A cloth diaper is a cloth diaper?

The things I look for in a cloth diaper are as follows:

 

1.)  Most economical....I prefer One Size diapers over Sized or Fitteds diapers because One Size will grow with you baby from birth to potty training (in most cases). 

 

2.)  Ease of Use...I prefer AIO (All in One) over all others because there is no stuffing, folding or snapping in of soakers.  And no covers required.  Next to that I prefer snap in soakers over pockets (which need to be stuffed) one of the newest brands w/ a snap in soaker feature is the Gro-Baby which is also One Size.  *Bum Genius is the only brand I'm aware of that makes a One Size & All-in-One diaper...most AIO's are sized.

 

3.)  Natural fibers against baby's skin....my DD had a reaction to polyester suedcloth (which is the inner fabric in many cloth diapers).  Reactions can be rare but, if you putting allot of $ out for diapers for your family/friends you don't want to take the risk they they may also have or develop a reaction to synthetic fibers.

 

4.)  Snap Closures....vs. the velcro (hook & loop) closures).  I prefer snaps over velcro because 1.)  My DD can;t open her diaper w/ the snaps but she could with the velcro....even with pants on & 2.)  There is less wear and tear on diapers with snap closures because there is no risk of snags and pilling.  They stay newer longer.

 

There are indeed SO, SO many options out there and when it comes down to it, it's a matter of finding out what works best for each individual person/budget.  The Cloth Diaper Whisperer Blog is a wonderful resource to to help make sense of the monsoon of information on cloth diapering.

 

Cloth diapering on a tight budget?

 

You can get a large number of pre-folds (at least 24 for the newborn days) and at least 6 wipe clean covers (as opposed to having to purchase 24+ AIO diapers).  2 great wipe clean One Sized covers are the Blueberry One Size Coveralls & Wonderwraps and 2 popular wipe clean fitted wraps are the Bummis Super Bright Cover & the Thirsties Cover. You can generally re-use the wraps 3-4 times just swapping the soiled pre-folds out for a fresh one after wiping/rinsing the cover off with water...and because the wraps are so trim you don't even need pins or snappies to hold the pre-fold in place.  So you will only go through 2-3 wraps a day.  Here are 2 blog postings about it...

 

Pre-fold 1

 

Pre-fold 2

 

Having even just 6 pre-folds and 2 covers on hand is a wonderful way to reduce wear and tear on your nicer diapers....ensuring that they will last you through subsequent children.  I was planing on ordering my own pre-folds and covers this week.

 

Hope all that helps!

I personally use one size diapers with inserts.  Similar to Bum Genius brand, they are Sunbaby from ebay.  They have snap-downs so they fit from birth through potty training...thus no expense of buying new ones as the child grows.  My son is 2 and is still wearing his just fine (he also is potty training wonderfully :)). 

 

These diapers also are pockets with inserts, which means the inserts are removed and washed separately from the diaper itself.  I had some experience with all-in-ones (AIOs) and it didn't go well for me.  Washing the entire diaper, I could never seem to get it clean.  Maybe because of our hard water, I have no idea, but it didn't work out for me.  The one size pockets have been the best for me!

 These are some great tips. Thank you Amanda. I am new to all of this too. This was very helpful.

 

Your welcome!  Glad it could be helpful.

 

The Bum Genius Organic One Size All-In-One is different from the typical AIO in that the insert is sewn in on top in 2 layers so when washing, it gets good and clean unlike your standared AIO's which have all of the soaker sewn inside as one single piece.

I had a baby 5 months ago (my third kid) and this is the first time my husband and I use reusable diapers. Right now we are trying baby kicks prefold and we have tried some g-diapers. This is as far as we have gone because we really didn't know how to start and it cost money to buy this stuff.  So price is a big deal right now, for everyone I think. The ease of use is another. How eco-friendly is another. I would love to find something that is eco-friendly, baby -friendly, money saving, and convinient for busy parents. The g-diapers are convienent but pricey. The prefolds baby-kicks work, but they need to be changed often. A bad diaper would be too pricey or too much trouble. A good diaper would be a compromise of all our needs. I imagine the cheapest are probably prefolds, but not always convinient. We still use disposable eco-friendly diapers for going out just to save ourselves from any possible messes. If you need an extra tester I would be more than happy to help out. I would love to figure it all out.

