Cloth Diapers: Part 2, What Kind?

There are million kinds of cloth diaper. And you can spend a ton of money. This post is going to be extremely opinionated, but this is what I wish I read when I was spending way too much time reading reviews and picking out diapers.

Left section Clockwise starting with the yellow one: Kawaii snaps, Kawaii velcro,  Tots Bots (teal),  Itti Bitti (red stars), Bum Genius (equations), Thirsties Duo Diaper (trees)
Center Top-Down: Prefolds, Kissaluvs fitted (lime green diaper), Microfiber inserts
Right: 6 Flats in cute prints, Econobum cover (white with blue trim), Thirsties Duo Wrap covers (orange and blue)

Honestly, my favorite diapers are the cheapest ones. I love flats. You can fold them up and pin them on like a Fort Knox for newborn blowouts, or you can fold them haphazardly in thirds-ish and slap them in a cover. Since they are one sheet of cloth you can be 100% sure they aren't hiding anything nasty.  You can wash them in whatever detergent you have on hand. They dry in 20 minutes. They have the smallest profile of all cloth diapers. They have a very practical post-baby life as cleaning rags. They are so cheap you can afford to have a million of them and only do laundry when it's convenient. Heck, you could even use some of the three gajillion receiving blankets you received as flats and not buy any at all.

Prefolds are similarly cheap and versatile. However, they also have all of the drawbacks of all-in-one diaper/covers except the high price tag: they take forever to dry, you have to buy special no-additive, no-brightener detergent, they can build up ammonia in the layers and cause rashes. Plus, they still need covers. AND, they give your baby the hugest badonkadonk ever. Seriously. All cloth diapers are much fluffier around the bum than disposables but prefolds are like a whole league of their own. Really they should call them Sir Mixalot Diapers. And when you line dry them they are essential little shingles. Nope, I'd pass on the prefolds.

All-in-Ones, by which I mean diapers that have a waterproof cover already attached (not just the ones known as All-in-ones in cloth lingo). There are a million different kinds. Ones that you stuff with soakers, ones with tongues that flip out in the wash, ones with flaps that you fold down the center, and ones that are just like disposable diapers  except you wash them--you just velcro those suckers on as is. (This last variety is actually called All-in-Ones in cloth diaper stores, fyi). Warning, they all have stupid names. It's usually a combination of a word for butt and a "cute" adjective, i.e. FuzzyBunz, Rumparooz, Bum Genius are all real brands.

 It's nice to have a couple of these on hand for days  when your baby is especially squirmy or your running errands, etc.However they are not worth it to use all of the time in my opinion. They have all of the drawbacks listed above plus they are super expensive. If you're going to buy some of these just go straight for the real-deal All-in-Ones, and steer clear of "pocket diapers" which I hate because you've got to pull out the wet soakers before you can toss it in the laundry. *eww* Here's a brief review of the brands I've tried.

• Kawaii ---a chinese brand which is super cheap, but they are also ridiculously wide. Like humorously wide, a baby horse doesn't even have that much space between its legs. 

•  Thirsties AIO- Super easy, nice fit, but runs small (they've got two sizes and the large size fit Dinobaby okay at 6 months). Also, takes three lifetimes to line-dry 

• Thirsties Duo Diaper-- Nice enough. Same company as above so the same problem, Dinobaby outgrew the size 1's by 8 months.

• Tots Bots--I love these. Unfortunately they're also the most expensive cloth diaper I've ever seen. 

• Itti Bitti D'lish-- (I told you cloth diapers had stupid names) Complete waste of money. 1) they run super tiny so they only fit Dinobaby for a week, I'm not kidding. 2. They leaked. I've never had a cloth diaper leak other than this one (well, unless I did something stupid, like didn't have the waterproof cover covering the whole diaper) 3. The snaps were particularly hard to close. BUT, the super fuzzy, stars print was really adorable. 

• Bum Genius Freetime--pretty good. The flaps make it dry faster but also make it harder to put on super willful, mobile babies. The science equations print though, is really what makes me love this diaper. 

             Note: Although some people may try to convince you that sized diapers fit better, it's not really appreciable. Just buy the one-size 10lbs to potty training diapers.

Covers: If you go the flats route (which I strongly suggest you do), you'll need waterproof covers. Please don't put your baby in rubber pants. I like the one-size kind (see note above) with velcro. Snaps may last longer, but it's not worth it to try to wrangle around a mobile infant only to realize you put it on the wrong snap and the covers not on tight enough. I really like Flip brand. I'd pass on Econobum even though they're cheaper. It does the job, but feels much flimsier and doesn't fit as nice or go on as easily. Thirsties also has nice covers but they don't have a real one-size cover so you'll have to buy two different covers instead of one of the Flip kind.

Hybrids: These are cloth diapers with disposable liners. Seems like the best of both worlds, except for it's completely not. Don't do this. Mostly because each insert is at least 40 cents making it the most expensive disposable ever.

You can buy diapers on Amazon, Cotton Babies (free shipping), Kelly's Closet (which gave me both Kawaii diapers for free), and Diaper Junction