A cloth diaper how-to

I always planned on using cloth diapers starting with the birth of my oldest daughter in April of 2008 but it took me the last five years to really figure out a system that works for us now.

Ever the cheapskate, I figured cheap prefolds and covers would be just as good. In reality, they sent me running for disposables for four months. Leaky diapers on top of severe post partum depression just did not equal cloth diapering success.

Starting when the Big Girl was four months old, I worked my way through most types of cloth diapers and the following is our current stash and what I would recommend to someone deciding to go with cloth.

1. Nine Bum Genius diapers with snaps. These are the yellow and pink ones pictured above. Some were bought new for my baby shower while most were bought used. I love these for nighttime. Stuffed with an outgrown prefold and a hemp insert, Little Girl stays dry in these for up to seven hours. I'm not sure how much longer they would stay dry without another insert because she never sleeps that long in between wakeups. I used to have ten but one of them started leaking so I gave it to Big Girl to use on her doll.

2. A dozen Bum Genius with velcro fasteners. I got these in a trade from another local CDing mom and while I like these, I don't reach for them first. I find it hard to get a good fit around the legs for active daytime wear. However, for babysitters and trips where I need a compact system, these are great. I stuff them with a microfiber insert (included with diaper when purchased new) plus a tri-folded microfiber towel like you use to dust the furniture. I tried putting two inserts in and found it too bulky.

3. About two dozen prefolds and four Thirsties Duo size 2 covers. The prefolds are by far the oldest diapers in my stash. They are seconds that I bought five years ago and most are still holding up today. The ones that do have holes are frayed where the Snappi (my favorite brand of fastener, used in place of pins) grips. While it's the most complicated diapering system, prefolds and covers are my absolute favorites. I can't say enough good things about Thirsties covers. The Duo covers are new to me and I'm not sure I would be as into cloth diapering without them. I have had maybe two leaks in ten months.


Things I tried last time but skipped this time:

1. Wool. I need ease of washing and I never really got the whole wool washing system under control. I would always forget when I had washed last and then the covers took forever to dry. I just needed to streamline. Plus, I had this paranoia of breaking my daughter out in a rash because I didn't use super expensive wool (I knitted the covers myself).

2. Fitteds. These look like a diaper without a waterproof cover. You velcro this diaper on, then add a cover. Again, I found this to be too complicated, plus the velcro was a big lint catcher.

3. All-in-ones. These look similar to the Bum Genius diapers I use (in fact, BG makes an all-in-one) except instead of stuffing absorbent material in a pocket, it's already sewn in. I made three of these to send to the church nursery and while they were useful for that purpose, they were limiting because you couldn't customize the absorbency, plus they took a long time to dry.


Storage and wash routine:

I made some big drawstring bags out of this vinyl material that is waterproof on one side and fuzzy on the other. It was dirt cheap and ugly but it gets the job done. I use it like a trash bag in a kitchen size trash can.

I wash every other day: once on the delicate cycle to get the diapers wet in my front loader, then again on the bulky cycle. I love when the weather is nice because I can hang them on the line to dry, which helps with stain removal and keeps the diapers fresh smelling. I try not to use bleach very often but sometimes I have to, like over a long winter. Some components specifically say not to use bleach so always check your labels.

I have three of those canvas bins that sit on my changing table shelves: One small one for covers and snappis, one for overnight snap diapers, and one for the velcro pocket diapers. My prefolds hang on the changing table in a diaper stacker.

Bottom line (no pun intended) Even though it can be overwhelming with so many choices, I'm glad that modern cloth diapering has moved beyond pins and plastic pants to make it easy for parents today.