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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Are You Willing To Do Cloth Diapers For DC Families?
cheerfuldom 07:36 PM 06-09-2011
I am one of the few in my area that is willing to cloth diaper DC kids. I got one of my part timers for this reason alone. I have cloth diapered all 3 of my kids and don't find it to be any harder than regular disposable diapers. I don't rinse/wash or do anything other than stick them in a waterproof bag to go home with kiddo. Each day the bag goes home and it must be waterproof and stink proof. Anyway, would you be willing to take a kid knowing they were cloth diapered? If you are licensed/registered, are there any regulations on cloth diapering for your daycare?
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Cat Herder 07:38 PM 06-09-2011
It is against regs here.

Infectious Disease Control issue in group care setting.
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sharlan 07:48 PM 06-09-2011
I wouldn't have an issue with it.
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youretooloud 07:59 PM 06-09-2011
I absolutely adore cloth diapers. LOL. I even have favorite diapers.
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PitterPatter 08:08 PM 06-09-2011
Good question! I have no idea what the reg is here. I don't think I would mind so much as long as I could send them home in a bag and not be asked to wash them. I have never known anyone who used cloth diapers so I'm just assuming there isn't much dif here? Do they leak or anything? If so that may change my mind.
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Candyland 08:12 PM 06-09-2011
my first though was Eeeewwwww

But, if your "parents" don't mind you just dropping the diaper in a bag...no shaking it out...I don't see anything wrong...but, then I would truly hate to be the parent who has to do something with it before it goes into the wash.
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Rachel 04:04 AM 06-10-2011
Yup, did them for my own 4 also
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Pammie 04:13 AM 06-10-2011
I accept cloth diapers and currently have one dcb use them.

Communicable Disease regulations here require that I NOT rinse/dump the diaper, but just bag it immediately for the parent to take home to launder.

My current dcb uses a diaper service, so mom and dad don't even wash them themselves:-)

I have an infant that will be starting in August that will be a cloth diaper baby too.
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SilverSabre25 04:33 AM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by Pammie:
I accept cloth diapers and currently have one dcb use them.

Communicable Disease regulations here require that I NOT rinse/dump the diaper, but just bag it immediately for the parent to take home to launder.

My current dcb uses a diaper service, so mom and dad don't even wash them themselves:-)

I have an infant that will be starting in August that will be a cloth diaper baby too.
Ooo, I didn't know there was a diaper service around here! Can you get me the name and number? Not that I mind doing them myself, but I could be interested in a service...

As to the original question, I have no problem using cloth with dcks, and have in fact had two kiddos inc are using them. Both families used the BumGenius dipes that are pretty much as simple as disposables. Cloth diapers get put into a wet bag and sent home each day.

Personally, I cloth diapered my DD and will be cloth diapering DS once his butt's a bit bigger--I use prefolds (Indian Prefolds are the best) with snappis (so much easier than pins!) and diaper covers/plastic pants.
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daysofelijah 04:39 AM 06-10-2011
Yes. I cd'd my three and will cd #4. I offer to cd daycare kids in pocket or AIOs only. I have had three dck's in cd.
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SimpleMom 04:41 AM 06-10-2011
I do. I let parents know that I can't rinse them and things like that, but they are so easy to use these days. I have them bring in the kind the have the pocket inserts. It's just like a regular disposable diaper.
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SunflowerMama 05:02 AM 06-10-2011
I cloth diapered my twins from birth and provide and clean the cloth diapers for my dcks. I only have one in dipes right now.

I'm licensed and they have no problem with it.
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Meyou 05:04 AM 06-10-2011
I don't mind at all as long as I have the supplies I need just like with disposables. I don't rinse or dump...just shake the cover in the wet bag and hang the used covers over the diaperbag so they don't get stinky for mom. It's no more difficult than disposables.
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littlemommy 06:05 AM 06-10-2011
I cloth diaper my son and absolutely LOVE it! Honestly, I think if I didn't have disposable diaper waste from the daycare kids, we could get away not having trash pick-up. We recycle every single thing we can, which cuts down on sooo much waste! I would love to have another cloth diaper baby come to my care, but there aren't many around here. Most moms who cloth diaper their babies stay home with them it seems.
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wdmmom 06:13 AM 06-10-2011
I wouldn't mind doing cloth but they have to be the "diaper style" type, I toss them in a bag and don't have to see wash/see/smell them. Just change and send them on home.

I had a prospective family tell me they wanted to do cloth. I had no problem with it. Until they told me it would be the old fashioned pin kind. No way, nu uh, not gonna do it. One wrong move (on my part or a kicking, rolling baby) and it's my rear. I'll pass.
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youretooloud 06:40 AM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by wdmmom:

I had a prospective family tell me they wanted to do cloth. I had no problem with it. Until they told me it would be the old fashioned pin kind. No way, nu uh, not gonna do it. One wrong move (on my part or a kicking, rolling baby) and it's my rear. I'll pass.

I don't like the pins either.

I love prefolds in a cover. (GOOD prefolds, not Gerber) http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/workhorse.htm These are good, and cheap, but still require a cover unless you don't mind a little wetness.

http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/diapers.htm <--good inexpensive prefolds.

Awesome covers. http://www.cottonbabies.com/index.php?cPath=139

But, they make some REALLLLY cute diapers that are more expensive. Some diapers cost as much as $40 a piece!

http://shop.thegoodmama.com/category_s/20.htm <--Cute, but YIKES!
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Country Kids 06:51 AM 06-10-2011
Have any of you ever noticed that the ones that have been in cloth diapers seem to potty train earlier and easier. I know I had all four of mine in cloth and they all potty trained so easy. My one son actually was potty trained at 18 months! With the disposable and then pull-ups it seems to take forever to potty train these days.
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ammama 07:33 AM 06-10-2011
I CD'd my last child, and will do it this time around also. I've had 2 dck's in cloth, and don't mind it at all. There are no regs here for cloth diapers specifically, other than following regular diaper changing hand washing routines and having a secure area to store dirty diapers. I will dump bm's if they are solid enough to do it easily, otherwise, right in the bag they go. Parents must provide a zippered waterproof bag to store them in, which goes home everyday, and the bag is hung in the changing area out of reach.
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PitterPatter 07:58 AM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by Country Kids:
Have any of you ever noticed that the ones that have been in cloth diapers seem to potty train earlier and easier. I know I had all four of mine in cloth and they all potty trained so easy. My one son actually was potty trained at 18 months! With the disposable and then pull-ups it seems to take forever to potty train these days.
Really? I may have to see about changing. I have a 4 yr old girl still in diapers. Shes new so I don't know what the deal really is but I don't think she is being worked with at home and when she keeps changing daycares it's harder. She's been out for a few weeks because DCM is off work due to an injury. I am hoping when she gets back she is trained. With Mom and Dad being there 24/7 it shouldn't be a problem.

I had my son potty trained at 16 months no lie!! He went for almost a whole week with no accidents. In underwear and just reverted slowly back to diapers. Oddest thing I have ever seen! A couple months later he was trained for good but I never did understand exactly why he reverted. My Mom says because he got lazy and it was easier and more satisflying to get the extra attention. I doubt that attention played a role because he had ALL of my attention those days. I was a stay at home Mom, no daycare, and Hubby lived here then as well.
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Mom_of_two 08:13 AM 06-10-2011
Yep. I have a DCB who is 15 mo in cloth, started here at 4 mo. They use a variety, Fuzzy Bunz with the plastic snaps are my fave. they also provide some disposable and disposable wipes to have on hand if I ever need. Takes a little extra time, but no big deal. I watch three plus my two kids so with five total it might be easier than someone watching eight or something!
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nannyde 08:35 AM 06-10-2011
Yes

The fee is three dollars per day.
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My Daycare 08:49 AM 06-10-2011
Regs here are opposite from others...

