Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Winner of the Dry Bees Giveaway
The winner of the Dry Bees giveaway is Mrs. Smitty! Congratulations! You have 48 hours to contact me at graciemom1025 at gmail dot com.
Didn't luck out? Then try for our next giveaway for an Econobum diaper. Don't forget you get extra entries for things like completing additional surveys, sharing videos and articles, and submitting sample pictures.
Didn't luck out? Then try for our next giveaway for an Econobum diaper. Don't forget you get extra entries for things like completing additional surveys, sharing videos and articles, and submitting sample pictures.
Guest Post: Are some disposable diapers more affordable than using cloth diapers?
I have seen a lot of great rundowns comparing the cost of using disposables with using cloth...but I always wonder, 'What if I am couponing or getting some great Costco deals?' I soon came across a great spreadsheet on the Granola Babies website that broke down various estimates on buying with great deals on diapers and comparing them with cloth diapering. This is the most reasonable and honest breakdown I have found, so I asked Giselle from Granola Babies to submit a post to Padded Tush Stats. Lots of people may have different opinions on this, as I learned from my own research on this topic. You could probably dispute the costs both ways, just note this is one estimate based on one mama's experience. My cousin diapers her baby using disposables for free (by getting Amazon giftcards for using swagbucks and filling out surveys), but even with that, I would argue that you could use the Amazon gift cards to buy cloth diapers instead and the cost of washing would probably be made up for in possibly reselling the diapers at the end). So there are multiple ways to show the numbers, but I really liked this approach and found it to be more realistic than what I have seen. Check out her spreadsheet, it rocks.
VS 
Are some disposable diapers more affordable than using cloth diapers?
Written by Giselle Baturay
At .10 per disposable diaper, surely disposable are more affordable than cloth, right? As the owner of a busy cloth diapering store, Granola Babies, I often get questions whether cloth diapers really are more affordable than disposable diapers. For example, recently I heard, “I’m getting my disposables diapers at a great sale, so it’s actually cheaper than cloth diapers.”
“Really? Let’s do the math.”
At .10 cents a disposable diaper, plus .03 cents per wipe and assuming if you’re like most parents, you need at least 2-4 wipes for a diaper change. And you’re changing a diaper about 8 times a day (most pediatricians recommend changing your baby every 2-3 hours). You’re looking at roughly $45 a month for disposable diapers and wipes – really affordable disposable diapers and wipes that are at least non-scented (since we’re comparing with cloth diapers). That means that in that first year alone, you’ll spend about $540 total for disposable diapers (again very affordable disposable diapers – any other more “natural” disposable diaper will be a lot more).
Now, let’s do the math for cloth diapers and since we’re comparing simple, super affordable disposable diapers, we should also compare simple, super affordable cloth diapers – prefolds and covers. You’d need 24 prefolds + 6 covers + 24 cloth wipes. The total cost is $152 total – from newborn through potty training.
Super cheap disposable diapers at $540for the first year (doesn’t even include the second year or third year) vs. $152 for cloth diapers. Cloth diapers wins! Even with the most affordable disposable diapers, cloth diapers still wins when it comes to affordability.
There are so many other factors that make cloth diapering even more affordable. And our spreadsheet with a detailed cost analysis between generic disposable diapers and more luxurious cloth diapers also shows the savings when using cloth diapers.
For every budget there’s a cloth diapering system. Most parents are actually not buying the .10 cents disposable diapers (which as we shown are still more expensive than cloth diapers). They are buying the more expensive disposable diapers and spending a good $40 a box each time and some parents are spending this on a weekly basis. The costs of using disposable diapers on a child from birth through potty training are easily $2,000 - $3,000. Whereas the costs of cloth diapering even at the most basic cloth diapering system is about $150 from birth through potty training. And should a parent use a more elaborate cloth diaper, it’s still around $600 (for all-in-one cloth diapers) vs. $2,000. Again, this doesn’t factor in other savings with cloth diapers, such as using cloth wipes.
Choosing cloth diapers is greater than disposable in so many levels. Price is only one of these. But, less rashes, no chemicals, no toxins, safer and better for our environment (that’s a price we’re all paying into every single day because of disposable diapers…and another blog post all together), more enjoyable, softer on baby (would your baby prefer softness over paper on his bum?) , and the pride of knowing you’ve chosen a path that while saves your budget, also saves the greater good of everyone around you…including your baby.
Since 2005, Granola Babies has helped parents choose cloth diapers online and now also in our retail store in Southern California. And one thing we find is that parents are often surprised with the amount of savings that they earn when choosing cloth but also with how many cloth diapers they can get for their budget.
Don’t be fooled by the lure of what seems cheaper than cloth diapers options. Do the math, or take our word, as we’ve done the math for parents many many times – cloth diapers are always more affordable than disposable diapers.
Like this article? Pass it on to someone who might be interested! It would be an interesting facebook post!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Helping Out Friends - Econobum Giveaway
Have you checked out the "Ick and Eeck of Cloth Diapering" Video?
It is associate with this post
This next giveaway is associated with that. You can earn EXTRA entries by sharing that video with friends. My main goal with this post is to encourage people around us to cloth diaper. Although it may not be for everyone, it doesn't hurt to give friends some info!
The lucky winner of this giveaway wins and Econobum Diaper cover and Insert.
It is associate with this post
This next giveaway is associated with that. You can earn EXTRA entries by sharing that video with friends. My main goal with this post is to encourage people around us to cloth diaper. Although it may not be for everyone, it doesn't hurt to give friends some info!
The lucky winner of this giveaway wins and Econobum Diaper cover and Insert.
I encourage you to give this item to a friend of yours who doesn't cloth diaper and encourage them to join the Change 3 Things challenge
My main goal is to get as much word about this video out as possible, so this giveaway is a little interesting. I have the form down here, but you will notice that you get extra entries for each day you talk about this video and/or giveaway on your blog/facebook/twitter. If you do this, just come back tot his page and fill out a NEW giveaway entry, providing your name and email and ONLY checking the boxes for what you did that day (so if you do a Tweet one day, just come back and enter your name, email, and check the tweet box on the form).
Giveaway will end on 4/1/2011 at 11:59PM PST.
Winner will be selected via Random.org and e-mailed.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Ick and Eek of Cloth Diapering: A post for the skeptics
Do you know of a friend who might like cloth diapers if they knew it was SO EASY? Send this post their way!
Cloth diapering may not be for everyone, but I firmly believe that cloth diapering is definitely for MORE people than there are people actually using cloth diapers. I think when many people think of cloth they think of pinning and folding, being elbow deep in poop, etc. I was disgusted with the thought of cloth diapering two years ago...but once I found out the real facts behind cloth diapering, I decided to give it a try and I have not turned back since.
