So you’ve thought about cloth diapering?
To cut costs.
Or to keep diapers out of the landfill.
Or to avoid chemicals and fragrances in disposable diapers.
Those are amazing reasons to try cloth diapers! This post explains most of the cloth diaper options available.
Elimination Communication (EC)
Elimination Communication is not *actually* a type of cloth diapering, but it deserves a mention! Elimination Communication involves learning your baby’s cues/habits before they pee or poo. When they need to relieve themselves, you help them sit on a baby-sized potty and clean them up when they are done. Amazing, right?! Some people use this from birth with great success. It is possible to have a potty-trained baby by 18 months or earlier!
Elimination communication can be used alongside cloth diapers and disposable diapers. I would love to try this with my next baby, so I’ll let you know how it goes!
Pocket Diapers and All-In-Ones
These diapers, though reusable, work very much like disposable diapers. They are absorbent on the inside, waterproof on the outside.
Pocket Diapers have an outer layer of polyurethane (plastic), next to a liner that goes against your baby’s skin. They are called pocket diapers because the two layers create a pocket for absorbent cloths (called inserts) to be placed inside.
Click here ALL ABOUT ABSORBENCY.
All-In-One diapers also have a waterproof polyurethane outer layer. The difference is, AIOs contain permanently attached layers of absorbent cloth instead of removable inserts. When you wash and dry these diapers, they are ready to go again without any folding or assembling.
For friends and family who may change your baby’s diaper only occasionally, both pockets and AIOs are easy options. Place the baby in the diaper, and fasten it with the snaps or velcro on the front. Done.
Flats, Fitteds, Contours, Prefolds, and More
Flats, fitteds, contours, preflats, and prefolds are all large pieces of cloth. They have different names because they all have different shapes! They all serve the same function, though. They wrap around your baby to catch the pee and poo.Which is why they are conveniently grouped together here. To keep the diaper contents from leaking out, use a cover over the top of these. Absorbent layers come in cotton, bamboo, microfiber, hemp, and more.
Covers
A cover is the part of the diaper that keep liquids and solids from leaking out. Absorbent fabrics (like we talked about in the section just above) touch the baby’s skin, and then covers are placed on top to protect clothes, etc. Covers come in both natural and synthetic materials.
PUL (polyurethane lining) covers are laminated with a thin layer of plastic to keep things water-tight. They come with snaps, velcro, or a pull-on waistband. PUL covers are machine washable, and can be machine dried or air-dried to preserve the elastic.
Wool, alpaca fiber, cashmere, and other fibers in the wool family are also used to make diaper covers. These are naturally water-repellent and anti-microbial. They can be a solution to skin that is sensitive to contact with synthetic fibers. Wool covers have snaps, velcro, or pull-on waistbands. Some wool is able to be machine washed, and some can only be hand washed. The good news is that wool covers don’t need to be washed after every diaper change. If feces or food get on the wool, wash it. If it’s just damp from urine, air it out.
New wool covers seem expensive and daunting at first. Thankfully washing wool is not as daunting as it seems. The resale market for wool diaper covers is popping, on Facebook, Mercari, and other resale sites. Finding inexpensive covers to try is easy. With a little bit of looking, these covers are available for 25-75% of retail price.
Overview
Something has to absorb the pee, and something has to keep it in. This is the purpose of a diaper. Fitteds, covers, prefolds… it might sound like a LOT to learn. The good news is, you don’t have to learn about all of these to cloth diaper. Just pick the one that sounds like fun, and give it a go.