Lessons in Cloth Diapering

We attended a cloth diaper workshop on Saturday at Terra-Tots the natural parenting store in Fayetteville that happens to be three blocks away from us. It was fabulous! Bernice, the store owner teaches these workshops once a month to help people learn about cloth diapering and what the options are out there- how to care for them and clean them, etc. We have been thinking about using cloth diapers even before we were pregnant as we read through Go Green, Save Green. It just made sense to us and the more we learn- the more logical it is. Granted not everyone thinks like us and we have gotten some pretty funny looks when we say this is the route we are going to go. I didn't know people had such opinions! So I will share a tutorial overview of what we learned for those interested or needing more information because this field is growing and they aren't your grandma's diapers!


There is a sliding scale of diaper options depending on your lifestyle and the degree of convenience and cost you are wanting to invest.


1. Pre-folds (or inserts). These are most like what existed before disposables. They have a cloth that you fold into thirds (or other fancy ways) and place on the inside of a diaper liner. These use to be just plastic bloomer covers but are now a little better fitted and come in a variety of designs. For pre-folds and inserts you have a variety of fabric options from cotton to hemp, some organic some synthetic. All of their absorbencies and costs vary.
2. Fitted Diapers. Similar to the above option in that you are placing a cloth inside a diaper cover except this cloth is pre-cut and shaped to fit around the baby just like the diaper cover will.
3. Pocket diapers. You are still inserting a cloth option to 'stuff' the diaper but here the cloth goes into a pocket pouch inside the diaper so that it isn't directly against the baby's skin. The plus here is that you can pre-stuff and there isn't a huge time commitment but the downside is you also have to wash the whole diaper after each use whereas the first two options you can just replace the stuffing.
4. All-in-one. Just how it sounds, these diapers come already together with the absorbency needed and no inserts required. They are essentially the same as a disposable only after they are used once you put them in the laundry bin instead of the wastebasket.


So there is an overview of the options! Obviously some are better for at-home whereas others better for on the go or babysitters or daycare. It probably will be good to have a variety- but we are still considering what that looks like. Terra Tots is adding an online registry next month so we will definitely be hitting that up and asking for cloth diapers instead of other traditional baby shower gifts. For some great health, environment and economic reasons of why to go cloth- visit the Real Diapers Association website.