In a recent Padded Tush Stats survey, 88 individuals responded and indicated their reasons for being intimidated by cloth diapering. In this post, I will break down those responses and will also give some pieces of advice that they have for disposable diaper users who may want to give cloth diapering a try.
POOP
Let’s cut to the chase: poop is gross. Many people I have encountered (including myself two years ago) don’t want to deal with the poop of cloth diapering. 32% of survey respondents felt that the poop was the most intimidating factor of cloth diapering. But the fact is, there are so many things that make your interaction with the poop just as much as interaction with poop when using disposables. You have a few options for dealing with the poop:
* A flushable liner: these kind of look like dryer sheets. You lay them on the diaper. When it gets soiled, you simply dump the liner into the toilet and you are done with it.
* Breasfted baby: If your baby is exclusively breastfed (so not on solids or formula), the poop actually dissolves in water. So you can actually just throw it in your wash. I know that sounds gross. Just TWO WEEKS ago I thought this sounded gross. But when I sprayed my newborn baby’s diaper, I saw how it dissintegrated immediately and how a rinse in the wash would do just as much.
* Diaper Sprayer: A diaper sprayer hooks on to the side of your toilet. When you have a dirty diaper, you simply spray it out over the toilet and that’s it!
Washing
This too is another intimidating aspect of cloth diapering that really is more simply than it seems. 27% of survey respondents said this intimidated them at first, and many indicated in their comments that it really was easy once they figured it out. Here are some things to consider:
* Wet Bag: you can store cloth diapers in a “wet bag.” This is a zippered bag lined with waterproof material. you just throw soiled diapers in it and it traps in the smell (mine even has a little fleece patch you could drop essential oils on). On laundry day, you just throw the unzipped wet bag in the washing machine. No need to TOUCH those diapers!
* A lot of people “ick” over the though of it being washed in its own poo. Most cloth diaperers actually do a rinse on the machine first to get the “ick” out of there. Then they do a normal wash.
* The actual washing of the diaper is kind of like following a recipe. You may follow the recipe, and based on how it tastes you would tweak the recipe (hmmm, a metaphor involving “tasting” something probably isn’t appropriate when talking about poopy diapers!). So you can start with a basic washing machine, and then based on whether your diapers still stink or if you have issues with pee not absorbing, then you can tweak it by adding more rinses, adding more detergent, adding less detergent, etc. For this, you can go to diaperswappers.com and post your question/concern and people will answer your question immediately
Pinning/Folding, etc
When I heard about cloth diapers, I assumed they were just burp rags pinned on a baby. 10% of survey respondents felt intimidated by cloth diapering because of the pinning and folding. The fact is, cloth diapers are so modern. In fact, many look just like disposables in structure, only they are covered in cute patterns. Yes, many cloth diaperers do pin diapers, but you don’t have to! There are plenty of easy-to-use diapers.
Cost
8% of survey respondents felt that cost was an intimidating factor when it came to cloth diapering. This could be because of the initial cost investment for cloth diapering. People also try to compare cloth diapering costs with the cost of diapering with disposables using coupons. With all of the amazon deals on disposable diapers going around lately, it is difficult to truly claim that cloth diapering is CHEAPER than disposable diapers. You can get both cloth diapers and disposables for steals, but it is important to consider four things about cloth diapering before you decide:
1) Multiple children: If you are diapering more than one, then it is difficult to argue that disposables are cheaper. You can do the math, but many have and find that it simply is cheapest to do cloth
2) Resale value: Cloth diapers can be resold and you can get back a portion of your money (the amount depends on the kind of diaper and the condition of the diaper). If you buy diapers used, then you get even more of your original “investment” back
3) Cost of washing diapers: Many people who chose cloth do not factor this into their decision. Some cloth diaperers do not factor in this cost, but it is important to consider. It is helpful to look up your machine and look up estimates of cloth diapering using that machine. I love this post that breaks down the cost of diapering realistically, and accounts for washing.
4) Diaper type: Costs of diapers vary greatly. You can stick with flats/prefolds, which are very inexpensive, or you can go for all in ones, which are basically a cloth version of a disposable, and they are a little more expensive. What type would work best for you? It would help to try out a small variety first. I initially went for prefolds and found it was too much for me, so I now do all in ones and all in two’s. I did the math and it turns out I am still saving money by doing this (given my current situation).
Test it out
Cloth diapering may be difficult for people with different life situations and I don’t want to ignore that. There may be many people who might face a few more challenges. Disposable just might be the best option for your situation, but I highly recommend you give cloth a shot. There are several cloth diapering trial programs that cost you VERY little money. Here are some recommendations:
Sew Crafty Baby has a trial program where you can purchase 3 diapers and send them back with a 90% refund.
Green Diaper Demos has a trial program. You can purchase 1-10 items and if you don’t like them, you get 80% back (or, if you get halfway through the stash and find you don’t like cloth diapering at all, you get 100% back). You do have to pay for shipping back to them. If you chose to ship back and buy more diapers, then you get a 90% refund in the form of store credit. My favorite part about this program? If you spend more than $75 on your trial package, you get a FREE wetbag and FREE wipes and you do not need to return them if you decide you don’t want to cloth diaper!
Jillian’s Drawers also has a trial program. With this program, if you change your mind, you are only out $10 (plus shipping back to them. This program costs $159.94.
What to try?
I asked survey respondents to tell you what they would suggest you start with. The top pics were:
Bumgenius Pocket diapers
Bumgenius All in One Diapers
Fuzzibunz Pocket Diapers
Resources
One thing that MANY survey respondents recommended was to talk with people who cloth diaper. They can help you pick what might work best for you. Don’t know of anyone? DiaperSwappers is a great community where you could ask questions.
Here are some other sites to check out:
Diaper Facts: http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php
Washing Cloth Diapers: http://realdiaperindustry.org/guide-to-washing-cloth-diapers
Advice
I asked survey respondents if they had any advice for people considering cloth diapering or to tell you how they got over their fears. Here is what they said:
My husband wanted to cd the whole time but I believed the old school horror stories about them but my son started having problems with disposables and that's when we switched. when he was 2 months old. I fell in love with cloth diapers then and cant get enough of them!!!! All the stories about the washing and pins and folding are no longer true. It's so simple and I cant think of a single down side to using cloth now!!
Knowing that there were things available that make dealing with poop a lot easier- like disposable liners, diaper sprayers, etc. Also just doing it and seeing that it wasn't that bad made a big difference. But the diaper sprayer was key to overcoming my fear!
Reading blogs and watching youtube videos helped me see that it wasn't scary. I also found many moms in my area who use cloth. Having a support networks helps to answer my questions.
Its just easy...it washes out clean when they're newborns and you use liners or a diaper sprayer when they're older.
Savings are incredible!! I figured I couldn't go wrong to just give it a try.
Once I started cloth diapering, I found that dealing with the poop wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!
