As you all know, we're a cloth diaper family. We
launder them ourselves and use
cloth wipes, too.
We started out using second-hand and gifted prefold diapers with Bummis velcro covers and Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers that we simply used as covers (meaning we didn't stuff anything into the "pocket" of the diaper, we just set the folded prefold into the cover). We had 14 size small and about 60 size small prefolds that got us from newborn through 4 months (Eddie spit up constantly and many of the size small prefolds doubled as burping cloths). Then we moved on to using 12 size medium covers and 40 medium/regular prefolds until he was about a year old.
Prefolds are simply flat cotton cloth rectangles, with a thicker center part down the middle that is sewn together. The term "prefold" refers to the sewn together portion in the center; this is in contrast to regular flat cloth diapers that are not sewn together, requiring you to fold the center part yourself. These are less common and are much bigger.
The reason we used the pocket diapers as covers was because we wanted to use the covers a few times before having to wash them. In my opinion, pocket diapers are not worthwhile for the first six months of a baby's life. Until they start eating solids, their poop is unoffensive liquid. But, because they go
all the time you will go through
lots and lots of diapers.
Pocket diapers are designed to be put on the baby very much like a disposable. No pins, no Snappi. But because the absorbent part is placed inside the pocket, it means that the whole diaper (cover AND absorbent insert) gets dirty every time the baby pees or poops. So we simply placed the prefold on
top of the pocket, just like you'd use a normal cover. Most of the time we could reuse the covers 3 times before they got too stinky from pee. If they got wet, we'd just hang it on the towel rod in the bathroom to dry out (baby pee is pretty unoffensive, too). Poopy ones were tossed into the pail immediately.
When he was a wee little baby we didn't use pins or a Snappi because the diaper covers did a good job of holding the prefold diaper in place. At about 3 months when he was skilled at wriggling and rolling around, we started using Snappi's to hold the cloth diaper in place under the cover.
The prefolds with a Snappi worked really well for us until Eddie could walk. This child moves SO much and SO fast that his diapers would literally fall out of the covers and down his legs! It was pretty amusing when they were only wet...but as you can imagine, having a poopy cloth diaper trailing behind him was gross. Plus it was getting REALLY difficult to get him diapered in the first place because he just wanted to get up and go!
We went online and looked for a "onesize" pocket diaper that could be adjusted to fit a child from newborn to potty training age. Snaps were important instead of velcro because we found that the velcro wore out too fast for us (especially since we wanted to use them for our future children AND we had plans to loan them out to friends to borrow).
Dave is a big fan of gussets because they greatly reduce blowouts. At this point, the only cloth pocket diaper with inner gussets are Rumparooz diapers. So we bought a pack of 12 in a variety of bold colors. (This was quite an investment--$300--and I saved all my extra money from a side job in order to buy them. But man-oh-man was it worth it!)
After 10 months of using them, the verdict is: WE LOVE THEM.
In case anyone is interested in how we use our pocket diapers, here's a play-by-play:
These are Rumparooz:
This is the outside part. It is lying on top of a size small prefold diaper (we keep a clean one under Eddie's tush during changes to keep the changing pad cover clean):
This is the fleece inside part that touches the baby's skin. It is much thicker than the fleece lining in Fuzzi Bunz and Bum Genius pocket diapers (the latter isn't even fleece so it is less absorbent):
Here's a disposable diapers so you can see the inner and outer gussets (I'm holding the inner one):
And here's a play-by-play of how we diaper Eddie (my stuffed frog, Fiber, is filling in because Eddie was too busy to cooperate):
Hi Fiber!
First, lay the kiddo down on the changing table:
Next, grab a diaper (mine has a
diaper liner already inside):
Put it under the kiddo's rump:
Pull the liner up over the baby's crotch so if he poops it'll be "caught" by the liner:
The pull it up and snap it into place:
Since this is a "onesize" diaper there are oodles of snaps so you can snap it to fit any size kiddo:
And here you have a happy kiddo, ready to conquer the world!
These diapers come with a variety of absorbent "insert" options. There are two sizes:
The small contoured one is designed for newborns, to reduce the bulk between their little legs. As the baby grows, you can change to the larger, rectangular one. It has snaps on it so you can make it smaller. This is how we use it right now, because the doubled-over fabric is extra absorbent:
You also have the option of using them both together for extra absorbency. This is a good idea if your baby is a heavy wetter, or you use cloth at night. We don't use cloth at night anymore (and have to use special nighttime disposables that are SUPER absorbent) because Eddie was blowing out every night.
These diapers are great for a super active toddler like Eddie. I tried to take an "action" shot of him running around the house in a Rumparooz diaper but he was too fast for my camera. So this is the best picture I could get. He's currently 29 pounds, 34" tall, and 19 months old. This brand seems to run a little small, so I don't think he'd be able to wear them for another full year...but hopefully we'll be potty trained by then!
And just in case that wasn't enough to convince YOU to try Rumparooz onesize diapers, maybe these matching doll diapers will. I had $5 in Kanga Care credit to use up so I bought the bubbles print one for Eddie's premie Cabbage Patch doll. With taxes, shipping, and the diaper it came out to less than $5! (See them
here.)
