If you're like me, you have already done a lot of reading about cloth diapers. Confused and overwhelmed yet? I read so many posts, talked to many different cloth diapering parents, and attended a cloth diaper workshop before we decided what types of cloth diapers to use. I also made a spreadsheet of pros and cons of each type of diaper! Yeah... I'm that person.
What system(s) you choose will depend on a lot of things. I know a lot of people choose one system for the daytime and one (more absorbancy) for night. It just kind of depends on your needs.
There really is so much information out there that it's overwhelming. If at all possible, I recommend attending a cloth diaper workshop to touch and feel the diapers and see how they work in person. You can read all you want over the internet, but there's no substitute for feeling them with your hands and seeing how they work in person. If that's not possible, talk to other parents in your area and see if they cloth diaper. I'm pretty sure that nearly every cloth diapering parent would be more than happy to talk about their diapering system and show you how they work! I thought certain ones looked intimidating/complicated online, but once I saw them in person it wasn't the case at all.
Here are some different types of diapers and the pros and cons I came up with as I weighed our options. I am most familiar with the Cotton Babies brands (bumGenius, Flip, Econobum) and will primarily talk about them, but I do realize there are many many other types out there and will try to mention a few others. This is to primarily describe the pros and cons of each different type of diaper, not specific brands themselves. Once you decide on a type of diaper, then you can investigate all the different brands out there.
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| bumGenius Elemental, source: Cotton Babies |
Most all-in-one (or AIOs) look very similar to the above picture. These are your most simple, most disposable diaper-like cloth diaper. You essentially snap or velcro it on your child just like a disposable diaper. Easy peasy. There are some different flavors of AIOs though.
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| bumGenius Elemental, source: Cotton Babies |
The bumGenius Elemental diaper is a good example of this (shown above). The diaper has a waterproof covering (the green) and the inserts (cream colored cloth) are sewn in the diaper. This is essentially the same as a disposable diaper, only washable. This is a great diaper to use if a partner or other caregiver is hesitant about cloth diapering.
Pros: easy to use for husbands/grandparents/babysitters/daycare, good for squirmy toddler
Cons: one of the most expensive options, slow drying time (diaper must be line dried)
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| bumGenius Freetime, source: Crunchy Beach Mama |
The bumGenius Freetime diaper is a good example of this (shown above). The diaper is very similar to the Elemental except the inserts are semi-attached (on left), one at each end. This allows you to fold the inserts for more absorbancy in the necessary areas depending on your child. It also quickens the drying time since the inserts can get more air circulation.
Pros: still fairly easy to use, good for squirmy toddler, dries faster than AIO with fully attached inserts, can customize absorbancy
Cons: a more expensive option, must line-dry entire diaper
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| Pocket diaper, source: Quiet You Mothers |
There are all kinds of pocket diapers out there. bumGenius 4.0, Fuzzybunz, Kawaii, and Blueberry are just a few of the many different brands. Pocket diapers are very popular due to their nice blend of ease of use and quick drying times. Just like the name suggests, you "stuff" a pocket in the waterproof cover with an absorbent insert (shown in picture above). Inserts are typically "stay dry," microfiber, or organic cotton. The white cloth pocket wicks away any moisture from your baby into the cloth insert. Once stuffed, these diapers are essentially AIOs with fully attached inserts. You just snap or velcro them on your baby and go. When it comes to washing time, some of the brands are made so the inserts fall out in the wash, others you need to "unstuff" before washing in order to get everything clean. The inserts can be machine dried, but the covers need to be line dried. Since the covers have relatively little cloth on them, they dry fairly quickly, as do the machine dried inserts. Once dry, you can either stuff all of your diapers and put them away or stuff them as you need them. Different strokes for different folks, but they do need to be stuffed at some point before use. Many pockets also come with inserts of varying absorbancy (i.e. a newborn insert and larger insert) so the absorbancy can also be adjusted by changing what you use to stuff the diaper.
