Try Cloth Diapers Risk Free

Try Cloth Diapers Risk Free
Showing posts with label Prefolds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prefolds. Show all posts
There are dozens of different brands and types of cloth diapers on the market, from the relatively cheap (though often more complicated) to the much more expensive (but easier). Often, it’s the expensive all-in-ones that are a gateway into cloth diapering. Parents feel like they can “handle” all-in-ones…and then they feel like they can handle pockets…and then they decide to check out prefolds and covers. It is a rare parent who feels up to the challenge of prefolds and covers as their first cloth diapering experience—but the truth is, in many ways, prefolds and covers are the easiest method of cloth diapering.

This week, I’ve gone back to the basics myself. Following a root canal, I’m on penicillin; and after a nasty experience with thrush when my third child was born, I’m well aware that if I’m on antibiotics, the odds that either the baby or I (or both) will end up with some yeast issues are fairly high. As a precautionary measure, I’ve been taking probiotics daily, bleaching every load of diaper laundry just to be safe…and using cotton prefolds and covers, which, according to a study I read back when I first started cloth diapering, won’t hold yeast through a wash cycle.

I had forgotten how much I like this very basic approach to cloth diapering.

I like that one cover can last me for the better portion of a day (unless she poops…which, because I have a limited number of covers, since that’s not my usual cloth diapering method, she is of course doing at least three times a day), and that if I’m matching it to an outfit, it can just keep on matching all day long. I like that it’s a quick and easy change—prefold out, new prefold trifolded into the cover, and done. I like that it doesn’t really stack up as much diaper laundry.

I like that they dry faster than any other diapering method—especially the handful of flats that have also made their way into my diaper collection. I like that they can be folded in a variety of different ways to customize absorbency if I need to. I like that they’re quick to fold—I do prestuff my covers, but it takes less time than stuffing pockets. I like that they’re super easy to wash—regular wash, maybe an extra rinse at the end, and most of the time, they’re good to go. No standing over the washer all day, hoping that whatever is in there will come out with a minimum of stink. (Hello, microfiber all-in-ones. I’m talking about you.)

I also like that it’s not the end of the world if something happens to a prefold. If baby has a massive explode-a-poop made of blueberries and, I don’t know, food coloring (I don’t usually let any of my children have this, much less the nine-month-old, but I guess it could happen) and it gets stained…no big. Prefolds don’t have a whole lot of resale value anyway.

I even kind of like the expressions on the faces of the nursery workers at church when I come in and say, “Oh, she’s in a prefold and cover today, sorry—but all you have to do is fold it like this and stick it in the cover. See?”

What about you? Do you have a few prefolds and covers in your stash, whether for “just in case” you run out of your other diapers, or because you use them regularly? What’s your favorite thing about them?

Reference: http://realdiaperevents.org/archives/cotton-prefolds-and-yeast-initial-results

By Emily


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Back to the Basics

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Why oh why didn’t I know about flats until I had been cloth diapering for almost a full year? Did I mention that I have a HE top loader? Did I mention the hard water? Did I mention I take long day trips with the squish? I stumbled upon flats when I started hearing some moms talk about how much they disliked microfiber. Still newish to CD’ing I decided natural fibers would be best after a little research. However, I was lacking the funds to go out and replace all of my microfiber. Then I discovered flats. Not only were they cheap but they wash easy and like a dream which is a must when your diapers may be sitting in a wet bag for a few days. They also are easily hand washed in the tub or sink. See this informative article for instructions.
Flats also line dry quickly and are very absorbent. You can easily pad fold them. They are also a great and inexpensive diapering solution for newborns. The triangle fold is super easy and you can use a pin or a Snappi. So you have the option of using them as a diaper you pin on or using them in the pad fold and stuffing into a pocket or cover. This means when your on vacation and room is precious you can use a cover a few times and wipe it between uses. Flats take up very little room. They also wash easy as I said. They are dream for a busy mom who has little time to deal with washing.

Enough already about the flats I have found a new appreciation for my prefolds. I find despite the bulk compared to the flats they too seem to wash rather easily and are fantastic stuffed into pockets. I espically love stuffing them into my Kawaii’s as my squish is a heavy wetter. They actually don’t take up much space when you just stack them on each other. Prefolds are also a very affordable option espically when you purchase the Econobum starter package.

I feel terrible because my poor prefolds were collecting dust. I just didn’t want to try to get my squish to stay still long enough to pin them and cover them. I sucked at the folds too I hated fining a fleece liner to keep babies bum dry. Then I recalled someone saying they used them in pockets. Why didn’t I ever think of that? No more sorting assorted inserts and figuring what goes where. It takes me less time to trifold my prefold and stuff my pockets than it did when I stuck to the inserts that came with the diapers. Prefolds also line dry in a reasonable amount of time. Not as quickly as my fabulous flats but usually overnight. You can also hand wash them in a tub easily. Which means if your on vacation you can take half a dozen or so along with some flats and do the wash in the evening and have it dry before checkout.

I find when I have the natural fibers which are my prefolds and flats dominating the wash routine is much simpler. My diaper woes are gone. They also make it possible for me travel without worrying about finding a funkafied diaper in the wetbag a week later. Which happened recently it was a pocket stuffed with a flat and a Thirsties hemp insert and it really didn’t stink. Sometimes the answer to a seemingly complicated question is to go with what is simple trusty flats and prefolds.

Bio: Megan Beaver is a mother runner, a BF’ing and CDing mom who wishes she lived at Disneyland.


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Simplify your life. Take a vacation. Thanks to Fabulous Flats and Prefolds

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When we first set out on our cloth diapering journey, my husband and I tried quite a few systems before we decided on prefolds. We knew our daycare was open to prefolds since another mother introduced us to them, but there were a few things we learned over time that have made things easier for both the daycare providers and us.

#1) PREFOLD your prefolds
Our providers occasionally have difficulty folding the correct way. For those of you who use prefolds, you know it’s not that difficult, but when you have four other toddlers screaming in the room it is SO much easier to simply throw it in the cover and go!

#2) Stuffing prefolds?
If you can provide extra covers each day, it works even better if you can prestuff your covers. It’s a little thing, but it helps the provider and ensures a better fit which helps prevent those little prefold corners from peeking out.

#3) Covers, covers and more covers
Part of the reason we chose prefolds was to save money on covers. We have learned over time that most of our daycare providers prefer a new cover each time. We started with sending three covers, now we use five, and it has made our provider much happier.

