Diapers, Diapers, Diapers!!

I've had diapers on the brain all day. We are going to do cloth diapering and I have finally sat down to research it enough to know what we're going to try first. I've looked it up before, but there are about a thousand different varieties of cloth diapers, ways to diaper, and ways to launder. They still have old-fashioned flat diapers, that require clips and covers (and by the way there are several different kinds of those to choose from and many different ways to fold them and launder them too), but now they also have fitted diapers that require covers (all-in-twos), hybrid cloth/disposable diapers (g-diapers), and all-in-ones, which are basically just like disposables only you throw them in the wash instead of the garbage. Unless you choose all-in-ones, you then have to pick your cover, which can be anything from plain old vinyl, to polyester, to wool, to whatever. They come with velcro, loops and eyes, snappies, or other fancy fasteners - which ones will be easiest and last through all the laundering? No matter what kind of diaper you use, you also have to figure out what kind, if any, liners you want to use and how many liners you will need for daytime - or nap time - or night time. There's microfiber, microfleece, microchamois, hemp, cotton, wool, bamboo terry, bamboo velour, and on and on - or a combination of some or all of the above - each material with it's own strengths and weaknesses. Then there's cloth wipes to pick from and what kind of solution - if any - you are going to buy or concoct for these wipes. And how do you keep them warm? Will they fit in your wipe warmer? Some do, some don't.

And that's only picking out the diapers you are going to use. Then you have to worry about how to launder them. There's the dry pail method and the wet-pail method for home and then you need something for travel. And to choose the right laundry soap, you have to know which kind of material your diapers are made from. If you use the wrong kind of soap, you may ruin the diapers. Some diapers must be washed in warm water, some in extra hot. Some are line dry only, and some need extra cycles or longer drying time. You also have to be careful about using diaper rash cream, because if it gets on certain materials, it will ruin them. If your diapers get too much residue on them from using the wrong soap or diaper cream, sometimes you can strip the diapers by washing them in blue Dawn dish detergent. Wool diaper covers seem to be among the best, expecially for overnight, but sometimes you need to re-apply lanolin to them. Some recommend using vinegar in the wash cycle, some in the rinse cycle. Some websites say baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse. Never, ever use fabric softener or dryer sheets. Do not use Dreft, even though there's a picture of a baby on the box. Do not use 7th Generation or most Free and Clear detergents. Woolite - if you can imagine - has an alkaline PH that may strip wool fibers, and Charlie's Soap can cause skin to burn.

My head is spinning.

So anyway, I am going to start out with Chinese pre-fold cloth diapers. These are basically rectangular pieces of cloth that are layered in the middle for extra absorbency. Supposedly they are much better than other versions of the same thing (there's European prefolds, Indian prefolds, ComPly prefolds, Babies Textile prefolds, gauze prefolds, cheap Walmart prefolds, regular Gerber prefolds and Gerber DSQ prefolds... and on and on). The biggest reason I'm going to start out with these is because they are $1.50 each rather than $17 - $25 each. Yes, that's right, each. Those fancy all-in-ones sound grand, but $20 each is pretty steep, especially when I don't know that the regular old pre-folds don't work just as well. Besides, I don't want to buy 30 newborn diapers (enough to last 2-3 days) at $20 that she will only wear for a month or two. Not only that, but I don't know which kind of all-in-one or all-in-twos that I might like. I'll try a few different kinds and if they're worth it, I might invest. But to start with, I'm going to go with the Chinese pre-folds from cottonbabies.com
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?products_id=89

Diaper covers range from about $9 to about $46 (high dollar wool covers) I'm going to try a few different varieties of these as well to see which I like better. I also have a liner in mind I want to try. It's called a g-flapper and it's made with hemp, microfiber and microchamois. I'm pretty sure I am going to use cloth wipes too but I haven't decided yet whether I want to use a solution (some experts say plain water is best) and if so, what solution I might use.

I feel a lot better having made some progress in figuring out what kind of diapers I'm going to use. Now I just need to nail down the details of laundering all the products I have picked out... a task better left for another day.