A Whole New World: Cloth Diapers

Kissaluv Marvel One-Size, All-In-One

Warning: This entry is extremely boring UNLESS you are interested in hearing every detail about cloth diapers. Johan is already refuses to hear another word about them. Just wanted to warn you.

Since my recent debut as a full time stay at home mom, I have come to the harsh realization that I can't just go buy whatever I want when I want it. Since Axel was born, we haven't made too many changes with our spending. But that was mostly because I always had some sort of income from working at home and working the short stint back in the office. I am still working from home, but the work is sporadic and I don't want to depend on it, because it's not dependable.

Without making any drastic changes like getting rid of our cell phones or t.v. (never!), I thought it was the perfect time to try out cloth diapers. I don't know why I didn't use them earlier. I think we were just on the go too much for me to be bothered with the hassle of them. They seemed like so much work, and I already had enough work set out for me. I had also tried a couple that Brittney had given me, the Kissaluv Marvels, and they had leaked (more on that later), and I had friends who had used cloth unsuccessfully, so I wrote cloth diapers off as a waste of time and money.

Kissaluv Marvel All-in-One, showing attached insert

So in my quest to save money as well as my annoyance for inconvenient Costco trips where I go for one box of diapers and instead leave with a truck-load of snacks, baby clothes, and army-sized portions of food that we end up forgetting in the freezer, I started doing my research. I had no idea where to start, so I just googled "Best Cloth Diapers". Oh my Lord, I had no idea what I was in for. There was this whole new world that I never knew existed. I was overwhelmed with the options as well as a new vocabulary that I had never heard of: pre-folds, all in ones, one sizes, liners, inserts, I had no idea what anything was when I was reading product descriptions. When I was a baby in the early 80's, there was pretty much one type of cloth diaper. It was a little towel that you folded around the baby's bum and fastened with pins. The options now are so overwhelming, it felt like when you go to one of those mega stores for laundry detergent and they have 100 different brands lined up on both sides of the aisle. How do you choose with so many choices?

After a LOT of emailing, posts on Facebook (it is actually good for something), calling, and asking friends, this is what I learned about the cloth diaper vocabulary:

1. Covers: Just an impervious shell.
2. All-In-Ones: An impervious shell with a pocket that contains an attached absorbent insert.
3. One-size: A diaper that has a bunch of snaps that allow the diaper to be smaller or larger to grow with your baby. Usually from about 6 months until potty training.
4. Inserts: Individual, separate, thick absorbent pads that you stick into the diaper.
5. Liners: Look like a dryer sheet. You place these between the baby's bum and diaper so that poop doesn't stick to the diaper and is easily removed and flushed down the toilet.

Flip One Size Diaper Cover

6. Pre-folds: The original cloth diapers. A thick towel that folds into thirds that you can put in the diaper for absorbency.

Flip One-Size Diaper Cover with Insert

And there is actually much more that I won't bore you with.

Bum Genius One-Size Diaper with Insert Pocket

I was still overwhelmed. So I asked around, and a friend offered to lend me a couple of her diapers to try out. She actually gave me a lot of info. She lent me two different types of diapers: The Flip one-size diaper covers and Bum Genius one-size diapers with a pocket for inserts. She also gave me Flip and Bum Genius inserts, as well as some liners. Hopefully, you have studied the above definitions and understand exactly what I'm talking about.

So I gave them a shot and tried them out on Axel, as well as the Kissaluv Marvels that I already had, and here's what I think:

The Kissaluv Marvels all-in-one, one-size, are PERFECT for nighttime. They come with an attached insert so they are super easy to wash and use, and I add an extra Flip insert and have not had a single leak in 2 weeks, even with Axel sleeping 12 hours at night. The Kissaluvs leaked, as I mentioned, when I tried them out months ago. I read online that they need to be washed several times in order to increase absorbency. After washing them a couple of times, they are my favorites for nighttime. They are a little bulky, so I prefer the diaper covers with an insert for the day, which are very trim. But definitely Kissaluvs for nighttime.

Bum Genius One-Size with Insert Pocket

The Bum Genius diapers were worthless. The elastic at the legs seemed stretched out, so they leaked every time. But maybe the diapers I borrowed were not the norm? The ones online look like they have good elastic and they are very popular, so I feel like something happened to the ones I borrowed. In any case, I tossed these aside. Their inserts are pretty skimpy too.

The Flips were amazing. No leaks ever. During the day, all I use is a Flip cover, and a Flip insert or any old pre-fold that I used to use as a burp cloth, and Axel stays dry for around 5 hours. One reason I love the idea of a diaper cover over the all-in-ones or the ones with pockets is that you can just wipe the cover and reuse it and simply replace the insert. Less laundry makes me happy.

The liners have worked wonders for us. My big fear of cloth diapers was of getting poop all over myself. But the poop just falls off of the diaper and into the toilet, no problem. Don't get me wrong, you'll have to touch poop at some point. But after becoming a parent, I think we need to succumb to that at some point. I have also continued using my Diaper Dekor pail. I tried using our open laundry basket, the but ammonia smell from the diapers was so overwhelming I couldn't handle it. So I just pour in a little baking soda and throw the dirty diapers into the Dekor and there is no smell at all. I've also been able to get away with doing laundry twice per week, but I ordered enough diapers and inserts to hopefully only need to do laundry once, max twice per week. I wash everything, then hang the covers and dry the inserts in the dryer. Everything is dry within an hour.

I realize that while these diapers have worked really well for us, there are a million other brands that work for other people. Optimally, you just have to try a couple out first and see what works for you. The good thing is that the websites I bought the diapers from have free shipping on certain diapers, and allow free returns even after you've used them, so they encourage people to try out several different brands.

Flushable Liner

Next thing was PRICE.

Kissaluv Marvel: $24 each
Flip Cover: $9.50 each
Flip Inserts: $4.00 each
Thirsties Cover: $11.00 each
Diaper Liners: $8.95 for 100
Charlie's Soap Powder for High Efficiency washer: $12.99

I bought 4 Kissaluvs and 6 Flips. A friend also recommended Thirsties covers. I ordered two of those and am going to try those out. I also bought 21 Flip inserts, 100 liners, and Charlies powder laundry soap. Charlies soap is amazing. I use 1/2 tablespoon for a load of diapers and they come out clean as can be. And I bought everything at cottonbabies.com and nickisdiapers.com.

Okay math people, here we go:

Cloth diaper, liners, inserts, total cost: $250
Disposable diaper cost: $48.00 for 180 diapers, size 4
We use approx 6 diapers per day
Cost of disposables per day: $1.60
Time needed for cloth diapers to pay off: 5.5 months

Approximate cost of disposables for 2 years  $1200
Total cost of cloth diapers for 2 years: $250

Thirsties Diaper Cover with Velcro Closure

Not bad! Figuring Axel will probably be in diapers until he's almost 3. Not to mention we can use these diapers for our future children as well, and we're keeping all those disposable diapers out of the landfill.


So my summary of all of this is that life does not seem any harder after making the switch. But the switch might have been easy because Axel is older, I've heard cloth aren't always the best fit on newborns and young, small babies. So far, it's been a great experience for all of us.