#4) CD safe cream
We orignally used a non-safe cream with liners but we found that often the provider would forget the liner or get cream on the prefold anyways. I finally purchased some CJ’s. Not only is CJ’s amazing, but no more errors and less scrubbing my prefolds!

#5) Wet bags
Wet bags have helped save my diapers in quite a few ways. The first is that the providers know that diapers move from the clean bag to the wet bag, instead of back into the clean bag: yuck! It also saves the trouble of the infamous “white plastic bag”, which can get misplaced or even THROWN AWAY.

#6) Liners, for some but not all
We originally used liners to help with the poops. It turns out that our providers prefer to simply place the folded prefold in the wetbag. This helped us since I no longer had to worry about throwing liners in with my diaper laundry; I had plenty of spraying to do anyways! However, the providers in the 2 year old room have let us know that they prefer the liners so we will be switching back. My best advice would be to provide liners, explain options, and let the provider choose.

#7) Covers with flaps
While we love our Blueberry, Imagine and Kissa covers, covers with flaps help prevent the “prefold sticking out” issue that has lead to LOTS of clothes changes at daycare and a good amount of frustration from our providers. For this reason, we try to use only covers with front and back flaps.

#8) To Flip, or not to Flip?
We felt that AI2’s would be awesome for daycare. We tried Flip’s. No folding, small and thin: perfect, right? For us, it was not. Even though we educated all of our children’s providers about “soft side up, letters down”, after three different “mistakes” I could not deal with another bum-burn. Daycare providers are busy and if you have a daycare like ours, there may be other teachers and substitute teachers coming in on occasion who may not be educated on which way to put a Flip. It may help to write “UP” on the insert. We simply went all prefold. No risk of putting microfiber against the bum and risking a burn. However, if you have a single provider, Flips are a pretty simple system.

If you are looking for a similar system, we have friends who use Best Bottoms successfully at our center. The snaps help the insert go in the right way and also prevents the issue mentioned in #7.

Overall, we have had a good experience using prefolds and covers with our daycare, but we have learned that we need to be flexible. Talk to your provider, let them touch/try things and try to tackle issues head on. It is possible to use prefolds and covers at daycare successfully!

Bio: Carrie Long - Wife and mother of two beautiful girls and one angel. Occasional speech language pathologist and animal rescue enthusiast.


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Prefolds and Covers at Daycare, OH MY!

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Two years ago when I made the decision to switch to cloth diapers, I had no idea how it would change other aspects of my life. I remember back to when I was pregnant with my second son and was asked on a pregnancy forum if I was going to use cloth or disposable diapers. I quickly replied disposable and went on with life without really thinking about it. At the time, I was completely unaware of today’s cloth diapers, as I’m sure many women are. When I thought of cloth diapers, the old school prefolds and flats with pins and plastic pants came to mind. I wasn’t going to deal with that – along with all the poop. Yuck! However, my mind changed quickly soon after Brendan was born and I began to see the cute cloth diapers that other babies from that forum where wearing. I followed a link to Kelly’s Closet and to the bumGenius pocket diaper. I was intrigued by how simple it looked, and liked the idea of a reusable diaper that would eliminate the weekly trips to the store to buy diapers for two children. Upon the arrival of my first fluffy mail from Kelly’s Closet, a bumGenius one-size sample pack, I was 100% on board with cloth diapering. Little did I know how this decision to purchase my first fluff would change my life.

After using cloth diapers for a few months I began to think about why I was using cloth on my children, but continuing to use disposable products for myself each month. I began doing a little research into women’s personal hygiene products and was alarmed at some of the things I read. Again on the same forum, I followed a link to a WAHM who makes cloth menstrual pads or “momma cloth” and fell in love with the beautiful fabrics she had available. I placed an order and haven’t used a single disposable product since then. I shouldn’t have been so surprised, but several of the things I had read about switching to cloth were true for me. My cycles really did seem lighter, and I was much more comfortable using cloth. I really wish I would have discovered momma cloth before I had children. It sure would have made the post partum period much more comfortable. As for cleaning my momma cloth, I simply store it in a small wet bag and wash it with my cloth diapers, or if it’s not fluff wash day, I’ve been known to wash them with towels now that I use Rockin Green detergent with all of my laundry.

Speaking of Rockin Green…that’s another product that has changed life in our home. In the past I was oblivious to all the additives in laundry detergent. I was far from living a green life. It’s not that I didn’t want to; I was just unaware of how I could make a few changes in order to live a greener, healthier life. After trying a bag of Rockin’ Green with my fluff, I feel in love with the detergent. If it was able to get the diapers clean and smelling so fresh, I just had to start using it on all of our clothing, towels and sheets. Even with Brendan’s sensitive skin, we haven’t had any problems at all using either Classic or Hard Rock in a variety of scents. (I just LOVE the new Smashing Watermelons and Rage Against the Raspberry!)

Cloth diapering also led me to discover my new favorite hobby – yarn. I love crocheting wool shorties and longies for both of my sons. My oldest son still has accidents some nights and beautiful, breathable wool is our answer to keeping his bed dry at night. As much as I enjoy crocheting in the evenings, I shudder to think that I may not have discovered this wonderful new hobby, had it not been for my decision two years ago to switch to cloth diapers. It’s kind of amazing how one small decision affected my life in so many ways. Have you ever stopped to think about how has cloth diapering changed your life?

By Katrina W.
Originally posted on 7/19/2010
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How Cloth Diapering Changed My Life

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From The Cloth Diaper Whisperer Archives! This is a favorite blog post about how prefolds can be so easy to use. Originally posted on Jan.20th, 2011.

I found a new favorite cloth diaper. It is very absorbent and I never have leaks. It is affordable and easy to use.

No, it's not the latest pocket or all-in-one diaper. It's not fancy. There's not even a whole lot of science behind it. In fact, it's a little bit old fashioned. What is it, you may ask? It's the prefold.

Scary, yes, I know. When I first started cloth diapering my newborn four months ago, I scoffed at prefolds. Why use those ancient things when there are so many awesome new diapers on the market? But then I found out their dirty little secret: they are cheap and effective, and not nearly as difficult as I imagined them to be.

I decided to try prefolds one day because my rapidly-growing son had hit a point where I was struggling to get his diapers to fit him properly. He changed so much day to day and I was getting frustrated. I was also getting lots of leaks. And, with so many great, convenient diapers on the market, there just had to be a reason that some parents still prefered to use prefolds and flats. What did I have to lose? If I didn't like them I wouldn't be out a ton of money, and I could always use them as rags or burp cloths. I placed an order for half a dozen prefolds, a cover, and a Snappi, then searched the internet to learn the best ways to fold them.

