Cloth diapering update: which are my favorites now?

Looking back at the all early posts I wrote about my cloth diapers makes me laugh... WOW, was I ever keen about cloth diapering. To the point of obsessive, perhaps.

I choose to blame the breast-feeding hormones.

I still use my Wonderoos -- though to be frank, they haven't held up as well as my all-time favorites.

(Which are, you ask?)

They're made by an online company you've probably never heard of -- AMP Diapers (aka diapers by Annie Marie Padorie). She's a WAHM mom based in Winnipeg, Manitoba -- which is in Canada, my home and native land, etc. etc.

(You can check out her full selection of diapers here: http://www.ampdiapers.com)

The quality of her diapers is unparalleled, in my experience. We have about 8-10 of her all-in-two diapers and pocket diapers and have been using the two oldest ones for over 1 1/2 years now.

Yes... that's right. Monkey Boy has been wearing the same cloth diapers since he was six months old, and they fit him just as well now as it did back then. And they look just as good, too.

Now THAT'S the definition of a great cloth diaper.

One of the things I really like about AMP diapers is the coloured lining Annie puts into them. You can have an orange cover with a blue lining... a red cover with a yellow lining... or green cover with a red lining (great for Christmas!) -- whatever your heart desires.

The coloured linings do a great job of hiding any faint stains (not sure if there are any, to be honest) and make the diapers look like more of a swimsuit than something you'd expect to find nasty piles of poop in.

(Although you do. Alas, you do.)

Annie's service is excellent, too. When a snap came off a year-old diaper and we told her about it, she asked us to send the diaper back and gave us a brand new one free of charge!

My only criticism is, AMP cloth diapers sure aren't as cheap as they used to be. I think our first pair cost us around $12.50 CDN. They're now selling for $16.50, which ain't exactly cheap when you probably want to have at least 12 diapers -- plus liners -- in your stash. (More if you're dealing with a newborn.)

However, these diapers HAVE lasted us more than 18 months. And they'll probably still be perfectly usable even after Monkey Boy is potty-trained and no longer needs them.

(A development that won't be happening any time soon, I fear, given his fondness for sitting in his own squishy warm poop).

So in my mind, we've definitely gotten our money's worth.

AMP diapers: Too cute to poop in. Try telling that to Monkey Boy, though...

Diaper Covers Showdown: Bummis vs. Motherease

When Milo's bum isn't wrapped up in one of his wonderful, wonderful Wonderoos, it's usually covered by a cotton prefold and one of his waterproof diaper covers.

We're currently using two different types of diaper covers -- Bummis Super Whisper Wraps (henceforth to be referred to as SWWs) and Motherease.

The two diaper covers are quite similar in design. Both have Aplix (aka "Velcro") closures and are made from waterproof laminate, kind of like the material K-Way jackets are made from -- and if you don't know what K-Way jackets are, all I have to say is, where the hell were you in 1980?

(If your answer is, "Still a twinkle in my father's eye," I don't wanna hear it.)

Here's Milo sporting one of his fancy-pants "froggy" SWW diaper covers...

And here he is in Motherease "jungle print" cover.

So far, I'm fairly happy with both these diaper covers. We're using the small size of both diaper covers on a long, relatively lean 3 1/2 month-old baby who currently weighs 14 1/2 pounds , and they fit Milo really well. They easily cover his cotton prefold without being saggy in the crotch or having any gaps around the legs.

Both diaper covers rarely ever leak, except for when he's had a SERIOUS (and by "serious," I mean mind-bendingly HUGE) blowout. When I put them on, I can almost always guarantee that the clothes Milo's wearing will remain relatively unscathed, no matter what kind of storm his unpredictable digestive system brews up.

There are subtle differences between the two diaper covers. The Aplix strip across the front is much wider on the Motherease cover. This makes it a little easier to put it on a hyper-wiggly baby.

However, I notice that I have to be careful to make sure that none of the Aplix is above the hem of the diaper; otherwise, Milo ends up with a red mark on his belly where the Aplix has been rubbing against his skin.

