Absolutely overwhelmed by all the CDing choices

[TinkerPlink]

I want to CD, and am totally new to it - expecting in late August. I felt completely sure of my choice to use FuzziBunz, and then I started visiting lots of websites (including this one and Diaper Swapper), and now I feel completely lost and in over my head. To try everything that is recommended would send me to the poor house! I am still pretty confident that I want to use AIOs, as they'll be so easy to use (esp for FOB).
I guess what I am asking is this - What do you use and love, and why? With all the choices that I am trying to make regarding baby purchases, I am looking for help from the experts!

[jyllebean]

It is overwhelming at first. I wanted to try it a long time ago and didn't for that very reason. DD is now 16 months and we started CD last month and it has been great! I did a trial through Denver Diaper Co, although I know Jilliansdrawers.com offers one too. You put down a deposit, get a sampling of diapers, try them for 2-3 wks if you like them, keep them if not send them back and all you pay is shipping! I know jillians drawers has fuzzi bunz in their trial so you may want to try that one out.

Here are the sites:
http://denverdiaperco.irismarketbuil...og.php?item=67
http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/cdcm.html

That said, after doing the trial we ended up going with a combination of BumGenius one size pockets, Happy Heiny's one size pockets and prefolds with thirsties covers. I found that the pocket diapers are great at night and when we are going out. The prefolds really aren't that bad and I use these at home or if we are around town. That made it cheaper for us that going with all pockets which are more expensive.

Hope that helps and good luck!

[lizajane]

if you like how fuzzibunz look, go for it. they are great diapers and worked really well for us. if you have a super skinny kiddo, you may need to try something else for fit. but FBs are a great choice. just be warned- they outgrow the tiny dipes REALLY fast. you may want to start with smalls instead of newborns and do something cheaper for newborn. (like infant prefolds and proraps covers.) it doesn't have to be hard. don't let all the info and opinions overwhelm you. do what you think is going to work for you!

[GeekLady]

What we've decided on is prefolds and Bummis, with a few Fuzzibuns for travel/nighttime during the first 3 months or so, while I'm at home with the baby, certainly. You change diapers so much during those first few months that prefolds seem the most economical, and you can use them to stuff bigger size pocket diapers later.

Afterwards, it depends on if I'm going back to work - I haven't found a daycare that will accommodate cloth, even pocket cloth diapers - but once el GeekBaby will fit into mediums, we'll probably move to all pockets.

[tylersmama]

We do prefolds, and they really aren't bad at all. I was given 6 months of diaper service, so that's what we were used to when I started doing my own. There's a learning curve, but it's honestly pretty short. You figure out pretty quickly which fold works best for you, and get the hang of doing it half asleep in the dark in no time. One of the hardest parts is figuring out what covers are going to fit your kiddo the best (skinny thighs, chubby thighs, etc), but that's the case no matter what kind of dipe you go with.

I was pretty nervous about dropping the service, but it's been a great experience. We've saved a LOT of money and a lot of landfill space!

[american_mama]

Just to be clear, Fuzzibunz is more accurately called a pocket diaper because you have to stuff it with something to become absorbent. When the absorbent material is sewn into the diaper, it's called an All In One (AIO). Occasionally, people call all pocket diapers AIOs or call them pocket AIOs, but in my opinion, it's more clear to keep the names separate.

So, for maximum convenience, you want either pocket diapers or AIO diapers. You have to un-stuff a pocket to wash (which is part of it's beauty: it washes and dries better than true AIOs) and then re-stuff it to use, which some people consider a pain. If you use many different kinds of pocket diapers, you have to keep mental track of which insert goes with which pocket, but that's not particularly hard if you use just 1-3 kinds of pocket, or if you use inserts that fit in any of your pocket diapers.

I love pockets: I think they're the trimmest, driest, and easiest to use after AIOs. Having said that, I don't know much about pockets and newborns. I use only one currently, a Harleyz, but they don't seem to be available anymore. I've heard xs Fuzzibunz are good, but possibly not available anymore? Not sure. So I'm not sure what to recommend for a newborn pocket.

In a size small, the same inserts will probably fit in Fuzzibunz and bumGenius one-size. Happy Heiny (solid colors leak less than print fabrics) is also a really nice fit in size small, but is narrower than a small Fuzzibunz and therefore probably needs it's own insert. Green Acre Designs is not mass produced, but is a great pocket that may be able to use the same insert as a small Happy Heiny. I love Swaddlebees, but they are so narrow that they probably woulnd't work with anyone else's insert, and keeping track of that may be too inconvenient.

[markbebe]

We (my wife and I) are new to CD's also, except when we wore them as infants ourselves! She is expecting in mid-August, so we were feeling some of the same confusion as you a couple of months ago. We did a lot of research, read the somewhat helpful book Diaper Changes and then we ordered one each of the different types from several websites, including: diaper covers, pre-folds, fitted, liners/doublers, pocket diapers and all in ones (AIO's). Brands included Fuzzibunz, Bummis, BumGenius, Nicky, Kissaluvs, Hemp Babies, among others.

My wife performed numerous objective tests of absorbency, washing, drying times, and the ability to hold in 'stuff' (I think she used pudding!). She followed all manufacturer recommendations. She also performed subjective tests of usability, speed and convenience.

The pre-folds and fitted diapers with covers were nice in theory (we loved the Nicky wool covers), but they did not perform up to the level of the pocket and AIO's in terms of absorbency, at least for our expectations. When it came to the pocket diapers, we found that they worked nicely, except we both had trouble stuffing the pockets of the brands we tried.

We decided on a true all-in-one, the BumGenius 3.0 (we tested both 2.0 and 3.0). Wife was leaning towards the 2.0 version, but she changed her mind and is going with the 3.0. The 3.0 is a one size fits all diaper that allows you to adjust the diaper as the baby grows, eliminating the need for multiple sizes.

Now here is the kicker. All of our testing is nice, but we haven't used them on a live baby yet. Every baby is different (boy, girl, tall, short, chubby, thin, big butt, flat butt, etc.), so some diapers will just fit better than others. We love the performance and convenience of the BumGenius, so we hope they work with our little guy.

If you can afford it and have the time, I would order one of each of the types you are interested in. Cotton Babies (http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_...roducts_id=769) has a sampler, though we bought from three or four separate sources ourselves. You can always sell what you don't use on eBay.

Good luck!
Mark