so many of you know that when i had tess i was hoping to be very flexible about whether to breast or bottle feed and whether to use cloth or disposable diapers. i wanted to try breastfeeding and try cloth, but i maintained that we would do whatever worked for US despite what la leche or crunchygranolahippy mommies say. we have been breastfeeding exclusively since right after she was born (they gave her formula first thing because of a low glucose, which made me sad but was not really a big deal), and for he most part breastfeeding has been going well. there have been times when i wanted to switch to formula, but i know the inherent benefits of breastmilk, and if i'm being honest, even more than that, i know how much money we're saving by not having to buy formula. so i have continued breastfeeding.
when it came to cloth diapers, i knew there were a million and a half options out there, and i knew that i was not even going to bother trying to use them during the first few weeks because it's just way too much to try and handle being a new mom and worrying about ANYTHING extraneous. so we used (and loved) the pampers swaddlers from the time we brought her home (and she wore preemie sized diapers) until the night we first tried our bumgenius 3.0's. from that night on, i was a complete convert. tess had been on the verge of a diaper rash, which completely disappeared, and we went from the longest sleep stretch of 4 hours to a full 6.5! i was shocked. at first i freaked out, thinking something must have happened to her if she slept that long, but i realized it was just that she was comfortable and didn't feel wet. i mean holy COW. anything that adds 2.5 hours to my sleep is a must.
at this point, i begged andrew to let me buy more. see, cloth diapering can be very expensive when you're building up your supply, but the payoff is long-term as far as saving on disposables and landfill waste. all we could afford at the time was 12 more diapers. this sounds like a lot, as that brought our total to 15, but a breastfed infant uses around 30 a day if exclusively cloth diapering. since this is rather expensive and entails a lot of laundry, i set out on a journey trying different styles/types/brands to see if there was a better method that worked as well for us. we tried prefolds with snappis, prefolds without snappis in shells, fuzzibunz fitted, thirsties fitteds, happy heineys one-size, and i researched gdiapers, grobabys, flips, and just about every brand i could find. i read hours of reviews and considered all angles, and here is what i concluded.
the prefolds do not work for us with my messy pooper. the full-size prefolds are too big to fit her and make her look like she's holding a bowling ball between her legs, and the smaller size are too small and don't cover enough/absorb enough. one of the benefits to prefolds is the cost savings in that you are supposed to only have to buy a few covers and alternate them by switching out the prefold. saves on money, saves on laundry, saves on time. however, every time tess poops, she manages to get some on the cover - EVERY TIME, so this system is no more efficient or economical for us, and i vetoed it. the grobabys, gdiapers, and flips are all this sort of system, where you are supposed to be able to change the insert and reuse the cover, so i didn't go any farther down these paths. the benefits to the flips and gdiapers are that you can purchase and use disposable inserts if you're not into doing as much laundry. the grobabys were a mixed bag in the reviews with some people loving them and some disappointed, and it seemed unanimous that they are not good for babies with thick thighs (which tess has). they were also about $4.00 more than the bumgeniuses per diaper.
the fuzzibunz are a good brand, and from what i hear are a favorite of lots of people. they are also the all-in-one style with an insert, and the cloth against the baby's skin is very soft. we borrowed one from a friend, and i wasn't happy with how they fit tess. one of her reflux requirements is that the belly part of the diaper be loose so it doesn't hurt or make the spit-up worse. unfortunately, i couldn't get it to fit her very well, as it bunched a lot at her crotch and sat too low to be loose on the stomach without falling off. the closures are snaps, not velcro, and though i hear snaps are more durable, i prefer velcro for ease and more customizable fit. the fuzzibunz are also sized, which means you have to buy a new set each time she grows. not as much bang for your buck.
i did like the thirsties fab fitteds, as they are great for ease of use. they also seem very good at wicking away moisture from the skin, so that they should be good for night use. they are made of a very soft fabric, which attracted me to them, but the fabric does significantly pill after a few washes. they are an all-in-one that is really all in one, no insert to replace because it is sewn in. however, they are also not waterproof on the outside, so you have to use a cover, which adds another element/cost/time in diaper change. the other benefit is that the thirsties can be washed and dried, so you don't have to wait for them to hang dry. unfortunately, they are fitted, which means you have to buy new ones each time your baby changes size. cost-wise, they are about $4.00 cheaper per pair than the bumgeniuses, but you do still have to buy waterproof covers, and they're not one-size.
i was attracted to the happy heineys because of their ADORABLE prints - they have cow print! - but they were AWFUL. i would discourage anyone from wasting their money. they are $2.00 more than the bg's, and way lower quality. the laundry tabs don't work, and the rough velcro sticks to and picks other diapers in the laundry. they were a one-size and have 4 different snaps to adjust the size instead of 3, but they didn't fit well at all. the hole for the insert does not have a flap to keep the insert in the diaper, so the soft fabric isn't against your baby's back, the elastic part is. also, the insert bunches and moves. the leg holes leaked, and tess was incredibly uncomfortable in them. the whole time she wore the hh diaper, she was squirmy and fussy. we couldn't figure out what was going on until we changed back to the bg and she went right to sleep without stirring. the one real benefit they have over the bg's is that they can also be washed and dried, like the thirsties. however, this being the only positive, is not enough to make them a worthwhile purchase.
when it comes down to it, for us and our preferences and needs, bumgenius 3.0 one-size diapers are the cadillac of cloth diapering.
[tess models a front-view]
they work the best, they are comfortable, come with two different sized inserts that can be doubled up for heavy wetters and night use, rarely leak, and we will not have to keep buying new sizes as tess grows, so once our last order comes in, we're set until potty training for diaper purchases. they are a velcro system, and i have heard that the velcro has a tendency to wear out, but i have also heard that the parent company, cotton babies, will send you a replacement kit. they wick the moisture away from the skin and really absorb (andrew was commenting today on how surprised he is when he thinks about how much the infant insert absorbs while the microfleece feels so dry). they fit tess's chubby little body well, and i only had one leak when i was first experimenting with them.there are some drawbacks in care, however. as with all cloth diapers, you have to use a residue free detergent like charlie's soap powder, and the bg's require a cold wash, followed by a warm wash, followed by line drying. the inserts take a hot wash and can be dried in the dryer. this leads to lots of loads of laundry and wait time while they line dry. if you keep them in regular rotation though, i find it's easy to get a system down, and they do dry pretty fast. from the reviews i read, if you don't follow the directions on washing to a t, you will ruin the diapers (and waste a lot of money). we found this to be true when it told us to wash our dark pink ones separately SIX times before putting them with the other diapers. we thought this was silly and proceeded to wash them with the others after a wash or two. now our light colored diapers have a pink tinge... oh well, good thing we have a girl. i say this to warn you that if you do buy these diapers, you should really follow the directions. they retail for about $16.95, which seems like a lot until you think about how much you spend on disposables per box.
i think what it comes down to is trying a lot of different stuff until you find the brand/style that works for your baby's body and your lifestyle, but perhaps this will help all my mama-to-be friends if you all choose to dive in to the world of cloth diapers!
