. That's why I'd want a plastic-type cover for those situations. But when we're at home, comfort is key.
I might also consider wool. People who use wool tend to love wool. But I also think people who cloth diaper love cloth diapering, and I don't so perhaps I wouldn't love wool either. I have heard people think wool is a lot of work. We have a pair of wool underwear so I have gone through the handwash/lanolizing and it really doesn't seem like a lot of work. Hand wash once/month vs machine wash potentially every day... I actually think wool would be less effort to keep clean. However, it's very expensive. One cover can cost $50! I'd certainly try it if I happened to end up with a cover but I don't think I'm likely to put out the money for them.
So I guess I'm largely undecided but I'd probably explore fitted with non-PUL covers. And if my current kid were out of cloth, I might just go disposable and focus on using far fewer diapers in general by doing more Elimination Communication. Oh, if I did decide to do cloth with a newborn, I'd definitely get a diaper sprayer.
Cloth diapers? That's hard. We've had a lot of trouble with cloth diapers and I'm not a huge fan despite the fact that we're still doing it. I'm not really sure what I'd do. If we had another child magically right at this moment... I'd probably cloth diaper since I'm already doing a small load for my currently diapered child, adding more to that load would mean no extra work.
But what kind of diapers... I don't know. We've never really dealt with poop since my daughter was consistently using the potty for that by the time we started CDing. Our current favorites, all-in-ones, don't seem to make sense for a newborn because it would be harder to rinse newborn poop out and that would need to happen all the time. I generally hate prefolds and one sized diapers. But both end up bunchy and my daughter got rashes quickly from anything that wasn't better fitted. That would make me crazy if I wore them so I lean away from that for my child. So that means I'd probably look into fitted diapers. (These are the diapers that basically look like diapers with elastic around the legs but don't have a waterproof cover attached.)
I've only tried one fitted style with my daughter and I didn't like it because it was enormous and the cover we had then fit very poorly. I'd like to be able to enjoy the tiny-ness of my newborn, I think. I don't think it has to be huge though. I'd look into fitteds that were of other materials like possibly hemp (we like our hemp liners that we use for night time) or ones sewn out of prefolds. Maybe I'd even make my own. (Right... I don't really sew.) But I'd probably consider something along those lines.
For covers... I don't really like the plastic-y kind. They don't breathe well. I keep hearing that cloth is much better for babies because it breathes more. I think that used to be true when disposables were mostly plastic, but disposables have evolved to be more breath-able and cloth becomes less so when it's wrapped in a plastic cover. It's been my experience that I get better temperature control and breath-ability with disposables.
I think I'd like a more cloth-like cover for general use and then perhaps a plastic-y one for out in the car or something. I have a fleece cover that I like a lot, but my toddler can easily defeat it (velcro) and requires me to use our pre-folds (which I trifold instead of wrap around her) so all that is a lot to do with a wriggly toddler. I'd seriously consider it with a newborn though. Especially if I already had a good fitted diaper I liked. The downside is that a very full diaper can leak through with pressure. For example, putting a kid with a wet diaper in the car seat and cinching it down might squish moisture through. That's why I'd want a plastic-type cover for those situations. But when we're at home, comfort is key.
I might also consider wool. People who use wool tend to love wool. But I also think people who cloth diaper love cloth diapering, and I don't so perhaps I wouldn't love wool either. I have heard people think wool is a lot of work. We have a pair of wool underwear so I have gone through the handwash/lanolizing and it really doesn't seem like a lot of work. Hand wash once/month vs machine wash potentially every day... I actually think wool would be less effort to keep clean. However, it's very expensive. One cover can cost $50! I'd certainly try it if I happened to end up with a cover but I don't think I'm likely to put out the money for them.
So I guess I'm largely undecided but I'd probably explore fitted with non-PUL covers. And if my current kid were out of cloth, I might just go disposable and focus on using far fewer diapers in general by doing more Elimination Communication. Oh, if I did decide to do cloth with a newborn, I'd definitely get a diaper sprayer.
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