First lets start with a little disclaimer: I have never actually cloth diapered a real baby, yet! This is just some of the stuff I’ve learned through the last several months of researching cloth diapering, and I’m going to share it with you. Basically, I want to show you the different types of cloth diapers that are available because I promise you, it’s probably not what you’re picturing! When I started looking into all of this I was amazed at the options available. This is just a very small amount of information, so I encourage you to do some research if this post sparks your interest – and hopefully it does!

Okay lets start out with the cheapest way to cloth diaper your baby – prefolds and covers. Prefolds are pieces of cotton fabric sewn to have extra absorbency in the middle where it’s needed the most. They are called “prefolds” because although they require some folding, they don’t require a lot of folding to get the thickness in the middle, they have been “pre-folded”.  This is probably what you think of when you think of cloth diapers. These types of diapers can be folded and either pinned or snappied, or simply folded in thirds and placed inside a cover. These diapers are not waterproof on their own and require the use of a diaper cover to keep moisture inside. There are tons of choices now for diaper covers. Used to be, back in the good ol days, babies wore ugly plastic pants. Not anymore! Diaper covers have come a very long way since my mother was cloth diapering! I’m going to show you two types of diaper covers. There are many others out there that would require an entire website to tell you about!

These are prefolds. You can get prefolds for around $20-$30 per dozen depending on the size and if you choose organic or non-organic.

These are two different types of diaper covers both from Thirsties.

The first is a sized cover (about $10.95 each) which can give you a better fit, but you have to buy more covers as your baby outgrows each size. The second is a one size diaper cover (about $12.25 each). These have snaps that adjust to the size of your baby and will fit most babies from birth to potty training! Like I said before, these are just two options available, there are plenty of others that vary greatly in price. I’ve been told, and have read, depending on how much laundry you want to do you can get by with about 2 dozen prefolds and 6-8 covers. These two particular covers can be wiped clean between diaper changes and reused before being put in the laundry (because if you’re changing often enough they will only get a very small amount of moisture on them, if any at all).

Prefolds and covers is the system I plan on using the majority of the time. After lots of research, these are the covers (I’ve chosen the one size) that I’m going to try first. I also have my eye on some other “fancier” covers but that’s a whole different blog post all together!

Next is fitted diapers and covers. Personally, I don’t see the point in these other than they can come in come really cute prints (and I’ll admit… some of them are very tempting!) and they are super simple to use, but they still require a cover. So that really cute $35 fitted diaper you paid for is just going to get covered up! But, there are plenty of people out there that swear by fitteds. They also vary greatly in price. Basically these go on just like a disposable diaper. No pinning, no folding. Then you simply put on any diaper cover. Very daddy and babysitter friendly! The one below is also from Thirsties and runs about $13.95 each, although I’ve heard rumor this particular one from this company is being discontinued. But that only means something better will replace it!

Now we move on to some really fun stuff – pocket diapers! How a pocket diaper works is like this – you have the “shell” which is waterproof and has a “pocket” on the inside for you to stuff a cloth insert or a tri-folded prefold. After stuffing the diaper, you simply put it on baby the same way as a disposable. You can pre-stuff your diapers after washing so all you need to do is grab one and put it on your lil punkin’ making this a very daddy and babysitter friendly option as well. They can come in either sized or one size. The one size option has snaps that adjust to fit your baby from birth to toddler. Lots of people swear by pocket diapers, and I can definitely see why. For myself personally, I don’t like the sound of this option for a couple of reasons. First of all there are many different brands of pocket diapers and many different price ranges. This particular diaper I’m showing you is from BumGenius and will run you about $17.95 per diaper. Depending on how often you want to do laundry, you will need about 12-24 or more of this type of diaper. Second, you have to stuff the diaper. Stuffing diapers doesn’t sound like something I want to spend a lot of time doing. There are a lot of great things about this type of diaper though, and it’s completely a personal decision! Much like almost anything when it comes to parenting.

Next up is the all in one diaper, commonly called AIO Diapers. This is exactly what it sounds like, it’s all in one! No folding, no pinning, no stuffing. Everything is all sewn together. Just put it on your munchkin the same as a disposable and you’re ready to go! Obviously these are probably the most daddy and babysitter friendly. Again there are many different brands and price ranges. The one below is from BumGenius and will run you about $24.95 each. These also come in sized or one size. You would need the same amount of these diapers as you would the pocket diapers, making this the most expensive cloth diapering option. But if you want convenience, this is your best bet. Although I have heard they take quite a while to dry. That’s the only complaint I’ve seen on these other than the price.

Finally we have what is called hybrid diapers. I haven’t looked into these much myself, but they are out there if you are interested. Basically a hybrid diaper is a diaper cover with a disposable insert. So, you’re still throwing some kind of diaper waste away, but the disposable liners are supposedly more land fill friendly than typical disposable diapers. You can also buy the hybrid diaper covers and use cloth inserts, and I’ve heard lots of good things about the covers that are intended for hybrid systems.

So there you have it. This is the very basic cast of characters in the cloth diapering world! You will find many different brands, prices, etc but all diapers are going to fit into one of these categories I’ve outlined above. Allow me to answer a couple of questions you might have after reading this. Maybe you’re wondering if cloth diapers would really save you money? If you go all out on the most expensive options, then it might not. But if you stick to the tried and true basics, it most definitely will!!! It’s all a personal preference, and when you do the math, in most cases cloth diapering could save you hundreds of dollars. Not to mention that cloth diapers an be reused for future babies! Double the savings! You also might be wondering, what do you do with the poop? Contrary to what you have heard, you do not have to dunk a diaper in the toilet to get the waste off. There is a fantastic thing called a diaper sprayer that you can hook to the water line of your toilet and simply rinse the diaper off before putting it in the diaper pail. Then it’s off to the wash! After baby is eating solids it’s even easier to discard waste. So don’t be thinking it’s all super nasty, because really it doesn’t have to be.

Alright well there ya go! I might do a few more posts on cloth diapering before my little man arrives. I have so much information packed into my brain about cloth diapering it’s ridiculous. And even more ridiculous is how excited I am to cloth diaper! Who would have thought you could be excited about diapering?! If you aren’t convinced to use cloth diapers just by the savings and the impact on the environment, consider how completely adorable a baby looks in a nice cloth diaper as opposed to paper pants!

AWWWWWWWWWWW!

*All images are copyright to their respective owners. I found all these images through google image search.*

P.S. Jillians Drawers is my favorite online store because of their variety and prices. And feel free to buy us some diapers if you’re feeling generous.

Posted at 12:19 am | Filed Under Baby #3, General, Parenting Twins | 3 Comments