Cloth Diapers

[laurelp73]

Hi, earthy mamas!

I am ready to switch to cloth diapers. 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, pre-formed with covers, or what!!! I am overwhelmed! I would really appreciate any feedback.

Best wishes,
Laurel
Mom to Wes, 11 months

[mmaimp]

Hi Laurel,
I would cross post in the Butts Forum on the Baby Bargains page. The mama's there have lots of experience and can give you advice.
HTH,

[ericher]

HI,

I suspect that most cloth diaperers have very strong opinions about what they've tried and what works for them. Here's my two cents, after having diapered our guy for 13 months now.

We tried a few different ones and eventually settled on diaperaps (www.diaperaps.com). Essentially, this is a prefold that is held in place by a cover with velcro. The pros are that these are considerably cheaper than all-in-ones, and they are relatively easy to put on and off and to wash. Another pro for you is that you can purchase whatever kind of prefold you like (ie organic or hemp). The cons are that some toddlers learn how to undo the velcro and take off the diaper. Also, in our case, we used the "flushable" liners they sell (makes getting rid of solids much, much easier) but found out (eventually) that they were snagging on tree roots in our sewer pipe. The combination of roots and liners ended up causing a giant clog that cost us $$$ to get rid of! I contacted the company and they were very nice about it and said they had never heard of this happening to anyone else.

Having said all that--I recently bought some used fuzzi bunz and we love love love them and wish we had used them from the beginning. They are much more expensive and may not be your choice because they are fleece, but they are easy to use and very easy to clean up (nothing seems to stick to the fleece!). They are also less bulky. Now it may be that these would not have worked well for our son when he was tiny and peed constantly, but now they work pretty well.

I should also note that we decided early on to put him in a disposable at night. He just pees so much and sleeps so long that it seemed the best way to keep him comfortable. We've always used disposables for travel to Grandma's house so we have them around.

I never understood how the wool covers would work; I bought one and had some fleece covers but they always got soaked and did not seem to live up to all the hype. You will also need to make sure that any AIO diapers fit your baby's legs. Our son has kind of skinny legs and some diapers (even the fuzzi bunz) can leak out through the legs.

A last suggestion is that if your area has a craigslist or any mothers' group exchange list, try them out first. In my experience you can find a lot of cloth diapers (especially prefolds) out there for a relatlively small amount of money as moms are eager to pass them on to newbies. This is a good way to try different kinds til you find something you like.

And pumkinbutt (or however they spell their website) has excellent laundering advice.

Good luck!

Elise

[neznaena]

I absolutely love my Motherease one size diapers. http://www.motherease.com/ I read about them in Baby Bargains and have been very happy with them. I was very nervous about going with cloth, but felt compelled to do so as I pass a landfill everytime I go visit my in-laws and hate the thought of adding to that. The Motherease are made of organic cotton and are fitted with snaps and have covers that snap as well, so they are very easy to use. The best part is that they have the ease of fitted diapers but can go from newborn to 35 pounds so you don't have to keep buying the next size up. I have used them on my 18 month old from the start and now have my 2 month old in them as well. For under $400, I have diapers for life, basically. You can't beat the ease and economy of these. You can also get them on Ebay cheaper. I have bought extra covers that way.

[BeenWaitingALongTime]

There are SO many options--I second Fuzzi Bunz as a starting point--easy to use, fit most babies. Prefolds are your least expensive bet. You can avoid 'plastic pants' by using fleece covers (even fleece performance pants from Old Navy) or wool.
I found www.diaperswappers.com to be a HUGE source of information when I maxed out at other parenting boards. It's the home of people absolutely obsessed with cloth diapers who know them inside and out, and even consider diapering a hobby rather than a chore. Check it out. I highly doubt there's a question you won't be able to find a million answers to--from the best detergent to use, CD safe butt creams, and of course diaper options. It's all there