TuscMoms.com

I think I'm going to try the Kushie AIOs. I was reading reviews on different diapers online and Kushies seem to do fairly well, plus they are a better price than many of the other AIOs. I found a good price at Walmart.com and you can have them shipped to the store so you don't have to pay shipping and handling. Here's the link if any one else is interested:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4601013

LawMommy (or anyone else here that has used Kushies)-
The infant diaper is for 5 to 22 pounds and the toddler diaper is 22 to 45 pounds. My LO weighs about 19 pounds. Do you think I could get away with using the toddler size or would it be too loose on him, causing leaks? I'd hate to buy the infant size, just for him to grow out of it in a couple of months or so.

I think you'd be fine using the toddler size, probably better with a doubler in there in case there's extra room. It can't hurt to go ahead and get the toddler size. if it's too big, then you can use something smaller until he grows into them. I love Kushie's and plan to bring them out and dust them off for the next baby! I hope they work as well for you!

I just ordered the 5 pack of toddler diapers and a pack of the doublers. They are supposed to be delivered to the store in 7 to 10 days. If I like them, I'll order more. I haven't counted how many diapers I use in a day recently, but I know it's a lot more than 5! I'll let everyone here know how they work.

LawMommy- The next thing I was going to ask was if they hold up well for use on more than one child, but I guess they do since you plan on using yours again! Do you have any tips on how to get them to last longer? I'm going to get DH to put up a clothes line soon. Maybe line drying will cause less wear and tear and help lighten stains. Also, I saw in the reviews for different types of diapers that several people complain that they hold odor. What's the best way to keep them from getting a yuck odor? I saw somewhere that using too much laundry detergent can make them hold on to odor more. That's the opposite of what I would have thought. Did you find that to be true?

SarahMay, they have definitely held up well for us. The Kishie's classic ones (the ones that don't have a cover and are not AIO) didn't hold up much past one child, I found. And that's what we used the most of with #1, but we did buy some AIO's in the toddler size after he was a year old or so, and those held up great through use with #2 and we plan to use them again with #3. We also bought more with #2, so those have only been through one child. I will say that, as I've mentioned before on other threads, we toilet train fairly young (first one at 21 months and second one at 19 1/2 months), so I'm sure that makes a huge difference on wear and tear. But I also think that cloth diapers made it much easier to train the kids, since they were aware of their elimination earlier on than I think they would have been in disposables (because they can feel the wetness in cloth diapers).
I haven't had any trouble with lingering smells, and I am very sensitive to smells and odors (it's a running joke in my family - I can smell everything, to a fault). My washing routine consisted of washing in hot with an extra rinse and some white vinegar splashed in. Then drying in the dryer on hot. With my first child I also soaked them in a prewash (and put the vinegar in then instead of with the wash cycle), but with the second child I found I had less time and more laundry to do, so I only did the pre-wash if I had a particularly icky load to do. And I didn't notice any difference cutting out the prewash soak and basically decided it was just a waste (of water and time). I had a pail with a washable liner and would wash diapers every other day and the liner once or twice a week or as needed. Oh, I will add that I always thorougholy rinsed out poopy diapers before putting them in the pail - I'm sure leaving poop on them would encourage yucky smells to linger.
Good luck with it! I hope it works out for you. I wouldn't do it any other way.

Sarahmay-
that looks like a really good deal on those diapers. I may order some of those myself. I am really liking the cloth diapers and wish I would have done it sooner! I think you will find the same to be true!

lawmommy- I have a quick question. I have read that if your child had a diaper rash that you should not use diaper cream on them while using a cloth diaper. Is that true, and if so what do you do?

Mom2alec, I have never read that about the diaper rash. I did use Resinol and some other creams at times on mine in cloth diapers. I will say, though, that the few times I used disposable diapers were the times that mine got the worst rashes, and they really didn't have bad rashes that often, except for a couple of times when they had upset stomachs or when cutting molars, for whatever reason.
Did what you've read say why you shouldn't use cream with cloth diapers? btw, Resinol will stain a cloth diaper, but that never bothered me, as the stain is on the inside anyway.

Yes, I just heard that it could mess up the absorbancy. And I did use resinol one time and noticed it stained the diaper so I was just wondering about it. Also, on a differant note, are you saying that babies get rashes on there bottoms when they cut molars? Because Alec has a rash right now and I know of no other reason and I had not heard that before.

I don't know that the idea of cutting molars causing diaper rashes is supported by medical experts, but I can say that I noticed with both of mine a sourness to the poopy diapers when they were cutting teeth that seemed to me to lead to a rash. It was like it would upset the balance and make it extra acidic or something, which in turn would irritate their bottoms. Again, this is purely anecdotal, from experience, not from hard science.

when I bought our 1st cloth diapers at baby talk store, they said no diaper rash stuff or anything like that, it could mess with the absorbancy. Washing they said, rinse in cold water, then wash in hot. only use detergent that is "plain" no fragrances added kind of thing. Drying them they said, only half dry them in the dryer then air dry, no fabric softners.

Mom2Alec- I heard the same thing about diaper rash cream and wondered what cloth diaper users do about diaper rash.

Mluvsjaa- Did the people at BabyTalk tell you what to do if the baby gets diaper rash?

Mom2Alec- Are you using cloth full time now or still disposable some too?

I still say using diaper rash cream from time to time had no discernible (sp.?) effect on the absorbancy. But we do use the Seventh Generation unscented laundry detergent and never any fabric softener or bleach or anything like that. Vinegar is the only thing I add.

I use both still. One reason is because I only have a few cloth ones. Another reason is that my husband is not too fond of changing the cloth. And one more reason is that we take Alec to the church nursery on Sundays and Wednesdays so I don't want to inconvenience the caregivers there. So I use them when I am off which is every Mon, Wed, Fri, and every other weekend. My mom keeps him Tuesdays and Thursdays and she uses them if I have them clean and send them to her. I have really noticed a difference in how may disposables I have had to buy, and how much longer it takes me to fill up the diaper pail.

I'll have to alternate between cloth and disposable for a while, too...Till I'm able to buy more of the cloth diapers. Even if I really like the cloth ones, I'll probably continue to use disposable occasionally, like if we go out of town or something. I don't think my husband will mind changing the pee diapers, but I'm not sure if I will be able to convince him to rinse to poo diapers! I think moms usually deal with the icky parts of baby care better than the dads.