Cloth Diaper Help?

[laurelp73]

Hi, earthy mamas!

I am ready to switch to cloth diapers (after trying all the "earth-friendly" disposables). I would prefer diapers that don't have any PE or other manmade materials, and organic cotton, wool, or hemp would be nice. I don't know if I should go with all-in-ones, pockets, fitted or contoured with covers, or what!!! I am overwhelmed! I would really appreciate any feedback.

If it makes a difference, my DS is still breastfeeding & pees large quantities frequently. Our nighttime needs are particularly high, as he nurses a couple of times at night, but sleeps about 12 hours without a change.

Thanks so very much for helping me wade through the options.

Best wishes,
Laurel
Mom to Wes 1/1/05

[Momof3Labs]

So I assume that polyester fleece is a no-no on your list, right? Then cross off pockets and AIOs - they are all made of some kind of manmade material to make them waterproof and easy to wash. (Though some wool covers make snap-in liners that make them kind of like AIOs, but not the best for heavy wetters or runny poop). Your best bet are prefolds or fitteds with wool covers.

[mudder17]

Hmm...okay, how much does your son weigh and is he tall and thin or short and chunky? In particular, does he have skinny thighs or chunky thighs, or somewhere in between?

Kaya is a heavy wetter, so maybe I can help with some ideas.

For night-time, if you have a really heavy wetter, you may want to go with a fitted plus cover, rather than a pocket. Plus, I think all pockets have fleece or suedecloth or PUL or some other manmade materials (except one wool pocket I remember seeing one time). In addition, you'll probably want hemp. I find that velour or hemp fleece is not quite as perfect as manmade fleece for that "stay-dry" feeling, but they do a pretty good job, so if you want to stay away from polyester, you could make OCV or hempfleece as the material that goes right next to your son's skin. Depending on your son's measurements, you may want to size up for a night time diaper. The two fitted that work really well for a heavy wetter in my own experience are the Benjamuffin Nightdreamers and the Very Baby Simply Nights. I believe you can specify fleece-topped or not for both. For a cover, an Aristocrat wool cover is the workhorse of wool covers and I've never had wicking or leaking with it, except when Kaya was slimming down a little and the XL cover was allowing her diaper to peek through the legs. The other cover that works extremely well for night is the Angeldry wool cover (stretch wool) in large. It fits over all Kaya's diapers, including the nighttime diapers and is quite trim. That's been our current favorite for the last few months. One reason is that I can toss them in the wash with Kaya's baby clothes on cool and gentle and then take it out and spray with lanolin and hang to dry and it's ready to go. It also dries much faster than the Aristocrat, making it even more attractive. :)

For day, my absolute favorite fitted (I use the angeldry cover--medium--very often during the day) is the Momandmepouch.com Sam's fitted. However, her custom list is very long at the moment, so you could always put your name on her list for the future. What I love is that Kaya can fit in both a medium and small and they are hemp fleece and very absorbent. I can add extra doublers for naps or go with no doubler if I just want her to wander around the house coverless and I'm planning on changing her frequently or we're working on PTing. More easily obtainable are the Bijou Baby Gear Basic Hemp diapers with an extra doubler (just ask her for it). Mine are not fleece topped and they work just fine for Kaya. They're nice and trim, have a large size range (Kaya can wear mediums and large) and are relatively affordable. Last I heard, she was taking customs, but you could e-mail her to find out. You get to choose the jeanstitch color. She also makes wool covers that people here seem to like a lot, as well as other material for diapers. Oh, and for fitted diapers, I went through a stage where I loved the prints, but overall, having print on my diapers means they either pill sooner or they're not as stretchy as the plain hemp ones (especially the woven print fabrics). So the size range isn't quite as broad, IME. I don't think I use a single print diaper these days.

One more diaper that we like a lot are Kindhearted Women hemp diapers. They are considered two-size in that they have a fold down for shorter rise and cross over snaps. I think Kaya fits in a medium and large for these diapers.

By the way, if it makes any difference, Kaya is 23 pounds with thighs that tend towards the chunky side. She's almost 32 inches tall.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

ETA: if you're willing, prefolds with hemp doublers + snappi would be an affordable alternative to the fitted diapers. You could maybe do a partial stash with each option. You can also get hemp prefolds for night time, although I have no idea where to get them since I've never gone that route.

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png
Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz