Did you know?

Yesterday was Diaper Day. Diaper Day is the day which I wash. Yes, wash. I use cloth. And despite what you may think it's not a lot of work. That is, if you buy enough diapers. If you do not buy enough (like a couple dozen or more) it will seem like extra work. With a sufficient stash it's much less of a hassle than having to run down to the store when you run out of diapers. I'm not a laundry fiend. Ask my husband and you'll learn I hate laundry. I hate laundry but don't find diapers that are washable and reusable a burden.

When he wets a diaper, it goes in the pail. When he messes a diaper, the mess is flicked into the toilet and flushed. When I use sposies for travel I do the same thanks to reading this on a package of Pampers. "Waste removal

As the Pampers bag recommends, you'll want to dump bowel movements in the toilet. Then just roll the diaper into its backsheet, using the tape or fasteners to keep it closed, and dispose of it in the trash." Pampers.com under "helpful hints" tab. 

To wash, I turn the pail upside down

...and there they are, in the machine to be washed. Turn the water to cold, do a cold wash without detergent. Then I run a hot wash, with a couple tablespoons of Allen's Naturally. Then I do another hot wash with a cold rinse. The cost of running all this water to buying Pampers or Earth's Best? Truly negligible. 

Because of all these washes the entire machine is totally sanitized as are the diapers. If you still feel anxious you could always run another rinse after removing the diapers with vinegar, but really, it's sanitary at this point.  Then you can air-dry or toss in the dryer. Each diaper comes with directions, just follow them!

As for preparing diapers for use, here's the ins and outs of 4 brands: Fuzzi Bunz, BumGenius, Flips, and gDiapers.

^This is a Bum Genius with "hook & loop" closure. IE velcro. The snaps are called rises. Because this is a one-size diaper the rises fit the child at different stages. The further down you snap the small the diaper. It fits down to 8-10lbs and up to 35 lbs.

Inside of a diaper, the part that touches your baby's little bottom. See how soft it looks? Also how normal that looks? Those tabs, as you'll see, work like the sticky tabs on any kind of diaper. Watch!

^I just pull those tabs shut, the same way you do on a disposable. 

Inside a diaper of this sort is an insert. This is what absorbs everything and wicks it away from your baby's skin. You see it is adjustable too, depending on how big the diaper cover is.

 

^In a pocket diaper like BumGenius, you stuff one or two inserts into a pocket in the diaper. The fabric next to your baby's skin stays dry. That dryness combined with a lack of harsh chemicals keeps rash away!

Closer look at the adjustable snaps.

They are simple to adjust. Just snap in place.

Easy to fasten! Just pull closed like any hook-and-loop closure.

There's the diaper, on its biggest setting.

Close up of the pocket.

That wasn't too bad, was it now? Bum Genius comes in a variety of colors and an artist series of prints. You can cloth diaper for around $400 from start to potty training with Bum Genius. 

Next up, Fuzzi Bunz.

Fuzzi Bunz diapers are terrific. They come in one-size like the Bum Genius or sized. The advantage of sized is you get a snugger, trimmer fit than a one-size diaper. The disadvantage is it costs more than a one-size diaper. Fuzzi Bunz come in x-small (newborn fits 4-12 lbs), small (fits 7-18 lbs), medium (fits 15-30 lbs), and large (fits 25-45+ lbs) diapers. They are lined in fuzzy fleece which is so very soft and snuggly and really very effective at keeping all diaper rash away! 

Like BumGenius they are pocket diapers with inserts that wick the moisture away from the skin. There's the spot for the insert. These are large diapers I'm demonstrating. Theodore is at the smallest setting of these diapers. He wears them at night.

OOOOH! So soft and snuggly!

Snaps mean no snagging, tighter snugger fit that's more adjustable to your LO's size. They are very different from disposables this way though.

Pull the tab over to the snap you want and push the snap together to fasten. This top snap adjusts the waist band.

Do the same with the bottom snap. This bottom snap adjusts the leg gusset so nothing leaks out the sides!

Repeat with the 2nd side.

Inserts go in just like with other pockets. FB inserts are softer than the BG inserts.

There's a fastened diaper! Fuzzi Bunz come in a wide variety of colors. One-size is around $400 birth to potty training. Perfect size will be about double that. Still much cheaper than disposables.

gDiapers rock. They are hyrbids and easy to find at Babies R Us or a local health food store. 

They are hook & loop closures.  But they fasten in the back instead of the front, perfect if your LO likes to undo the diaper!

This is the back of the diaper.

Pull apart to open.

Front of a gDiaper.

Snap-in liners means you can remove the insert and if it's messy just remove the liner and reuse the cover!

gDiaper with a flushable insert. Yes, FLUSHABLE. They are biodegradable so it doesn't take 500 years to break down. You can also toss them in the trash if you want without worrying about all that!

Tuck the inserts into the liner

And on the other side...

A stuffed gDiaper! Forms a sort of cup-like shape.

gDiaper before a liner is snapped on.

This is what the liner looks like, unsnapped.

Simply match the tabs and snap in place.

You can use cloth inserts, too. 

gDiaper, filled. It holds a lot.

Collection of colorful gDiapers, which are sized tiny, small, medium, and large.

Collection of FuzziBunz

This is another kind of hybrid diaper, called a Flip. You see it has flaps rather than snap-in liners.

Front flap

One-size unlike the gDiaper, so snap to adjust.

A Flip, snapped together shut but not filled.

The back of a Flip.

I can open it with one hand.

A Flip reusable cloth insert, one-size. This side touches your baby's or toddler's skin, it's smooth.

Putting the ends of the insert under the flaps of the Flip.

Fully stuffed.

A disposable insert for the hyrbid diaper Flip. These inserts are cheaper and softer than the gDiapers, but can't be flushed.

This is the old style disposable insert, the newer styles are wider. 

Flip hyrbid diapers. They would cost about $200 from birth through potty training (not including any disposable inserts you buy, which cost about $4 for 18.