Green Mountain Diapers Review & Comparison : Muslin vs. Birdseye Flat Diapers

We have recently switched to using flats much more often. My husband still enjoys our snap-in inserts, but for the most part, flats are our go-to since Mr. Calvin has turned from an average wetter to some kind of super pee-er.

Birdseye (left) Muslin (right)

Flats are awesome for your wallet. They are affordable individually, plus they dry super fast so you don't need a large stash in order to get through laundry day. Plus they can hang dry overnight, saving you money not using the dryer. Flats are just super and I say it all the time, but I totally should have just started out with them in the very beginning!

Birdseye (left) are much more trim than the Muslin (right).

When I was first looking into flats, I would have loved to see a review and comparison between these two. I know everyone loves Green Mountain Diapers, they are THE go-to, so I knew they were the brand I wanted to try first. I originally purchased the Birdseye flats because they were cheaper and they were my first flat diaper purchase, so I didn't even know if I was going to enjoy using flats. Once I learned to love these versatile diapers, I had to go back and pick up the ever-praised Muslins.

Birdseye Diapers 6 pack Organic One Size $15.95, 29x29 inches
These are trim. I'd say they would totally work from birth to potty.

Muslin Diapers 6 pack Organic One Size $19.95, 28x30 inches
Because these are so fluffy and plush, I think they would be pretty bulky on a newborn. They're pretty thick for pad-folding on my 29 pound toddler.

They stay square!
Muslin underneath, Birdseye on top. (Muslin may be ever so slightly larger)

Both stay very square after washing and drying, which makes folding much easier.

I put them to the absorbency test by pad folding and laying them both on the counter. I then added water concentrated in one spot (like a real diaper being peed in) and poured until I saw water starting to leak or pool from the fabric onto the counter.
The muslin diaper held 1 cup of water.
The birdseye weave held 3/4 of a cup.

I would recommend them both. More specifically, if you're starting out with a newborn, I'd say go with the Birdseye. And if you have an older baby, try the Muslin. And if you have a heavy wetter, perhaps skip the birdseye.

Thanks so much for reading.
Love,
Alaina

Imagine vs. Nicki's Bamboo Flat Diapers Review & Comparison

Imagine
$25.95 6 pack
32x32 inches
55% bamboo, 45% cotton

Nicki's Diapers
$21.95 6 pack
32x32 inches
55% bamboo, 45% cotton

Imagine might be ever so slightly larger

Judging by the stats listed above, you may be saying, "holy crap these are the same thing but one costs more than the other." That's what I thought at first too. Having heard awesome things about bamboo flats, I started out with the Nicki's brand first because they were cheaper. I loved them so much that when the Black Friday sale came around and the Imagine were the same price as Nicki's, I figured I'd give them a go and see if they were really worth the extra $0.67/ea.

Why bamboo?

First of all, bamboo flats are soft. If you line dry and are always finding your cotton flats to be a little stiff, I would totally recommend checking out bamboo flats. They feel so good! Straight off the line, they are soft, but out of the dryer they feel luxurious.

And they hold so much pee. I don't think I have ever taken one off my son that was over halfway saturated. Most of the time they don't even feel 1/3 of the way saturated after our usual every two hour diaper changes.

How do they compare?

After testing them out for a few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that the Imagine could actually be worth the extra money. And honestly, I was very much anticipating finding no difference between the two.

The Imagine do feel softer than the Nicki's brand. I will have a pile of flats ready to fold, fresh from the dryer, picking them out one at a time, and I can always tell when I've just grabbed the Imagine brand, they just feel extra soft and dreamy.

Neither stay perfectly square, but I think that's just the nature of the bamboo.

As far as absorbency is concerned, I put them to the test by pad folding them, laying them on the counter, and pouring some water on them to see which could hold more. I concentrated the water pouring in one spot, trying to mimic an actual diaper in use and measured it once I saw the first sign of leaking or water spreading onto the counter from the fabric.
Results: the Imagine held ever so slightly more water than the Nicki's brand diaper!
1 1/4 cup for Imagine.
1 1/8 cup for Nicki's.

So overall, Imagine actually does have its perks. It's not simply an overpriced version of the same Nicki's Diaper bamboo flats, like I was honestly expecting. Perhaps one will last longer than the other in the long run. With baby brother Eren arriving this spring, I will keep an eye on it. :)

both birdseye weave

I hope you enjoyed and I really hope this helped someone trying to decide between the two!
Love,
Alaina

My Average Wetter Turned into a Heavy Wetter Overnight : Cloth Diapering our 17 Month Old Boy

What happened?

Everything was going smoothly.
Cloth diapering was going awesome. It was super easy. Everything worked.
Then all of a sudden, totally out of nowhere, some little mister started peeing like crazy. Instead of an insert 1/2 or 3/4 of the way full at 2.5-3 hours, we had leaks before the two hour mark even came. And the inserts were totally soaked. I mean dripping wet, no wonder it leaked, absolutely soaked front to back! I had this giant stash of inserts that looked to be totally useless now! We use Buttons diaper covers with Best Bottom, Buttons, and homemade snap-in inserts.

Buttons Pine (seasonal print fall 2017) aka cutest diaper ever, totally my new favorite

So I started using our trusty flats and sure enough, they work great. Yes, sometimes I do miss the convenience of an insert snapped into a cover when I have a squirmy wormy toddler on my hands at diaper changing time, but they last and they aren't leaking on us!

I like to use them both pad folded and wrapped around little mister like an old school flat diaper (hopefully pad folded at poo time haha).

We use Green Mountain Diapers birdseye (6) and muslin one size (6), and Nicki's bamboo cotton flats (6) in size large for a total of 18 flats.

And I had around 40 of the snap in inserts! That's a big investment!

Although it sucks because I naively expected them to last until potty training, at least I know those little inserts will work for baby brother Eren this time next year. :)

Nicki's bamboo flat w/ Snappi

Another lesson learned, and another reason I totally should have just started out with flats! Haha. They save so much money. They're cheaper per item ($3-4 vs. $5-7) and they dry on the line overnight (unlike the inserts which take a full 48 hours on the line). For that reason, I don't need such a big stash. With inserts, I needed essentially 4 days worth of diapers (even though I had almost 6 days worth haha) because they take two days to dry. With flats, they dry while we're sleeping, so I don't need as many.

So I'll probably end up buying another pack or two of flats and call it a day. I can't decide though if I should buy the Nicki's bamboo that I love so much or try something new. I do like experimenting, maybe I'll find it in the budget to get some hemp flats? :)

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Flat Diaper Comparisons & Reviews : GMD, Geffen, FSTs, Nicki's

I love our AI2 system but I am also a fan of flats. They dry so quick, get the job done, and I do enjoy folding and seeing a cute little stack of ready-to-go flats.

Watch my video review here!

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Cloth-eez Birdseye Flats from Green Mountain Diapers

One Size 29x29 

$15.95/6 pk, $2.66/ea
These are kind of your traditional flat diaper. They work and they're basic. Not much else to say lol.
I do really want to try the Cloth-eez muslin ones, they're supposed to be fluffier and they just look nice so when they restock the one-size in late October I may have to pick up a pack. :)

Nicki's Diapers Bamboo Flats 

Large 32x32 

$21.95/6 pk, $3.66/ea
These might be my favorites at the moment. They are so soft and dry soft on the line, which is a huge bonus since I love hanging our diapers to dry. And they hold a lot of pee! There are times I change Cal after 2-3 hours with a pad fold and you can hardly even tell there's pee in there. They are a little bulkier in a pad fold, but not terrible, and totally fine as a traditional wrapped flat diaper. 

Room Essentials Flour Sack Towels from Target 

30x30 

$3.99/4 pk, $.99/ea

Pad folded, these work great and they're very affordable. I'd say they usually look about 2/3 full after 2.5 hours.