"A toilet shall be easily accessible so that the contents of reusable diapers may be disposed of before placing the diapers in the diaper pail. Disposable diapers and their contents shall be disposed of in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions."

I might consider it after the parents show me how.
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PeanutsGalore 09:22 AM 06-10-2011
I did offer it with my first client because I did it with my own son, but I had to stop offering it to future clients. The screamer was intolerant to any dampness at all and had a recurring diaper rash that only appeared when she used cloth. Her mom still used cloth on her anyway, whenever she could, despite her husband asking her to stop. I always used 'sposies on her here, but when she did come in with cloth, her mom asked me to use a special liner to be put into the diaper to help wick away the moisture from the skin, as well as another special liner to catch that yucky solid food poo. That doesn't work out well for my schedule--that's a five-component diaper to put together while there's a wriggling baby fighting with you on the table. And then you still have to get it on them, and repeat 6 times/day!

For those of you who use cloth, how do you keep things sanitary and keep from spending half the day doing diaper changes with the whole cloth process when the parent can't afford the all-in-ones? Multiple babies in cloth means they all have to have separate bags stored somewhere. I can't figure that one out--I have absolutely no floor space that my toddlers can't get to, and my house is small so no matter where I leave the bags, I smell the poo, so I have to drop diapers bags outside after every change and fetch them again before the next one. I can't imagine doing cloth diapers on multiple kids until I have a new bathroom added to the house and build it specifically with daycare in mind.

How do you do it? Where do you store all those dirty bags all day? Do the kids get into it?
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nannyde 09:32 AM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by PeanutsGalore:
For those of you who use cloth, how do you keep things sanitary and keep from spending half the day doing diaper changes with the whole cloth process when the parent can't afford the all-in-ones? Multiple babies in cloth means they all have to have separate bags stored somewhere. I can't figure that one out-
How do you do it?
I charge a fee for it. If you make 15 dollars a week for it then it's worth it to do the extra work.

When you have cloth discussions you get such a wide range of responses: It's VERY easy to do... no problem... no leaks... no extra work... simple to sort... simple to manage... To my experience of: more changes per day, leakage, clothing changes, bedding cleaning, sorting and returning to parents, conference time to manage, takes up real estate in the room etc.

It's not hard work to manage them ... it's just work. As long as I get paid for the time I don't mind doing it.
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youretooloud 09:42 AM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by PeanutsGalore:
For those of you who use cloth, how do you keep things sanitary and keep from spending half the day doing diaper changes with the whole cloth process when the parent can't afford the all-in-ones? Multiple babies in cloth means they all have to have separate bags stored somewhere. I can't figure that one out--I have absolutely no floor space that my toddlers can't get to, and my house is small so no matter where I leave the bags, I smell the poo, so I have to drop diapers bags outside after every change and fetch them again before the next one. I can't imagine doing cloth diapers on multiple kids until I have a new bathroom added to the house and build it specifically with daycare in mind.

How do you do it? Where do you store all those dirty bags all day? Do the kids get into it?
I have a plastic bucket with a snap on lid. (rubbermaid file box) and It just sits on the floor. But, I have a bathroom with a gate right next to my changer. So, I can set the diaper pails over the gate if I need to. I also have enough floor space. The kids mess with the disposable pail a lot more than the cloth pail. The disposable pail has a button on the top, so I need to move that one out of reach.

We use covers with a prefold in them. I just take the wet prefold out, stick a new one in, and close it and go. It doesn't take any more time than a disposable for us... but, there's probably a learning curve, so at first it might take more time.

I've never used an All in One, or a Pocket, so I don't know how those would be.
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PeanutsGalore 09:43 AM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
I charge a fee for it. If you make 15 dollars a week for it then it's worth it to do the extra work.

When you have cloth discussions you get such a wide range of responses: It's VERY easy to do... no problem... no leaks... no extra work... simple to sort... simple to manage... To my experience of: more changes per day, leakage, clothing changes, bedding cleaning, sorting and returning to parents, conference time to manage, takes up real estate in the room etc.