Realizing that all I had to do was stick them in the washer, add soap, wash once on cold then once on hot, stick them in the dryer and out came these clean reusable cloths that required no soaking or scrubbing. The "ick" facter was gone, and my baby doesn't get diaper rash.
Discovering that it could be just as easy as disposables (pockets, aio's, etc). Though in the end, I went with prefolds anyway because I did my research and realized it's not that hard anyway and I'd save a ton of money.
Just decided I was going to have to do it because we needed to save the money with another on the way there is no way we could afford disposables for two.
Because I fully believe that dealing with snotty noses, pee, poop, vomit, and just about each and every bodily fluid your child can produce comes with the territory of simply being a parent. You are going to deal with your child's poop either way- cloth or disposable- so why not deal with poop while helping the environment?
It is just part of our routine and it really is simple! It only takes like 5 mins out of my day to throw everything in the washer and then the dryer. SIMPLE!
Just buy a few of some different brands or styles and see what you like best. Also, buying a couple allows you to try it, change into a cloth diaper and see if that is something you could do. For me I found that just doing that I was sad when the cloth ran out and I had to get more. I also liked having all of the same stash. It was easier for day care, dad and grandparents to know how to do them. Trying to teach them all the styles was impossible. They all liked drybees because they are just like disposables. I did fitteds and wool too but that would have confused them terribly.
1. Cloth diapers hold their value well. If you try cloth diapers and decide you don't like it, you can easily recover most of your investment.
2. Cloth diapering really is easier than you would imagine!
3. Find a cloth diaper store that offers a trial package. A trial package gives you the opportunity to try a wide variety of diapers to see what works for you and your baby.
Honestly, it’s easy. not nearly as scary as everyone makes it out to be, and you save a BUTT load of money :)
Try it, you wont know how easy and economical it is till you have given it a shot. also try more than one kind of diaper till you find what it best for your family and lifestyle. for example in my home we use bummis covers with prefolds and fleece liners, but when i drop the baby off at the sitter her diaper bag is full of all in one diapers or prestuffed pockets and a wet bag for the sitter to toss them in. if the poo bothers you get a sprayer for the toilet and a pair of rubber gloves.
Don't be afraid to use cloth and disposables. The diaper police won't arrest you if you use disposables at night!
Don't be intimidated! It is SO easy! Seriously....I HATE doing laundry...but it takes me all of FIVE MINUTES to do the diaper laundry!! Throw 'em in, add soap, close. Toss in dryer...toss in laundry basket. Or toss them over a laundry line. Easy as could be!!!
Borrow some from a friend to see if you like it. And give it time. It does take a while to find the cloth diaper love.
Take baby steps. We used a lot of disposables in the beginning - it was just too overwhelming for me with all of the sleep deprivation and other things that come with being a new Mom. Then we started using cloth diapers a few times a day, and it quickly turned into all day! Do what feels comfortable to you!
Buy the diapers, try them for two months, if you hate them you have lost nothing but time because they have all ready paid for themselves, if you love them they will now start paying you back. Imagine your budget $100 or more lighter every month. Kinda makes parenting more affordable, now diaper your next child for free, BONUS!!!
Don't get stuck in feeling intimidated. Actually TRY it, then decide from there. No one says you have to buy a full set of diapers. I got a 2 pack of gDiapers at babies r us (because I didn't think I'd like it) and I haven't looked back since!
Cloth diapering may not be for everyone, but I firmly believe that cloth diapering is definitely for MORE people than there are people actually using cloth diapers. I think when many people think of cloth they think of pinning and folding, being elbow deep in poop, etc. I was disgusted with the thought of cloth diapering two years ago...but once I found out the real facts behind cloth diapering, I decided to give it a try and I have not turned back since.
In a recent Padded Tush Stats survey, 88 individuals responded and indicated their reasons for being intimidated by cloth diapering. In this post, I will break down those responses and will also give some pieces of advice that they have for disposable diaper users who may want to give cloth diapering a try.
POOP
Let’s cut to the chase: poop is gross. Many people I have encountered (including myself two years ago) don’t want to deal with the poop of cloth diapering. 32% of survey respondents felt that the poop was the most intimidating factor of cloth diapering. But the fact is, there are so many things that make your interaction with the poop just as much as interaction with poop when using disposables. You have a few options for dealing with the poop:
* A flushable liner: these kind of look like dryer sheets. You lay them on the diaper. When it gets soiled, you simply dump the liner into the toilet and you are done with it.
* Diaper Sprayer: A diaper sprayer hooks on to the side of your toilet. When you have a dirty diaper, you simply spray it out over the toilet and that’s it!
Washing
This too is another intimidating aspect of cloth diapering that really is more simply than it seems. 27% of survey respondents said this intimidated them at first, and many indicated in their comments that it really was easy once they figured it out. Here are some things to consider:
* Wet Bag: you can store cloth diapers in a “wet bag.” This is a zippered bag lined with waterproof material. you just throw soiled diapers in it and it traps in the smell (mine even has a little fleece patch you could drop essential oils on). On laundry day, you just throw the unzipped wet bag in the washing machine. No need to TOUCH those diapers!
* A lot of people “ick” over the though of it being washed in its own poo. Most cloth diaperers actually do a rinse on the machine first to get the “ick” out of there. Then they do a normal wash.
* The actual washing of the diaper is kind of like following a recipe. You may follow the recipe, and based on how it tastes you would tweak the recipe (hmmm, a metaphor involving “tasting” something probably isn’t appropriate when talking about poopy diapers!). So you can start with a basic washing machine, and then based on whether your diapers still stink or if you have issues with pee not absorbing, then you can tweak it by adding more rinses, adding more detergent, adding less detergent, etc. For this, you can go to diaperswappers.com and post your question/concern and people will answer your question immediately
Pinning/Folding, etc
When I heard about cloth diapers, I assumed they were just burp rags pinned on a baby. 10% of survey respondents felt intimidated by cloth diapering because of the pinning and folding. The fact is, cloth diapers are so modern. In fact, many look just like disposables in structure, only they are covered in cute patterns. Yes, many cloth diaperers do pin diapers, but you don’t have to! There are plenty of easy-to-use diapers.
Cost
8% of survey respondents felt that cost was an intimidating factor when it came to cloth diapering. This could be because of the initial cost investment for cloth diapering. People also try to compare cloth diapering costs with the cost of diapering with disposables using coupons. With all of the amazon deals on disposable diapers going around lately, it is difficult to truly claim that cloth diapering is CHEAPER than disposable diapers. You can get both cloth diapers and disposables for steals, but it is important to consider four things about cloth diapering before you decide:
1) Multiple children: If you are diapering more than one, then it is difficult to argue that disposables are cheaper. You can do the math, but many have and find that it simply is cheapest to do cloth
2) Resale value: Cloth diapers can be resold and you can get back a portion of your money (the amount depends on the kind of diaper and the condition of the diaper). If you buy diapers used, then you get even more of your original “investment” back
3) Cost of washing diapers: Many people who chose cloth do not factor this into their decision. Some cloth diaperers do not factor in this cost, but it is important to consider. It is helpful to look up your machine and look up estimates of cloth diapering using that machine. I love this post that breaks down the cost of diapering realistically, and accounts for washing.