My package arrived a few days later. I prepped the prefolds right away, so I could try them the same day; I am impatient like that. Then, skeptically, I put one on my two month old son for the first time. It actually looked like the ones I saw online! I was pretty darn proud of myself but I knew I had won the battle, not the war... how would it hold up when my son peed? Or, worse, had an explosive poop?

Perfectly, as I soon found out. I have not had a single leak since I started using prefolds. I had a couple instances where I had some slight wicking and his onesie got a little damp--my own fault, for not being more careful when putting on the covers--but never a real leak. Over the past two months I have fine-tuned the art of putting on a prefold. Not to sound too full of myself, but gosh darn it, I am good at it. I can jelly-roll those things like nobody's business.

So yes, I love my prefolds. They are much easier than I ever could have imagined, and very versatile as well. I like that I can let my son go coverless to let his skin breathe. I like that I have the option of using a fleece liner to help him feel dry. I like that I can still have fun with them, and can find prefolds in fun prints, or embellish them myself, or even dye them if I want to. And I love that, with the help of a hemp insert, my son wake up every single morning with dry sheets and jammies.

I still love (and use) my pocket diapers, and I know my likes and needs may change as my son grows. I am already learning how to deal with a very squirmy four month old, which presents a new diapering challenge. I am so glad that modern cloth diapers have made more people (myself included) hop on the cloth diapering bandwagon... but, sometimes, it's okay to be a little old-fashioned.  

By Shanon O.
The Up North Writer Mama

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From The Cloth Diaper Whisperer Archives: Why Prefolds Are Easier Than You Think

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Hello there! You look a little lost... Oh, you’re looking for the Mother’s Meeting? I’m so sorry, but they meet here in the Library on Tuesdays. Tonight it is “Clothaholics Anonymous”.

What’s that – you’ve never heard of Clothaholics Anonymous? Well, we do tend to be a little shy about our, er, problem; but certainly you’ve met clothaholics before. They look just like your average citizen.

Take Molly over there, for instance. Positively glowing, isn’t she! She’s only got a few weeks left before her first little one is due. She jumped on the cloth diapering bandwagon early, just a few days after her first positive pregnancy test. Things really went crazy, though, when she hit the nesting phase. Let’s just say she is now Prepared, with a capital P – who can blame her, though. Those itty bitty dipes are to die for. Her husband realised she had a problem when he came home from work one evening and discovered her in the nursery, practising snappying prefolds on a Cabbage Patch Kid.

Then there’s Gloria, in the corner with the knitting project. Gloria started with good old PUL covers, but for her they were a gateway diaper, leading her to the world of wool. She planned to try a pair of wool shorties on her daughter “just one time”, but who can stop once they begin, right? She then tried out longies, night-time soakers and now she is busy learning to knit so that she can make her own wool covers. Don’t get too close; you could lose an eye when her knitting needles really get going. 
 
Next to her is Barry… of course men can be clothaholics too! He says it all started for him when he heard his wife say something about bumGenius’ Artist Series – it reminded him somehow of his baseball card collecting days. Now he is always muttering to himself something about “getting the whole set”. Rumor has it he stocked up big time on Bubble and Sweet, hoping than in a few years he can sell them at a profit, and that he bought his baby boy a Freetime in Lovelace, just so he could complete his collection of prints.  

 
This is Brenda… now, Brenda, pull yourself together. Brenda’s little one is Potty Training, so it is no wonder she is a little teary… What do you mean it is good news?! It’s terrible! What on earth will she have to do with her free time? Gloria offered to teach her to knit as a new hobby, but that only reminded poor Brenda of all the options she never tried. Thankfully, she can wean herself off the hard stuff by trying out some cloth trainers… no need to go cold turkey, Brenda.

Anyhow, I expect you had better be going…oh, really? Of course you can stay! Recognizing you have a problem is the first step you know.

I’m sure you’ll fit in around here just fine.
 
Bio: Belinda Lamprecht currently lives in Africa with her husband, working for an international missions agency and raising her two kiddos, one who joined the family through adoption and one…ahem…the old-fashioned way. You can read more about their experiences at www.reaboka.wordpress.com 
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Clothaholics Anonymous

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This past February I decided to cloth diaper my daughter, let me take that back. This past February my girlfriend wanted me to stop complaining about my toddler peeing through her disposable diapers every night that she gave me a Bum Cheeks Pocket Diaper and an Indian Cotton pre-fold with a Flip Cover to try for nap & bedtime. She also knew I was playing with the idea of cloth diapering my second child, which I was severely pregnant with at the time.

Anyway I took the cloth home & slapped it on my daughter. An all I could do was laugh so hard because my tiny little toddler had a major ghetto booty in the pre-fold & Flip. I called my husband upstairs to come take a look at my horrible pre-folding skills so he could laugh too.

The next thing I know, my awesome hubby quips out the best pre-fold diaper and then puts the Flip cover on like a champ with me saucing at him. WHERE DID HE LEARN THAT?! I felt dumb but then the hubby looks at me and says,"Boy Scouts Baby." LOL, this is really funny to me because he is a SGT in the US Army. After seeing my husband's pre-folds skills & seeing no hesitation about using cloth diapers I knew I should give it a go.

That night I thought I'd look around for more cloth diapers. I think my girlfriend hated me for the first month as I was looking for sales and calling 'WAY TOO MANY' times to ask a diaper question. My so supportive husband would laugh because he said I was getting obsessed with diapering. Honestly, one really has to be right? I mean, if I didn't research I wouldn't have known that urine crystallizes and stays in diaper or that microfiber is a NO NO on skin. With all the research the husband and I learned a lot more then we expected.

Long story short, my daughter woke up dry. I will say it again DRY! For the first time in I don't know how long I did not have to strip her bed and wash everything. Which also meant MORE DIAPER SHOPPING FOR THS MOMMA. :) YAY ME

Cloth worked so well on my toddler I chose to cloth my 2nd child Keaton. When Keaton arrived April 10, 2012 I started out using disposables in the hospital (German hospital), and then switched once we arrived home. At home I still had a small stash for diapering two kiddos. However, I did have 4 GroVia NB AIOs, 2 Lil Joeys, 12 infant Prefolds with 2 XS Thirsties Covers so I felt prepared for this new challenge. Let just say I was no where near prepared for it. Cloth diapering a newborn with prefolds was hard for me because my son always locked his legs. OK, OK…he is over 2 months old now and I'm finally starting to master the pre fold so I can't blame the baby, even though it is easier.