Geffen Baby Hemp Jersey Flat 

26.5x26.5 

$8.50/ea
These are too small to use as a traditional flat diaper on Calvin. I'm sure it would work great on a smaller baby though. So we exclusively use it in a pad fold and mostly at night time. They are an excellent booster. Hemp is the best for nighttime. 

Geffen Baby Hemp Fleece (Fladdle) Flat 

30x30 

$12.48/ea
This little guy will last overnight with our average wetter all by itself, which is crazy awesome! I do find it hard to Snappi at times. I prefe
r to fold it inside out so the fleecey side is not the side getting Snappied. 

 Geffen Baby specific review here!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alaina

Best Bottom vs. Buttons Inserts Review & Comparison

Here is my honest review of four AI2 inserts.

The Buttons microfiber inserts were sent with a couple Buttons seasonal prints I was privileged enough to receive in exchange for posting pics on Instagram. All other were purchased by myself with my own money.

We use Buttons covers day in and day out in our household. We love them!

However, we don't just use Buttons brand inserts, we also have Best Bottom inserts, so here I have a little breakdown for you comparing two of each brand. 

The contenders are:

Best Bottom Bamboo (Medium)

Best Bottom Hemp (Medium)

Buttons Bamboo (Large)

Buttons Microfiber (Large)

Let's hop in!

Absorption 

I'd call Calvin an average wetter at this point in his toddler life. Usually when I change him right at the 2 hour mark, the Best Bottom inserts are only half soaked. The Buttons brand usually only seem like 1/3 soaked. So just judging by that fact, I'd say Buttons will hold more pee.

Buttons Bamboo wins.

Buttons Bamboo is significantly shorter than the others

Perceived Comfort Level

Best Bottom Bamboo (Medium)
super soft and flexible and seem really comfortable
Best Bottoms Hemp (Medium)
very stiff if line-dried, pretty stiff if you line dry and then toss in the drier for 15 minutes, but much more comfortable if you completely tumble dry them (totally would not recommend if you like to line dry)
Buttons Bamboo (Large)
like a pillow, fluffy and thick
Buttons Microfiber (Large)
soft and fluffy

Best Bottom Bamboo wins.

top to bottom: Best Bottom Hemp, Best Bottom Bamboo, Buttons Microfiber, Buttons Bamboo

Size

Best Bottom Bamboo (Medium)
trimmest in the crotch
Best Bottoms Hemp (Medium)
ever so slightly shorter than BB Bamboo
Buttons Bamboo (Large)
thicker, bulkier, and wider, but definitely shorter than the others
Buttons Microfiber (Large)
longest of the bunch, I don't think they shrink at all

The thing that gets me about sizing on the Buttons inserts is that they are both the same size Large, but the microfiber is significantly bigger than the Bamboo after prepping. Perhaps they were the same before prepping, but in all reality, what matters is after.

Best Bottom Bamboo wins.

left to right: Buttons Bamboo, Buttons Microfiber, Best Bottom Bamboo, Best Bottom Hemp

In the end if I could do it all over again I'd buy all Best Bottom Bamboo inserts. They are so soft whether dried on the line or in the dryer. They are flexible and trim in the crotch, so I think they are the most comfortable for baby, especially one who's on the move!

A couple little extras to note:
Although Buttons Bamboo are more absorbent, we simply don't need more absorbency. I am always changing Calvin at the two hour mark.
We keep our Buttons Microfiber in the diaper bag, so they are not in frequent rotation. Just from the research I've done, I prefer natural fibers in the daily rotation. On the other hand, we haven't had any negative experiences with microfiber either.

I hope this was helpful! Let me know your favorites and why. :)

Love,
Alaina

Slowly Introducing Cloth Diapers to the Grandmas

Tomorrow my mom will be beginning her journey in using cloth diapers on my son Calvin, who is 14 months old. We've been using cloth at home since he was 9 months old, but we had so many disposables that it has taken this long to go through them at grandmas!

