Cloth

I want everyone to know that cloth diapering doesn't have to be an all or nothing deal. We really like to talk about cloth-bottomed babies, so as to present another option for families out there, since not a lot of people choose to cloth diaper. For the record, I am not an all-out cloth diapering Mama. I like the practicality of being able to choose a disposable for outings into town, for church, and for trips, especially when I know she hasn't had her daily poo yet. But I also love the fact that I'm helping with the problem of billions and billions diapers polluting our land. 

My husband is hilarious. He has been watching Laney from 8:00-12:00 four days a week while I am a temporary sub teaching Spanish until June. Since Laney has her "doosky-duty" in the mornings, it's an ABSOLUTE MUST (according to him) that a disposable be put on her hiney first thing upon waking up. He DESPISES spraying off a poopie diaper, but will do it if he must. I used to make fun of him because he was very adamant about it, but now it's starting to rub off on me. It's not a bad plan, but it's okay if she poos in her cloth. I mean, c'mon, I don't particularly LIKE spraying off those smelly things either, but it's part of the deal. A handy tip-a-roo is to keep a strip of micro-fleece in the diaper, because poo pretty much falls right off of it, unlike cotton. Disposable rice liners are great as well. How do the two compare? 

Microfleece:  

• softer on baby's little bum
  
• reusable
  
• poo falls right off, even without a diaper sprayer
  
• inexpensive

Rice Liner:  

• rough and scratchy like disposable diaper
  
• can be thrown away, never to be seen again (good for trips)
  
• flushable (from what I've read, but I'm a sceptic with septic tanks)
  
• need to reorder when supply is low

What diapers do we use? 

We use several types of diapers from the good old-fashioned pre-folds like our Grandmas used to the new, cutting edge Pocket Diapers. 

1.) Prefolds are reliable, affordable and very absorbent to be a 100% cotton diaper--used with snappi and cover 

2.) Snug-to-Fit diapers -- LOVE them! 100% cotton, fitted, used with a cover 

3.) I also just ordered 2 Pocket Change diapers for Hugh to use with Laney, since Dad's love the diapers that are so easy to put on and take off. (Thanks Tara for introducing me to these.) They are a true "pocket" diaper with an insert that is stuffed into the diaper cover. I like the fact that they came with 100% cotton/hemp tri-fold insert, as well as a microfiber insert for trips or moments when changing her diaper isn't easy (airplane, naps, etc..) Another cool thing about these diapers is that the inserts agitate out in the wash. No need to pull out icky wet liners. Lastly, I can't help but mention that they come in such fun colors. That's what I miss about having just plain-jane diapers. I thrive off of colors and design, so even though they are diapers that go UNDER clothes and nobody really sees them, I still am a big fan of fun, colorful diapers, for Laney looks so stink'n cute in them. I am contemplating dying my prefolds to fun colors. Has anyone had any success with this? I haven't researched it much, so I'm still on the fence. Out of all of these, which one is our fav?

Snug-to-Fit 100% cotton cloth diaper. It looks just like a disposable, with aplix tabs, elastic at the legs as well as at the back of the diaper on top so as to keep all poo contained. We use a Bummi Super Whisper Wrap as a cover for this cloth diaper.

Above is an 11 month baby from Green Mountain Diapers. Click for more pictures and info of this diaper.

Below is Laney:

We also use a diaper sprayer. I blindly ordered the Bum Genius Diaper Sprayer from Cotton Babies without really reading any reviews since there weren't any at the time.  But, I love this diaper sprayer and couldn't live without it. Highly recommend it! 

What I would LOVE to try is the new 100% organic cotton Bum Genius Diaper. The "100% cotton" is the attractive part to me, because those don't retain odors like synthetic diapers do. Plus there's no stuffing inserts into the diaper cover, but still it's a fast-drying diaper, unlike most all-in-ones, because of how they have sewn in the liner. However, the price is STEEP-STEEP!! Whew! Cotton Babies has this diaper being feature. Cotton babies is a great website and they take a percentage of all that they make and give it to Christian missions, which is awesome.  Has anyone tried out these diapers yet???