How To Diaper Green
We just celebrated out son’s first birthday! He is such a rascal. He is starting to climb on everything.
When he was first born, I enjoyed (cringe if you like) the convenience of disposable diapers. On occasion I would put him in a cloth diaper, struggling with diaper pins. Usually, I would end up with my fingers pricked and he would have a loose, droopy diaper. I hated the look, sound and feel of the plastic pants Wal-Mart offered as a solution to our soaked clothes.
I grew increasingly aware of the trash we were creating. As he neared his first birthday, his diaper changes were becoming less and less of a mess. I felt confident that I could make the transition to cloth diapers with ease but I didn’t like my options.
So, I started researching and found a vast sea of cloth diapering products online. I was overwhelmed to say the least but so excited to find that I had real options. I looked at diapers for days. My husband said I was obsessed. I was; I had to find the perfect option for us.
When choosing cloth diapers you have a lot of options, there are the old fashion, Chinese prefold diapers (secured with pins), Pocket diapers, All-in-Ones, Fitted diapers, Contour diapers, and Diaper Covers.
Diapering a child with a Chinese prefold usually consists of 2 diapers: one folded up as a soaker and placed in the other which is used to wrap around the baby’s bottom and secured. You need a diaper cover (plastic pant) to keep leeks at bay. You can get all this gear at Wal-Mart or you can find some cute diaper covers and closures online.
I use Chinese prefolds with diaper covers when we are at home. Instead of pins, I found this really cool closure device called a Snappi. It takes half the time of pins and no one bleeds! I will give you a link to a great site to get all this gear at the end of this post.
Chinese prefolds are the most inexpensive diapering option. You only need a few diaper covers since they don’t have to be washed every time you change the baby’s diaper, just wipe it off with a damp cloth and its clean (I throw them in the wash after a days use).
Our little guy has some really cute diaper covers. I like Thirsties and Bumkins‘ diaper covers. They come in a wide range of colors and designs and are so cute. I usually just let him run around the house in his diaper and cover now; he looks so cute.
I also use Pocket diapers for outings and at night. Pocket diapers consist of two layers, a waterproof outer and fleece or cotton inner with a pock in the middle. You slide soaker inserts or Chinese prefolds into the pocket. Pocket diapers dry faster than All-In-Ones (consisting of both layers with a soaker middle all in one) because you can essentially take the diaper apart and wash and dry the pieces separately.
There are a lot of different brands of Pocket diapers and AIOs. BumGenius is popular but they have velcro closures which my tike can get undone. Since I like to let him run around the house in just a diaper (babies look so cute in just a diaper) this is not a viable option for me. I found a great brand called Knicker Nappies.
Knicker Nappies close with snaps, very convenient. There is a row of snaps to adjust to my growing baby. The size he is in now should fit him till he potty trains! When folded up they take up about the same amount of room as a disposable diaper in the diaper bag. I just toss a few in and take a wet bag when we go out. You can buy fancy wet bags but I just reuse plastic bags for this.
Knicker Nappies warranties their snaps and elastic for a year which is great. Pocket diapers are more expensive up front but when compared to the cost disposable diapers, it’s a drop in the bucket. The best thing about pocket diapers (AIO I suppose too) is that they are just a convenient as disposable. If you have a baby, your going to have to be cleaning up messes when you change diapers, there is no getting around it; why not do something green in the process-that’s my theory.
You can find all of the products I mentioned at Nicki’s Diapers. They offer free shipping on Pocket diapers and Diaper covers. When you order Pocket diapers, they even give you a free insert, a great site.
