Big Ol Baby Diaper Butt

Have you ever seen a baby's butt in a cloth diaper? For some reason, it's really cute, all over-sized and super-padded. Plus, you can pat, pat, pat the butt and not feel bad about it. In fact, most kids love it.

We've been using cloth diapers from day one, and have tried a few different ones. I had no idea how many different "types" there were out there. I thought, "Cloth is cloth, what's the mystery?". Boy, was I wrong.

This is my review of the different types of diapers we've used (and we've only tried a few). I wanted to do this for those who would like to try cloth, but have yet to. Perhaps you're pregnant and feel as strongly as we did, early on, about using them. To be honest, I'm tired of the whole diaper thing already, and can completely understand someone wanting to switch to disposables. Which is why I've included a segway to "EC-ing" at the end. Keep reading to find out what that is.

(However understanding I am of the desire to use disposables, it's my opinion that one should at least TRY cloth; it is smarter on the pocketbook, healthier for baby and nicer on our earth - hands down)

G Diapers
Our initial introduction to "cloth" was the G Diaper. I was attracted to this brand, at first, for their disposable "inserts" that get flushed down the toilette. Yep, flushed right down. Cool, right? Well, they aren't the easiest things to flush - you have to rip apart the insert and flush one part and then the other, all the while using the "swish stick" attached to the toilette to help break it down. Not a bad alternative to the standard disposable, just not practical. I was really excited, however, when I learned that this company was offering washable cloth inserts. Since we had already bought the "G pants" and liners, I was happy knowing that we could use either the disposable or the cloth inserts with them. If you're unfamiliar (as I was) with the terms: the "pants" are basically a cloth "over" pant that Velcros onto baby and covers the liner; the "liner" snaps into the pant and holds the insert in place; the "insert" is what gets pooed and peed on. In my opinion, neither the cloth nor the disposable insert worked great. The cloth didn't absorb much at all, so if it got peed on once, the next pee or a poo just ran right off. Yuk. The disposable inserts were better for absorption, as disposables usually are, but still not great. The downside, altogether, is that Charlotte outgrew the pants very quickly. They come in graduating sizes and we started with the small, of course. They were a bit too big for her as a newborn (and didn't leave room for the stub, of course), and very quickly became too small in the waist. The next size would have fit her waist, but not her legs (a problem we have with any diaper, it seems). They're just too expensive to be buying the next size that quickly.
My grade for G Diapers: C+

Fuzzi Bunz
We received 5 pairs of the Fuzzi Bunz brand cloth diapers as gifts from family. I'm glad we didn't buy them ourselves, especially as many as we would have needed. Babies eliminate A LOT the first few months (I had no idea!) and we went through these far too quickly. They do absorb quite well, but we had two problems with these: they leak out the legs, since - like I said - Charlotte's legs are too small for diapers to fit properly, it seems. Especially since she's a side sleeper. For some reason, the snapping system just didn't adjust well enough to be snug around her legs without being then too snug at the waist. Perhaps I just wasn't using them correctly. Regardless, they didn't work for us. Plus, they kind of smelled after a couple of uses.
My grade for Fuzzi Bunz: B-

Tri-Fold
These are the traditional cloth diapers, which get pinned or snapped on, and used with a cover of some sort. This is what we're using currently, and probably will until Charlotte is out of diapers (unless we are successful with the EC method, in which case we'll get a special type of diaper system). We were very fortunate that a friend gifted us the first 12 weeks of diaper service. We had every intention of cleaning the diapers ourselves, if we had decided to go with cloth, but I'm quite glad we didn't have to do that - especially - in the first few weeks. With all the other new things that come with the new parenting experience, not to mention all the laundry we were doing by using washable wipes, reusable breast pads and burp cloths, it was a relief not to have to wash 80 diapers a week. The trouble with these was finding the right cover. Not to mention just how best to secure them to the baby bottom. We used the Snappi closure for a while, but Charlotte outgrew the baby size, and we've since just found a way to do without it, or pins (we've never even tried pins). The diaper service (Do Good Diapers, btw; awesome folks!) lent us some Proraps covers, and those worked fine for a while. Once Charlotte was getting bigger and "sitting" more (in my arms, in the bouncy seat, and practicing sitting up), this cover's front got to be to high on the tummy and there isn't nearly enough flexibility in the waist. We found the Thirsties brand at Pea Pods in St. Paul, and those seem to be a better fit. Though, as with all covers, there's a size range, and Charlotte is very quickly moving from one size to the next. This isn't a "cheap" process, trying to figure out what works. I've yet to do the math, but I'm sure we're still coming out ahead of using disposables...especially with our super-efficient-eliminator of a baby, and with the fact that if we were using disposables, we would choose (and DO choose, for being out and about) Seventh Generation diapers for the chlorine-free factor. All said, the good ol' cloth diapers are great. One negative, once you've figured out which cover works best and how to fold and secure them, is that they absorb about 2 potties' worth before they're soaked, so you do go through a lot of them. On the plus side, as with all cloth diapers, you're less likely to experience diaper rash, and it's just a good thing knowing that nothing is next to baby's skin that shouldn't be.
My grade for tri-fold diapers: B+

Now, to get on with the business of EC-ing. Elimination Communication is a really interesting and exciting (at least to me) thing I read about in the beginning of this parenting experience, but have just recently looked seriously into. I was inspired when I met someone the other day who said they've been doing it with their 18-month old since she was 2 weeks old, and they've had to wash something like 5 diapers due to poo. 5! This amazing thing is pretty much what it sounds like. It's not potty-training, per se, because you're not training the baby to use the potty, so much as you're training yourself to read cues that the baby naturally sends to you that she has to eliminate. You then put her over the potty and she goes. Eventually, she'll get that that's where she goes, and she won't even want to go in a diaper. This is something they do all over the world, namely in tribal communities for obvious reasons. Check out this video of Maggie Howell taking about it. I watched it on Thursday and gave it a try. Charlotte peed the very first time we tried it. The second time, she peed and pooped. It's quite inspiring to see it happen so easily. Now the challenge is to start reading her cues and catch it more often than not, and eventually every time. And then, hopefully sooner than later, she'll know that mama will get her to potty when she needs to go. When she's walking, perhaps she'll be walking to the potty herself. I'm very excited about this process! This blog is very inspiring. I'll keep you posted on our progress.


Charlotte on her big girl potty

**Must state a warning here, for I had to learn this on my own: If you're ever going to try this (and this may be in a book I've yet to read, oops), be careful not to spread baby's butt too much when holding her/him over potty. I didn't even realize I was doing this, and Charlotte ended up with a tiny tear that lead to blood in her stool, which was a bit scary until we went to the Dr. and she saw what was wrong. Not a big deal, but I feel really bad, and the last thing I want to do is create any reason for Charlotte to associate this experience with pain**