However, even though my prefolding skills are far from perfect the cloth still contains the poo a lot better then any disposable diaper. When my daughter was a newborn she had so many blow outs that I was thankful that the poo didn't stain her precious outfits. Now we are blowout free & chemical free with money in our pocket.

My name is Jennifer Cipollone & I'm an SAHM and a devoted Army Wife. I have two children Kaitlyn 2 years old & Keaton 2 months old. My family is what I am all about.
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Cloth Tested Kid Approved

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I have to admit the most I ever used prefolds in regards to cloth diapering was as added stuffing for night time. I didn't start cloth diapering my son till he fit in pockets and, well, I love pockets so that is what I stuck with. My sister gave me box full of prefolds when she found out I was pregnant so we had a bagillion just laying around. I started using them for whatever I could because I felt bad if they just sat there.

One of my favorite uses for them was as burp cloths. They are so soft I didn't feel bad rubbing little mans face with it and they are very absorbent so nothing got by them. I used to keep one in every room of the house with an added one on either side of the couch just for in-cases. I also kept a handful in the diaper bag for when we were out and about. I don't know what I would have done if I had not had those diapers at every turn. I got fortunate and my son never really spit up but he did dribble milk down his cheek and he would spit up on occasion. Some times they also had to double as snot catchers :P

A new found love of prefolds was sparked last night when my son pulled my husbands glass of water off the table and spilled it on the carpet. The first thing I could reach happened to be a prefold and so I laid it down on the spill and started trying to soak up water. I had the whole thing open on the spill and I was pressing on the whole thing to try and cover more ground. As I pulled it up I saw the area the absorbent middle strip is pulled up so much water the carpet was almost dry! It was also still very dry feeling so I kept using it till the water was all soaked up and it still didn't feel very wet. I was pretty impressed.

Aside from the normal uses like a dust rag or dish drying rag (I do that too and it works great!) we put a prefold under our cutting board to keep it in one place. I felt pretty proud of myself when I came up with that one. We used to keep putting towels under the cutting board when we were going to use it but I got a hair brained idea one day and through a prefold under there instead. It fit perfectly! You can't see there is anything under the board and it stays in place when we use it! Victory!

It seems like every day I find some new ways to use prefolds and it makes me so happy to see things like that getting reused. I know my time as a mama is just beginning so maybe my list f of prefold uses is just getting started. :D

Bio: Jessie is a working mom to a wonderful little one year old.
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The wonderful world of prefolds!

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1. Cost. Hands down the most economical way to cloth diaper. You can purchase quality prefolds for anywhere between $1.50 and $3.00, give or take, depending on the size and material. Plus you can size up, fold them accordingly, and extend their use to a larger age range. Compared to $20+ for many AIOs and pockets, well, there's no comparison.

2. Versatility. If you do a search for ways to fold a prefold, you may be overwhelmed with the many variations that exist. Newspaper, trifold, angel wings, bikini twist, the list goes on. There are folds for every size, age, and shape of baby. Prefolds can be made from cotton, bamboo, or hemp to further tailor to your absorbency needs. They can even be used in conjunction with a doubler. Totally customizable.

3. Ease of Care. Prefolds can really take a licking and keep on ticking. After they have been prepped (which admittedly is kind of a pain in the butt), they can be washed alone or with other laundry. There is no worry about voiding a warranty if you dry on high heat. There's no concern about whether an insert needs to be removed before washing or laundry tabs needs to be used to prevent a diaper chain or damage to other diapers. They typically don't hold stink like microfiber can.

4. The Snappi. One of the greatest inventions of all time. This is not a post about why Snappis are amazing, but they are, and they make using prefolds a breeze. The perfect companion to the prefold; not essential, but definitely helpful. It makes using prefolds just as simple as snaps or velcro. Diaper pins also work well, and with certain folds, such as the trifold, the cover keeps the prefold in place. What could be easier?

5. Covers. Have you seen all the adorable prints out there for covers? Combined with the fact that they are often much cheaper than AIOs or pockets, and they can be used for more than one diaper change (usually several), they make prefolds even more economical and adorable. Plus covers clean up easily and quickly. Maybe you're thinking, but Kelly, I don't want that extra step in there, because most of the time, you do have to use a cover. But is it anymore trouble than, say, stuffing in a pocket or snapping in a soaker?

I'm not going to say I don't own any AIOs, pockets, or AI2s because I do, but I always seem to grab for the prefolds first. And there's just something about doing a bikini twist that sets my heart aflutter. Maybe it's because they were my first introduction to the awesomeness that is cloth diapering, or maybe it's because prefolds are amazing.

Kelly is a stay at home mom of a 3 year old and 1 year old, and when she is not running around like a chicken with its head cut off, she enjoys knitting, relaxing in the hot-tub, and shopping...for cloth diapers.
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5 Reasons Why Prefolds are Amazing

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The first time I tried cloth diapers, I used a Gerber pre-fold with a snapi under a size one Thirsties cover. It worked perfectly. There were no leaks and changing was no big deal. What I was not prepared for was the wet prefold. I know it sounds silly, but at the time I was at the changing table with a wet prefold and nowhere to put it. Like many of us, I am a “googler”. Yet for some reason I did not turn to it to answer this question. Was it baby brain? All I knew was that my mother used disposables. My mother in law used a diaper service and I remembered her stories of hauling a wet pail downstairs. I did not like the idea of having to produce a wet pail that instant. I thought: “What is a wet pail? A bucket of water and soap?” In any case, I changed my baby into a disposable diaper and I wrapped the wet prefold in a used grocery bag and threw it out. Yes, people. Guilty as charged. In my defense, I washed the Thirsties cover.

Fast-forward one year and I am pregnant with baby number two. Due to many breastfeeding problems and hormonal issues, I know baby number two will be formula fed. Baby number one is a toddler under two years old and not potty trained. I will have two babies in diapers and one that needs formula! The idea of spending that kind of money every month was just terrifying. I started researching cloth diapering in earnest. Paying most attention to what to do with the poop and the wet diapers. Thankfully, the wet pail is mostly a thing of the past (phew!) and a dry pail is just fine. I bought a Planet Wise liner and a “tall” plastic trash can with a lid. Now I would not throw out a wet prefold! The poop is not a problem, since a toddler’s poop rolls out of the diaper into the toilet. No need to rinse most of the time. I am sure this will change with a newborn, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

A local store stocks cloth diapers. After much pondering, I bought two Flips with stay dry inserts and three Econobums with hemp inserts. I went home and prepped the diapers. By the time I was done, it was nighttime. We were having a lot of trouble with my son’s disposables leaking overnight. In fact, we were using disposables a size larger and yet sometimes he would soak through the diaper! I read everywhere that hemp absorbs very well so we tried it. Why not? I was dealing with leaky diapers at least once a week. Another one would not be a big deal. That first night, my son used a Flip cover with a stay dry insert over an Econobum hemp prefold. The next morning I had a happy toddler that had not leaked! And to my surprise he was dry. I could not believe that the stay dry insert actually stayed dry! Call me skeptical, but I just could not believe that cloth could do that. The inserts went into the dry pail (not the trash). I wiped the Flip cover and put on another hemp prefold. I was back in the store that day and bought more Flip stay dry inserts. I have even added cloth wipes!