4) Diaper type: Costs of diapers vary greatly. You can stick with flats/prefolds, which are very inexpensive, or you can go for all in ones, which are basically a cloth version of a disposable, and they are a little more expensive. What type would work best for you? It would help to try out a small variety first. I initially went for prefolds and found it was too much for me, so I now do all in ones and all in two’s. I did the math and it turns out I am still saving money by doing this (given my current situation).
Test it out
Cloth diapering may be difficult for people with different life situations and I don’t want to ignore that. There may be many people who might face a few more challenges. Disposable just might be the best option for your situation, but I highly recommend you give cloth a shot. There are several cloth diapering trial programs that cost you VERY little money. Here are some recommendations:
Sew Crafty Baby has a trial program where you can purchase 3 diapers and send them back with a 90% refund.
Green Diaper Demos has a trial program. You can purchase 1-10 items and if you don’t like them, you get 80% back (or, if you get halfway through the stash and find you don’t like cloth diapering at all, you get 100% back). You do have to pay for shipping back to them. If you chose to ship back and buy more diapers, then you get a 90% refund in the form of store credit. My favorite part about this program? If you spend more than $75 on your trial package, you get a FREE wetbag and FREE wipes and you do not need to return them if you decide you don’t want to cloth diaper!
Jillian’s Drawers also has a trial program. With this program, if you change your mind, you are only out $10 (plus shipping back to them. This program costs $159.94.
What to try?
I asked survey respondents to tell you what they would suggest you start with. The top pics were:
Bumgenius Pocket diapers
Bumgenius All in One Diapers
Fuzzibunz Pocket Diapers
Resources
One thing that MANY survey respondents recommended was to talk with people who cloth diaper. They can help you pick what might work best for you. Don’t know of anyone? DiaperSwappers is a great community where you could ask questions.
Here are some other sites to check out:
Diaper Facts: http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php
Washing Cloth Diapers: http://realdiaperindustry.org/guide-to-washing-cloth-diapers
Advice
I asked survey respondents if they had any advice for people considering cloth diapering or to tell you how they got over their fears. Here is what they said:
My husband wanted to cd the whole time but I believed the old school horror stories about them but my son started having problems with disposables and that's when we switched. when he was 2 months old. I fell in love with cloth diapers then and cant get enough of them!!!! All the stories about the washing and pins and folding are no longer true. It's so simple and I cant think of a single down side to using cloth now!!
Knowing that there were things available that make dealing with poop a lot easier- like disposable liners, diaper sprayers, etc. Also just doing it and seeing that it wasn't that bad made a big difference. But the diaper sprayer was key to overcoming my fear!
Reading blogs and watching youtube videos helped me see that it wasn't scary. I also found many moms in my area who use cloth. Having a support networks helps to answer my questions.
Its just easy...it washes out clean when they're newborns and you use liners or a diaper sprayer when they're older.
Savings are incredible!! I figured I couldn't go wrong to just give it a try.
Once I started cloth diapering, I found that dealing with the poop wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!
Realizing that all I had to do was stick them in the washer, add soap, wash once on cold then once on hot, stick them in the dryer and out came these clean reusable cloths that required no soaking or scrubbing. The "ick" facter was gone, and my baby doesn't get diaper rash.
Discovering that it could be just as easy as disposables (pockets, aio's, etc). Though in the end, I went with prefolds anyway because I did my research and realized it's not that hard anyway and I'd save a ton of money.
Just decided I was going to have to do it because we needed to save the money with another on the way there is no way we could afford disposables for two.
Because I fully believe that dealing with snotty noses, pee, poop, vomit, and just about each and every bodily fluid your child can produce comes with the territory of simply being a parent. You are going to deal with your child's poop either way- cloth or disposable- so why not deal with poop while helping the environment?
It is just part of our routine and it really is simple! It only takes like 5 mins out of my day to throw everything in the washer and then the dryer. SIMPLE!
Just buy a few of some different brands or styles and see what you like best. Also, buying a couple allows you to try it, change into a cloth diaper and see if that is something you could do. For me I found that just doing that I was sad when the cloth ran out and I had to get more. I also liked having all of the same stash. It was easier for day care, dad and grandparents to know how to do them. Trying to teach them all the styles was impossible. They all liked drybees because they are just like disposables. I did fitteds and wool too but that would have confused them terribly.
1. Cloth diapers hold their value well. If you try cloth diapers and decide you don't like it, you can easily recover most of your investment.
2. Cloth diapering really is easier than you would imagine!
3. Find a cloth diaper store that offers a trial package. A trial package gives you the opportunity to try a wide variety of diapers to see what works for you and your baby.
Honestly, it’s easy. not nearly as scary as everyone makes it out to be, and you save a BUTT load of money :)
Try it, you wont know how easy and economical it is till you have given it a shot. also try more than one kind of diaper till you find what it best for your family and lifestyle. for example in my home we use bummis covers with prefolds and fleece liners, but when i drop the baby off at the sitter her diaper bag is full of all in one diapers or prestuffed pockets and a wet bag for the sitter to toss them in. if the poo bothers you get a sprayer for the toilet and a pair of rubber gloves.
Don't be afraid to use cloth and disposables. The diaper police won't arrest you if you use disposables at night!
Don't be intimidated! It is SO easy! Seriously....I HATE doing laundry...but it takes me all of FIVE MINUTES to do the diaper laundry!! Throw 'em in, add soap, close. Toss in dryer...toss in laundry basket. Or toss them over a laundry line. Easy as could be!!!
Borrow some from a friend to see if you like it. And give it time. It does take a while to find the cloth diaper love.
Take baby steps. We used a lot of disposables in the beginning - it was just too overwhelming for me with all of the sleep deprivation and other things that come with being a new Mom. Then we started using cloth diapers a few times a day, and it quickly turned into all day! Do what feels comfortable to you!
Buy the diapers, try them for two months, if you hate them you have lost nothing but time because they have all ready paid for themselves, if you love them they will now start paying you back. Imagine your budget $100 or more lighter every month. Kinda makes parenting more affordable, now diaper your next child for free, BONUS!!!
Don't get stuck in feeling intimidated. Actually TRY it, then decide from there. No one says you have to buy a full set of diapers. I got a 2 pack of gDiapers at babies r us (because I didn't think I'd like it) and I haven't looked back since!
Monday, March 7, 2011
For those expecting a baby...