Some background: My mom watches Calvin on Thursdays and Fridays, my mother in law watches him Monday-Wednesday. My mom has run out of disposables, my mother in law still has some.

So let's hop into this transition.

First Impressions

Neither grandma was very enthusiastic about this new adventure.
Neither had cloth diapered us when we were little, but they still had this negative first impression of what cloth diapers used to be, not knowing all the changes that have taken place in recent years.
Let's just say they did not seem enthused to be going at this, but they were willing to try it out to make us happy.

However, once they saw the super adorable diapers and how easy they were to use, they were both much more accepting.

Here's where we are currently...

Calvin started wearing cloth to the grandmas' houses about a month ago I would say. They change that one cloth diaper in the morning and put disposables on him all day. When he gets home with us, he wears cloth. It's a really nice balance and I think it's an awesome way to start getting the grandmas used to cloth slowly, instead of just throwing it at them all of a sudden out of nowhere.

So it's worked out awesome that one grandma ran out of disposables before the other. This gives us the opportunity to get used to doing laundry more frequently, without jumping right into a full-time thing. As well as simply getting used to packing cloth in the diaper bag, we'll also be able to keep track of how many diapers are being used and if our stash is sufficient for full-time use.

The Steps We Took
1: We used cloth at home for several months before introducing it to the grandmas. (We actually took is very gradually as well. Only using cloth in the home, then out and about, using disposables at night, eventually working our way up to full time in about 2-3 months.)
2: We would send Calvin in a cloth diaper to the grandmas but they were able to change him into disposables with that first diaper change of the day. This allowed them to get used to tossing the cloth into a wet bag. They were able to see him in cloth and get a little dose of cloth once per day.
3: My mom was the first to run out of the disposables so we switched her over to cloth completely.
4: (yet to be accomplished) Both grandmas use cloth full time, and so do we. Cal is an all cloth all the time baby.

I'm super excited to get the grandmas on board with this! :) I hope they enjoy it as much as they can.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Geffen Baby Hemp Flats Comparison : Hemp Jersey Flat & Hemp Fleece Fladdle

I know, I know! I have enough diapers. I have an overnight solution that works. Why would I need more?

Well because hemp is the best! And so are flats! So I thought these would be awesome. I really really wanted to try out some more hemp for overnights. Everyone makes fun of Calvin's giant fluffy bedtime butt, so I wanted to see if there was a more trim solution out there.

I prepped these in about 6 washes with other diapers and regular clothes, line-drying about every other wash, and I think the absorbency was perfect.

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Both available here.

Both can be a little stiff after line-drying, but they don't feel rough or uncomfortable.
They definitely dry overnight in 12 hours (I haven't tried drying them during the day, so I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to line dry). As far as absorbency is concerned, hemp is just the best! And I was pleasantly surprised with how soft they were! They are both super soft for any sort of material when tumbled dried, much less hemp! I guess I was just expecting the hemp to be rough, but it totally isn't!

Jersey flat pad folded

Hemp Jersey Flat
$8.50
26.5"x26.5"
This is a small flat. I think it would suit a newborn really well, but it's too small for my one year old, almost 25 pound boy. I can get it to work in a kite/airplane kind of fold, but it's cutting it close. So pad-folding it is! However, you can get a two pack of Thirsties hemp inserts for pretty much the same price as one of these. So in my eyes, the money is better spent on the inserts, unless super fast dry time is a big deal for you.

Fladdle in Jo fold

Hemp Fleece Fladdle
$12.48
30"x30"
This is a good size, maybe a little smaller than other flats we have. It's hard to snappi on the fuzzy side though, I like to fold it so the other side is showing and it's a little easier to snappi.
In an Origami or Jo fold, this will last 12 hours overnight for our one year old average wetter but it is soaked come morning. So we add a Thirsties hemp insert to boost it up a little just in case. That combination still makes for a much trimmer option than our usual overnight combination.
It may seem stupid to pay this much for one single flat when you could get a half dozen of GMD birdseye flats for the same price, but I honestly think it's worth it to have one or two of these on hand.