I quickly supplemented my growing stash with new bumGenius pocket diapers and bought some used Happy Heinys. This way I don’t have to wash every day. The dry pail does not smell like I thought it would. Pregnant ladies out there, you know how the nose changes! I cannot smell a thing with the lid closed. My husband does most of our nighttime routine therefore, we use the bumGenius pocket with two inserts overnight. I have no leaks to report. Gladly, by now I know I could also use a Flip or an Econobum with two stay dry inserts get no leaks either.

I find cloth-diapering fun and I wish my son was younger and that the weather was warmer so that he could run around in his cute diaper. Soon a new addition will come home and I will be able to do just that! That reminds me I need to get her some coordinating baby legs!

Bio: Sofia M. is currently a SAHM to a toddler and is expecting her second child.
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I Once Threw Out A Wet Prefold

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I don’t remember what initially attracted my interest in cloth diapers, but there were three reasons that my husband and I eventually decided to use them: to save money, to be environmentally friendly, and to avoid the chemicals in disposable diapers.  We certainly didn’t choose cloth diapers because we thought they would be easy.  In fact, in the last weeks and months of my pregnancy, as I purchased and prepped our cloth diapers, I was simultaneously preparing myself mentally for the difficulties I would encounter: the relentless laundry, the leaky diapers, the messy, multi-step diaper changes (we decided to use prefolds and fitted diapers with diaper covers).  I constantly had to remind myself that the benefits of cloth diapers would outweigh these difficulties.

I was so worried about the complexity of using cloth diapers that we used disposables for the first week after our daughter was born; I was convinced that I wouldn’t be able to handle cloth diapering while recovering from childbirth.  I also didn’t think my husband would be able to figure out cloth diapering without me there to guide him through the first several diaper changes.  I chose to use prefold diapers with covers because they seemed to be the most cost effective option, however, they seemed the most difficult to use.  I had also bought a few fitted diapers as well, and I planned to save those for the evening when my husband would help me with diaper changes.  Because it was my decision to cloth diaper, I didn’t want to saddle my husband with the extra work and difficulty.

Imagine my surprise when, after one week of disposable diapers, we switched to cloth diapers and found them to be just as easy.  Instead of pinning the prefolds on, we just folded them, placed them in the cover, and put it on the baby.  It only took seconds longer than a disposable diaper.  Sure, there was more laundry, but cloth diaper laundry was much more low maintenance than I expected.  We quickly developed a routine: my husband would throw the full diaper pail liner in the laundry in the morning  before work and put it on a prewash cycle and when I woke up, I would put it on a wash cycled, then into the dryer or on the drying rack.  With the increase in laundry from a baby we barely noticed an extra load.

When our daughter was not yet three weeks (and we were less than two weeks into cloth diapering), we went out of state for a 16-day vacation to take her to see our families for the holidays.  Although we found using cloth diapers at home to be simple, I was worried about the difficulties of traveling with cloth diapers.  Once again, I let my fears get the best of me and we left the cloth diapers at home.  We regretted it almost instantly.  The disposable diapers leaked much more that the cloth diapers we were used to.  Our daughter developed diaper rash for the first time while wearing them.  And, of course, we were unhappy to have to pay for products that we were almost immediately tossing in the trash.  My initial fears about my husband not wanting to cloth diaper were more than unfounded; less than a week into our vacation, he was saying how much he missed cloth diapers.

When I initially decided to cloth diaper, I felt like I would be sacrificing my time and energy in order to best care for my daughter, the earth, and my pocketbook.  The benefits were worth it of course, yet it turned out that cloth diapering is no sacrifice at all.  I feel like it actually saves me time and energy because I don’t have to deal with as many leaky diapers, I don’t have to run to the store to buy more when we run out, and I don’t have to worry about diaper rash.  I only wish I had known beforehand how easy cloth diapering can be, and therefore had saved all the time and energy I spent worrying about the “difficulties” of cloth diapering.

Bio: Mandi is a young wife and mother who writes about faith, marriage, and motherhood at CatholicNewlywed.blogspot.com.  She and her husband are enjoying life as new parents to their two-month-old daughter, Lucia Rose.
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Wasting Time Worrying

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Iʼm a little bit embarrassed to admit that I was not even planning my next pregnancy when I started obsessing over newborn cloth diaper options. We started cloth diapering our son at 2 months old, and so he went right into size smalls and one-size diapers. My usual justification for splurging on the good stuff, diaper-wise, is that weʼre going to have more children and so get (hopefully) many years of use out of each diaper. However, even with more babies to come, the fact of the matter is that they just donʼt stay tiny that long, and while theyʼre tiny they poop A LOT. So I agonized over the best way to not spend a lot of money on something that wonʼt be used for long, but of which you also need many!

After months of “casually” (read: obsessively) looking online at different makes, models and types, I finally settled on buying 1 dozen all-in-ones and 1 dozen prefolds with four covers. I thought that I would love the all-in-ones because I definitely prefer those and pocket diapers for my son. And I thought the prefolds would be a cheap way to bulk up the stash, but that I wouldnʼt really like them at all.

Way back in the day, when I first started on the cloth diaper journey with my son, I had bought a package deal of a well-known brand name that included 2 dozen prefolds and 6 covers. They were so bulky, held stink, the covers were plain white (blah!) and my son hated the wet feeling next to his skin. I eventually sold them on Craigslist and good riddance! On to cuter, trimmer, albeit more expensive diapers.

Since I had such a low opinion of prefolds from that experience, I was skeptical about how much people raved about using them on newborns. I read a lot of comments online from people who normally prefer pocket diapers, saying that for their little teenies, prefolds were just right. And since Iʼm ultimately cheap (isnʼt that a huge reason why we all cloth diaper??) I decided that for about $20/dozen at Green Mountain Diapers, I would give them a shot. All the other options were just way more expensive.

