Lesser-known CD brands: Anyone used 'em?

[samsonsmom]

Hi all,

As my friends have gotten wind of my plans to use cloth diapers, several of them have passed various items along to me, and I'm trying to sort out how useful they might be. Since they are brands that I haven't seen mentioned on this board, I was wondering if you all could look at the following list and tell me what you know (if anything) about these products:

1. "One Step Ahead" fitted diapers: These are terrycloth diapers with fitted legs and velcro closures. They seem fairly thick to me and also came with some snap-in doublers, but being new to this I don't really have a good frame of reference for how much they could absorb. They don't even seem to sell them anymore; I couldn't find them on the One Step Ahead website.

2. "One Step Ahead" diaper covers: These almost just kind of look like underpants, but they're made out of strange material (just one layer) that's kind of waxy on the inside and satiny on the outside. These also have velcro closures on the side. I can't imagine how they could hold much in, but what do I know?

3. Rainbow diapers: I actually got these on ebay. A friend of mine had told me that she used them throughout her CD career, and she liked them, so I thought I'd give them a try. I think they are what is known as "contour diapers."

4. Dappi diaper covers (I think a couple people might have mentioned using these)

5. Gerber vinyl pants: these look more like the traditional "plastic pants" of old. I'm not sure if they're really the same old thing, or if they are improved in some way. They are the pull-on variety.

I plan to order Chinese Prefolds and Proraps as the backbone of my stash, but I'm just wondering if the above products will be any good for supplementing. Whatchya think?

Thanks!

[MMEand1]

I only can comment on the Dappi diaper covers. We were given 2 by my mom and we love them. They are very functional and I like them better than the proraps we have (PF's and proraps are our mainstay as well).
Good luck. The CD world is so much fun!!
Mariah P.

[american_mama]

Do you know what PUL fabric is, like on a Fuzzibunz? The fabric is a polyster knit with a tiny bit of stretch and a waterproof coating on the back side. Is that what you mean by the One Step Ahead cover that are waxy on the inside and satiny on the outside? Also, remember covers provide waterproof-ness, not absorbancy, so cover doesn't have to hold liquid.

As for the rainbow diapers, is that the brand? There are some contour diapers with rainbow serging (thread along an exposed seam) called something... maybe raindrops or something. I'll look.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

The Gerber vinyl pants are nice to stuff in the diaper bag for emergencies. Like if you only have one cover with you and it gets poop on it. Or if you forget your wetbag, you can wrap a wet diaper in it until you get to the car.

The One Step Ahead are most likely made by another company and branded with their name, like most of their stuff. Try them and see how you like them. They sound sort of like Under The Nile fitteds, which I liked very much, until I decided I liked snaps better than velcro.

[samsonsmom]

Well...I have to admit I don't know that I've ever seen PUL. That could be what this stuff is. My proraps should be showing up pretty soon; is that what they are?

Yeah...looking at this stuff, I was just skeptical of whether it would even really be waterproof. They seem really flimsy. I guess I could pour some water on them to test. But they were definitely different from the dappi covers, in that the dappis had several layers---a mesh layer on the inside, a plastic layer in between, and a cute cloth layer on the outside.

Rainbow diapers...I believe the brand was "natural babies." They do have rainbow-colored stitching around the edges.

Thanks!

Amy

[american_mama]

The rainbow serging diapers that I was thinking of are called Raincatcher or Puddlecatchers, I think. I still didn't get a chance to look it up.

Also, I don't know if this means anything to you, but I would say don't be afraid to try out free or low cost diapers even if you've never heard of them. I love this board - it's what got me into CDing - but I sometimes feel from reading it that I can only use the good or right or BBB-approved stuff. You should use anything that fits your tastes, needs, and budget, and I hope the abundance of CD knowledge here helps rather than hinders you in doing that.

[nbrackman]

Hi there!

The One Step Ahead diapers are modeled after Motherease and function essentially the same way. They are fine workhorse diapers. You may find you want a doubler for going out or overnight with them, but they are worth keeping. Lots of people adore the Motherease and these are quite similar.

I'm not sure of the covers. You say they look flimsy; but Alexis nylon pants for example are also very thin and look flimsy but are some of the best covers out there. It just depends on your baby. Give it a shot and see, it may work out great for you.

Rainbow diapers are contoured diapers that used to come from the Natural Babies catalogue. They're not fantastic but will do either in a pinch or if you use them as a doubler or double them up. Also work fine for newborns because they need a change all the time anyway.

We haven't had good luck with the Dappi velcro wraps but have had fantastic luck with their nylon pull-on pants. I find the dappi wraps tend to lose their velcro's stickiness and fit weird, but that's on my kids. They're great for extras though, why not? Stick a rainbow or two in a dappi and stick them in a bag in your car for emergencies.

Gerber vinyl pants tend to crack from washing/drying and are not very breathable, but they work for lots of people. We had rashes from them because dd was so sensitive. Also fine for laundry day or whatever but they wouldn't work for us on a regular basis.

