When
cloth diapers
are
this cute
why wouldn't you
want to
use them?
Well, why one might choose to use cloth diapers is for another post. This post is just to introduce all of you novice diaper-ers to the current cloth diaper world and all its updated features. For those of you who would never consider using cloth, because well, you remember what it was like to change a million and one of your little brother's diapers, all the times you stuck yourself (or him) with pins, and all of those plasticky pants that went on top to keep his clothes dry... take a deep breath. It's changed quite a bit.
So here you go... these are a few of the common types of cloth diapers. In order from simple to fancy - first, we have the good old fashioned flat Chinese prefolds:
These diapers come "un-shrunk" and must be washed so that they fluff up and shrink.
But once you wash them... they are soft and quilted and they get better and better the more you use them. These things simply don't wear out. These are what Danny wears. The pros about these diapers - they're the cheapest and simplest to wash. Cons - they must be folded to fit onto baby's bum correctly. (Click here to see how.) This is a cinch once you get the hang of it, though. The best part? No. More. Pins. We now have the Snappi diaper fastener. It's sheer genius. It has dull plastic teeth that hold onto the fabric much like an ace bandage does.
Then, there must be a cover to go over the super absorbent cloth diaper. This is my favorite brand. It's the Thirsties brand. This is also what Danny wears usually, although the cover he's in in the pictures above are custom made by Jessica.
The Thirsties Duo-Wrap covers come in sizes 1 or 2
and they are adjustable
so you only have to purchase two sets of covers
birth to potty-training.
This is beginning to sound like an advertisement, but I really do just LOVE these diapers. And no, I am NOT getting any ad money for posting this. Although I should. ahem. It's all just for the love of the Ok, next we have the slightly more fancy fitted diaper. These serve the same purpose as the flat Chinese prefold diaper, however they are fitted, so no folding is required to make it fit around baby's bum just right.
This is the Bamboozles fitted diaper, and as you can see by buttons and Velcro, these are also adjustable so they grow with your baby. Fitted diapers must be worn under a cover (like the Thirsties Duo-wrap cover) as well. Otherwise, you know, they'd leak. These are significantly more expensive than Chinese prefolds.
Ok, next up in the simple-to-fancy line-up is the pocket diaper. Here you have Happy Heiny's version:
Just as it sounds, it is a pocket that wraps around baby's bum. The inner layer of the pocket is a layer of fabric that wicks wetness away from the sweet soft tooshie. The outer layer is made of a water-resistant fabric to keep baby's clothes dry. Inside the pocket goes an absorbent insert:
The pros - no cover is needed around a pocket diaper. It fits pretty snugly and still washes and dries pretty easily as the insert is removed from the pocket diaper before washing. The cons - you only get one use out of each pocket diaper, because once it's wet, it must be changed, whereas with Chinese prefolds, you can change the diaper and re-use the cover 3-4 times before having to wash it. So you end up needing a couple dozen diapers but only 4-6 covers. Here is a great page on how many diapers you need.
Last and most fancy is the all-in-one diaper. Its absorbent interior and water resistant exterior layer are all sewn together so you grab one, slap (not literally) it on, and go. Then the whole thing comes off in one piece and goes right into the laundry.
The pros - it's simple and quick. The cons - it's the most expensive and takes a LONG time to dry. Plus, they must be hung dry because dryers will damage the water resistant exterior. Duo-wraps must also hang dry, but because they are only one layer thick, they dry in less than four hours (at least here in Colorado they do).
There are, of course, some other diaper systems out there that fit into one or more of these categories or maybe an in-between category. But those are the major ones.
Alright, on to cloth wipes.
What?! Cloth wipes!?!? WHY on earth would I want to use cloth wipes? Well, again, we'll save the why for another post. But for now, let's just leave it at this: If you're going to wash dirty diapers (and avoid purchasing and throwing away a butt-load of disposables (pun completely intended)) (did I really just put that many parentheses in one sentence? Yep.) you might as well wash dirty wipes too. Plus, I need about 4 or 5 disposable wipes for a job I can do with only 2 cloth ones. Anyway, they sell them...
...or you can make your own. These are Imse Vimse's cloth wipes. But you can also use baby wash cloths (which may be more expensive) or you can buy a yard or two of flannel material and sew it into squares (sew it so the edges don't fray). You could also go to a superstore and buy a large pack of regular wash cloths and use those. All will get the job done.
Wipes, of course, need to be wet. The solution we pour over the cloth wipes to make them wet is what we call "wipes juice" and there are a million and one recipes out there. Ours is very simple:
Wipes Juice:In an 8 oz container, squirt about a tablespoon of baby shampoo. Then squirt about a tablespoon of baby oil. Then fill the container with water.
Put the wipes in some sort of container (we use the wipes containers that you usually buy with disposable wipes in them and which can be used over and over and over) and pour the wipes juice over them all until wet. Wring out a wet wipe of excess juice before using it. (Unless you enjoy soaking your baby every time you change his diaper.)
And that, my friends, is Cloth Diapering 101.
What else would you like to know? What questions have I left you with? Leave comments and I'll respond in my next cloth diapering post.
**All pictures not of Danilo were graciously provided by http://www.babycottonbottoms.com/ (my favorite cloth diaper store).