How We Cloth Diaper - Part One

Well, it's been over a year since I last posted here (whoops). I love to write and I love the idea of blogging, but between part time work, full time school, two kids, family time, social life, and so on...blogging often gets left behind. But lately I've had a few people message me asking what I think about cloth diapers, so I decided to resurrect the blog. I have been working on this post an embarrassing amount of time, and it likely wins the prize for longest post in the blogosphere ever (you've been warned), so here goes:

he's just a little bit adorable in my completely unbiased opinion

Cloth diapers! I love cloth diapers. I wish I had used them with Adelle. Technically I did try to use flats and covers with her around 18 months old, but little did I know the flats I had sucked and I needed more than sucky flats to deal with toddler pee. I know a whole lot more about cloth diapers now than I did then thanks to a ridiculous amount of google research. We added a chubby little baby boy to our family in February and I knew once I found out that I was pregnant that I wanted to cloth diaper. So I read, and read, and read some more, and posted on cloth diapering boards, and then read even more, and eventually purchased some lovely fluffy cloth diapers.

Cloth diapering is overwhelming at first. There are totally different price points, several different styles, and about a million different brands floating around out there. Cloth diapers will save you a ton of money, but there is an upfront cost, and no one wants to drop hundreds of dollars on diapers that they may not like. So I really think it's important to do some research and try different kinds. It's like buying jeans - if you saw a brand online that had great reviews would you go ahead and order yourself six pairs of jeans without even trying them on first? Nope. They may not fit your body well. It may turn out that you hate skinny jeans. Maybe the color is not so attractive in person. Cloth diapers work the same way. What fits one baby well may not fit another as great. You might think you'll love pockets but when you try them decide they aren't for you. Don't be afraid to try different things, that's half the fun. A plus to cloth diapering is that they retain awesome resale value (especially certain brands) so if you end up with a few you aren't a fan of you can sell them off (and buy more diapers!).

There really are a ton of different cloth diapers options our there, but I am going to try and cover the types and brands we use. It's just a small portion of what's available but it will get you started if you're interested in cloth diapering. I will also recommend checking out the cloth diaper board here. Stalking the posts there helped me learn so much and any questions I had were always met with helpful responses. I have also heard really great things about the Cloth 101 series on youtube if you are trying to learn all the different systems and lingo.

Alright, onto the diapers! We use several brands: Blueberry Simplex (6), Kawaii (2), Lalabye (10), Sunbaby (5), Rumparooz (1), a custom Etsy diaper (1, because everyone needs a Star Wars diaper in their arsenal), and Osocozy flats with Flip covers. Blueberry Simplexes are all-in-ones (AIOs). Kawaii, Lalabye, Sunbaby, Rumparooz, and the Etsy diaper are pocket diapers. Then I have about 15 flats that I use with a Flip cover. When Brennan was a newborn we used a newborn diaper rental from Itsy Bitsy Bums (which I loved!) that had Kissaluvs fitteds and Thirsties covers. The rental was super cheap and the diapers worked really well. I also used a few newborn pockets and prefolds that I borrowed from my CDing mama friends.

flip cover - brennan was thrilled to model diapers

Flats: A lot of people think flats seem like too much work but I really like them. I wouldn't want a stash made entirely of flats because they are more work, but they are a great addition. I use the airplane fold (the only fold I know...) and it takes about 30 seconds. With a flat you need a snappi to secure it and a (waterproof) cover to go over it. I use a Flip cover and have never had any leaks with flats. Folding is about a million times simpler than I figured it would be. Plus they are super cheap, wash really easily, can be padfolded (folded in thirds) if you're feeling lazy, and also make a handy burp cloth if you have a baby that spits up 200 times a day (*cough Brennan cough*). I also think they are one of my trimmer options and they can be folded with more absorbancy in the front which works really well for boys. Flats are also truly one size - they will fit a newborn and a two year old.

flat secured with a snappi

 

sunbaby pocket with bamboo insert

Sunbaby: These are what's called a "china cheapie." Basically a cheaper pocket option and they are made by a lady in China named Sun Pei. Her diapers are a wonderful option given the price ($8 per diaper with a single bamboo insert). A note on bamboo: when I did my super scientific google research I kept seeing people complain about microfiber due to eventual stink issues and compression leaks. Because of this all but two of my diapers have microfiber, and those diapers I stuff with my cotton flats (another perk to having flats!). Anyway, there are a few things I don't like about these diapers, but for the most part I love them. They are the only diaper I have had a poo leak in, which overall is pretty impressive given the consistency and force of breastfed baby poo. A note on poo: I remember several "poosplosians" with Adelle and I have not experienced that with Brennan. What makes this even more amazing (sorry, more poo talk - in all fairness this is a post on diapers so it's an important topic) is that Brennan only poos every 2-4 days and when he does go it's quite impressive...so the fact that we don't have poosplosians is pretty wonderful. One of the many reasons cloth diapers are awesome.