Fladdle on bottom, Jersey flat on top

Overall, I'm glad we have both but if I had to narrow it down for you, I'd recommend trying out the bigger Fladdle over the smaller Jersey flat! Get one or two for overnights or long car rides and I bet you'll be super happy with your purchase!

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Why Flat Diapers Are Actually Pretty Cool

Green Mountain Diapers Organic One Side Birdseye Flat w/ snappi

I did not do the flats and handwashing challenge this year, but I really want to one day! I could tell you my excuses, but that's unnecessary haha.

Instead I thought I'd just talk about flats today.

Since seeing so many others doing the challenge this year and following their journeys, I was also inspired to give flats a go. I'm so glad I did. Flats are actually pretty cool and I wanted to tell you guys why.

Room Essentials (Target) Flour Sack Towel w/ snappi

All the pros...

• Flats literally dry overnight. No wasting electricity to run the drier. And they stay pretty soft when line dried too. And you don't necessarily need a clothesline. I just hang ours over our kitchen chairs. They can also hang two to a clothes hanger on the rod in our laundry room.
• They are customize-able, depending on how you fold them, they can suit boys and girls both accordingly.
• They will grow with your baby! Truly one size fits all.
• They can be fun to fold (when you're in the mood). You don't have to wait until the moment of the diaper change to fold them. You can fold them all on laundry day and they're good to go when it's actually diaper changing time.
• It's like getting new diapers every week when you make it a point to try out a new fold each week.
• They stay on better and are easier to get nice and snug than prefolds IMO. (I just can't seem to figure out how to keep the legs from falling out of prefolds!) They are great for letting Calvin roam free without a cover, because they stay put so well!
• They are trim. They fit super well under both my Thirsties duo wraps (roomier covers) and Buttons brand (more slim fitting covers).
• They are easy to double up for nap time, add one pad folded or simply double up the entire diaper you're folding. Two flats and a Thirsties hemp insert more than cover Calvin overnight. 
• They are affordable. Because they dry overnight, if you don't mind doing daily laundry, you could totally get away with a very small stash. Side note: We bought some flour sack towels from Target for less than $1 a piece. I do however usually double up the FSTs because they are not as absorbent as the GMD flats we also own. Even GMDs are only $2-3. On the other hand, if you're going to have to double up a $1 FST anyway, might as well invest in the surefire GMD flats, right? I just wanted to have a little bit of color in our flats collection, that's why I chose the flour sack towels with simple prints, etc. from Target.

Thirsties Duo Wrap size 2 Fallen Leaves & GMD Organic One Side Birdseye Flat w/ snappi

Downsides...

• Less husband/other caregiver-friendly. They can be intimidating at first.
• Cleaning off the poo can be more of a pain because it isn't just one rectangular piece of fabric like a regular insert, you may have to unfold it a bit to rinse it all off sometimes.

If you've never tried flats before, I highly recommend giving them a go. If you've tried them before and didn't end up being a fan, maybe give them another shot! They are pretty awesome.

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Alaina

Our Overnight Cloth Diaper Solution : 1 Year Old Boy

I was so afraid to cloth diaper overnight. We've only been cloth diapering Calvin since he was 9 months old, so we went two months without even attempting to try it overnight. This was the first combination we tried and it worked for us. We've been very lucky and haven't had to troubleshoot nighttime at all so far. Fingers crossed!

This is what works overnight for 10-13 hours for us, starting closest to the skin out to the cover:

Stay-dry liner

GMD workhorse fitted diaper

Thirsties hemp insert

Thirsties duo wrap cover

I watched a lot of YouTube videos about nighttime cloth diapering before making the attempt. A fitted diaper and hemp insert seemed to be a pretty popular combination. I threw the stay dry liner on top just in case it would make him feel more comfortable and it actually makes cleaning up his first thing in the morning poo way easier. I have no idea what brand the stay dry liner is because we got them in some hand me down clothing bags. 