This is kind of a tangent to the overall theme of this website, but since I get asked quite a bit what I recommend for a baby registry, I thought I would create this little handout. I wasted A LOT of money buying stuff that TOTALLY didn’t work so here is my list of loves/hates.
I will soon add diapers to this list (since this IS a cloth diapering website), but I haven't cloth diapered a newborn yet (give me two weeks!) so I want to wait until then. This is just the general stuff…
Top 10 Recommendations
1) Video Monitor - I laughed when I first saw this, thinking it was ridiculous, but this was THE BEST
investment I could make. At least for our girl, she would cry and kind of console herself, but we knew once she stood up she’d stand for hours, so it allowed us to gauge whether or not to go in. Plus it has helped me catch when my stripper baby has pulled off her diaper and started playing marbles with her twosies! (I know, ick). My biggest piece of advice is to MAKE SURE that it is a private feed video monitor. Most of the ones on the market right now have had issues where people are seeing other people’s babies! I use the Summer Infant 02640 Best View Handheld Color Video Monitor. My ONLY complaint with this is that it interferes with my WiFi in the house (making it slow or impossible to use WiFi), so you may want to see if they have come up with something better.
2) Mini Pack and Play - We had a large pack and play, but I loved
3) Cloth Diapers - I’ll admit, when I was pregnant the thought of cloth diapers DISGUSTED me BIG time. But I soon got to a point where I was knee deep (or I should say elbow deep!) in poop and the thought of dumping poop into a toilet didn’t freak me out since my daughter was blowing OUT of her disposables and getting poo all over her
clothes anyway. I also thought you had to be an origami artist in order to work cloth diapers. Turns out that they are SO modern now and look just like disposables, only a little cuter. When I switched the cloth diapers, I spent less money on diapers (it cost us roughly $60/month to use disposables so by the time baby is 2 years old we would have spent $1,400 on diapers...whereas you can get a GOOD quality , high end supply of cloth diapers for $400, PLUS they usually resell for 50% of their initial price--and many parents can cloth diaper for as low as $250!). You just dump the twosies in the toilet, rather than having them marinate in a diaperpail! I think you need five essentials to cloth diaper:
* a variety of diapers (I would be happy to help you with this. Don’t go out and buy $400 worth of one kind of diaper. Instead, buy a few diapers and see how it works). My personal favorites are
Ragababes (only sold at Ragababe.com) and Softbums (I buy mine through Sewcraftybaby.com and friend them on facebook and get a discount on their discount page plus free shipping). You will find that you can get good cloth diapers that are as easy to put on as disposables. See this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJrhX1hrkwA
* a wet bag or diaper pail with a liner - this is great. You just throw the diapers in here and then throw the whole bag in the wash, bag
included. I recommend a Leslie’s Boutique bag, they are high quality and have a nice fleece patch inside that you can dot essential oils on to make it smell good. Hubby takes baths RIGHT NEXT to the diaper pail and doesn’t notice a stink
* diaper sprayer - you can wait until you are REALLY sure you want to cloth diaper before you get this. It attaches to the side of your toilet and allows you to spray the poopy diapers clean. I find this very easy to do. If you aren’t wanting to do this, you can get flushable liners, which look like dryer sheets, that just rest on the diaper and when the baby poops you just turn the diaper upside down over the toilet and say buh-bye to the twosies. I recommend the Bumgenius diaper sprayer.
* cloth wipes - might as well get these if you are throwing stuff in a wet bag anyway. There’s no point in having a separate trash can for disposable wipes. I like the Ragababe cloth wipes.
Whether you chose to use disposables or cloth, I HIGHLY recommend joining Swagbucks if you haven't already. Basically you earn these "bucks" just by searching the internet like you always do. Once you get enough bucks you can purchase an Amazon gift card (I get a $5 gift card once every two weeks). If you start early enough, you will have enough to get either cloth or disposable diapers for FREE. Find a friend who has an account, since for every buck you earn they earn a buck. If you don't know of someone, feel free to use mine ;)
4) A Travel System - We made the mistake of buying a carseat and then buying the stroller separately. Problem is, unless you buy the
same brand, the seat won’t fit in the stroller. We did much research and tested out a lot of strollers and found that the Chicco Cortina had THE BEST wheel design. It is so good that I can run with it. If you don’t plan to use your stroller much, then go ahead with the fancy designs. But if you are out and about, you want something that maneuvers well, and this definitely does.
5) Large receiving blankets - OK this drives me CRAZY. The receiving blankets that are sold mostly in stores are WAY to small. You can barely tuck them under in a swaddle. I recommend either making your own or the best brand I have found are the Target Dwell Studio Receiving Blankets.
6.) Sleepsacks/swaddling blankets - I guess every doctor has a
different take on this, but our doctor said NO blankets for the baby because of SIDS risk. We found that when small, swaddling blankets are GREAT (I have no particular brand preference here). They have velcro that basically makes it so much easier to swaddle the baby. The sleepsacks are great when the baby is older. We like the Halo sleepsacks. The nice thing is you don’t have to worry about a baby kicking blankets off in the middle of the night! The sleepsacks are good for 6 months and up. For under that age, swaddling blankets work SO well.
7.) Boppy Pillow - Great for breastfeeding, great to put baby in, and, most importantly, GREAT to prop baby up for pictures!
8.) Portable Changing Pad - I just think it is a waste
to buy a changing table. It’s an extra piece of furniture and I found most of my diaper changes occurred on the couch, bed, floor, etc. I liked the Summer Infant Contour Changing Pad
9.) Breast SHELLS - Oh I wish I had
known about these on day 3. I was in so much pain and couldn’t feed my baby. These finally saved me. I needed something to keep the girls from rubbing on fabric. You only use these the first few weeks, but they were WELL WORTH the purchase. I like the Medela Breast Shells.
10.) Portable High Chair - I can’t stress enough how much we love
this. It is great to take to relatives, it is great as a timeout chair, and it is great when the high chair is dirty ;) I also liked to put daughter in this as I was cleaning different rooms. AWESOME. You could also use a Bumbo baby seat, which I love, but it only lasts so long. Whatever chair you get, make sure there is a divider for the legs so baby doesn’t slouch down in the chair.
If you plan on purchasing any of these products through amazon, would you mind using my affiliate link? I have honestly found that Amazon is the cheapest place to get things, just sign up for Amazon Mom to get free shipping (contact me if you need help on how to do this). I also use my swagbucks to buy Amazon gift cards. I earn swagbucks just by searching the internet like I always do, and every other week I earn a $5 Amazon gift card. Not too shabby!
What didn't work
I don’t mean to offend here. These products might work for some, they just did not work for us.
