cloth diapering

I maintain cloth diapering is easy, good for the wallet, great for the environment and the best choice for babies. If you start out cloth diapering with good quality diapers and covers, treat them well, and develop a solid wash routine, cloth diapering should be a breeze! However, the best of intentions can go astray and, having done some troubleshooting in recent days, I thought I'd share a list of what I see as the most common cloth diapering mistakes.

Those of you who know where I work, know that the shop offers a great "how to cloth diaper" workshop every month. Susie, the owner, also has a blog with great tips, tricks and more about diapering, baby-wearing and parenting. Having cloth-diapered 3 boys, though, I feel compelled to write up my own "Cloth Diapering Basics" post and share my "(assuming cost isn't an issue) Imaginary Stash" for people starting out with cloth. I'm linking all the diapers I mention to the Extraordinary Baby Shoppe's website, but am not being compensated for it in any other way than having an awesome place to work where my baby is welcome and I get to talk about "fluff" all day long. ;) And, to be honest, that's pretty awesome compensation!

When our first child was born back in 2002, I wanted to use cloth diapers to help lessen the load on the environment. My wife at the time was not so thrilled with the idea, but I was adamant that it was something we had to do, and as it turned out it only took a few days of using them to completely win her over as well. Nowadays, she calls herself a "cloth diapering evangelist", and actually went on to work at a local cloth diapering store, and absolutely loves her job. My work here is done :-)

Back in 2002 the cloth-diapering revolution was just beginning, but even back then it was true that "these aren't the cloth diapers your grandmother used". When people hear the words "cloth diapers" they generally think back to what their granny may have used - the old square pieces of cloth, with diaper pins, pails, and so forth. While those old sqaure (or in the vernacular, "prefold") diapers can still be a useful part of a modern diapering system, the world has changed a lot since back then, and there is an incredible variety of cloth diapers available to today's eco-conscious parent. When we first started there was no local cloth diaper shop except for a local green-products shop that carried a single brand of diapers, and in fact at that time the woman at whose shop my wife now works started the shop out of her home for exactly this reason. We literally combed the internet looking for different diapers, and ended up trying over a dozen different brands from large national brands, to various work-at-home mom-entrepreneur brands, and everything in between. The variety available even back then was pretty impressive, and today it is even greater. As we found out back then, though, the quality and efficacy of the various products varied greatly.

I'll start with a quick overview of what is involved in cloth diapering, and how easy it really is, then move on to what my favorite diapers were with our last kids, and which ones did not work so well for us. And finally, we'll look at some of the options that are available today, what we've decided upon with our latest addition to the family, and what to look for in a good diaper shop given that there are actually a lot of them out there these days.

Product Name: Marvels All-In-One
Company: Kissaluvs
Country of Origin: USA
Materials: Outer: 100% Polyester Urethane Laminate (PUL); Inner: 100% Polyester; Soaker: 100% Polyester

Diaper Type: One-Size (OS) All-In-One (AIO)
Weight Range: 7-35 lbs
Height of front rise at each setting (approx.): Small -- 16.5cm (6.5"); Medium -- 18cm (7"); Large -- 19cm (7.5")

I have been feeling deliciously guilty about the rather decadent (in my opinion) diaper stash I've accumulated for boy #3. I totally splurged on one-size bamboo fitteds, a few snazzy Gen-Y covers and a variety of pockets -- some new, some clearance, some like-new or gently-used. I also bought a handful of bamboo and hemp inserts to replace the microfibre inserts in the pocket diapers. I knit several pairs of wool shorties and soakers, something that would have cost me a fair amount to purchase but only cost me $$ in yarn to make.

Yes, I was feeling almost naughty about the amount of money invested in the diaper stash, at least until I read this: Battle For Baby's Bottom. I've always known that cloth is cheaper in the long run -- I work in a cloth diaper shop, for crying out loud! I deal with the numbers every time I'm at work. I know that a child can be cloth diapered from birth to toilet training for an outlay of around $400, including the "extras" needed (wet pail, travel bag, Snappis, etc). I am also intimately aware with the resale value of cloth diapers that have been well cared for over their lifespan, having bought and sold used diapers myself. For some reason, though, this article made me sit down and do the mental math on the true cost of our stash.

Product Name: Easyfit All-In-One
Company: Tots Bots
Country of Origin: Glasgow, Scotland
Materials: Exterior: 100% Polyester with Polyurethane Laminate; Interior: 50% Rayon from Bamboo, 50% Polyester

Diaper Type: One-Size All-In-One
Weight Range: 8lbs - 35lbs
Height of front rise at each setting (approx.): Infant - 14cm (5.5"); Medium -15.5 cm (6"); Toddler - 17cm (6.75")