We already owned some Thirsties hemp inserts and I had wanted to try out some GMD workhorse diapers anyway, thinking about building a newborn stash for future babies, so I purchased a couple medium and large GMD workhorse fitteds just for overnights. For a fitted diaper, they're reasonably priced, natural and organic. Calvin can fit in the mediums, but they come kind of low on his backside, so we prefer the large at this point, he is around 23 pounds. 

And that's what works! I hope it does for you too. Let me know what your overnight diaper looks like!

My videos:
Our Overnight Cloth Diaper Solution video here.

Condensed overnight solution video with demo here.

Love,

Alaina

Stop Cloth Diaper Leaks : Buttons/Best Bottom System & Prefolds & Covers

Calvin modeling Buttons Marina one size cover

You have just started on this awesome new adventure in cloth diapering. You are so stoked. Cute prints, saving the environment, saving cash! So fun! Then you finally muster up the courage to leave the house without disposables. You venture out to the grocery store with baby and as soon as you take him out of the car seat, you feel a little wet spot on your hand. What?! Later you put him down for a nap and he wakes up soaked! What is happening?! You get frustrated. But hopefully you don't give up! Instead you head to the internet! Someone must have an answer!

We've been cloth diapering for 10 weeks now, but let me tell you, we've learned a lot in this short amount of time. We started when Calvin was around 9 months old, so next time around with a newborn could bring its own learning curve. Here are the tips I have learned to keep the diapers from leaking.

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Here are my top 3 tips for preventing leaks!
(we use Buttons covers with Best Bottom inserts or prefolds and Thirsties Duo Wrap covers for reference)

1. Make sure the leg gussets are in the crease of the thigh and crotch.
If it's too far down the leg, you're going to get leaks when they move. We had several leaks in the legs in our early days and I blamed the cover. Come to find out the cover was fine, it was the placement in the legs that was causing problems.

2. Make sure the absorbent part is fully tucked into the waterproof part.
Even if the cover's leg gussets are sitting right on top of the insert, you can get wicking. Make sure they're inside, not just on top. Also check the top of the diaper, below the belly button. We used to get leaks there at naptime because Cal sleeps on his stomach. I've learned that both having the diaper cover too tight or too loose can cause this issue, so make sure you have the best fit you can get.

3. Change the diaper every two hours.
I was expecting too much out of cloth in the beginning. They just aren't going to hold as much pee as a disposable. The only time I have had leaks (since figuring out what the hell I was doing) are when the diaper is simply full beyond capacity, when you change the baby and the insert is totally completely saturated. It has nowhere else to go! You can't expect the cover to just hold in a pool of pee.

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It's that simple. I like to take Cal's legs and move them in and out to see how the diaper shifts around. I open up his legs and check to see if anything is peaking out. Usually something does need to be adjusted, so that extra check really is helpful! And it's not that much different than a disposable. I always check to make sure the fluffy edges are flared out on the legs and butt of a disposable.

Right now Calvin wears disposables during the week while he's at the grandmas' and cloth all weekend when he's with us. We still have a giant box of disposable diapers, but when they run out (or Cal outgrows them), we're going to discuss using cloth with the grandmas too and see what they think. They both already know that we cloth diaper him at home, I'm just unsure how they'll feel about doing it themselves.

As of right now, we also want to cloth diaper our next baby from the start (and all the babies after that), so the grandmas will probably have to try it out eventually. :)

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I hope this was helpful! Let me know any other tips you have to prevent leaks!

Love,

Alaina

Part-Time Cloth Diapering at 9 Months Old

So why all of a sudden start cloth diapering a 9 month old?

It all started when I thought it was a good idea to introduce Calvin to the potty around 8.5 months old. We had one day of nakey baby butt all day except nap time so I could start to recognize his patterns. I ordered some training pants after that day. It was just easier to pull down underpants rather than lay him down to undo a diaper for those days we were really focusing on trying to use the potty consistently. Then I was talking to my best friend and she mentioned that she and her husband were thinking about cloth diapering. I made the excuse that we weren't doing it because Calvin stays with the Grandmas four days per week and I didn't want to burden them with cloth. Then it just occurred to me like magic: what's wrong with part-time cloth diapering? And so I started to do some research. And a lot of people made the case that a cloth diapered baby can better recognize when they're wet and can potty train faster, which was the point of our conversation to begin with.

