Cloth Diapering 101

2008- Here is the first of many posts about how to cloth diaper. There are so many reasons that cloth diapering is a good choice and I've found it to be enjoyable. I even love doing diaper laundry ;)

I won't go into detail about the environmental or chemical reasons we choose not to use 'sposies but here's a great article that I highly recommend reading, Why Cloth?

So here we go...

PREFOLDS

Prefolds with covers are the cheapest diaper solution (and the simplest really). They wash well, are cheap and last through several sizes. You can buy a prefold for less than $2.00. You'll need about 8-12 of them a day.

These are unbleached indian prefolds (or UIPF). They are made of cotton twill which is a very thin fabric. It is folded in such a way that there are 4 layers on each side and and 6-8 layers in the middle, depending on the size you purchase. The middle has two rows of stitching about 5" apart to make it easy to fold. The UIPF on the left is an Infant size and on the right is the Regular.

You can also purchase chinese diaper service quality (chinese DSQ) prefolds. These are used by the diaper service companies and are very durable. These are my favorites, Clotheez, from Green Mountain Diapers. UIPF are softer than DSQ prefolds but aren't as durable and may not last as long.

When you first purchase your prefolds they will be flat. It will take up to 8 washings in hot water to make them fluffy and absorbant like those above.



This is a bamboo velour/bamboo fleece doubler made by me. Doublers are used to add more absorbant layers to your diaper. If you want your baby to experience the stay dry feeling like a 'sposie, use a microfleece liner. These are my favorites here at Cotton Babies.


Just lay the doubler in your diaper and fold it up like normal.

PREFOLD FASTENERS

Some people just fold the prefold right into a cover and don't use any type of fasteners. Brian does this but I don't like to. So I use these, pins and the Snappi (but not at the same time).
Good old locking head pins are easy to use and very safe. I keep mine in soap so they will just slide right through the fabric.

The Snappi is a very popular choice now. It has teeth on the back side that dig into the diaper and hold it (it will also dig into your babie's legs if you don't get it snug so be careful).


You will need some sort of a cover over the prefold or your babie's pants would be soaked!

COVERS

This is a Thirsties wrap style diaper cover made from PUL. It goes right ove the prefold and will prevent leaking on to your babies clothes. There are many styles of diaper covers to choose from, but this is the most common. Others include wool, nylon & fleece. I personally use wool (but that is for another blog post!)

Here are some simple folds (I'll get some pics on a baby doll later).

This is the trifold. Simple fold your prefold into thirds and lay it into the diaper cover.


Place your baby on top and wrap the cover around them.


Then there's the angel wing fold. Trifold the prefold like above but pull out the back to make wings.

Pull up the bottom to match the top.


Then you may have spread the part you just brought up around your babie's waist or if the diaper is big enough, just keep it folded. You can now close it with a Snappi or pins.

 

FITTEDS

I like fitteds and use them for naptimes with Molly and Graedon. They are easy to use with no folding. Fitteds come in a variety of fabrics and a variety of closures. The most popular closures are aplix (like velcro) and snaps. They can be made of absorbant material like bamboo, cotton, hemp, terry cloth, velour and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Fitteds typically have elastic around the legs and are shaped like a disposable.

 

Here is a Blueberry One Size Fitted made from cotton velour. (I'm not sure Blueberry makes these anymore)

This is what makes it "one size". See all those snaps. You can snap down the length of the diaper to make it fit from birth to potty learning. You can also snap it tighter or looser. Really - this fits Molly and Graedon.

Here is Graedon's Mother-ease One Size. They are made from cotton terry cloth. I really like these for older kids and not babies as they are a bit bulky through the crotch. Notice that these don't have elastic at the legs so the potential for little babies to "blow out" is great, lol. Mother-ease does make a diaper with elastic at the legs called the Sandy's Diaper.

Here is a sized fitted from Sustainablebabyish in hemp fleece. This is a Medium.

See it doesn't have the snaps down the front and is only adjustable in the waist.

That's all the fitteds that I have but would love to own a bamboo velour Goodmama. This is a one size diaper and so plush. I make bamboo prefolds at Pbellie.com so I know how wonderfully luxurious the fabric is. Okay - I did own a couple but sold them to buy diaper making supplies. I wish I had them back now! I also want a Mutt diaper. Who knew cloth diapers could be so fun, colorful and good for the environment!

 

The next type of diaper I'm going to share with you are pocket diapers, so named because they have a pocket on the inside.

 

Why choose a pocket diaper? Pocket diapers have PUL on the outside so they are waterproof and don't require a cover. You can stuff different inserts/doublers in the pocket depending on how much absorbancy you need. They dry fast because they don't have any layers sewn into the body of the diaper.

 

Like the rest of the diapers I've shown you, there are many, many kinds of pocket diapers. I have a Fuzzi Bunz , which is one of the more popular and easy to get diapers.

Here it is.

Here is the pocket in the back of the diaper.

Open the pocket and stuff the insert (doubler that comes with it) inside. Slide it around until it lays flat.

And that is all. When you need to change the wet diaper, simply remove it from child and shake the insert out and into your diaper pail. Pretty easy. A lot of the pocket diapers are lined in a micro-fleece which helps your child feel dry. The micro-fleece pulls the moisture to the insert quickly.

 

Next up AIO's (all in ones). These are the most like disposables.