1) A diaper bag that has a changing pad built into it. Most of the time, they aren’t long enough for a baby so they are just a pain. Make sure the changing pad is removable
2) Dr. Brown’s bottles - hard to clean and there are so many other breastfeeding-friendly bottles out there (we liked Avent)
3). Slings - TEST TEST TEST TEST. If you can’t find a good one in a store, then use PaxBaby where you can try out different ones. Make sure it isn’t a forward facing one, as that hurts babies’ development (too much pressure on baby’s hips). I spent OVER $200 in slings alone just to find the right match. We like the Cybex for Daddy and the BabyHawk Oh Snap and Baby K’tan (best used from 0-9 months) for Mama.
4) Jumperoo- I love the jumperoos, but MAKE SURE you get one that fits through a doorframe. Ours was great, but we couldn’t move it through rooms because we would have to take it apart!
5). Bouncer - maybe people have great experiences with these, but I can’t tell you how many toes my husband and I have stubbed on these! I’d rather stick with a Boppy Pillow or Swing to put baby in.
6) Baby towels - I just don’t get it. You want the baby to be warm...and yet you make a baby towel paper thin? That’s how they come nowadays and I just don’t get it. And that cute little hoodie part, well I know my babies’ giant head NEVER fit in it. The best bet is to make your own towels with regular bath towels. There are plenty of patterns online.
Tips for the hospital
* If they give you a pitcher for your water, KEEP IT. It is great for pouring water over babies’ head, heating up milk, watering plants, etc. I know our hospital has a policy where they have to throw away everything that they give you, so you might as well take this.
* Have the lactation consultant’s number on hand - at my hospital the nurse has to recommend you to a consultant. My nurse was silly and kept removing me from the list. So I wish I had the consultant on speed dial since I had a lot of problems.
* REST. I can’t stress this enough. You are going to LOVE watching relatives and friends dote on your baby while you are in the hospital, but this is the best time for you to get some shuteye before you are home and on your own. Of course it is great to have them there for a little while, but it is perfectly OK to tell them you need to get some rest (and if you don’t think they will listen, maybe your nurse could help!)
* If you get an epidural, DO NOT let them take out the catheter until you can walk to the bathroom yourself. Just trust me on that one...
* If you are pretty sure you are wanting an epidural, tell them well in advance so they can have it at the ready. It took over an hour to get mine in. EEK.
* Bring those heating pad patches (thermacare?) to the hospital and put on lower abdomen. My midwife recommended this. That was the worst part of my post labor pain and it happened right at the end of breastfeeding. Make sure you let your doctor/nurse/midwife know you are doing this!
Anyone else have any tips???
I will soon add diapers to this list (since this IS a cloth diapering website), but I haven't cloth diapered a newborn yet (give me two weeks!) so I want to wait until then. This is just the general stuff…
Top 10 Recommendations
1) Video Monitor - I laughed when I first saw this, thinking it was ridiculous, but this was THE BEST
investment I could make. At least for our girl, she would cry and kind of console herself, but we knew once she stood up she’d stand for hours, so it allowed us to gauge whether or not to go in. Plus it has helped me catch when my stripper baby has pulled off her diaper and started playing marbles with her twosies! (I know, ick). My biggest piece of advice is to MAKE SURE that it is a private feed video monitor. Most of the ones on the market right now have had issues where people are seeing other people’s babies! I use the Summer Infant 02640 Best View Handheld Color Video Monitor. My ONLY complaint with this is that it interferes with my WiFi in the house (making it slow or impossible to use WiFi), so you may want to see if they have come up with something better. 2) Mini Pack and Play - We had a large pack and play, but I loved 
having one next to the bed that made it easy for me to get in and out of. It was so handy and lightweight (although I rarely took it down). It was so much easier to bend over and pick my baby up than a pack and play or crib (even with the “bassinet” in the pack n’ play...but remember, I am short). I loved the small pockets on the side that I was able to put burp cloths, diaper (and yes, dirty ones at times), nipple shields, etc. in. It lasted until about 4 months with my girl, although I think it could have gone longer. After that, we took out the bassinet part and it made a nice little pack n’ play that she played in while I worked out. We have the Graco Travel Lite Crib - Barcelona Bluegrass.
3) Cloth Diapers - I’ll admit, when I was pregnant the thought of cloth diapers DISGUSTED me BIG time. But I soon got to a point where I was knee deep (or I should say elbow deep!) in poop and the thought of dumping poop into a toilet didn’t freak me out since my daughter was blowing OUT of her disposables and getting poo all over her
clothes anyway. I also thought you had to be an origami artist in order to work cloth diapers. Turns out that they are SO modern now and look just like disposables, only a little cuter. When I switched the cloth diapers, I spent less money on diapers (it cost us roughly $60/month to use disposables so by the time baby is 2 years old we would have spent $1,400 on diapers...whereas you can get a GOOD quality , high end supply of cloth diapers for $400, PLUS they usually resell for 50% of their initial price--and many parents can cloth diaper for as low as $250!). You just dump the twosies in the toilet, rather than having them marinate in a diaperpail! I think you need five essentials to cloth diaper: * a variety of diapers (I would be happy to help you with this. Don’t go out and buy $400 worth of one kind of diaper. Instead, buy a few diapers and see how it works). My personal favorites are
Ragababes (only sold at Ragababe.com) and Softbums (I buy mine through Sewcraftybaby.com and friend them on facebook and get a discount on their discount page plus free shipping). You will find that you can get good cloth diapers that are as easy to put on as disposables. See this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJrhX1hrkwA * a wet bag or diaper pail with a liner - this is great. You just throw the diapers in here and then throw the whole bag in the wash, bag
included. I recommend a Leslie’s Boutique bag, they are high quality and have a nice fleece patch inside that you can dot essential oils on to make it smell good. Hubby takes baths RIGHT NEXT to the diaper pail and doesn’t notice a stink * diaper sprayer - you can wait until you are REALLY sure you want to cloth diaper before you get this. It attaches to the side of your toilet and allows you to spray the poopy diapers clean. I find this very easy to do. If you aren’t wanting to do this, you can get flushable liners, which look like dryer sheets, that just rest on the diaper and when the baby poops you just turn the diaper upside down over the toilet and say buh-bye to the twosies. I recommend the Bumgenius diaper sprayer.
* cloth wipes - might as well get these if you are throwing stuff in a wet bag anyway. There’s no point in having a separate trash can for disposable wipes. I like the Ragababe cloth wipes.
Whether you chose to use disposables or cloth, I HIGHLY recommend joining Swagbucks if you haven't already. Basically you earn these "bucks" just by searching the internet like you always do. Once you get enough bucks you can purchase an Amazon gift card (I get a $5 gift card once every two weeks). If you start early enough, you will have enough to get either cloth or disposable diapers for FREE. Find a friend who has an account, since for every buck you earn they earn a buck. If you don't know of someone, feel free to use mine ;)
4) A Travel System - We made the mistake of buying a carseat and then buying the stroller separately. Problem is, unless you buy the
same brand, the seat won’t fit in the stroller. We did much research and tested out a lot of strollers and found that the Chicco Cortina had THE BEST wheel design. It is so good that I can run with it. If you don’t plan to use your stroller much, then go ahead with the fancy designs. But if you are out and about, you want something that maneuvers well, and this definitely does. 5) Large receiving blankets - OK this drives me CRAZY. The receiving blankets that are sold mostly in stores are WAY to small. You can barely tuck them under in a swaddle. I recommend either making your own or the best brand I have found are the Target Dwell Studio Receiving Blankets.
