Must-Know Mondays: Cloth Diapers

Welcome to the first week of Must-Know Mondays!! This week I'm going to word-vomit share what I've learned about cloth diapering in my few months of research.

Bill and I have decided to cloth diaper Billy and opening that door was just inviting me to obsessively research. Some other crunchy mommies warned me that it would be an addiction...and they were not kidding.

I started researching by asking the relative of a close friend to share what she knows with me and she gave me some great starting points. She gave me the overall rundown of prefolds, pockets, fitteds, all-in-ones, hybrids, etc.

The addiction to researching cloth diapers took hold of me immediately and I became obsessed. Recently, I learned a friend of mine from prenatal water aerobics is also planning to CD, so on top of all the other wonderful baby things we can possibly talk about, we added dipes to the list!

Last week on another blog I wrote about the 5 Registry Items I'm Most Excited About, which includes cloth diapers (naturally). I'll give you a run-down of what we're planning to use on Billy, and what I've learned about each, including the best brands.*

Prefolds & Covers 

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I am planning to use prefolds with covers for the "normal" every day diaper on Billy. Essentially, these are the old-school dipes our moms used on us. Nowadays, instead of using pins, these handy little fasteners called Snappis fasten the diapers together so there is no pinning involved. It is similar to the fastener used to close an ACE bandage.

Prefolds are the most affordable option of all the cloth diapers. I have heard excellent reviews on the Bummis Organic Prefolds (as in, they are 'the best') but the price is a little high for me. I read lots of reviews online and learned the OsoCozy is a very similar product at a lower price, so I decided to register for the Economy Pack of the OsoCozy Prefold (36 in each size + 4 covers per pack).

From research, I learned that wool covers are best for prefolds, so while this boosts the price of the diaper dramatically, they are easy to reuse several times before you need to clean them. All the benefits of wool sold me on using them. The brands I chose to register for are Loveybums and Sustaintablebabyish.

I also plan on sewing my own covers for Billy (cotton, not wool) from this awesome tutorial.

Fitteds 

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Fitted diapers are extremely similar to prefolds, where they still need a cover, but they look like a 'sposie - they don't need a Snappi fastener. They are equipped with snaps. I have also heard they are great for "heavy wetters" at night because you can really pad them up to last all night. I've decided to just register for a few Bumpkins to give them a try.

Pockets

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I was pretty excited about cloth diapering from the start....but learning about pocket diapers took my obsession to a (nearly) sickening level. I literally dream about these dipes, because they are so cute. I can hardly STAND how cute they are. BUT BACK TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF: WHY THEY RULE...

What I've learned about pocket diapers is they are great for babysitters, child care providers, grandparents who aren't totally comfortable with using prefolds and husbands. They are just like a "normal" disposable diaper where you just wrap the baby in the dipe, velcro it up and you're on your way (did I also mention that they are super cute?).

The "pocket" term refers to the diaper having an outer shell, an inner lining, and a "pocket" for an extra fluffy liner between the two. This gives even more absorbency to the dipe, making it another great option for overnights.

The one drawback to the pockets is they have a waterproof shell - which you may think would be a benefit because they are collecting PEE, but it actually keeps some air from flowing over your little's bottom. Less air = less breathing for his little butt cheeks = potential for more bacteria to grow = more diaper rashes if they aren't changed as regularly as they wet/mess.

But, with all cloth diapers you need to change your baby more regularly than with disposables. I am going to start building my stash of these gorgeous dipes with a few here and there I find on clearance online, plus I've registered for a few different brands to build my collection. I mean Billy's. Billy's collection.

On my registry are the bumGenius One Size 4.0 and the FuzziBunz One Size Elite. Notice they both contain the name "One Size" because that's the other great thing about pockets - many of the brands build diapers for newborn through potty training, so you need that line of diaper, and that's it!

I am opting to build my stash with several brands because I don't know what will work best for Billy. I don't know the shape of his bottom or the size of his (adorable) thighs yet, so I want to try a few dipes and see what works best for my little man.

I found a few deals on Amazon so far (I LOVE AMAZON PRIME FOR THIS REASON) and picked them up one by one:

Alva Baby

Thirsties

HELLO how cute are those patterns?! I thought one arrived early in the mail yesterday and squealed with delight when I was opening the package. Bill is still laughing at me for getting this excited over one diaper.

Because I will be laundering these diapers on my own, I plan to build a stash of about 40-50 diapers in each size: 36 prefolds, 1-2 fitteds, 5-10 pockets.


Here are some great resources I've used in my cloth diaper research:

• All About Cloth Diapers
• Zephyr Hill
• The Eco Chic Blog
• How to fold a cloth diaper (YouTube)
• The Pistachio Project
• Green Mountain Diapers
• Kitchen Stewardship

If you're looking for general "crunchy mommy" and newborn information, follow my Research Board on Pinterest.

Did you cloth diaper or do you have any tips and tricks I missed? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! 

*Keep in mind this research is all my own, I am not sponsored by any diaper companies and have no experience personally in cloth diapering whatsoever. I'm a NEWB! (do people even say that anymore?!)