I was set on using ALL cloth diapers before my son was born.  After much initial experimentation with a lot of cheap and a lot of fancy and expensive cloth diapers (Kissaluvs, etc) it dawned on me one day that we could use both. 

Cloth has its benefits, those being of economics (cheaper), and may help prevent diaper rash due to breathability, and perhaps ease of toilet mastery in that kids can feel the wetness, does not end up in landfills, recyclable.  Drawbacks of cloth:  Does not have anywhere near the liquid absorbing capability as disposables, bulkier and may make clothes fit different, takes a bit to get used to using but not much, an extra two loads of laundry per week if laundering at home.

Diposables are very convenient.  They abosrb and obscene amount of liquid before they reach capacity, and they are trim so that baby doesn’t have “diaper butt”.  In my personal experience, they can also cause diaper rash, possibly due to how well they seal off moisture – may not be as breathable as cloth.

I did a lot of research into cloth diapers – traditional cloth prefolds, new all-in-ones, pocket diapers, etc.  Let me say this for the record – the staggering amount of choice that is available to cloth users is so overwhelming that I could see people defaulting to disposable just so they don’t have to choose. 

For those of you who have started the process of learning about cloth but quickly became discouraged or confused, let me work backwards so to speak and summarize the general concept of cloth diapering:

1.  There has to be some kind of absorbent material, usually fibrous, against the skin to catch liquids, etc. Example:  Pre-folded cloth diapers. 

2.  The next layer is usually something that will keep the moistness away from baby’s clothes so that the outer layer of clothes don’t get wet.  Example:  Diaper Covers with velcro (hook & loop closures).  These keep baby’s clothes dry and holds the cloth diaper in place without the need for pins or other closures.

The most basic and most inexpensive cloth diapering model uses cloth prefolds and diaper covers.  This is usually what you get when you subscribe to a diaper service.

There are tons of companies run by stay at home moms (SAHMs) that have revolutionized cloth diapering.  Go to www.cottonbabies.com, or www.greenmountaindiapers.com, two of my favourite resources for ordering supplies and take a look at the cloth choices.  They will astound you. 

Okay, back to the prefolds.  My biggest challenge in accepting cloth diapers was needing to see how this worked.  I didn’t know anyone that used this stuff.  Everyone had Huggies or Pampers.   The hospital where I had my son gave us the choice between disposable and prefolds, but they used pins (yikes!) without diaper covers.  After studying diaper services in the area and seeing another mom use cloth prefolds combined with diaper covers on her infant daughter, I decided to try prefolds. 

I ordered about 55 Diaper Service Quality (DSQ) infant-sized 4×6.x4 Chinese Prefolds with Kelly Green stitching.  The description is very specific to distinguish the product from inferior cloth diapers that you see in the chain stores (like Gerber prefolds which are sold at Target, Babies R Us, Wal Mart, etc).  You usually have to buy the DSQ quality prefolds online from sources that are devoted/passionate about cloth diapering.  I think I paid about $1.50 per diaper.  I also had a total of 5 or 6 Newborn sized diaper covers to start with.  The infant prefolds were suitable for my son from birth until about 13-14 months old.   Within that same timespan however his diaper cover sizes went from Newborn, Small, then Medium.  We used a combination Bummis Super Whisper Wraps (~$20 each cover) and Imse Vimse Bumpy covers (~$25 each).   I got most of them used on eBay or Craigslist for about $10-12 a piece and made sure that they were in good condition. 

After my son grew out of the infant prefolds, I ordered 40 Toddler prefolds with blue stiching, with the same layers of cotton – 4×6×4.  These are larger in dimension than the infant size.  We’ve used them since he was about 14 months old and are still using them – my son will be two years old next week.  We are now using them with XL Imse Vimse covers, supplemented generously with Proraps covers, and Bummis Super Whisper Wraps by my neighbour who watches my son during the day and who also cloth diapers her little one.

As for the diaper pail, I started out with the Diaper Champ.  I quickly got rid of it since my diapers got stuck in the mechanism and it did not hold as much as I wanted it to hold.  Instead of buying a $25 diaper pail I went to Target and got a 12 litre lidded garbage can with removable lid.  That set me back about $12.00.  I got the idea at Green Mountain Diapers – see link below for photo and idea.

Next I ordered two diaper pail liners made by Blue Penguin products in California.  I got them at http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/other.htm#Re-Uz’m™%20Diaper%20Pail%20Liners.  We’ve used them on a rotational basis for two years now and they are still working great.  Order two – one to use and the other two switch out when you take the dirty stuff to be washed. 

I wait till our pail is packed full before doing diapers.  My son at this age uses about four cloth diapers during the day.  We do diaper laundry about twice a week using the dry pail method described here http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/washing-diapers.htm. We have a front loading Maytag washer and I follow use a half scoop of  Country Save environmentally-friendly powder detergent for every full load.  I have a program for diapers - presoak, long soil wash (18 min), extra rinse and the diapers come out clean even after the smell test.  The prefolds take longer to dry, and instead of using a gentle heat cycle with moisture detection off like I do for clothes, I set the dry program for 55-60 minutes at regular heat.  I do not dry my diaper covers by way of personal preference.  They last longer that way and I may have a chance of reselling them later if they are in decent shape.  Diaper Laundry Note:  Dispose of as much of the solids in the toilet – my son likes to participate in the “flush the poop” ceremony.  I do the dirty work of shaking/disposing and he waves and says, “Bye poop!” and gets to flush the toilet.  Dump soiled diaper/cover in the pail.  We both wash our hands and we’re done. 

As you’ve noticed in the subject of this post, we use mostly cloth.  We do cloth during the day, but disposable at night.  I spent much money trying to find a way to do cloth at night without much luck.  I spent unnecessary energy worrying about getting my son out of bed in the morning so that his cloth diaper wouldn’t be oversaturated.  In the end, I decided to use disposable diapers at night and cloth during the day.

In addition to night diapering in disposables, we also use them for long trips out of the house or travelling.   Generally if I am going to be away from home with him for more than two hours I will put a disposable diaper on him. 

I notice when I have my son in disposables I tend to leave him in the diaper for at least twice as long.  The capacity for these things to absorb liquid is almost infinite.  Which is good for long trips on planes and long sleeps at night.  But on a regular basis I personally prefer to change him out every two to three hours at most.  When they get older they also learn that wet is not very comfortable.  I’ve noticed that the disposable diaper companies have come up with “wet indicators” that make the diaper change color or change temperature (colder)!  I guess the disposables are too good at absorbing wetness, to the point that some kids don’t even know that they’re supposed to be wet. 

As with most things in life, compromise is not a bad thing.  I tried to go all cloth from the outset but it was at the expense of my sanity.  This works wonderfully for my family and I hope that I’ve made at least one reader realize that it doesn’t have to be cloth OR disposable – it can be both.