The Motherease also has gussets around the leg, which ensure a snug fit and help prevent leaks:

The SWW, on the other hand, has fold-back tabs inside the cover, which help protect the Aplix fasteners by ensuring they don't get all gummed up with lint when you throw them in the washing machine. Since the Aplix fastener is the part of the cover that's most vulnerable to wear and tear, the fold-back tabs definitely help extend the life of the cover.


My one major complaint about these diaper covers is that they don't breathe as well as the Wonderoos pocket diapers do. I find I have to change Milo more often when he's wearing them; otherwise, his skin starts to redden and chafe from being wrapped in wetness for so long. I often notice when I take them off that the inside of them is slick with moisture. This never happens with the Wonderoos, because their microsuede lining wicks moisture away from baby's skin.

That being said, I still like the SWW and Motherease covers. I'd give them a 4/5 rating. I'm sure there are better covers out there -- I've been hearing great things about fleece, and wool's a huge favourite among natural fiber fans -- but I just haven't tried any of them yet. What I'd like to find is a soft diaper cover made from hemp fleece or wool or some other such funky material that has leg gussets and fold-back tabs for the Aplix closure. And I'd prefer that diaper cover to come in vibrant colours that don't bleed in the wash. Oh, and if it was self-laundering so I'd never have to wash it, that'd be good, too.

No harm in dreaming, right?

Wonderoos: The Cadillac of Pocket Diapers

My son Milo, the future male model

Every time I put Milo in his Wonderoo one-size pocket diapers, I start singing, "Wonderful, wonderful Wonderoooos," to the tune of the Wonderbra theme song from those annoying commercials back in the '70s and '80s.

(Ha! Now it's stuck in your head, too. No one ever said I wasn't evil.)

But it's true -- my Wonderoos pocket diapers ARE wonderful, wonderful. These colourful one-size pocket diapers are what made me fall in love with the idea of cloth diapering in the first place. I was just surfing for cloth diapering information one day, dum de dum dum, when I came across this site and fell head over heels in love.

I mean, seriously! Look at them! Those white snaps! Those bold colours! They're just so... cute!

(There. I said it. The girl who used to hate the very concept of "cute" has grown up to be a mom who colour coordinates all of her three-month old son's outfits. Including his diapers. Sigh. Who woulda thunk?)

Yes, the cuteness of these pocket diapers that caught my eye. But it was their longevity that truly sucked me in. Wonderoos one-size pocket diapers have an adjustable snapping system that allows them to fit most babies from 8 to 30 lbs. How's THAT for economic cloth diapering? Sure, they cost a pretty penny -- around $15 USD each -- but they will last throughout your baby's entire diaper-wearing career!

If you're cheap and always on the lookout for discount cloth diapers like me, you could always save a few bucks by going to eBay and buying some used Wonderoos pocket diapers.

(And before you gag at the idea of used cloth diapers, let me tell you that the Wonderoos I bought were in perfect condition. They looked like they were BRAND NEW -- no pilling, no stains, no weird smell, no nothing! These are durable pocket diapers, I tell you.)

All you need to do to use these pocket diapers is adjust the rise to fit your baby, slip a liner of some sort into their built-in pocket, snap that sucker on to your baby's butt, and you're good to go! The microsuede lining wicks moisture away from your baby's skin, and the thin layer of waterproof PUL (polyurethane laminate) makes sure that wetness is kept in the pocket diaper.

Best of all, Wonderoos pocket diapers are totally breathable, which means your baby's chances of getting a diaper rash are seriously slim. I've been using my Wonderoos pocket diapers pretty much every day since Milo was born, and they haven't given him anything close to a diaper rash. A smooth baby butt is a happy baby butt!

Here's where the caveat comes: truth be told, I haven't even been using my Wonderoos PROPERLY. Like I said, they're pocket diapers, meant to be used once and then washed. For the past few months, though, I've been using them as diaper covers more often than not.

(Even at their smallest setting, the leg holes were still a bit too big for my little newborn's chicken legs, even though he was 8 lbs at birth.)

Rather than wait for Monkey Boy to get big enough to fit them, however, I decided to put a cotton prefold on him (using my fabulous Snappies -- need I remind you, the coolest invention EVER) and then put the Wonderoos on top, instead of a regular diaper cover.

It worked great! The Wonderoos held in all the moisture, keeping Milo's clothes clean and dry, and they seem to be more breathable than the "real" diaper covers I have.