So about a month ago my sweet baby girl was born and I was stoked about getting to put her in her first little cloth dipey! She looked so cute in her colorful girlie diapers! She was 7lbs 11oz at birth and quickly went over 8lbs in the next week or so (sheʼs somewhere in that range in these pictures).

Imagine my surprise when I discovered over the course of a few days that the all-inones I envisioned myself preferring turned out to be just about worthless and leaky while the prefold/cover combo was bullet proof! I wasnʼt expecting that! I began to bypass the all-in-ones when picking out a new diaper during a change, in favor of a prefold. And for over night and outings - prefolds all the way. Are the all-in-ones trimmer and fit nicely? Sure. But she pees right through them, wetting her whole outfit and whoever is holding her. Not just a little damp around the edges...Iʼm talking flowing pee. The prefolds? She can wear them all night long (8ish hours) and not the slightest wetness outside where it should be. They even hold in the infamous breast milk poop and it rarely gets on the cover either.

The downsides to prefolds: my husband is still a little intimidated by how to put them on. I use a snappi to close them, so itʼs really easy - no pins - but heʼs just not as confidant in how to put them on correctly. Also, they are bulkier than the all-in-ones, although that has become less of a factor as sheʼs gotten bigger. But compared to how bulky my first experience with prefolds were, these arenʼt bad at all. As a matter of fact, at a baby shower recently, another cloth diapering mama raved about how trim her diaper looked. The main reason why the bulkiness isnʼt as bad as it could be is that they are specifically newborn sized prefolds (orange edge Green Mountain Diaper brand). The last downside is that it does take just a few moments longer per change because there are two steps (diaper, then cover) to put on, versus just velcro-ing up a one piece diaper. None of these downsides are really deal breakers for me, outweighed by all the positives - theyʼre cheap, they work, I donʼt have to worry about her outfit (or mine!), and the covers make them look really cute. (My favorite kind - newborn Bummis super brite!)

So Iʼm a convert. I still prefer the ease of the bumGenius and Fuzzibunz diapers that I use for my son and when my daughter gets big enough sheʼll be in those too. But for this newborn stage, I highly highly recommend prefolds because theyʼre cheap and they just plain work best. Give them a shot “next time”!

By Stephanie Gossett
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Surprised by Love - for Prefolds!

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The challenge: Drive to Kansas City, MO for little sister's graduation, then to Dallas, TX to stay with grandparents, return to Denver safe and happy with daughters 1 & 5 years old, parenting & driving solo.
Total traveling time 14 days. Total driving time ~ 26 hours.

If I had the funds I might call myself addicted to cloth, it is rather difficult stifling the urge to max the credit card with random fluff every time some new print or interesting style arrives on the diaper market. I have tried just about everything currently offered out there. I settled in for the second round with Baby E outfitted with prefolds and wraps. My experience thus far has proven that for ease of use, versatility, and cost effectiveness, prefolds win every time.

My main concern traveling with the diapers had little to do with how and when I would wash them. I was mostly concerned with mildew and other nefarious diaper destroyers. It never even crossed my mind to purchase disposables for the trip. Where we go, the diapers go. Besides, my number one reason for using cloth is that I do not ever have to purchase diapers again, unless I want to---that is freedom.

Anyway, loading up the car, I packed my diapers in a basket, plopped them on top of the rest of our baggage along with my Planet-wise wet bag for ease of access and off we went in the wild blue yonder. I found it's easiest to use the diaper bag staples first and foremost, then replenish dipes and empty lil' wet bag as needed at the rear "baggage compartment." Upon arrival in Texas, the baby had a terrible diaper rash. She screamed so hard at one point on our final stint to the grandparents' house I had to pull over and console her a bit. A swab of cream with a liner and she was good as new less than a day later. On our return trip I made sure to use some of our poly-fleece wipes as little stay-dry liners, and rescued her from an entirely different type of "road rash". My parents live practically on a farm, there are bugs and more bugs. The humidity is so very high as compared to Denver, I mostly worried I would open my wet bag to find a nasty mess of mildew funk. The only other issue was my mother complaining that I was doing too much laundry and her concern that the septic tank couldn't handle the extra activity. Funny thing, as well, I'm almost certain that my mom thought that the poop went into the wash with the diapers. I'm not entirely sure she believed me when I explained that the poo goes in the toilet, the diaper goes in the wash. Ah, the old days of diapering ignorance, I do not miss them. One or two of my wraps accidentally were machine dried during buckets of rain, but mostly I enjoyed the use of a clothesline while we were there.

We, and the diapers, made it safe and sound back home (and we travel old school---no electronic gizmos!) While I am not positive, I think the recent yeast issue is somehow connected with that trip. It is finally dissipating with use of some new Blueberry and Rocky Mountain pockets, and of course momgenuity around diaperless baby air-drying between frequent changes.
Happy Diapering!

Ada is momma to two girls, 1 & 5 years old, enjoying life just west of Denver, CO. Mommy-blogger, triathlete, sew cool, Ashtangi, reader, writer, casual crafty, baby-wearin', cloth-diaperin', homeschoolin' joyful wife and mother.
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Have Diaper Will Travel

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My name is Erin and I live in sunny Florida with my hubby and two little lovelies: Leonard (nearly 3) and Isabela (20 months).  I am a SAHM and a full-time Elementary Education student as well.  I am also the author of a little blog called The Hesitant Domestic.  I blog about everything under the sun, but mostly crafting, faith, and healthy living.

My first experience with cloth diapering was when I was pregnant with my son and I got it in my head that I really wanted to cloth diaper.  I wanted to find an affordable option so I purchased a prefold kit from Bummis.  Once my son finally got here, I kinda freaked out about using the cloth diapers.  He was a few weeks old when we started with them and I was completely unsure about the fit, how I put them on, would they work right, were they comfortable, etc.  They seemed so bulky on him and I just didn’t know what to do.  Being the only person in my group of friends who cloth diapered and with no one to ask for help, I sold them on Craigslist and continued on with sposies feeling pretty defeated.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I was really fortunate to be a part of a really great mommy message board and it seemed as though many of the moms were going to be cloth diapering their babies.  With the thought of buying sposies for TWO babies looming over my head, I figured some serious research was in order.  I would no longer be working once my daughter was born and anywhere we could save money would be a good thing.  After much research, questions, I tried out a couple used Haute Pockets from a mom on my message board, I was HOOKED!

