Cloth diapering - newbie reviews

I wonder if I would have chose cloth diapers for Gabriel. Surely the need to cut costs wouldn't have been a factor, but the cuteness definitely would have! I never even considered it for Evelyn because my vision was prefolds with safety pins and rubber pants. Boy have the times changed.

A group of my friends have been sending me their used (and some new) diapers to try. This has saved me a ton. I couldn't afford a trial and had no idea how I'd afford enough diapers even just to start a basic stash. Then what happens if I invested a bunch of money and didn't like those kinds? Luckily they've sent me a variety of styles, brands and sizes to try out.

This is the same group of women who entered me into the Pay-it-forward campaign through diaperparties.com - which I won thanks to everyone's support and votes! I couldn't have done it without you!

Before starting cloth diapering the twins, I had done tons of research and asked a million questions of my cloth diapering friends. After 2 days, these are my thoughts.

My initial assumption was that I would prefer Flips brand covers with prefolds and inserts. This option gives you the opportunity to use the cover for more than one diaper change as long as I didn't get messy. In my mind that meant less washing to do. But I'm not certain the lack of washing and ability to reuse makes up for the ease of a pocket diaper. Although I think they are slightly less bulky than a pocket and I do like that.

There are a bunch of different ways to fold a prefold. I tried only a few, for each one I used a Snappi to hold the diaper together. A far cry from the safety pins used generations before. I tried the newspaper fold (which Logan pooped out of right away - by poop'd out I mean only out of the prefold, the cover still held everything inside). I also tried the jelly roll fold, which successfully kept all the poo off the cover. I tried simply trifolding it and laying it inside the cover similar to a insert, but both the prefold and the insert I used had slid around inside the cover (possibly because the cover was still a hair too big).

I also tried a Thirsties cover. It only lasted one diaper change before Sawyer poo'd and made a mess of it. All the poo stayed inside, but the newspaper fold I attempted did not stop him from making a mess of the cover. The plus side to Thirsties, they have leg gussets to help hold the contents inside the cover.

I also tested Fuzzibunz OS pockets. I like these, it's simple to put on much like a disposable diaper. I like how small they are compared to some other brands. These seem to fit the boys best right now as they are both under 10lbs. I did struggle a little bit with figuring out the snaps at first. I used a regular insert (folded down slightly to size) inside the pocket. It's a bit bulky, but does the job well. They poo'd and I changed it and I worked out fine. I think if I had used a newborn insert it would have been less bulky.

I also tried a few Alvas OS pockets. I also like these for their ease and after checking their pricing, I like the cost too. They also have cute prints that I definitely appreciate. Initially they seemed a bit big, and they are. But they still held everything inside. I simply used a regular insert for these.

For now I am slightly limited on my supplies. I am using a wet bag to store the dirty diapers. I don't rinse the diapers unless its an unusually bad one (the boys are breastfed, so no need) I am washing every night so I have diapers for the next day. I used Bumgenius brand soap the first day and ended up with a lot of bad stains, I also think I didn't use hot enough water. I rinse on cold first, then wash on hot, rinse twice and hang dry. It goes faster than it sounds. I now use Tide powder and all the stains were gone today.

I spend my days mostly downstairs, so I've set up a 3 drawer system to make changes easier for me. The final system and set up will wait till I am more settled in my process.

I am am anxious to see what items come in my prize pack. I know it's big but I have no idea what to expect in it. I have my eyes on a few things I'd like to buy and try, but I don't want to buy anything until I know what I have!

So far this is all I've been able to try. The first diaper took probably 10 solid minutes to put on, but I'm already getting much quicker.

I started the boys in cloth and at the same time I am still working on potty training Ms Evelyn. My mom came to help again today, we are doing a whole new potty system in our house :) and Evelyn is doing good, we just have to break through her stubbornness.

My next endeavor (tomorrow): cloth wipes!