6.) Sleepsacks/swaddling blankets - I guess every doctor has a
different take on this, but our doctor said NO blankets for the baby because of SIDS risk. We found that when small, swaddling blankets are GREAT (I have no particular brand preference here). They have velcro that basically makes it so much easier to swaddle the baby. The sleepsacks are great when the baby is older. We like the Halo sleepsacks. The nice thing is you don’t have to worry about a baby kicking blankets off in the middle of the night! The sleepsacks are good for 6 months and up. For under that age, swaddling blankets work SO well. 7.) Boppy Pillow - Great for breastfeeding, great to put baby in, and, most importantly, GREAT to prop baby up for pictures!
8.) Portable Changing Pad - I just think it is a waste
to buy a changing table. It’s an extra piece of furniture and I found most of my diaper changes occurred on the couch, bed, floor, etc. I liked the Summer Infant Contour Changing Pad9.) Breast SHELLS - Oh I wish I had
known about these on day 3. I was in so much pain and couldn’t feed my baby. These finally saved me. I needed something to keep the girls from rubbing on fabric. You only use these the first few weeks, but they were WELL WORTH the purchase. I like the Medela Breast Shells.10.) Portable High Chair - I can’t stress enough how much we love
this. It is great to take to relatives, it is great as a timeout chair, and it is great when the high chair is dirty ;) I also liked to put daughter in this as I was cleaning different rooms. AWESOME. You could also use a Bumbo baby seat, which I love, but it only lasts so long. Whatever chair you get, make sure there is a divider for the legs so baby doesn’t slouch down in the chair.If you plan on purchasing any of these products through amazon, would you mind using my affiliate link? I have honestly found that Amazon is the cheapest place to get things, just sign up for Amazon Mom to get free shipping (contact me if you need help on how to do this). I also use my swagbucks to buy Amazon gift cards. I earn swagbucks just by searching the internet like I always do, and every other week I earn a $5 Amazon gift card. Not too shabby!
What didn't work
I don’t mean to offend here. These products might work for some, they just did not work for us.
1) A diaper bag that has a changing pad built into it. Most of the time, they aren’t long enough for a baby so they are just a pain. Make sure the changing pad is removable
2) Dr. Brown’s bottles - hard to clean and there are so many other breastfeeding-friendly bottles out there (we liked Avent)
3). Slings - TEST TEST TEST TEST. If you can’t find a good one in a store, then use PaxBaby where you can try out different ones. Make sure it isn’t a forward facing one, as that hurts babies’ development (too much pressure on baby’s hips). I spent OVER $200 in slings alone just to find the right match. We like the Cybex for Daddy and the BabyHawk Oh Snap and Baby K’tan (best used from 0-9 months) for Mama.
4) Jumperoo- I love the jumperoos, but MAKE SURE you get one that fits through a doorframe. Ours was great, but we couldn’t move it through rooms because we would have to take it apart!
5). Bouncer - maybe people have great experiences with these, but I can’t tell you how many toes my husband and I have stubbed on these! I’d rather stick with a Boppy Pillow or Swing to put baby in.
6) Baby towels - I just don’t get it. You want the baby to be warm...and yet you make a baby towel paper thin? That’s how they come nowadays and I just don’t get it. And that cute little hoodie part, well I know my babies’ giant head NEVER fit in it. The best bet is to make your own towels with regular bath towels. There are plenty of patterns online.
Tips for the hospital
* If they give you a pitcher for your water, KEEP IT. It is great for pouring water over babies’ head, heating up milk, watering plants, etc. I know our hospital has a policy where they have to throw away everything that they give you, so you might as well take this.
* Have the lactation consultant’s number on hand - at my hospital the nurse has to recommend you to a consultant. My nurse was silly and kept removing me from the list. So I wish I had the consultant on speed dial since I had a lot of problems.
* REST. I can’t stress this enough. You are going to LOVE watching relatives and friends dote on your baby while you are in the hospital, but this is the best time for you to get some shuteye before you are home and on your own. Of course it is great to have them there for a little while, but it is perfectly OK to tell them you need to get some rest (and if you don’t think they will listen, maybe your nurse could help!)
* If you get an epidural, DO NOT let them take out the catheter until you can walk to the bathroom yourself. Just trust me on that one...
* If you are pretty sure you are wanting an epidural, tell them well in advance so they can have it at the ready. It took over an hour to get mine in. EEK.
* Bring those heating pad patches (thermacare?) to the hospital and put on lower abdomen. My midwife recommended this. That was the worst part of my post labor pain and it happened right at the end of breastfeeding. Make sure you let your doctor/nurse/midwife know you are doing this!
Anyone else have any tips???
Overview of Diapers
OK, I have a confession to make. I spend A LOT of time on Diaper Swappers forums. After much use (and way too many posts) I have found that there is one particular user who I find to be my go-to person to answer any questions on cloth diapers. Therefore, when I wanted to create an overview of cloth diapers, I knew that she would be the person to write this post. She knows so much about all kinds of diapers.
So I present to you, the overview of cloth diapers, written by Michelle from Green Diaper Demos. Thanks Michelle!
So you have entered the world of cloth diapering. Welcome!! There are many styles out there and there is no right or wrong here, everyone has their favorite and all are well supported in the cloth diapering community. Let’s go over the basics though. We will start from the simplest sewing wise to the most complex.
Prefolds are a step up from flats. They are also rectangular (usually cotton but there are also Hemp and Bamboo) and are a couple layers thick but in the middle third, they are several layers thick (this is why they are called “prefolds” because they are like a partially folded flat). However, they do still require some folding to go from a rectangle to a diaper around a baby. With wrap-style covers nowadays though, many mamas simply fold the prefold into thirds any lay in the cover instead of wrapping around baby and securing with pins or a Snappi but both are common even today.
Fitteds are shaped like a diaper, contain leg elastic, and have their own closures (usually Velcro or snaps). A cover is still required to make this waterproof but with the two together, this combo is bulletproof when it comes to runny poo! 
Pros: Already in the shape of a diaper so no folding required. It is unlikely that messes will escape both the fitted diaper and the cover and produces a leak-free diapering system. Covers can be used across multiple diaper changes.
Cons: still a multi-piece diapering system and is thus more complicated than other methods out there. This method can also be pretty spendy for an entire stash of fitteds in each size.
