Cloth Diapers: Our System

NOTE: if you don't care about how we cloth diaper, this will be a very boring read।

NOTE 2: We cloth diaper because we are stewards of the earth, of the money entrusted to us, and of our baby's bottom. An essay on benefits to all.





Some diaper sites I like for information and products:
wildflowerdiapers.com (my favorite site, easy to navigate, great detail)
cottonbabies.com (the home of BumGenius, they have a diaper grant for missionaries I love to suport)
greenmountaindiapers.com
(Best price for pre-washed cotton prefolds. This saves lots of time, H2O, energy.)





A few of you have emailed me about cloth diaper recommendations. Diapering really is a system and, as there are so many options, systems vary. Our system is basic with a few frills. Some of the fancy diapers and covers are really amazing. But the basics are easy to use and almost all our 'stash' was 'showered' on us at my Diaper Shower. Here is our system.

Terms:

DSQ: diaper service quality

Chinese prefolds / prefolds: multi-ply cotton or hemp diaper what has extra thickness in the center.

Cover: go over the cloth diaper. Not all diapers need a cover, some have covers attached

PUL: polyurethane laminate. The coating on most covers to make them water-proof

Newborn: Diaper service (great gift from friends) using DSQ chinese prefolds and our own covers (Classic Proraps, newborn size, worked best on our skinny-thighed boy.) We used Snappis fasteners as they are faster to put on and less dangerous than pins.

When the diaper service expired at one month, we used our own DSQ prefolds, some cotton, some hemp (it's more absorbent). We never bought newborn size, just folded the diapers down a bit in front. When Aedyn outgrew the newborn size Proraps, we had Bummis covers. They have a little pocket in the front of the cover to hold the diaper if you fold it in thirds and just lay it in. That way you don't need a fastener as the cover wraps around the waist and velcros closed. We folded in thirds the short way until he was about 6 months because he has a small bum.

We also had a few AIOs for going out. They are constructed like disposables, are trim fitting and convenient. We loved the BumGenius AIO and liked the Bumkin. That one was better suited to a chubby waisted baby.

Now he's in medium sizes. We didn't make the switch until about 8 months, later than the sizing on most products indicates, because Aedyn is leaner than average (25 percentile.)

We use the small prefolds still folded the long way. We also have several contour diapers that are the same shape as the wrap covers. They work better for us if we use a snappi. They are nice and cushy and have a sewn in 'doubler' for extra absorbency. We have added Kushies covers and some med. classic Prowraps as well as Bummis. I also now have a few wool soakers. They pull on like underwear and are make of wool. The lanolin in wool neutralizers pee. These aren't washed often. Seriously! Ours are so cute and soft and they keep a bottom warm.

OUR FAVORITE DIAPER! BumGenius One-Size Diaper! We have 6 if these. They are 'pocket diapers.' While several companies make pocket diapers (the cover has an inner liner and you stuff the diaper or absorbent liner into the cover, then it goes on like a disposable) Bum Genius One-Size has an adjustable rise. We've used these since Aedyn was about 2 months old. They are our night time diaper. Now we double stuff them with the original inserts and/or a small prefold. This gets Aedyn half-way through his 12-13 hour night. They are easier to put on in the dark than prefold/cover combo.

Pail: we bought a 22 gallon garbage can with a foot-operated lid and a liner. The liner gets washed with the diapers. We also use a wash basin to soak a diaper if necessary or store dirty covers and then wash them in the basin. (I usually hand wash covers at the end of the day, dry over edge of tub all night. they can be machine washed with the diapers, too.)

Diaper sprayer: started using this when he started eating solids to spray poo off the diapers into the toilet. now I hardly ever need to soak a diaper.

Washing: 1) a cold, short cycle wash/rinse with NO detergent. 2) a hot, longest cycle wash/rinse with about 1 TABLESPOON ONLY. Diapers hold odors and become less absorbent due to detergent build-up. I have used a bit of bleach only once, on a single poopy diaper I forgot about in a bag for a week. USE SUNLIGHT instead of bleach to whiten out any stains. Never use bleach on PUL covers.