Cloth diaper sample packages offer a wide assortment of cloth diapers.
Purchasing a cloth diaper sample package allows parents to become familiar with several different styles of cloth diapers and diaper covers before making the decision of what cloth diapering system will work best for their babies.
Written by: A Northern CA mother of a 5 month old
Background
Shortly after giving birth, I did a bit of reading on cloth diapering. However, I didn't start using cloth diapers until our baby was about 1 month old. Once you start with the disposables, it's hard to change. Also, my husband wasn't very keen on cloth but we had A LOT of garbage due to those disposables. Also, the thought of the chemicals in disposable diapers just did not sit well with me so I started with a diaper service. My mother (our baby-sitter) didn't think that letting poop sit in the diapers for up to a week was sanitary (despite the fact that diaper services wash their diapers something like 8 to 12 times). Therefore, we switched to buying and washing them ourselves.
Currently, our baby is now 5 months old and we still use 1 disposable at night (they really do hold a lot of pee). At first, I started with discount-store bought "diaper service diapers”, which worked, but are somewhat small and actually quite expensive I discovered the wonderful world of cloth diaper internet sites, such as Soft Cloth Bunz (which has some of the best prices around).
Purchases and Favorites
I then purchased a wide assortment of cloth diapers: prefolds, fitteds such as Kissaluvs and some fancy WAHM-made, even some diapers that fit from birth to potty-training. For diaper covers, I purchased some with snaps, some with Velcro, and some pull-on ones. I find that the prefold diapers work best. The fitteds (snap-styles) have pre-determined waist and leg opening sizes, which sometimes do not correspond to your baby's measurements. But with prefolds, you get to adjust to the correct size.
I prefer fastening with a snappi or pins. The Kissaluvs are nice and do hold poop in well, but the rise is too low in my opinion. I actually like my expensive fancy WAHM-made diapers the least. In terms of diaper covers, I do not care for the pull-on type. It can be difficult to get them onto a kicking baby. I really like the Imse Vimse organic cotton cover. The Bummis Super Wraps are very durable and seem like they will last much longer though.
Diaper pail and washing method
Here is what we do: wet diapers go into a regular laundry basket (specially designated for the diapers). Poopy diapers get rinsed and then placed into a wet pail to soak until wash day. We wash every other day in the following manner: a cold water wash with 1/4 cup detergent. Then, a hot water wash with even less detergent and some baking soda, and then an extra rinse cycle. I set them in the dryer for 30-45 minutes and then finish by hanging them up. The diaper covers get hand rinsed or washed as needed. A couple times a week, they will get thrown into the wash along with a load of the baby's clothes.
Final words
Thus far, we have not had a case of diaper rash because with both cloth diapers and disposables, we change really often (except for the night-time, and we did try cloth, but they just leaked!). Since we use only 1 disposable per day, we generate much less waste and the baby has a lot less contact with the chemicals. Cloth diapering is not difficult, the time spent in washing and drying is minimal. Going to the store and buying disposable diapers can become quite a chore.
I would recommend buying an assortment of diapers and covers to find what you like, and then invest in those.
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