With CPF's and proraps you can't go wrong! If the proraps don't fit well for your babe, you can also try Bummis (either the original wrap or the SIWW or my personal fave the whisper pants) and Bumkins (nylon wraps with a neat vent in the back for breathability) which are all easy to get and reasonably priced. Weebees (www.weebees.com) makes a terrific knockoff of the side-snap Alexis nylon cover/pant which we LOVE, and I have found similar ones (used) at www.orangestarfish.com.

Good luck!

[samsonsmom]

Thanks Karen, that is good perspective. I tend to be a "want to do everything right" type of person, but you are right---if it works for me, then I guess it works! The wealth of info here can be overwhelming, but I'd rather have information overload than no info at all.

Thanks again!

[samsonsmom]

Wow, thanks for sharing what you know. This is very helpful. I just ordered 3 dozen infant size CPFs today, and now I'm thinking that with the 2 dozen One Step Ahead and 1 dozen rainbows I already have, I probably could have gotten by with just 2 dozen CPFs. Oh well, at least I'll be well-stocked (I realize this isn't a glorious stash like many I've seen posted here---maybe I'll get there some day, but for now I'm just trying to get what I need and not spend any more $$$ than necessary).

Same deal with covers---the other day I ordered 4 newborn Proraps and 6 small, and now I'm thinking that with the backup stuff I already have, I probably could have gotten by with less. Oh well!

I was just looking at the dappi covers. They are size small (6-13 pounds), and they look SOOOOOOOOO tiny. I don't see how baby plus diaper would fit in these things. Am I just not realizing how tiny a baby really is? :)

So y'think the One Step Ahead + doubler could get us through the night, once we get to the sleeping-all-night stage, or will I need something more hard core like a Fuzzibunz?

[tarahsolazy]

I think having the 4 NB and 6 small proraps is a great idea! With prefolds, which is what I used primarily in the NB stage, we'd get a little poop on the cover at least once, if not twice a day. Never onto clothes, though. I could rotate two covers all day, and air out between. If you have 6, you've got backups if they get poopy!

3 dozen infant PFs is pretty generous, but trust me, they'll get used. They make great burp cloths too. You could see if you can trade 12 in for preemie size, but its not essential or anything. My son was almost 10lbs and the preemies never did fit him.

I really liked the pull on Bummi's whisper pants that Nicole mentioned, and they were only $5 a piece. There are also nylon pull ons at Babies R Us, under their Especially for Baby label. They are 2 for $4, and are pretty nice, as well.

The One Step Ahead dipes may work fine at night, it will just depend on how much your baby wets at night. Its surprisingly variable. I stopped changing diapers at night when Forrest stopped pooping at night, maybe 6 weeks? I initally used prefolds with doublers and fleece liners, and it worked well. We used premium prefolds from about 10-12 weeks on. When your baby is a few months old, though, and can fit in medium Fuzzibunz, they are really nice to have for night. You only need three or so, and they fit even my Moose-Boy from 3mo until about 13 months.

[mudder17]

I agree with a lot of what Tarah said. For a newborn and even for an infant, prefolds with covers are great for the bulk of your stash. I think until Kaya was 4 months old I was using exclusively prefolds and covers (with the except of K0s for the first 6 weeks at night). Actually, I tried some pockets and fitted after then, but I was always getting leaky poop out of the legs, so I quit trying (her pooping was not quite as predictable as most babies), and just did prefolds and covers until she was 6.5 months old and started solids. So I may have a really nice fun stash (well not compared some here, LOL), but I started with the leaky-poop proof snappi'd prefolds with covers for the first 6.5 months. Oh, wait, I lied. I did use Benjamuffin nightdreamers (fitted) for night time after 4 months because she started sleeping longer stretches, and she would wake up to nurse, but then go right back to sleep. I wanted a diaper that could last through the night, so those worked well. I guess I could have used pockets (like fuzzibunz) but it turned out that PUL was not breathable enough for her, so the fitted with wool cover worked much better!

So in summary (lol), prefolds + covers for the first 4 months, prefolds + covers + night fitted for the next 2.5 months, then some pockets and other fun stuff later.

And Kaya was a smallish baby (7 pounds), so we started with 24 preemie prefolds, 24 infant prefolds, 12 kissaluv 0s, 3 newborn proraps and 4 small proraps. We snappi'd our prefolds, so 4 covers at any time worked pretty well for us. We would get poop on the covers once a day, but that still left 3 covers in our rotation on a daily basis. Worked pretty well.

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[kijip]

Congrats on the bargain! If they work decently 2 dozen fitteds for free is FANTASTIC! If they are similar to the MEOS, FWIW I liked my ME well. We also loved the ME AirFlow covers.

I think the fitted with a doubler will get you though the night. Maybe add a fleece layer (just cut to fit) for night-time dryness and call it good. If you run into problems, you can adjust from there!