Best Clothe Diapers?

HI,
All I have knowledge in is the Fuzzi Bunz which I use for my 18 month old. I've only them for about 4 months but I love them and they don't leak, they're comfortable and they are easy to wash.

I should first of all say that I own www.CozyBabyBoutique.com in Kirkland so I have a lot of feedback from my customers about cloth diapers.

Most people can't go wrong with any of the major brands (Fuzzi Bunz, bumGenius, etc.) The hardest thing to predict is not only the size AND shape of your baby when born, but also how fast they will grow. It also depends on your budget. Most people like the convenience of the modern pocket-type diapers and even though they are more expensive than prefolds and wraps, they will still easily save you $1500 for just one child. The extra money spent is well worth it for the convenience and performance of these diapers. My two biggest sellers are Fuzzi Bunz and bumGenius. It depends on if you like velcro or snaps. The one size diaper (bumGenius) can offer you additional savings however some people prefer a better fit by getting sized diapers. Fuzzi Bunz (and bumGenius) recently went through a change and the Fuzzi Bunz are now a little larger - meaning most people will only need 2 sizes to fit their baby.

The newborn stage is a different story. Most of the pocket diapers will not fit a newborn all that well. It is more dependent on baby's shape (thigh size) rather than weight. The skinnier the thighs, the smaller the diaper will need to be. Some babies "fatten up" withing a week, and others take up to 2 months. I recommend a couple different options to my customers.

1) buy a dozen newborn prefolds and a couple wraps. Wash and dry the prefolds to prepare them. Don't wash the wraps before baby arrives (or only wash one). Buy your pocket style diapers and wash them before baby arrives. When baby is here, try on one of the pocket diapers and or a prefold with a cover and see which one fits better. If the pocket diaper is close enough, then exchange the unused/unwashed wraps. A dozen newborn diapers is only $16 and they are fabulous burp rags and cleaning cloths so you will definitely find a use for them. If it looks like baby will not fit into the pocket diapers for a while (2-4 weeks) then wash the other wrap and/or purchase more wraps and another dozen or two more diapers.

2) buy 2-3 dozen newborn prefolds and 6-8 wraps and your pocket diapers. Wash one dozen of the prefolds and one wrap and do the same test as above. If baby fits into the pocket diapers, return unused/unwashed items. If not, you have all the supplies on hand so you can just wash them and start using them until baby fits into pocket style diapers.

Note: some people who have chosen cloth are tempted to "just use disposables" for the newborn stage. I usually discourage this. First, baby is most sensitive right after being born, chances are you decided on cloth at least in part because of concern of chemicals next to baby's bottom. So, this newborn stage is the most important in not introducing chemicals or fragrances to baby. The other reason is once a newborn is here - there are a number of changes you HAVE to deal with. Changing ANYthing in your new routine (your own clothes) can be a challenge - even if it isn't any more work - it's just hard for the simple fact that change is change. So, making a change from disposables to cloth would be a change and it can sometimes just not happen. Besides, buying prefolds and wraps to use for just one month is still cheaper than buying disposables for one month.

Happy to answer any additional questions if you need more information! Feel free to contact me on or offlist.

I have tried various cloth diaper wraps with my two kids and my favorite have been the "G" diapers. You can buy flushable inserts but I just use those at night. DUring the days I put regualr cloth diapers in the g-diaper wraps. The best thing about these is that my kids had a harder time pulling them off themselves (when they get to that age) and they fit into clothes much better (some of my wraps and diapers are too bulky for jeans).

Hope that helps!

I LOVE Bum Genius One-Size! We have been using them on our baby girl since she was 4 weeks old. She's now 7 months old and we are still only on the middle setting. We have had very few problems with them leaking (only once or twice did poop ever get out). We have the hemp inserts that you can put in for added soaking, which we usually use at night. They have held up very well, and clean amazingly! We have 19 of them and was them every other day. While they are some work (taking out the insert, cleaning off the poopy ones, washing/drying, putting them back together), it is a commitment that we are very happy that we made. We were able to register for them on www.cottonbabies.com so some of our friends and family bought a bunch for us.

