I love research projects on the web. The last few months or so I’ve really been spending a lot of time getting to know cloth diapers. Thankfully I’m not the first in my group of friends to have children or experiment with foreign baby products. I’ve received tons of advice from a handful of friends who have ventured into cloth diapering with success. I’ve joined several review blogs to get the skinny even further. In fact, I have made search columns in TweetDeck to find posts with the hash tag #clothdiapers in order to discover daily giveaways. I think, perhaps, I’ve created a monster in myself.
I feel somewhat ashamed and guilty for venturing down this ridiculous road of research, but I just want to know as much as I can before diving head in, you know? I try to justify it by telling myself that I’m not this person or that person, who obviously is a stay-at-home-mom with nothing else to do but enter contests (yes, I see repeat names all over cloth diaper giveaways!). So far, I haven’t yet won a cloth diaper, but I sure as heck have won a 10-piece Crabtree & Evelyn gift basket and mIIr water bottle!
And to tell you the truth, I have come across some pretty reasonable deals. My also-pregnant friend, Julia, who is 3 weeks ahead of me, is kind enough not to make fun but to embrace my emphatic revelations. She is also contemplating cloth diapering, so I snagged a great (used) GroVia package for her to try before spending lots of money on a complete set. Additionally, I found a good deal of Charlie Banana diapers on zulily.com and scored a near-free bumGenius 4.0 diaper within days after.
Have no idea what the fascination is with cloth diapers? Well, for one, it’s more eco-friendly. It’s definitely a more expensive up-front cost, but you can purchase diapers that “grow” with your baby, so you’re not constantly buying new diaps. Also, they’re just so darn cute! Here’s what I know, briefly:
1) Prefolds: A slight upgrade to what you wore as a baby. It’s a genuine cloth diaper/burb rag with a prefolded (hence the name) and hemmed area to soak up as much diaper content as possible. You don’t have to use pins now. These cool things called Snappis work in its place, and then you have to put a waterproof cover over the top of the prefold. Cheapest route, hands down.
2) Fitted diapers: Like a prefold, you need a waterproof cover to go over these. It’s just a piece of cloth sewn into a diaper shape. I don’t understand why you would want to go this route. Seems too expensive and silly if you have to pay $8-10 per fitted diaper and then another amount for the covers.
3) All-In-Ones: The cloth diaper version of a disposable. You use once and toss in the washing machine. It’s one piece and waterproof. These are the most expensive, as you need LOTS in order to go through enough changes per day.
4) Pocket diapers: Like the All-In-One, it is one piece and waterproof, except that you have a built-in “pocket” within the diaper that you can stuff with reusable, cloth inserts. This is great when you need to adjust for overnights or heavy wetters. Some pocket diapers whisk away the moisture and soak up into the insert, so you can (sometimes) reuse the “shell” and refill with new inserts. My friends all recommend these.
5) Hybrid diapers/All-In-Twos: Basically, this is a more versatile combination of #3 and #4. You can line these shells with cloth inserts OR disposable/compostible inserts. They’re handy on vacations and when you’re in non-cloth diapering company.
Whew! I just tested my months of research. I must say, though, it’s difficult to know exactly what brand or type works best without Wes here to try them out. I can only guess from reviews, photos and prices what I like. I have an idea of what combination I think would work for us, but I’m not sure how quickly we’ll venture into these diapers. Most likely we’ll be a cloth-at-home, disposable-on-the-go family. My guess is that we’ll use disposables while he’s little and needs frequent changes (and frankly, we get used to him!), and then we’ll try what works for us as we get braver.
My awesome husband just brought me DQ after his Home Depot run. I think that pretty much says I’m done for the night. Score!