All About Cloth

So of you may know that I use cloth diapers (most of the time). I love them. They are so easy. And cheap. And I LOVE cheap.

What do I use? I have a small collection, mostly prefolds and covers. Prefolds are like the diapers your mom used for you with safety pins. But pins are no more. You can fold them and put them into a cover, that snaps or Velcros onto your child and BAM! they have a diaper on. It is great. Then, you change it as needed and instead of throwing it away, put it in your laundry (I suggest separate loads from your real clothes though!).

For me, I have several brands, but I love Thirsties covers. What I have learned is that I like the snaps better than the Velcro (kids learn how to rip off Velcro ... who knew?!). The snaps also tend to last longer. A great tip, Thirsties has an outlet. That means cheap diapers. I buy them there when I can find them.

For nighttime, I use Flip covers. Why? Because I can stuff more into them. I use a prefold and then some extra inserts. This prevents leaking (for the most part) if you child is a heavy wetter, which mine is.

I have a few Bummis covers, but they are Velcro. See above why I dislike Velcro. Although, my sister prefers it. Maybe her son does not pull his diaper off as much. What I LOVE from Bummis are the flushable cloth liners. Why? Makes poop easy to clean up. When I remember to use them. (That is the key for easy clean up - remembering to put the liner in!)

I don't use cloth wipes. No real reason, other than I am lazy and wipes are cheap. I have some. They look pretty in the drawer, but I never remember to get them wet to use as wipes. Plus, the disposable ones are right there.

I dislike All-In-One's (AIO's). They just don't seem to fit Button very well. Plus you have to have more of them. I have a million prefolds and several covers, but I would need one AIO for each diaper she would use a day, times like 3. That is too many for me. Plus, I get pretty colored covers and have fun. Covers can be used again in the same day before washing - unless of course there is poop on them. Then I would strongly recommend washing before using again. But I know people who love AIO's. Just not me.

I would also suggest finding a local retailer. Mine is the Mom and Pop Place. This place is amazing. You can go there and get sucked into all kinds of cloth diaper things, toys, games, and more. Plus they have really good food in their cafe and a play area for kids. What more do you need when you have a child who is taking a sick day but really isn't sick??

This got longer than I expected. One last thing - it is only about 2 extra loads of laundry per week. I can handle that. And we do keep disposables on hand for when I don't get the laundry done (it happens from time to time), traveling (we do use cloth while traveling, it just depends on where we are going), and for Hubs. What can I say, he tries hard, but never quite understood cloth. But he loves the money we save!

Have a great weekend!!