I know that we have a couple of cloth diaper “experts” on here!

Super-Mama and I are planning on using cloth diapers, the bumgenius all in ones, when Super-Baby arrives next month. We are trying to decide if we should use cloth wipes or disposable wipes. I’m wondering if cloth wipes need to be kept moist or if they are just used dry? Or are disposable wipes the way to go?

Super-Papa - I turned to cloth wipes after the disposable ones gave my kids diaper rash. You can use them wet or dry. Here's what I did:

To use them wet, I got a big Tupperware container that could hold all the wipes. I put in probably about 2 tbsp or so of plain, unscented Dr. Bronners castile soap. I added 15 drops of lavender essential oil and 15 drops of tea tree essential oil. Then I boiled about a liter of water and poured the water in and mixed up the soap and oils. Once it cooled I put all the wipes in, sealed the lid and stored it in the baby's room. This supply lasted a bit over a week and I'd just wash them with the diapers.

To use dry, just make sure you have plenty of wipe solution in your squirt bottle. I made mine out of 1/2 cup of boiled water, 1/3 cup witch hazel, 1 tbsp castile soap, 1 tbsp jojoba oil and lavender and tea tree oil - about 7 drops of each. Shake the bottle before you use it, and you can just squirt it right on the wipe or on their skin.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not.

You can make them yourself fresh every day (Moist) and keep them in a little plastic bag - the old fashioned way. But, um that gets old fast if you have other stuff to do.

Or just listen to mightyninjamom because she's not a lazy I am!

Leighbie - oh, I can do some serious vegetating...that's why I would do everything ahead of time. So you know, I can sit on the couch and eat bon bons like all good SAHM's. ; )

There's a middle ground... we bought a cheap coffee carafe and put hot water in it at the beginning of the day. As we need the wipes wet we pour water over them (with a tupperware dish under to catch extra water). We didn't muck about with soap or anything, never found it necessary. For meconium, everybody recommended olive oil. We didn't deal with those because they all happened in the NICU before we were allowed to change diapers.

As for the cloth wipes, the best recommendation I can give you is an old soft flannel sheet or those million receiving blankets people give you, cut into squares. Then just wash them with the diapers.

mcglory - I will be the first to admit, the soap and oils were more for my benefit. Pregnancy nose never left, and changing poopy diapers was sheer torture.

I must admit, I use cloth diapers, but use disposable wipes. I thought about doing cloth ones, and actually, I think it would be easier when we travel because right now if I don't have a convenient place to throw away the wipes, I have to stick them in the bag with the cloth diaper and then dig them out later while if they were cloth wipes, I could just throw the whole thing in the wash.

Once Baby Grey moves out of my room maybe I'll go to cloth wipes. Girlie Grey was sensitive to disposable wipes and could only use a certain kind.

Another easier solution to put your cloth wipes in is in a bit of baby soap and water. The daycare in which I worked in college used to make their own wipes with soft paper towel by soaking a whole roll cut in half in a solution of baby soap and water. Worked great and was way cheaper than buying wipes. I think it could work for cloth, too.

We tried our own wipes, but could never find any material soft enough for his bum and thin enough to get into the crevices.

It would be good to try doing reusable wipes. You can always switch later or buy 1 package of disposable wipes for travel or emergency.

I do have one friend who does cloth diapers and wipes even when traveling and wow, that's dedication. I admire that. I can't do it.

We never bothered with wipes unless we were traveling (and of course, for the daycare). We generally just used paper towels wet with plain water from the tap. And if we did have to use wipes, for instance during a long car trip, then we got the plain, unscented ones for sensitive skin.

We used cloth ones for a long time - a bunch of little washcloths you can get in the baby section of Target or somewhere - and put them in a Tupperware with warm water and baby soap and a little oil.

But oddly, after a while, they started emanating this mysterious stink, no matter how much we washed them. So now we use disposable wipes. I was sad to have to make that change.

Kathy, that's when you use MNM's favorite, the Bac Out soap, or try stripping them with vinager or in the dishwasher. (Apologies if you did that stuff and it didn't work).

I'd love to use cloth wipes when #3 comes along. The disposables are really versatile and travel friendly though. We use them for everything it seems. Cleaning faces, buts, hands, coffee tables, etc.

Has anyone done the math on disposables vs. cloth diapers? It just seems like a big chunk of change up front. I'm all confused. But I'll put up a thread about this months from now.

MttM - I think it depends on what kind of diaper you decide to use. I spent around $200 for everything - that was 50 diapers (just your basic chinese prefold), 50 wipes, and 12 covers.

I did use a diaper service until the kids were six months old - and that ran me about $70 or less a month.

MttM - I the Meconium did a story on cloth vs. disposables a while back. Or maybe it was just what was a more eco-friendly choice. I think cloth did beat out disposable for $$ over all.

Also, you can buy cloth diapers used, either locally or through diaperswappers.com, and when you do that it becomes not terribly expensive at all, even for the nice pocket ones. And like I said, our wipes were cut up receiving blankets and sheets and thus were free.

One of the websites for diapers has a comparison price chart
http://www.diaperpin.com/calculator/Calculator.asp

Generally, over three years, you'd save $1000 or more. it also depends on how many sizes you'll need over the years. At the very least, you will probably break even.

Of course - you should also factor in less money on diaper rash creams too... the savings are endless.

Diane - this is one reason I waited until the kids were six months old to diaper them myself - my kids were pretty small babies, and by waiting to use the medium size prefold, they made it all the way to potty training with the same size diaper! I did invest in some bigger covers though.

Hey everybody! Thanks for all of the great information! Super-Mama and I greatly appreciate it!

we have both cloth wipes and disposables, and I have to say, for boys, disposables are best. Because the poo keeps hiding in all kinds of places on boys. So you think you're done wiping up, and then you look again and see that you're not.

Now that the baby is older and that event is not happening every few hours, maybe I should start using the cloth ones more seriously. Good suggestions here.

Cloth diapers are so much better in terms of money. And also just catching those little fountains that boys make. When we travel, it sucks not having a big pile of cloth diapers around for every little emergency.