New to Cloth Diapers?

Let me start off by saying that thanks to all the creative moms out there, cloth diaper choices are so extensive now, that ANYONE who wants to do something good for their baby will find a style that they love! Cloth Diapers today are vastly different from what our moms and Grandmothers were used to! There is no more dunking in the toilet, hand rinsing your diapers, boiling your diapers! or getting stuck with pins – those are things of the past that most parents today (including myself) would not be willing to put up with. Instead you have a large variety of easy to use options.

There are three BASIC Cloth Diaper Systems available:

The Pocket Diaper System:
Imagine a diaper cover that consists of a layer of waterproof fabric and a layer of fleece sewn together with an opening "pocket" at the top. Now slide a piece of cotton diaper/insert into the pocket and you have a great fitting diaper, that has an absorbent core to absorb the urine, an outer waterproof layer and and inner fleece layer that wicks all the moisture to the cotton insert and keeps your baby nice and dry! It just doesn't get much better than that!!!!

The All-In-One Diaper/One Piece System:
All-In-One Diapers "All-In-Ones" have the absorbent cotton layers and the waterproof cover sewn together. The diaper closes with hook-&-loop closures (Velcro) or with Snaps.
These diapers are perfect for parents who want the ease of disposables, without the cost or the harmful chemicals that those contain. All-In-Ones are also ideal for working parents (day care)! Many families that use Prefolds and Covers will get a few of these to use when going out, for baby sitters (or for the husband!) All-In-One Diapers DO NOT require a cover.

The Two Piece Diaper System:
The Two Piece Diaper System, just as the name implies, consists of two separate pieces - a waterproof diaper cover on the outside and the soft, absorbent cotton diaper on the inside. This system offers various cover and diaper combinations. The inner cloth part can be a Fitted Diaper or a Prefold. Diaper Covers can be waterproof laminated polyester covers, fleece covers or wool covers which all make for an effective waterproof layer. Below we give you an overview of the different covers and the cloth diapers that go with these.

Outer Waterproof Cover
Diaper Covers provide the waterproof barrier for Prefolds, Fitted Diapers, Shaped Diapers or Flat Diapers. The majority of Diaper Covers are Wrap Style Covers that close with Hook-&-Loop panels or Snaps. There is no need for pins when using Wrap Style Covers – you simply pull the Wrap/Cover around the diaper and fasten the Velcro Panels or Snaps. A few covers are side snap covers or pull-up covers. When using these covers you will need to fasten a Prefold or Fitted Diaper, but thanks to our easy-to-use Snappi Fasteners there is no need for pins here either. I am not very fond of pull-up covers and do not offer these.


Inner Cloth (Cotton) Diaper
The inner cloth diaper provides the absorbent core inside the cover. Chinese Prefolds are used by most diaper services and make for an inexpensive, soft and very absorbent diaper. A Prefold has a rectangular shape with 2 long panels on either side that get folded onto a thicker middle panel. The diaper is then placed on a cover and folded around the baby. I like to fasten the Prefolds with a Snappi Fastener.

The Fitted Diapers are super easy to use! They looks a little like a disposable diaper that closes with Velcro or Snaps, but unlike All-In-Ones, Fitted Diapers do not have a waterproof cover attached to them and thus need a cover.

The Contour Diaper has an hourglass shape which can easily be folded around the baby before the cover is put on. You can choose to fasten those with the Snappis too, but it is not neccessary.

Fuzzi Bunz Inserts can also be placed into any Wrap Style Cover, (especially for small newborns) instead of a cloth diaper. In my experience this has worked really well.

Now that I overwhelmed you with all the different styles ( and you thought this would be easy!) you can go here to find out HOW MANY DIAPERS DO I NEED?

Suitable Diaper Cover and Diaper combinations:

Many parents find it overwhelming to figure out which diaper covers go best with which diapers. I hope this will make it easier for you. Please remember, the incorrect size of a cover could result in a leak! If you have a Newborn we strongly suggest to get NB covers - size small is usually too big around the legs. We've divided the covers into day and nighttime covers:


Daytime Diaper Covers:
Bumkins - best with Prefolds; also work well with a Fuzzi Bunz Insert (just lay insert inside the cover and close)
Bummis – work well with any diaper! Use with either Prefolds, Contour Diaper or Fitted Diapers
Polar Bummis - work well with any diaper! Use with either Prefolds, Contour Diaper or Fitted Diapers
Prorap Cover – great with any cloth diaper! Use with either Prefolds, Contour Diaper or Fitted Diapers
Polar Babies - best with Prefolds; also work well with a Fuzzi Bunz Insert (just lay insert inside the cover and close)
Fuzzi Bunz - use with Prefolds and Fuzzi Bunz Inserts; functions like an "All-In-One"
Happy Pants – good with a Fitted Diaper, Contour Diaper or a Prefold that is fastened with a Snappi

Nighttime Diaper Covers/Nighttime Diapers:
Fuzzi Bunz - my no 1. choice for nights! - use with Prefolds or two Fuzzi Bunz Inserts; closes with Snaps and functions like an "All-In-One"
Happy Pants – a great solution for HEAVY wetters! use with a Kushies Classic and add a diaper insert; also works well with Prefolds, but the Prefold or a Imse Vimse Terry Diaper needs to be fastened with a Snappi Fastener or pins.
Aristocrats - great over a Fitted Diaper, Contour Diaper or Preolds (if you use these with Prefolds or Contour Diapers they need to be fastened/pinned.) A wonderful cover for heavy wetters if you are willing to do the extra effort of taking care of the wool.
Polar Babies - great when you're using Prefolds... helps stop nighttime leaks
Prorap Cover – good over any diaper!

Additional information to consider when choosing your Cloth Diaper System:

Can you function when sleep deprived?
How do you deal with change?
Do you need a routine and find it hard to have it interrupted?
Do you find the thought of being responsible for a Newborn extremely overwhelimg?

If the above factors have a big impact on your life, I suggest that you consider using all or at-least half All-In-One Diapers so that you keep things as simple as possible for yourself. I think the key to successful cloth diapering and, of course more importantly, to an enjoyable start of Parenthood is to respect your personality and make things as simple for yourself as possible. Many parents find using Prefolds during the first three months a breeze, but there are just as many parents who are desperately trying to adjust to all the new changes, feeling extremely overwhelmed and exhausted and for those parents I suggest to use all Fuzzi Bunz or Prorap AIOs.
I know that it seems so much more expensive to start off with All-In-Ones, but remember that at the most you will spend half of what you would with disposables and you have the added plus of providing a chemical free diaper 24hrs a day for about 3 years.I hope that all this information will be helpfull to you when deciding on which route to go with your baby. Please remember: Do what feels right to you, even if friends and realtives have a different opinion. This is your baby ... enjoy every second that you have with your sweetheart and put anything that you can off until a later time.