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Friday 3 August 2012

Thoughts on Cloth Diapers - 1 year later

Last year I wrote two posts about cloth diapers and my review of them. So I thought I should give a follow up a year later and how I felt about them.

We have 3 kinds that use an outer waterproof cover:

-prefolds with snappi's
- sandy's
- kissaluvs

and gro-via all in ones.

My favourite cover is Thirsties, and when we bought the larger sizes we only bought this brand. The velcro seems to be wearing abit on these guys but still working fine. My advice is to close the velcro each time when washing, I assume this would increase the lifespan.

We also use wool covers at night, we don't use them during the day because they are alittle more cumbersome and also they need time to air out between uses so only at night works well for us. They also cost much more than other covers so we only have 2. I like them for the breathability. But this also means you can smell pee sooner than in a plastic type cover. I am always amazed that the wool doesn't feel wet or leak.

The prefolds are alittle harder now that my daughter doesn't like lying down much, this makes changing diapers alittle harder sometimes and thats my only complaint with them. Don't follow Bummis method of these diapers, use snappi fasteners.

Sandy's are great, no complaints, they are my favourite

kissaluvs, I don't like how they fit my daughter now that she is bigger, they are very similar to Sandy's which I like much better. They have a different layout of snaps which is the biggest difference.

Gro-via are showing considerable wear along the edges of the diapers. Not sure how many babies they will last for. Because of this, I wouldn't recommend them which is too bad because they are the easiest to put on while my daughter is standing up. These are also the most streamlined of the ones I use. A friend of mine also uses these and hasn't had this problem, so maybe its just me but I am not sure what the difference is......

All the diapers and wipes are showing minimal staining. I haven't done anything to specifically treat any stains although I hear that hanging them outside that the sunlight does wonders. Stains on diapers don't bother me especially since they are covered.

We have used disposable a few times on trips and I still return to cloth when we get home. Sure its an extra load of laundry every 2 or 3 days but since I seem to do a load of laundry every day its just part of the routine now.

(The only thing that might be an issue is poopy diapers, these are not fun, but more on that later.)

After using disposables the best part of returning to cloth is probably the wipes. Cloth wipes are far nicer to use than disposable (in my opinion) and disposable wipes can be expensive! The cost of them adds up!

- Lauren

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Which fabric of Sandys did you use? I am torn between the cotton terry which has polyester net inside and the all cotton organic. They say the cotton terry will have a longer lifespan due to the durability, but I worry about breathability. Do you think its any less breathable than the cotton prefolds?

Lauren said...

I have the cotton sandys, they are great, much more absorbant than the cotton prefolds. and the elastic at the legs is a plus.

I am not familiar with the ones with polyester net lining

the cotton sandys and prefolds are the same breathability-wise

if you are worried about breathability, you can use a wool cover, i only used them at night (they are alittle bulkier and expensive to use all the time)

ultimately there are so many choices you have to go with what works for you, you might have to try a few out - what works for me and what I like doesn't necessarily work for you and your baby.