Covers are what keep your flats/prefolds/contours/ and fitteds from getting your baby’s clothes wet. Covers can be made of various fabrics from polyurethane laminate (PUL) to wool. They can be pull-on, side-snapping, or a wrap-style. 
Pocket Diapers are made up of generally a waterproof outer layer sewn directly to a stay dry material lining (this wicks the wetness away from baby’s bottom ) with a removable absorbent core that gets stuffed in-between the two layers through an opening either in the front, back, or middle which gives it its name of a pocket diaper. Pros: This method is one of the most practical methods of modern cloth diapering. These are great for grandparents, daycare, and babysitters as the diaper goes on just like a disposable but with hooks, Velcro, or snaps. Drying is also quick since the absorbent part of the diaper is separated during laundry. You can also customized how absorbent you want the diaper (like for overnight) by adding additional absorbent inserts.
Cons: My husband says the only thing he dislikes about these diapers is that you have to pull the insert out prior to placing the used diaper in the pail or wet bag. There are exceptions though as some pocket diapers are made such that the insert falls out on its own in the washer machine. Also, the repeated stuffing of the absorbent core (also called insert or soaker) into the pocket diaper annoys many mamas and you only get one use out of entire diaper before it needs to be washed again.
All-In-Twos (AI2s) A waterproof material for the outside forms a cover over an insert (the trifolded prefolds with a diaper cover would be considered an AI2). Some have a snap to keep an absorbent liner in place. 
Pros: This method is great because you can reuse the cover (as long as it is not soiled) and just switch out the insert. Drying is quick since the absorbent part of the diaper is a separate piece. This makes for a pretty inexpensive yet convenient diapering solution.
Cons: For newborns with explosive runny poos, you need to have extra covers on hand since the covers will get soiled more often.
All-In-Ones (AIOs) Similar to the pocket diaper except the absorbent inner is sewn in. There are no separate pieces to this diaper, all are sewn together. (Some AIOs have the absorbent piece snap in, but it would not be considered an AI2 because the cover part is not designed to sustain more than one use between washings)
Pros: The ultimate in convenient easy cloth diapering. Simply put on baby and then when used, put in a pail or wet bag. No inserts to stuff, no folding, no bunching etc. These are great for grandparents, daycare, babysitters and are completely Daddy-Proof!
Cons: These are usually pretty pricey and take a long time to dry and you only get one use one use out of the diaper before it needs to be washed again.
So I present to you, the overview of cloth diapers, written by Michelle from Green Diaper Demos. Thanks Michelle!
So you have entered the world of cloth diapering. Welcome!! There are many styles out there and there is no right or wrong here, everyone has their favorite and all are well supported in the cloth diapering community. Let’s go over the basics though. We will start from the simplest sewing wise to the most complex.
Flats are a single layer of fabric (usually cotton) that you fold in various ways around baby to make the diaper. This is the original “one size” diaper. You can use pins or a Snappi (a bungee cord type fastener that have teeth like an Ace bandage) to hold the diaper together.
Pros: Flats are super cheap and a natural fabric and you can reuse covers with them.
Cons: All the folding can be time consuming for some and they require a cover to be waterproof and do not have a layer that wicks away moisture from baby’s bottom (generally called “stay dry”). These tend to be not very daycare friendly. Also, when dumping poo in the toilet, sometimes you can get a super long soaking wet diaper from it unfolding.
Prefolds are a step up from flats. They are also rectangular (usually cotton but there are also Hemp and Bamboo) and are a couple layers thick but in the middle third, they are several layers thick (this is why they are called “prefolds” because they are like a partially folded flat). However, they do still require some folding to go from a rectangle to a diaper around a baby. With wrap-style covers nowadays though, many mamas simply fold the prefold into thirds any lay in the cover instead of wrapping around baby and securing with pins or a Snappi but both are common even today.
Pros: Prefolds are also super cheap and are a natural fabric and you can reuse covers with them.
Cons: These tend not to be very daycare friendly and the multiple pieces can be cumbersome for some. They can also be extra “fluffy” in the butt and also do not have a stay dry layer.
Examples: Little-Lion Prefolds, Thirsties Hemp Prefolds, Cloth-eezTM Prefolds
Contours are a step up from prefolds and are shaped more like a diaper but usually without leg elastic or fasteners. These also still require a cover and use of either pins or Snappis and usually do not have a stay dry layer.
Contours are a step up from prefolds and are shaped more like a diaper but usually without leg elastic or fasteners. These also still require a cover and use of either pins or Snappis and usually do not have a stay dry layer.
Cons: still a multi-piece diapering system and is thus more complicated than other methods out there. This method can also be pretty spendy for an entire stash of fitteds in each size.
Covers are what keep your flats/prefolds/contours/ and fitteds from getting your baby’s clothes wet. Covers can be made of various fabrics from polyurethane laminate (PUL) to wool. They can be pull-on, side-snapping, or a wrap-style.
Cons: My husband says the only thing he dislikes about these diapers is that you have to pull the insert out prior to placing the used diaper in the pail or wet bag. There are exceptions though as some pocket diapers are made such that the insert falls out on its own in the washer machine. Also, the repeated stuffing of the absorbent core (also called insert or soaker) into the pocket diaper annoys many mamas and you only get one use out of entire diaper before it needs to be washed again.
All-In-Twos (AI2s) A waterproof material for the outside forms a cover over an insert (the trifolded prefolds with a diaper cover would be considered an AI2). Some have a snap to keep an absorbent liner in place.
Cons: For newborns with explosive runny poos, you need to have extra covers on hand since the covers will get soiled more often.
All-In-Ones (AIOs) Similar to the pocket diaper except the absorbent inner is sewn in. There are no separate pieces to this diaper, all are sewn together. (Some AIOs have the absorbent piece snap in, but it would not be considered an AI2 because the cover part is not designed to sustain more than one use between washings)
Pros: The ultimate in convenient easy cloth diapering. Simply put on baby and then when used, put in a pail or wet bag. No inserts to stuff, no folding, no bunching etc. These are great for grandparents, daycare, babysitters and are completely Daddy-Proof!
Cons: These are usually pretty pricey and take a long time to dry and you only get one use one use out of the diaper before it needs to be washed again.
I hope this helped go over the basics out there. As you can see there are several styles that meet different needs. The first question you have to ask yourself is what your preferences for cloth are. Is it budget (flats/prefolds)? Is it convenience (AIOs)? Or maybe your needs are somewhere in-between (pockets/AI2s)? You also don’t have to choose an entire stash of one style of diaper. Many mamas have found it helpful to have a variety for different needs (naps, babysitters, overnight, etc.) and it is all up to you how you want to do it, so HAVE FUN with it!! There are so many cute prints and colors out there. One way to do this is with a Trial Program where you try out several different styles and brands of diapers and return what didn’t work for you for very little risk.
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