They work really well for night-time, as well. Milo's like a fire hose at night (I swear, he pees more than his body weight while he sleeps), and, well, I'm just too lazy to change him at 3:00 a.m., knowing that if I do so he'll completely wake up and want me to play with him for the next couple hours. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out a cloth diapering solution that would keep his jammies dry and ensure that I got the sleep I needed to remain sane.

Well, here's what's working for me: I put a prefold or a fitted diaper on him, then stick a hemp jersey prefold into a Wonderoos pocket diaper and then put that over top. Basically, he's wearing two complete diapers with a waterproof skin on the outside -- and it works like a charm.

As Milo gets bigger, however, I'll have to start using my Wonderoos solely as diapers, instead of diaper covers, which means they'll have to get washed more often. But that's okay -- it'll just give me a good excuse to buy a few more of them!

So all in all, I give my Wonderoos a 4.5/5 rating. They're pretty fantastic, but a tad too expensive to be truly perfect. There may be better diapers out there (admittedly, I've only tried a few different kinds myself), but I haven't come across them yet.

How 'bout you? What's YOUR favourite brand of cloth diapers? Do you prefer to use one-size pocket diapers like Wonderoos? Or fitted pocket diapers like Fuzzi Bunz or Happy Heiny's?

I'd love to hear your comments!

The cat's out of the diaper bag

Yes, it's true -- I admit it. I've got a serious thing for cloth diapers and cloth diaper covers-- not for ME, you twisted sicko! For my three-month old son, Milo. Although, in the interests of full disclosure, I should confess that my obsession started long before Milo was born...

It all began last Christmas, when I went online to do a little research on cloth diapers and cloth diaper covers.

(Pregnant women should never be allowed to work at a computer -- not because of all the radiation coming off the screen, but rather the danger of giving in to the insatiable need to check out all the insanely cute baby stuff online. They're bound to get fired for slacking off or wind up in serious debt. Even I, who had once declared DEATH to all things cutesy wootsy -- "Goodbye Kitty" was my motto, and I still have a t-shirt showing that harmless little kitten getting whacked by Jason from Friday 13th -- succumbed to the lure of stores like this and this and this.)

Back then, I thought there were two diapering options available: ridiculously expensive disposables and even more ridiculously expensive cloth diaper services. I wanted to see if there were any cloth diaper services in my area that were slightly less ridiculously expensive than the rest.

So I went to Google, plugged in the term, "cloth diapers" -- and lo and behold, a whole new universe opened up to me. Little did I know there were SO MANY different kinds of cloth diapers and diaper covers out there, or that they could be so incredibly cute (or so, um, amusingly named).

For months, I spent every free moment at work surfing through the wild and whacky world of cloth diapers and diaper covers, absorbing what I could (pun most definitely intended). I learned about all-in-ones and pocket diapers, about Chinese prefolds and Indian prefolds, fleece diaper covers, wool diaper covers, and about inserts, doublers and contours.

Abbreviations such as DD, MFI, and UBCPF began to make sense to me.

Best of all, I discovered that pretty much every single do-it-yourself diapering system out there was WAY cheaper than using disposables or a cloth diaper delivery service -- and that washing all those diapers and diaper covers myself wouldn't be nearly as time-consuming or as much of a hassle as I'd thought it would be. That's when I knew I was hooked.

Now, after three months of using a variety of different cloth diapers and diaper covers, I'm as crazy about them as ever. They're a breeze to use, we never have to make any midnight runs to the local shopping center to replace them, and I feel great knowing that my baby's poop isn't permanently festering in a landfill somewhere.

So, what I'm hoping to do with this blog is share the cloth diaper gospel with anyone who's interested. I want it to be your favourite stop for all information related to the topic of cloth diapering. I'll post product reviews of the different kinds of cloth diapers I'm using, offer washing and folding tips, and will post any interesting news articles I come across in my travels through the online cloth diaper world.

Maybe you're already a cloth diaper addict yourself. Maybe you're thinking about using them but want to know more about them before taking the plunge. Or maybe you're a diehard disposables user who wants to peek over the fence to see how the other half lives. Whatever your fancy, I'll do my best to satisfy it.

Let the cloth diaper blogging begin!