I had watched cloth diapering mommies on YouTube while I was pregnant and thought it was interesting, and nice for them, but I never seriously considered doing it in our own family. And honestly, it wasn't the idea of poop and extra laundry that freaked me out, it was the seemingly endless options for different cloth diapers, brands, styles, accessories, etc. I didn't even know where to start or what would be easy, yet cost effective. So here I am with a 9 month old and we are giving it a go! I'm trying my best to use only cloth while I'm with Calvin. At the Grandmas he can continue using disposables. And my husband likes to use overnight disposables for nighttime, and that's our compromise. So on average, we're saving six diapers per day, three days per week.

Here are my top three reasons why.
1. Environment
I would not call myself a super hippie dippie momma, but even still when we take out the bag of disposables every few days it stuns me to see how much waste is involved with diapering a baby.
2. Affordability
Diapers are expensive. They might not seem like it because you spend a little at a time, but it sure adds up! And God willing, we want a big family, cloth will pay for itself in no time with multiple babies.
3. Cuteness
I totally understand all the cloth diaper addicted mommas out there! I want all the cute prints! But buying all the cute prints totally goes against reason #2. Haha.

Calvin (9 months, 22 pounds) modeling a Thirsties Duo Wrap size 2 in Woodland

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THE COST

This is our collection so far:
5 Thirsties Duo Wrap w/ snaps $66.25
1 Thirsties Duo Wrap w/ velcro $11.10
1 Ecoable cover w/ velcro $11
1 Happy Heiny's medium pocket diaper w/ velcro*
12 large Dandelion prefolds $27.33
6 large GMD prefolds $20
12 small GMD prefolds $30
6 small Gerber gauze flats*~
1 small Dandelion prefold*
cloth wipes and wash cloths*
3 Snappis $10.00
Total so far: $176

*= shower gifts or hand-me-downs
~= These are pretty thin. I double these up and then fold down the front to fit inside a cover. So technically from these six, I only have three inserts.

That should cover us until potty training.

I have some newborn stuff now, but will need more, so let's double up some of these items to prepare for the newborn days...
12 small GMD prefolds $30
5 Thirsties Duo Wrap w/ snaps $66.25
1 Thirsties Duo Wrap w/ velcro $11.10
1 Ecoable cover w/ velcro $11
Estimated $119

Estimated future total for cloth diapering birth to potty: $295

That's approximately 6 months of disposables based on what I've been spending for Calvin so far. And Justin and I want multiple children. Covers may need to be replaced, but I believe prefolds will last through many babies, from what I've read.
As of right now, Calvin wears disposables at the Grandmas' (4 days per week, 10 hours per day while I work) and at nighttime because we stocked up on nighttime diapers before we decided to embark on this adventure, so we're going to be using those up before we decide if we are ready to try cloth overnight. Also cloth diapering overnight sounds very intimidating. Also my husband thinks it's best to just stick to the overnight diapers, so I let that be our compromise for now. :)

So this is all an experiment really. I'd like to do all cloth from the start with the next babies, so we will see if I can convince the Grandmas :). At first my mom thought I was crazy, but when she realized I wasn't trying to force it on her, she became much more happy with my decision, maybe with time we'll convince her! I'm not sure how my mother-in-law feels about it, we haven't really discussed it with her.

I'm not adding in the cost of wet bags because we use a Munchkin diaper pail, so we buy bags for that anyway and they aren't cheap man. I'm sure we can rig up a way to put a cloth liner in there. I told Justin when we run out of those bags, we're just going to buy a cloth liner instead. Even if we are putting disposables in it, at least we can reuse that bag instead of just throwing it out each time. For the cloth for now we just use a little laundry basket to transport from the nursery to the toilet to the wash room, etc.