It's not hard work to manage them ... it's just work. As long as I get paid for the time I don't mind doing it.
See, I don't mind the work. I'd do it for no additional fee because I want to support cloth diapering, I just can't stand smelling poo all day, and there's no way in heck I'm going to let my son play with it or chase after him all day to keep him out of it. I just have to save more money so I can afford to add a real bathroom to my house!
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Sugar Magnolia 10:05 AM 06-10-2011
Have one girl in cloth diapers, my first one. Dreaded it at first, was worried about leaks, but its totally easy. Yes, regs say they cannot be rinsed out here and must be in a sealed container. Mom provided the container and lots of daipers. Easy as pie!
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cheerfuldom 10:28 AM 06-10-2011
If the parents have the right style and the right fit for their kid, there is no leaks. To me its not any extra work whatsover. The diapers do need to come ready to use so liners need to be layed in already, stuffable diapers or pockets need to be stuffed already, etc. I don't find that its extra diaper changes at all but I also check every kid every hour anyway. I don't let kids sit in their filth or what till a disposable is about to fall off. Parents can even get hanging bags to hang over a door or from a hook if you have storage issues. As long as moms supply everything and its ready to use, I don't find even a single downside to doing this. I have minimal diaper trash with only two in disposables right now, everyone else potty trained or in cloth. My older daughter trained before two years including nights and naps. The younger starting going on the potty at 16 months old and thats after a couple months of holding her back because I did not have trainers for her and didn't believe that she was actually ready yet. I love cloth diapering and wish more parents would try it. With 3 kids in less than 4 years, we have saved a fortune! Plus you can get a better variety of reusable swim diapers and trainers so thats even more.
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dEHmom 11:07 AM 06-10-2011
my last dcg came with both disposables and cloth. they preferred the cloth, but if they were running low, or if she hadn't had her poop yet when they dropped off, then they put her in disposables.

this is similar if not the same to what they had, and i liked them.



however, i found they were a lot bulkier, and so trying to get a little pair of jeans on and stuff was a lot harder. i bagged them and sent them home.
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squareone 11:16 AM 06-10-2011
I prefer disposables for daycare kids but I will accept cloth. I've had kids in care that used cloth diapers. The only thing I will be responsible for is putting the soiled diaper in the waterproof bag. If the process is any more involved than that, I would tell the family it won't be a good fit.

I will NOT do cloth wipes though!
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lpperry 11:53 AM 06-10-2011
My kids are in cloth diapers (bum genius) and I have one dck that uses cloth (also bum genius). I don't mind at all and actually prefer to use the cloth diapers. He brings his diapers in his diaper bag and cloth wipes. I have a spray for my own kids, so I just use our spray on his cloth wipes. I usually just put his soiled diaper in his wetbag, but if I have extra time that day, I'll dump the poop and/or rinse it (he doesn't poop that often though). I would do cloth diapers for anyone.

We go swimming twice a week and we do water play in swimsuits the other 3 days a week, so we go through lots of swim diapers. I recommend that the parents buy 2 cloth swim diapers to use here for the summer--much cheaper than buying the disposables. Most of them do this. I clean the swim diapers. I hate the pull up type disposable swim diapers--it is so much easier to use cloth swim diapers.
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dEHmom 12:01 PM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by lpperry:
My kids are in cloth diapers (bum genius) and I have one dck that uses cloth (also bum genius). I don't mind at all and actually prefer to use the cloth diapers. He brings his diapers in his diaper bag and cloth wipes. I have a spray for my own kids, so I just use our spray on his cloth wipes. I usually just put his soiled diaper in his wetbag, but if I have extra time that day, I'll dump the poop and/or rinse it (he doesn't poop that often though). I would do cloth diapers for anyone.

We go swimming twice a week and we do water play in swimsuits the other 3 days a week, so we go through lots of swim diapers. I recommend that the parents buy 2 cloth swim diapers to use here for the summer--much cheaper than buying the disposables. Most of them do this. I clean the swim diapers. I hate the pull up type disposable swim diapers--it is so much easier to use cloth swim diapers.
what is the difference between the cloth diaper and the cloth swim diaper? they look the same from the pictures i googled.
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lpperry 04:07 PM 06-10-2011
A cloth swim diaper is made to hold in the poop, but not the pee, just like a disposable swim diaper.