Um, yea....G-Diapers are VERY expensive and IMO, they should not even be considered a re-usable diaper.  The cover is re-usable....but the guts are not therefore your are continuing to accrue an expense to yourself and the planet.  Yes I know they are biodegradable but since you have to keep buying them, they have to use the energy to keep making them and shipping them and plus the packaging they come in etc.  I just never really saw the point in g-diapers since I wanted to SAVE money. 

 

True cloth diapers are generally purchased one time & if cared for properly, can be used for subsequent children (making your savings for your pocketbook & the planet even greater) or if your on your last kiddo you can sell them to someone else who would get use out of them when your done thus re-cycling them AND getting some of your money back.  Many of the companies stand behind their diapers 100% and have great warranties and wonderful customer service so it's easy to get a replacement if needed.

 

One web site you may find of interest is the Real Diaper Industry Association.  Here you can get the basics of washing/caring for Cloth diapers etc.

 

Speaking of which, Prefolds can actually be a wonderful addition to any cloth diaper stash, especially if you want your "nicer diapers" to last longer.  How many times did you pre-wash them?  They should be pre-washed at least 6 times but it can take up to 12 total washes before they reach full absorbency.  And as I mentioned above there are other ways to use pre-folds such as just laying them in a cover w/ a tapered fold.....no need to fasten w. pins etc.  I recently added some "flats" to my stash (very old fashioned cloth diapers) because I was able to get 12 for less than $18 and then some covers.  I fold them as shown in the blog post mentioned above (tapered) and place them in a diaper cover...good leg gussets are a must for this method.  My DD lasts just over 2 hours w/ no leaks.  (and due to chronically sensitive skin I should be changing her every 2 hours regardless of the absorbency of the diaper ...excluding nap & bed time of course).  I have noticed that with the tapered fold it does wad up a bit in the front so I'm going to play around with different folds to see if I can prevent this....it just doesn't look very comfortable.

 

All that being said, make sure you have pre-washed your prefolds enough and add some good quality covers like Blueberry One Size Coverall's or Wonderwraps Once size cover....these covers are the most economical since they grow with your baby...and you should be able to sucessfully mix your prefolds into your stash.  (I would not reccomend them alone for long naps or overnight sleeping though.).  Then if you add some "nicer" diapers like the Bumgenius One Size Organics or GroBaby you will have a great, easy to use stash.  The initial output of money may seem like allot w/ diapers like the BG Organics BUT since you wont be buying anymore then you will eventually start SAVING money....unlike the G-Diapers where you have to keep spending money...and allot of it.

 

 

Cloth diapers are SOOO different.  Mostly in how they fit.  I thought I found the perfect diaper with my son they were amazing and so I thought it would work great with the second.  Well she had a totally different body type and they didn't work at all.  I ended up having to buy several types to figure out what would work for her.  One that wouldn't give her marks on her legs or leak or fall off;)   I suggest buying one or two of each brand and seeing what works with the babies body type.  You can find them on craigslist or ebay pretty cheap and then invest in the ones that work.  Just my two cents!!

G-diapers have cloth inserts too.  The idea is that you can use either the cloth or the disposable inners. 

My Babies are long grown up now, I so wish we had all these options back then! Here is a link to diapers, organic cotton liners, disposable liners and many baby care products chemical free with organic ingredients =)

 

https://www.onlygreen.com/greengoodness/shop/catalogue/?tag=Baby_Care

My Babies are long grown up now, I so wish we had all these options back then! Here is a link to diapers, organic cotton liners, disposable liners and many baby care products chemical free with organic ingredients =)

 

https://www.onlygreen.com/greengoodness/shop/catalogue/?tag=Baby_Care

Both my kids were in washable nappies. I tried out all-in-ones like Kooshies and the stuffable ones like Fuzzibunz. They were good but the most absorbent ones and the ones that didn't leak were Tots Bots with a wrap. They were both out of nappies at 20mths. I used cloth menstrual pads now as disposables also add to landfill. The ones are use are Peeweez found at the link below.

 

www.peeweez.co.uk