I am not going to lie, cloth diapering two children is NOT easy at first, especially when you are just starting out and building a stash.  I didn’t have a ton of money to buy fancy diapers so we bought a lot of Kawaii pockets.   I really love them and recommend frequently to CD newbies.  We also use Bumgenius pockets and I even bought some prefolds and covers as a desperate attempt to expand our CD supply on the cheap.  I actually LOVE my prefolds now and am so thankful for a little contraption called the Snappi!  It’s a little overwhelming at first, but after a month or so you get the hang of it.

Here are some tips for the mommy with two bums (or more, yikes!) in fluff.
  • Build a stash.  You will be doing laundry every single day if you don’t have an adequate stash.  My kids were a bit older when we got started so they weren’t going through a ton of diapers a day so we were able to get by with a stash of 50 diapers, maybe a bit more.  Decide how many you use a day for each child and multiply by 2 or 3.  That’s how many you will need.  We had to CD part time for a little while to build a stash, but it still made a huge difference.
  • Keep up with the wash!  Nothing worse than 5 days worth of stinky diapers.  I washed every 3 days when mine I had two in cloth.  Try not to stress about all the stuffing, just separate the pockets from the inserts and be on your way if you are too busy.
  • Try prefolds!  Even if they scare you now, give them a shot once you are comfortable in your routine.  They are cheap and so much easier to use than you think!  Plus, no STUFFING!
  • Get connected!  Keep up with blogs, message boards and websites where you can learn from other CDing moms and get tips and encouragement.  
Now that I only have one in diapers, it’s a breeze!  My stash is half the size and while I still wash every 3 days (it’s just a good idea to prevent stinkies) they are much smaller loads.  Cloth diapering has been such a special experience that I am a little sad that my daughter is starting to show signs of wanting to potty train!  What will I do with no fluff?!?!  I guess I will just have to keep spreading the word and hopefully help other mommies choose fluff.
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Second Time's a Charm

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When my husband and I found out we were pregnant with our first my husband immediately jumped on the cloth diaper wagon for environmental reasons. I, on the other hand was so opposed it began our first "parenting war". My one and only experience with cloth diapers was when I lived overseas and worked in a baby hospital. The babies were clothed in muslin material from armpit to tip toe and the smell was enough to knock you on your backside. From that experience on I was determined to diaper the twenty first century way – disposables only (or so I thought).

Nine months after our second child made his great appearance I began questioning my strong beliefs. I sat down and being the Excel spreadsheet woman that I am I calculated the cost that we spent on our first son to get him from newborn to toilet trained and our second son from newborn to the nine month mark and I was shocked! For three plus years of diapers, wipes, and diaper genie refills I was pushing the $3,500 mark (that would be an awesome family vacation had I spent it for that).

I began researching and discovered many benefits to cloth diapering. I discovered that cloth diapering is much more than the first known of muslin material; there were even cute covers to make diapering a fashion statement not just a functional tool. To top it off the cost of cloth diapering from newborn to toilet trained was dramatically less! I presented all my findings to my husband and he gave me the stamp of approval to begin the purchasing of cloth diapers for our second son. Little did we know at that point that the diapers that I was purchasing for number two would soon be able to be passed down to number three!

For economical reasons my diapering stash began small. I had the mindset that I would begin cloth diapering my number two baby and see if I would handle it and then if it was "a go" then I would add to my stash to fit not only number two but number three as well!

My beginner stash consisted of:
  • One Planet Wise Large Wet Bag
  • One Planet Wise Diaper Pail Liner
  • Planet Wise Wipe Pouch with 15 wipes
  • Chinese Premium Unbleached Prefolds (Six per pack)
  • Purchased twelve prefolds
  • Tweedle Bugs Diaper Covers (Can purchase seconds which are "cosmetically blemished" for half price off their website)
  • Purchased four covers
  • Rubbermaid trashcan for a wet pail
  • BacOut cleaning solution (For eliminating the smellies between washes in the pail)
  • Dr. Bonner's Pure Castile Soap (Used with distilled water for my wipe solution)
  • Two spray bottles (one bottle for BacOut and one bottle for wipe solution)
  • Country Save laundry detergent (Approximately $200 was spent to get me started, if I used my supply for four months I broke even when comparing cloth to disposables.)
Thus began my cloth-diapering obsession!

By Andrea Kulow
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To Cloth or Not To Cloth

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I first encountered cloth diapers while working in an overcrowded donation center at our local crisis pregnancy center. I was just recently married with no children yet, and I  remember picking up a stack of prefolds and thinking, “Wow, they still make these? Who on earth would still be using cloth diapers in this day and age? I know I wouldn’t!” Just a few months later, I found my pregnant self wandering the baby aisles in the store, and I was shocked at the prices of disposable diapers. Since we were going to be living on just my husband’s salary as I stayed home with our baby, the task fell to me to figure out ways to save money. My midwife had suggested I look into cloth diapers because they are easy on the wallet, and I figured I should at least keep an open mind about it.

I had imagined cloth diapers to be the rubber pants anpins that my grandmother’s described, and at the time that wasn’t too appealing to me. After some fast and furious online research I found out that the cloth diapers of today are affordable and downright cute! I picked out the brand I wanted to try- a bumGenius 3.0 one-size pocket diaper . I also learned some other compelling reasons to cloth diaper: they’re better for the environment, softer for baby’s skin, and they harbor no harmful chemicals.

I was on board for cloth diapering, but my husband still wasn’t a big fan of cloth (or maybe it was just diapers in general!) So we started cloth diapering our newborn baby girl only part-time at first with 12 bumGenius 3.0’s. I loved them from the get-go. Not only did they hold her breastmilk poop explosions almost every time (the disposables were laughably languishing in that area), but we saved a ton of money! They more than paid for themselves within just a few months. Soon enough I became a cloth diapering addict and was determined to cloth diaper full time, even at night and while traveling. My favorites have always been the one-size diaper, because they grew with my baby from birth to toddlerhood, and have even lasted through two babies now!

When I first started cloth diapering I had no idea of the variety of choices! You can get them with snaps or velcro, in one size or fitted sizes, all in ones (with the prefold sewn in), or covers with prefolds! I had previously said I would NEVER use prefolds, I had always thought those way too old fashioned. Well, funny thing is, now they are becoming my go-to diaper for my second child! I never realized how easy they are to use. The Flip diaper and Econobum have given us great results so far, no leaks, and no stuffing involved after wash time! Prefolds have definitely provided an affordable diaper for us as a family cloth diapering more than one child.

I didn’t personally know anyone cloth diapering when I started my journey, so online resources like www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com have been invaluable to me as I have dealt with “fluffy” issues. When we encountered leaks with our pocket diapers, I learned to strip them and tried different detergents thanks to other mom’s online suggestions. It’s so nice to have support from somewhere!

