Cloth Diapers FTW (for teh win!) Part I
I love using cloth diapers. I recently held down a poor pregnant couple for more than a half hour when they unfortunately mentioned that they might be using cloth diapers. I have many opinions on cloth diapering, and I am going to share all of them with you tonight! YAY diapers! The first thing in order to entice you to read further is teh cute. Cloth diapers ARE FUCKING ADORABLE, YO. Here is Egg at four months:
See the cuteness? Have you ever seen a diaper clad baby with COW print on his nethers? You have not! Think of all the joy you get out of dressing your baby boy or girl. With the wee little socks, the cutest onesies, the hair bows, etc. Dressing babies is FUN. Adding another opportunity for cute and/or matching? AWESOME. Egg at six months:
Notice how the cow diaper cover still fits and is still sparkly white? Do you have any idea how many times Egg has shit his ever-loving brains out all over that cover? Exactly. Much shitting all over. And the cover keeps on keeping on all day. Now you're intrigued, right? Teh cute has sucked you in and you want to know more about keeping your baby's ass rash-free and the landfills disposable diaper free? I know! WIN WIN!
If you have looked into cloth diapers, you might have become overwhelmed with all the choices, acronyms, washing, drying, OMGICANTDOTHIS. But! You are here and I can make this easy peasy for you. In disposable diapers there are a few types, too. You have the EXPENSIVE, the CHEAP, and the EARTH-FRIENDLY. Sometimes you have Huggies that are earth-friendly-ish and then the sensitive type and the crawling and the swaddling and isn't every baby's skin sensitive? So if you can make a decision to disposable diaper, you can figure out cloth diapering. I promise!
There are three general types of cloth diapers, ignoring the permutations of organic and not bleached cotton and blah blah blah. You can mix and match types as well as CHANGE when your baby grows. So you are not married to a particular type. The first type is Prefold + Cover. A prefold looks like this on one-month old Egg:
A prefold is a square piece of cotton that is made of layers sewn together. The layers are thicker in the middle. They come in different sizes to fit your baby. The thing holding it together is a Snappi and is much like the metal thingy that holds an ace bandage on your parts. You don't have to use pins unless you prefer them.
These are from Green Mountain Diapers. Two people I respect and admire recommended using this website to purchase prefolds. I really didn't like how 1999 the website is, but the prices and quality and reams of how-to advice are invaluable. You cannot buy the crap you find in Babies R Us. Is is like trying to use a Kleenex as a pad on a heavy flow day. That shit just won't work.
So we have a prefold, a snappi, and a cover. Covers are teh cuteness. Look:
Covers are waterproof. The prefold soaks up all the yuck, and the cover keeps the yuck from getting on you. There are designer covers, plain white covers, character covers, the sky is the limit. Now there are covers that are more adjustable, which means they last longer on your growing baby. These are Thirsties, and they kick ass. The snaps on the front allow you to adjust the rise, making it span a wider range of baby sizes.They come in a TON of cool colors and really last.
Prefolds, the cotton part that absorbs the yuck, snappis that keep the prefolds on, and covers that are a waterproof barrier between you and the yuck. If it sounds like I am repeating myself, it is because that's how you learn, stupid hooker face! Next diapering post we will talk about Pocket Diapers and All-in-ones.
If you have looked into cloth diapers, you might have become overwhelmed with all the choices, acronyms, washing, drying, OMGICANTDOTHIS. But! You are here and I can make this easy peasy for you. In disposable diapers there are a few types, too. You have the EXPENSIVE, the CHEAP, and the EARTH-FRIENDLY. Sometimes you have Huggies that are earth-friendly-ish and then the sensitive type and the crawling and the swaddling and isn't every baby's skin sensitive? So if you can make a decision to disposable diaper, you can figure out cloth diapering. I promise!
There are three general types of cloth diapers, ignoring the permutations of organic and not bleached cotton and blah blah blah. You can mix and match types as well as CHANGE when your baby grows. So you are not married to a particular type. The first type is Prefold + Cover. A prefold looks like this on one-month old Egg:
So we have a prefold, a snappi, and a cover. Covers are teh cuteness. Look:
posted by Sam at
8:48 PM
12 Comments:
Thank you for posting this! I don't have a baby (yet) but have been telling my husband when we do that I want to use cloth diapers. He says they're too much trouble and too messy. I say bring them on!
See?! I knew we would be BFFs! I love cloth. Love. We aren't using them right now for #4, and it makes me sad, but I let the spouse choose, since he was staying home with him. If that changes, we're going back to cloth, no doubt. We still have our small and medium Fuzzi Bunz from our other babies. (That's ANOTHER great thing about cloth! Hand-me-downs!)
I have lots of opinions about cloth too. Have tried lots of different kinds and brands. LOTS. We eventually settled on Fuzzi Bunz, but there are a few others I really like too. The one-sized Fuzzi Bunz didn't exist when we started, so I've never tried those. Would like to try Bum Genius too, as I know a lot of people really like those.
Anyway, blah blah blah. Goodnight. :)
Despite the fact that you called me a hooker face, this is a great, great post on cloth diapering.
My sister cloth diapers. I was too overwhelmed with my first to even TRY it but I'm thinking maaaaybe with this one.
I love the line about using kleenex as a pad. Perfect! I feel like I should call you name: smartypants asshole.
I love cloth diapers, too. We started when S was a few months old, so we went straight to Bum Geniuses.
With maybe baby #2, I am wondering if I should just use disposables for a few months? I know, I know. Lazy, lazy. I just worry about even more laundry with 2 still in diapers.
The obvious answer is to get a live in nanny/maid/cook.
when i was in college, i worked in a day care. i was in charge of babies. i realized quickly that if i did not use cloth diapers, i would never get over the eco-guilt. so even though i have no baby, i know when i do, i will be cloth all the way. as long as i have a washer and dryer.
yay for cloth!! We did prefolds & thirsty covers until W was about 4.5 months and then switched over to bum genius. wooo!
Awwww, cow nethers!
Very cute. I want to try the cloth ones (if I ever get to that point) largely because of overall cost. Those are very cute though. I love seeing posts about how easy the cloth diapering has become. I know when my sister was a baby it was a lot of leakage but it sounds better these days.
I used cloth for both my boys. the only I ran into is that Tim is kinda wide build (wide hips and shoulders) and with the thick cloth diapers clothes were just too friggin' tight.
I used Mother'ease snap diapers. It's been 7 years that I last used them. Don't know even they still exist. I found them thru Mothering magazine.
hey on another baby note: are you ever gonna finish your birth story???
You stopped when you guys were aboutto go on the highway.....
Love cloth! Even found a daycare when it was time to go back to work (18 months old) that would do cloth, happily, willingly, broadcasting it to encourage other parents to think it over. Then, after a couple of weeks of 7pm to 7 am shifts, the laundry gods laughed at me, made fun of me, broke my mother f'in washing machine in the middle of the f'in holidays, and we went to disposables. i so miss the ghetto booty my son sported, letting him help me pick out cutie prints. He's nearly 3, and we're still in diapers, and i secretly blame the disposables.
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