Back to the Sunbabys. I also don't like how "long" they are. I feel like the diaper sits down lower down in the crotch area than some of my others. The last thing I dislike is that the snaps on the diaper waist (not the wings) are the male part (aka the raised part). A few times I have found them folded back onto Brennan's skin so I have to make sure every time that they are laying flat. I haven't seemed to notice this with my other diapers. That being said, I love these diapers for the price. I wanted to keep cloth diapering cheap so these helped complete my stash since I couldn't afford a stash made entirely of more expensive options. They have super cute prints, shipping is cheap and fast (given that they come from halfway across the world), and they are working really well for us so far.

rumparooz pocket

Rumparooz: I only have one of these diapers (I couldn't resist the cute print). I like it, but for the price ($24) I like my other brands better. It works fine and I don't have any serious complaints, I just think some of our other brands fit Brennan better. It's pretty wide in the crotch and has a bulky microfiber insert, but the foxes are way cute and fit will become less of an issue as he gets bigger so that's okay.

rockin' his purple lalabye

Lalabye: These are probably my favorite diapers. They come with two bamboo inserts: newborn and one size. We used the newborn at first, and now use the one size, and once he needs more absorbancy I will use both inserts. They have crossover snaps for when baby is really little. They are nice and trim. They price is reasonable ($20). The pocket part is made of micro suede instead of microfleece (microfleece pills after a few washes, doesn't cause problems but doesn't look as nice). The pocket opens at the front and back so the inserts agitate out in the wash (no touching dirty inserts on wash day!). And most importantly... RAINBOW SNAPS! Okay, Adelle is the one who is obsessed with this feature, but I have to admit it's handy. The snaps on the waistband are color coordinated, because when you're staring at 20 snaps it's sometimes hard to remember what snaps fit at the moment or which ones are in the middle. If I ask Adelle to bring me a diaper there is a 99.9% chance she will bring me a "rainbow snap." She may even be known to wear them over her clothes on occasion. I may have photo evidence of this hidden away for her high school graduation slideshow. Shhh. Also, rainbows are just fun, and fun is a really important quality when it comes to diaper snaps. One con: no cute prints. They do release prints occasionally, though not that often. But they make up for it with fun, bright colors. So yeah, I love these diapers.

kawaii charcoal bamboo - a bit big still

Kawaii: Another china cheapie. These run so big! I like them, and the price is nice ($15), but they're huge. Brennan is 14 pounds and hangs out around the 60th percentile so he's a pretty average sized baby. To be fair the only Kawaiis I have tried are the charcoal bamboo version. They do have other versions on their website (mine shipped from Amazon) so those might fit differently. They come with two inserts and they are the softest diaper in the world so I think I will love them someday, but for right now they're just super bulky.











Blueberry Simplex: These are my second favorite diapers. They are also the most expensive ($30). Boo. But the colors are fun and the prints are my favorite ever. They have a new fox print out that I am trying my hardest to ignore (someone remind me why I signed up for their email list?). They are 100% cotton which is nice too because I tried to go with all natural fibers. They are also all in ones which means they don't have a separate insert, but they do have a "tongue" that pulls out or that you can stuff into the pocket. I leave it pulled out so I can use the stay dry side against Brennan's skin (and so I don't have to unstuff it on wash day). They are a little bulkier, probably due to the fact that they're all in ones and not meant to be upped in absorbancy, but they're also my most absorbent diaper. I got mine on sale (thanks Black Friday!) so they weren't too pricey for me. I love them and wish I had more!




Cloth diapers will always be bulkier than disposables, but I find that I don't mind it nearly as much as I thought I would. If I have a cute outfit (like an adorable tiny pair of khakis) that don't fit with a cloth diaper I just put him in a disposable for a bit. But for fun I put together a comparison of all my diapers and how they fit him. I know the width of these photos make my blog look weird but oh well, too lazy to fix it. Here is one comparison:

And here is another comparison with clothes. I tried to use a nearly too small outfit so it would be easy to tell the difference in size:

thank goodness he's so patient
with my incessant photo taking

So there you have it. These are the brands we're using and what's working for us. I'll put up another post soon-ish that talks about wash routine, diaper rash, our experience CDing a newborn and the rental we used, how much we've spent on our stash, and some other useful info. Thanks for reading! Your reward for making it all the way through this post, in honor of the Royals vs Cardinals series this weekend, is a super cute photo of my kid:

-Kelly