raising a mommy

raising a mommy

Sunday, July 7, 2013

cloth diaper review...updated

Today's blessing:
Not having to worry about running out of diapers.

When I first started this blog, I wrote a cloth diaper review. I've had several people asking me about my experiences with cloth diapers, so I thought, now that we've been doing the cloth thing for nearly 17 months, it might be time to update!

I still love using cloth. I really do. They are easy, environmentally friendly, and, in the long run, much cheaper than disposables.

Here are a few things to keep in mind before you read this post:

  1. We do not use a diaper service. We do all of our own diaper laundry. I can give you more specifics about this if you'd like, but for the sake of not turning this into a three page post, I'll not get into it now. I will, however, tell you that, yes, we did purchase special laundry soap. It was $17 for a small tub, and we still have around a quarter of the tub (maybe a little less) nearly a year and a half later. So the expensive special soap is not an excuse to not use cloth. Actually, per load, it's cheaper to use the Charlie's Soap than Tide or another name brand laundry detergent. And it's way better for you clothes, skin, and the environment. But, again, that's another post in itself.
  2. Everything I have written in this post in my opinion and nothing else. Nobody has paid me or given me any sort of compensation to write any of this. If you would like to pay me or give me a free sample to review your cloth diapers, then please contact me - I'd love to help you out!
  3. While I have tried a number of different kinds of cloth diapers, I have not tried them all. If you have opinions on the diapers I reviewed or other diapers, please add them in the comments!

Here are diapers I have used and reviewed in my last post. If you want to know what I thought of them, you can check it out here.
GroVia All in One (I believe these have been changed since my last review, so don't put too much stock in what I said there!)
Flip All in Two
Bum Genius Pocket Diaper
Kissaluvs
Thirsties

So I'm basically going to give an updated review of the GroVia All in Two and Best Bottoms diapers here. If money were no option, we would have the full set of GroVias. The covers fit well, the inserts are extremely absorbant, and they are so darn cute. That said, they are a bit expensive - $17 for the cover and $18 or $19 for a set of two inserts. They're more if you get the organic cotton, which, in my experience, isn't necessary. I think there are kits available, too, so if you want to go that route and order a bunch at a time you can save yourself some money. Early on, they were a bit bulky - still perfectly fine, but not quite as streamlined as they could have been. As P grew, they fit much better, and by the time she was six or seven months old, they were great. Now that she's nearly 17 months, they are absolutely wonderful. I love them I love them I love them. They do take awhile to dry, though. I do dry them in the dryer now, and it usually takes two cycles. And I still like snap covers over velcro. They're more durable and they don't stick to everything.

Best Bottoms are a wonderful alternative if you want to go the cloth diaper route but don't have the money to spend on GroVias. They are $17 for the cover, but only $4 for the basic inserts. You can pay more for organic cotton, overnight inserts, or doublers. And, of course, there are packages available if you want to buy multiple items at a time and save money. The inserts are thin and dry quickly. One thing to consider: while GroVia inserts are one size, Best Bottoms come in three sizes, so you'll need 2-3 full sets of inserts. We are currently using the medium size inserts with the cover at it's largest size, and it seems to be working fine, so we might be able to get by with just small and medium inserts. Still, it's another thing to consider! The covers don't stretch quite as well as GroVia, so it's not quite as easy to get a perfect fit, but it's definitely still doable!

Here are a few hypothetical situations for the next baby: (Which will not be for at least two more years when Nate is done with school, so don't even bother asking!)

  • If I am able to stay home and money is not an issue
    • I would want a full set of Kissaluvs in the newborn size (fits up to 15 pounds).
    • After that, I would use the Best Bottoms and GroVia diapers that I have.
    • I would also work on increasing my GroVia collection so that, by the time baby is eight or nine months, we could use only those.
  • If I am able to stay home and money is an issue
    • I will probably buy a pack or two of newborn size prefolds (you know...the regular old rectangular pieces of fabric that you pin or Snappi on and cover with plastic pants) and use those until baby outgrows them.
    • Then I would switch over to the GroVia and Best Bottoms diapers I have.
  • If I am not able to stay home, I'll have to feel it out. It would probably be worth it to buy the prefolds, since I would hopefully have at least six weeks with baby before having to go back to work. Most day cares won't do cloth diapers, so I don't know if it would be worth it to invest in the Kissaluvs in this situation!
All of our diapers were ordered online from Nicki's Diapers. They have everything you can imagine needing and do a great job of listing out pros and cons for each diaper type. They even throw in free gifts depending on how much you spend!

I know this is kind of a no brainer, but I have to point it out anyways...you can use the same cloth diapers for more than one kid. It may seem ridiculous to spend $20 or more on a single diaper. However, you can not only get two or more years use out of it for the first child, but they still work after that!

I'd love to hear about your experiences with cloth diapering...please share in the comments!

1 comment:

  1. I'm so grateful that you recommended cloth!! We love them! I haven't had a single leak (other than a one-time husband user error--he didn't realize he couldn't leave it on her for 4+ hours :) ) and I haven't had any blowouts. Before cloth, we had major nighttime leak issues with soaked sheets almost every morning, but that never happens anymore.

    I have BumGenius 4.0 pockets and some of the GroVia all-in-ones. I also have the GroVia BioLiners for when we're out and about which I am absolutely in love with!

    When we traveled a couple of weeks ago, my in-laws wouldn't use cloth, so we bought a pack of disposables for them and it was kind of funny to hear about all of the leaks and blowouts they had. They should really give cloth a chance!

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