Dandelion Diapers size 5 organic cotton/bamboo prefold inside a Thirsties Duo Wrap size 2 

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THE SYSTEM

Why prefolds & covers?
1. Affordable
Prefolds or flats and covers are pretty much as affordable as it gets with cloth diapering. You can re-use a diaper cover a few times as long as it doesn't have poo on it or get smelly, meaning you don't have to buy as many. You don't have to change a "full diaper" each time you change a baby's butt. For example, we go through around 3 covers and 7 prefolds per day. That means about every other time Calvin needs to be changed, I can just replace the insert and leave the outer shell.
2. Quick Dry Time
After doing my research, I decided to line dry the covers in order to help them last as long as possible, in order to go through as many babies as possible. You have to take care of the PUL material, elastic, snaps, etc. The material helps them dry super fast anyway since it's meant to be waterproof, there's no thick fabric for the moisture to settle in. I do, however, put our prefolds in the drier on medium heat and they dry in reasonable time. They are two separate pieces that come apart to be dried separately.
3. Basic
With all the different types of diaper systems there are, these are very basic and make sense to me. You have the absorbing part (prefold) and the waterproof part (cover). Easy peasy.
4. Versatile
You can use prefolds as actual diapers, wrap them around the baby, and secure with pins or a snappi. Put a cover on top for the waterproof barrier, or let the baby run free around the house. Or trifold them into a pad shape and use them as inserts inside diapers, which is so far my favorite way to use them. I was skeptical about this second method, I thought for sure the diapers would leak, but so far so good! Think about it, when you take a look at a disposable, only that center pad part is actually absorbing the potty, the wings and edges are just plastic stuff, like the diaper covers.
5. The Poo
It is super easy to just dunk a prefold into the toilet if need be! They are more compact than other options. No need for a sprayer. Not as gross as it may seem either! Haha.
6. Durability
Prefolds are pretty much indestructible, they should last through multiple babies. Covers will last longer because I hang dry them (see reason #2).

Thirsties Duo Wraps size 2 (top to bottom) Aspen Grove, Fallen Leaves, Woodland, Fin, Meadow, Moss

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What's not fun about cloth?

Of course there are downsides too.
Snaps can take a few extra seconds to close the diaper on a baby, but I think with time and practice, I'll get quicker. Velcro legit takes the same amount of time as a disposable, so no worries there.
It takes like 30 seconds to walk to the bathroom and plop a poo in the toilet and walk back to the nursery. TMI but Cal's poos are very solid these days, they literally just plop right off. Exclusively breastfed newborn poo doesn't even need to be rinsed. So really the only time you have to actually deal with the poo is for those 4-ish months when you've just started introducing baby food.
The laundry aspect does kind of suck too. But it's only twice per week for us. And it's not really the fact that we're doing extra laundry, it's more that the diaper loads are washed differently from our regular loads.
Our wash schedule:
Soak in warm water 15 minutes
Pre-Rinse
Heavy cycle, warm water, large load, medium amount of detergent
Extra Rinse
But since our washer doesn't have a lot of settings, this is what the diaper laundry schedule really looks like: Set to rinse cycle, keep the lid open while the water fills, set a timer for 15 minutes, let it soak with the lid open, go back and shut the lid to turn on the rinse cycle, wait for rinse cycle, then go back and turn it on for the full cycle. Not a super big deal, but I'm bad at remembering the laundry on a normal day, much less when I have to go attend to one load several times. So if we had a washer that actually had the settings all built in and I didn't have to go back and forth, I don't think the laundry would bother me at all.

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IN CONCLUSION

Overall, I feel really good about this. It may sound weird and might be hard to understand, but it makes me feel more involved with my baby boy, just like breastfeeding and making baby food. Even when I'm not directly spending time with him, I'm still doing so many things for him and that makes me happy. I'm happy knowing this is money well spent. These diapers will be used on future babies and will help us contribute less to landfills, plus they're adorable! 

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alaina