Using the cloth diaper has also helped us to expand our ideas of things to “reuse.” We  now also use cloth wipes, cloth training pants, cloth napkins, more cloth towels instead of paper towels, and the list goes on! My husband finally did come around to appreciating all of the advantages of cloth and the savings it brings us. One day back when we were still part-time cloth diapering our first child (she was around 3 months old), I remembering hearing hear my husband yell out to me, “Do you want me to put a fake one or a real one on Claire?” I paused in disbelief. Did my husband just refer to cloth diapers as the “real ones” and disposables as the “fake ones”? I yelled back to him, “Put a real one on her!” Ah, the sweet smell of success- he was finally convinced!

Julie B. is wife to Timothy and WAHM to Claire (2) and Wesley (9 months).
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Real Diapers vs. Fake Diapers

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If you had asked me a year ago if we used cloth or disposable diapers on our then 4-month-old girl, I would have looked at you like you were insane for even asking and answered disposables. Cloth diapers had been mentioned to me maybe once or twice by my mom while I was pregnant. I didn’t take her seriously at all. I had seen those squares of material she later used as dust cloths after I was done with diapers. If only I had known.

Fast-forward a couple of months. I was planning to start a mommy and me swim class with the Miss. For the class, she needed a swim diaper and vinyl pants over it. The pool sold them, but there had to be something better on the Internet, right? What did I find? Re-usable cloth swim diapers with a waterproof outer shell? That would work! And, what are these other things this website sells? bumGenius? Pocket diaper? All-in-one? Huh? I was intrigued but ordered my swim diaper and nothing else.

Around the same time, my best friend was deep in planning for her first baby. She mentioned to me that she was looking into cloth diapers. We have always been highly competitive. So, obviously, if there was something to this cloth diaper thing, I couldn’t let her out-do me. I really started looking into cloth more seriously. The money savings was a big plus. Not having to buy diapers or worrying about how many we had left was a bigger plus. I will admit that, at the time, the environmental benefits didn’t matter that much to me, but it didn’t hurt. Not having all those chemicals against Miss’s eczema prone skin also was a benefit. But, the choices were overwhelming. What do I do?

That’s when I had the fortune of coming across a way to try out a bunch of diapers. I mentioned all the insanity to my husband, not really being sure of what he would say, and he was all for it. We were able to try flats, prefolds, fitteds, all-in-ones, pockets, one-size diapers, snap-ins. It was great. I still remember the first cloth diaper that went on our daughter’s bum: a bumGenius! 3.0 one-size pocket diaper in blossom. The Miss loved it, as you can see in the blurry cell phone photo to capture the moment.

We ordered a stash of bumGenius! 4.0’s when they came out. Luckily for us, my mom watches Miss, so daycare and cloth wasn’t an issue.  Washing and using cloth diapers full-time quickly became part of our daily routine. Most people think I’m insane when they find out we use cloth on our girl. Then, I show them a diaper. You can see that moment of realization on their faces. It may not be an “I’m going to get a bunch of these right now!” moment, but their curiosity is definitely peaked. Just making them aware of modern cloth diapers helps spread the fluffy love.

After a late start in cloth and a little wavering in the beginning, I am definitely known as a cloth diaper addict. I’m fine with that, and I try to spread my addiction everywhere we go. Cloth has even made me more environmentally conscious. We have switched to natural cleaning supplies and toiletries. We use reusable snack and sandwich bags. I’m even trying to convince my husband to ditch the paper towels, and we’re going to be installing a rain barrel in the next few weeks. Who would have thought that a swim diaper would have completely altered most of my life? Thank you modern cloth diapers.

Melissa is a first time mommy with a very active and amazing 16-month-old girl. When not working, she can be found playing with her girl, working around the house, exercising, or doing something related to cloth diapers. :o)
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A Swim Diaper Changed It All

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I am a 28 year old stay at home mom of two beautiful boys, ages 2 and 4 months!  We have been cloth diapering since my oldest was about 9 months old and we love it!
Since my oldest, Bennett, was already 9 months old when we began cloth diapering, we only had a stash of bumGenius OS, Smartipants OS, a few petite FuzziBunz, some OS fitteds, and some WAHM OS AI2s.  When we found out we were pregnant with number 2 and my oldest son was still in cloth diapers, I had to make a decision.  We obviously needed more cloth diapers, but I wasn’t sure what to buy!  I researched and just couldn’t decide what to use.  Should I buy some newborn diapers for our baby to wear for a short time?  I mean, I knew he would be a big baby (and he was!  8 lbs, 10 oz!) and he wouldn’t wear newborn diapers for long.  I didn’t know if I would like prefolds and covers, but that seemed to make the most sense.  Amazingly, we were very lucky to receive some newborn prefolds, fitteds, and Bummis and Thirsties covers from a couple of friends.  I also bought a couple of Lil’ Joeys AIOs….you know, for pictures!  :o)
When our second son, Donovan, was first born, I tried the Lil’ Joeys and also prefolds and covers and I just couldn’t get into them.  There was just so much going on and the diapers were frustrating me, honestly.  I decided to use disposables with him and stick with cloth for my 2 year old.  A few weeks later, when things slowed down and we got into more of a routine, I pulled the prefolds back out and I fell in love!!  How easy were these things?  You just lay them in the cover, fasten it up, and you’re good!  He didn’t move much, so they didn’t budge and it was awesome!! 
I love how it has worked out with my boys.  My oldest is now almost 2 ½ and potty trained pretty easily (thank goodness!), so he is wearing underwear during the day, just in time to pass on his OS diapers to his little brother, who is about 16 lbs.  They’ve worked so well for both kids and I’m so happy that I bought them.  I never really liked the bulkiness of OS diapers on my son when he was a newborn, so this has worked out perfectly.  I know many people do it and love it, but I can’t imagine buying a whole set of diapers for each size. 
My 2 year old is still using a OS bumGenius stuffed with two Smartipants inserts at night.  Some nights he stays dry, sometimes the thing is drenched.  But it’s no big deal, because I am washing my infant’s diapers every 2-3 days anyway!  Our wash routine is this:  cold rinse, hot overnight soak with Rockin’ Green Hard Rock Barenaked Babies formula, finish the wash in the morning, cold rinse, and dry!  SO incredibly easy.  I really think it’s easier than taking the bag of nasty smelling disposables out of the Diaper Genie and taking it to the dumpster!!!
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Passing Down the Diapers to Little Bro

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