Pros: can change absorbancy of diaper with inserts, easy to use
Cons: need to stuff/unstuff diapers
Prefolds and Covers
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| Prefold and cover, source: Thanks Mama |
One of the nice things about prefolds and covers is how many you actually need. You need enough prefolds (the cheaper of the two) to get you through until you do laundry (24-30 washing every 2 days), but you need many less covers (the more expensive of the two). Covers can be re-used until they get dirty (i.e. poopy diaper). We have 30 prefolds and 11 covers in our stash. We could get by no problem with 6 covers, washing every other day. And speaking of washing, prefolds can be machine dried and the covers line dry very quickly because they have no extra cloth. We can have clean diapers in 3.5 hours. Depending on your brand, though, you may need several different sizes of covers and/or prefolds. Some of them are very size specific (gDiapers), others have adjustable rise snaps on the covers which theoretically fit birth through potty training (Econobum, Flip).
Pros: cheapest way to cloth diaper, can change absorbancy very easily, fast drying time
Cons: requires folding/snappi, more difficult to use with squirmy toddler, some caregivers may be hesitant to use these
Hybrid Systems
Several of the prefold brands I mentioned are also hybrid systems. A hybrid system basically means that it can be completely cloth or you can make it "disposable." Ok, that sounds confusing. Both gDiapers and Flip brands have waterproof covers and cloth inserts/prefolds available. They also have disposable inserts available as well. You can decide which insert to use and when. You may use the same cover with both kinds of inserts, so you could use a cloth prefold at home in the evenings and use the disposable inserts with a caregiver during the day. If using the cloth, you just throw the cloth insert in your wetbag and wash it; if using the disposable, you just throw the disposable insert in the trash. In both cases, you reuse (and wash) the waterproof cover. This option is really nice for people who travel (um, everyone). Rather than finding a laundromat or borrowing a relative's washing machine, you can still use your cloth covers and just use the disposable inserts. In gDiapers case, their inserts are either flushable or compostable. The Flip inserts are disposable. Either way, if tossed, the inserts are much smaller than a disposable diaper, so there's still less going into a landfill even if you use this option 100% of the time.
Pros: nice for traveling or for a caregiver to use
Cons: can get as expensive as disposable diapering
How many diapers do I need?
Most websites will recommend 24 diapers to do laundry every other day. I think this is a fairly reasonable estimate. We had 24 prefolds and 5 covers in a newborn size and it just barely wasn't enough to do laundry every other day. We now have 30 prefolds and 11 covers in a larger size and we have plenty to get us through two days. It depends on your method of drying (and I guess how often you need to change your baby!) but when we have #2, I am buying 6 more small prefolds and 1 more cover to give us 30 prefolds and 6 covers in a newborn size. I am very comfortable with that number to be able to wash every other day. If you are using the AIOs, you need to take line-drying time into consideration. The whole diaper needs line drying, so you might as well plan on them drying overnight.
Snaps versus Hook and Loop
This is a great debate in the cloth diapering community. It's really just a matter of preference.
Snaps
Snaps have set increments on the waist band of the diaper where you can adjust the fit. They snap very securely and typically children can't undo them to be able to take off their diaper. You also don't need to worry about making sure the tabs are closed when washing to avoid a large chain of attached diapers.
Pros: children can't undo snaps, hold up longer, no need to worry about closing tabs prior to washing
Cons: waist fit not as adjustable as hook and loop
Hook and Loop
Also called Velcro, Aplix, or H&L, hook and loop closure has a band of loop running across the waist band and two tabs of hook on either side to close the diaper. I have heard that the hook and loop seems to wear out and that they need replacing before the diapers themselves are worn out. If you sew, this probably isn't a concern for you. Also I've heard that small children can figure out how to undo the velcro tabs and take off their diaper once they reach a certain age. So beware of that. Also, the hook and loop diapers come with "laundry tabs" that you need to remember to fasten the hook portion to prior to washing so that you don't end up with a long diaper chain.
Pros: better/faster fit than snaps
Cons:children can take off diapers, need to fasten laundry tabs, tabs may wear out and need replacing
Final Thoughts
Ok, that was a lot of information! Sorry. I don't think I helped the "overwhelming" part. Basically, I just recommend thinking about what your needs are and going from there. Also getting your hands on some cloth diapers either in stories, through a cloth diaper workshop, or hitting up your friends to touch and feel them in person. And if you're interested in exact costs for some different types of systems, see my Cloth Diaper Cost Comparison post. I go into a lot of detail outlining the costs of these different types of systems. For a lot of people, choosing the right system for them is a balance of ease of use with cost.
Good luck,
Me
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