Cloth diapering has become popular once again. This could be due to the horrible economy and rising price of disposables or it could be due to the higher amount of people trying to “go green” and help save all of those soiled diapers from ending up in the landfill. Cloth diapers are not what they used to be and can actually be just as easy as using disposable diapers. There are several types of cloth diapers, let me break them down for you:
Prefold Diapers – These are probably the diapers that are most commonly thought of when you say “cloth diaper”. There are large cloths folded and secured by pins or more recently popular, a Snappi. Prefold diapers will leak and you will need some type of diaper cover to keep from soaking clothing. There are plastic, PUL, fleece and wool diaper covers available. These can be purchased from major stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, but this is NOT the type of prefold you want to use as a cloth diaper. There is a higher quality available for cloth diapering, I love the Chinese Prefolds at Green Mountain Diapers.
Pocket Diapers – These are wonderful diapers and consist of a water-proof diaper cover that has a pocket for placing a soaker. The soaker can be make of a number of materials including hemp and fleece. These are easier than a prefold because you can have the soakers already placed inside of the cover and ready to go. The diaper covers will have either snaps or Velcro to attach, much like a disposable diaper. These can only be found at speciality shops or online. Some of my favorites for my little guy were the FuzziBunz diapers.
All-In-One Diapers (AIO) – These are much like a disposable. It has the soaker built-in and you simply pull the diaper out, fasten and you are ready to go. My absolute favorite for my son were the Swaddlebees diapers. These were perfect when I wasn’t home to change and had to leave dad in charge or we were out and about.
That basically breaks down the types, but how do you wash them? It is easier than you think! I cloth diapered my son for about a year and loved it. Keep a diaper pail that you place the dirty diapers in. Every day or two I would run a load of diapers. I used the prefold diapers with covers, so I had quite a bit to wash. I would soak the diapers then run them through a regular wash and do an additional rinse. The diaper covers should never be dried because it will cause them leak, which is never fun!
Overall I highly recommend cloth diapers, they saved us a fortune! Want to know the best part? Your little one can actually feel when they are wet, so they will potty train much earlier! Without any prompting my son was beginning to potty train at 18 months. Don’t be afraid to try them, they are not that much more work and there are so many benefits!
Comments
Joel K.
March 13th, 2009 - 1:43:41 PM
you can just throw these in the wash and it gets EVERYTHING out?
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