I think if you used regular cloth diaper (with insert) for swimming, but it would get really heavy.

The cloth swim diapers look similar to waterproof covers, but they are different. I use the Bummis Swimmi. They are really nice. They dry quickly too.
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Abigail 05:33 PM 06-10-2011
I'm not sure what my rules are about cloth diapering, but as long as it's allowed I will offer it for free. I will be cloth diapering my own children when I have them. My favorite (I learned and got experience through babysitting a CD family) it the bumgenius 4.0 hook and loop closure. It's good for 7-35 pounds, but I've heard to use disposables until about 10 pounds because they're best for 10+ pounds. I'm excited because I can register for a stash from Target online or else an expensive local boutique carries them as well. We DON'T have the option of a diapering service here because our city doesn't support it since it's not in high demand. I also only like Huggies wipes and will probably pass on the cloth wipes until a child is sent to daycare with them.
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PeanutsGalore 07:55 PM 06-10-2011
Originally Posted by youretooloud:
I have a plastic bucket with a snap on lid. (rubbermaid file box) and It just sits on the floor. But, I have a bathroom with a gate right next to my changer. So, I can set the diaper pails over the gate if I need to. I also have enough floor space. The kids mess with the disposable pail a lot more than the cloth pail. The disposable pail has a button on the top, so I need to move that one out of reach.

We use covers with a prefold in them. I just take the wet prefold out, stick a new one in, and close it and go. It doesn't take any more time than a disposable for us... but, there's probably a learning curve, so at first it might take more time.

I've never used an All in One, or a Pocket, so I don't know how those would be.
Ya, I don't mind using them. They're not that much more work really, but they are more work. I just don't have anywhere to store the used diapers that would be hygienec. My son gets into EVERYTHING, and once he shows them all the way............

I don't use a diaper pail for the 'sposies either. Brown bag and into the garbage once all or most of the poops are done for the day. The bag is stored on top of my microscopic bathroom counter with the door closed and the window open. It's the best option I have right now, and I can't store more than one bag. It hides the sink!

All in ones are great! I used the happy heineys on my son. I actually have a bit of a happy heiney obsession. The others are fine too, and fit better than the all in ones (IME), but I think I just had a bad first daycare experience all around. The screamer quickly grew out of the diaper covers her mom provided, and she pooped at least twice a day and a lot of the times, it was 3 times a day. And they were big poops, so there was no saving the diaper cover for reuse, and the wet bag didn't seal well because the tie came off. The real issue was there was so much poo she wanted me to use liners, and the little girl was so intolerant to dampness she wanted me to use an additional, extra special liner to wick the moisture away. I'll do cloth, but for daycare, I won't do it until I have a better setup to keep it away from the kids and lessen my workload so I don't have to transport all the equipment to the changing station before each diaper change, and I will REFUSE to do it for any kid who can't tolerate it in the future. And no extra liners! I draw the line there!
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PolarCare 09:26 PM 06-10-2011
I never used cloth diapers, and I don't currently use them on my daughter, 1. I'm spoiled to the ease of disposables, and she's the youngest of 6, and the youngest of 4 daughters in a row, so it's could get hectic adding more to the mix.

To he honest, I don't take kids in diapers. I don't depend on the income that I make from daycare, so I can wait a long time between clients for a good match. I prefer to care for school aged kids and possibly their preschool aged potty trained sibs. I know, I know, everybody loves babies, but I just like older kids better.
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KEG123 06:47 AM 06-11-2011
Yes i would very much be willing. We are going to CD our upcoming little one, and I actually considered doing prefolds and covers with daycare kids, but that would add a lot more laundry :laugh:

I'm actually running a cloth diaper co-op through Fuzzibunz if anyone wants to PM me for prices. wink wink.
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