I'm a Fuzzibunz user as well and can't say enough good about them. You will likely need 2 or 3 different sets of diapers for the various stages. But I have not been put off by that. We had used the diaper service prior to using the FBs at 4 months. The diaper service is great, but we found they leaked often times. I would say we have had no leakage with Fuzzibunz. Or they are at least comparable to using disposables. But actually I really prefer to use the cloth rather than disposables at this point. I am on my second child using them and couldn't be happier.

Best of luck to you and congrats on your upcoming arrival!

Hi I.,
I'm so excited to hear that you are going to cd your new baby. I wish more mama's would really look at the benefits of cloth diapering, and there are lots of them.
There are so many types and brand to choose. All in one's, fitted, pockets, and covers are to think about as well as cotton, organic cotton, hemp, wool, fleece.....
I would suggest buying a couple diffrent types/brands to try on your little one. I have two boys still in diapers and I probably have 10 diffrent brands I use. I LOVE the fuzzi buns, they never leak and are trim fitting, however they can be expensive. I also have the bumgenie one size fits all, they are great and save the cost of having to buy new diaps as your baby grows. I also have lots of all in ones, they are my favorite. I do not have to do any thing to them, just pull them out of the dryer and put them on my baby. They are great for babysitters, daddy, grandparents to change, they are just as easy as a disposable.... I LOVE to support mama's who make diapers. You should check out www.diaperswappers.com this is a community of cloth diapering mama's and they have lots of good advice and you can buy from there as well.
Good Luck!!!!

I have personally made my own diapers, and used them as training pants also. It's a sewing pattern called "Better Baby Diaper" I used them from newborn until potty training. I HIGHLY reccommend them. I made 6 dozen for my sister in law and she fell in LOVE with them. I made them from flannel and had fun with all of the fun patterns. My nephew has soccer themed, animal prints, rubber duckies and others. It's just fun to see him in them as well as it was fun to see our kids in them!

We used Fuzzi Bunz when my daughter was in the small and medium sizes, but I didn't like them when she got bigger (say, over 20lb). We switched to using mostly Swaddlebees AIOs, with a few BumGenius pockets that we can stuff really full for naptimes. (We use Huggies Overnights at night.)

I would recommend that you don't buy a lot of any one brand until you have some experience under your belt. I'd suggest going to Diaperswappers.com, reading the forums there, and picking out 4 or 5 kinds of diapers you think sound good. Buy 2 or 3 of each kind (you can get great deals on secondhand diapers on that forum) and try them out when your little one arrives. Then pick one or two kinds to keep, and re-sell the ones you don't like to fund purchases of the ones you do.

I use Diaper service with prowraps. Daiper service is 76.00 dollars per month they pick up the diapers once a week and bring new ones. It is so easy. All you have to do is buy the covers. I found alot of gently used covers on craigs list because they sooooooo expensive. Just a suggestion.

We use Baby Diaper service too. It is great. We have a combination of prewraps, bummis, and bumkins. I like them all.

The service is great for people like me. You never run out of diapers, you never have to go to the store to buy diapers, you don't have to wash anything gross. We are on baby number 2 and are happy customers.

We're on a pretty tight budget, so we use prefolds and covers. I like them because they wash up so quickly and dry easily (we have a stackable washer and dryer, so it doesn't hold much). But I think I'd use them even if I had more money, a bigger washer, etc. It's really easy to get them clean--the prefolds are just cotton, so they never stink, which can be a problem with any other kind of fabric (even hemp).
I like covers with a slick surface inside so I can wipe them off after a pee diaper. And I use wool covers at night--he gets changed before I go to bed, and then he's good for 8 or 9 hours!!! I just double up his diaper with a newborn sized diaper tucked inside.
I got lots of good info from Green Mountain Diapers. Lots of options and lots of tips. And make sure you use a clean rinsing detergent like Charlie's Soap. Go to www.greenmountaindiapers.com for more on keeping any type of cloth diaper clean and fresh.
I'm glad I didn't go with a one-size diaper, because my guy is so tall and big, too. He'll probably weigh 30 lbs by his first birthday (he was a 10 pounder at birth). I don't expect him to potty learn until he's at LEAST 2 and a half, and he will have grown out of the one size dipes by then.
Sorry this was so long. Hope it helps a little.