Cloth Diaper Recomendation

So, what would I recommend to someone thinking about cloth diapering?

6 Bumgenius (for night time or baby sitters)
2 sets of Econobums Full Kits
3 Snappies
2 dozen wipes
1 wet bag

Grand Total $270
Now, don't be overwhelmed by that number. It is compared to about $600 to diaper a child in disposables from this post. And the supplies listed will allow you to very easily diaper your child the entire time he/she is in cloth diapers.

If you are still overwhelmed by the $270 AND you have about an ounce of craftiness in you, you can save some money. Wipes are the simplest thing to make. If you hit a nice flannel sale at your fabric store (or have some old flannel around) you can save some money. However if you are rushed or just don't want to stress about it... it is only $24 to get 2 dozen wipes. Depending on how adventurous you are feeling you can very easily make a prefold... especially cost effective if you use old clothes you were going to donate to Goodwill. As far as covers go, you can make wool covers... but they aren't as leak proof as the PUL covers that come with the Econobums. When it comes to wet bags, I say leave it to the professionals. Keeping moisture in is vital to your sanity when cloth diapering. The only thing I have yet to re-create at home is the stay-dry liners that come in the Bumgenius. Bumgenius are amazing…

Bumgenius… If I were to do it all over again, I would buy all Bumgenius. Why? The stay dry liner. The fleece-y-suede-y-type-stuff they use in their diapers keeps John as dry as using a disposable, yet still allows moisture to pass through to the soaker. John staying as dry as possible is crucial to preventing diaper rash (& yeast). If the thought of changing a diaper every 1 to 2 hours doesn’t seem like a big deal then order 3-4 full kits of Econobums and go to town. Me? I like sleeping a lot… so I use Bumgenius at night and whenever I know I can’t get to his diaper that quickly. In a Bumgenius I feel comfortable letting John got a good 3-4 hours during the day and 12 hours at night. And magically, a Bumgenius over night (11 hours) will clear up the majority of John’s diaper rashes. So, what would it cost if I were to buy all Bumgenius? About $570. You would break even with your first child, but the start up cost is high. Since I know I like Bumgenius I keep an eye on sales and only buy a few at time ($600 hurts less that way).

Econobums… Now don’t think that all the praise over Bumgenius means that I’m ready to throw out my Econobums. I still like Econobums a lot too. A few reasons… newborns, back-ups & I love the covers. With a newborn, you really don’t sleep longer than 1-2 hours so changing a diaper that often comes with the territory. And when you exit the newborn stage, it’s really nice to throw a few prefolds and covers in the car/diaper bag just in case you forget to pack diapers. Prefolds are simple and they’ve been around forever, so go with Econobums to build the base of your cloth diapering system. I love the Econobums Full Kit that Cotton Babies has put together. What you get for $50 is unbeatable. Even if you bought one kit with each child and used it when you could (even while using disposables to fill in the gap) you would be saving a lot of money.

Snappies & Wipes... I have found that snappies help a lot when it comes to keeping poop off of your reusable covers. They aren’t totally required, but they are like $2 a piece so it’s not the end of the world if you buy one and decided you didn’t like it. I think cloth wipes are a great investment. I use a ton of wipes… and it doesn’t hurt that I essentially have an endless supply if I keep up with laundry.

Wet Bag… I started with the traditional pail and pail liner and after a year of cloth diapering, I don’t like that system at all. Once I started using my Plant Wise hanging wet bag I decided the diaper pail was stupid. First of all, with the hanging wet bag your entire pail system gets washed each time you do laundry…. with a traditional pail you have to wash out your pail about once a week. The hanging bag is smaller, but I view that as a good thing because it forces you to do laundry. And why do I recommend one instead of two? It forces you to follow through with laundry. If you need to change a diaper while your laundry is drying then you can use one of the small wet bags that come with the Econobums Full Kits. If you don’t like being forced to do laundry, buy more wet bags :)

From Birth to Potty Training… One thing I love about Cotton Babies is the One-sized thing they are so big on. My Econobums fit John’s skinny little legs when he was a newborn and they fit him today AND there is still more growing room! Same with my Bumgenius. Now that being said, I didn’t start cloth diapering until John’s umbilical cord fell off and I will probably do that again. You can buy diapers to fit newborns … but I like having one set for the whole way through... just my preference.

That’s my recommendation and I’m stickin’ to it!

(I did not receive any form of payment for recommending these products)