Ask Me Anything: We're thinking about using cloth diapers . . .

We're thinking about using cloth diapers and I was wondering how you ended up using the ones you do. Did you try any other brands?

The first cloth diapers we used were prefolds and covers that we bought from a friend before Peeper was born. I don't remember the brand, but they were very basic - plain white, sized (we had small and medium), velcro.

We weren't real thrilled with them, mostly because they were a pain to put on, and also they were very bulky, especially on tiny little Peeper.

(We started using them when she was around 3 - 4 months old - about 8 lbs.)

That's when DoulaK (our doula, LLL leader and, now, cloth diaper and baby carrier dealer)suggested bumGenius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers, and gave us a few to test drive.

We liked them right away, and bought a total of two dozen.

As time went on, the one thing we've not liked about the bumGenius, though, is that the velcro just didn't hold up.

Even when we closed the "laundry tabs" the hook side would get full of fuzz, which had to be picked out, and the loop side got all fuzzed up.

Velcro after about a year of use:

They eventually got to the point that they weren't staying closed reliably at all, so we sent them off to "The Diaper Doc" and had them converted to snaps.

Snap-converted diapers



The snaps take a bit longer at changing time, and the fit isn't quite as precise, but once they're on, they're on.

If I had it to do all over, I might start with a diaper with snaps instead of velcro.

I might also consider and all-in-one, instead of a pocket, just to save the time and effort of stuffing them, but then we wouldn't have the flexibility to adjust the absorbency, so maybe that's not such a good idea.

We've actually done the snap conversion in two batches (the additional shipping was cheaper than buying disposables for a few weeks) and the second batch should be back soon.

Because of that, we've been running on half our normal "stash" for a couple of months, so I can say that you can manage with a dozen - but two dozen is much more comfortable. Right now we're washing a tiny load every night, and a couple of times we've had her wearing the very last one, with our fingers crossed, waiting for the dryer to stop!

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