Cloth Diapering 101

Here is the first of many posts about how to cloth diaper. There are so many reasons that cloth diapering is a good choice notwithstanding that I've found it to be enjoyable. I even love doing diaper laundry ;)

I won't go into detail about the environmental or chemical reasons we choose not to use 'sposies but here's a great article that I highly recommend reading, Why Cloth?

So here we go...

PREFOLDS

Prefolds with covers are the cheapest diaper solution (and the simplest really). They wash well, are cheap and last through several sizes. You can buy a prefold for less than $2.00. You'll need about 8-12 of them a day.

These are unbleached indian prefolds (or UIPF). They are made of cotton twill which is a very thin fabric. It is folded in such a way that there are 4 layers on each side and and 6-8 layers in the middle, depending on the size you purchase. The middle has two rows of stitching about 5" apart to make it easy to fold. The UIPF on the left is an Infant size and on the right is the Regular.

You can also purchase chinese diaper service quality (chinese DSQ) prefolds. These are used by the diaper service companies and are very durable. These are my favorites, Clotheez, from Green Mountain Diapers. UIPF are softer than DSQ prefolds but aren't as durable and may not last as long.

When you first purchase your prefolds they will be flat. It will take up to 8 washings in hot water to make them fluffy and absorbant like those above.



This is a bamboo velour/bamboo fleece doubler made by me. Doublers are used to add more absorbant layers to your diaper. If you want your baby to experience the stay dry feeling like a 'sposie, use a microfleece liner. These are my favorites here at Cotton Babies.


Just lay the doubler in your diaper and fold it up like normal.

PREFOLD FASTENERS

Some people just fold the prefold right into a cover and don't use any type of fasteners. Brian does this but I don't like to. So I use these, pins and the Snappi (but not at the same time).
Good old locking head pins are easy to use and very safe. I keep mine in soap so they will just slide right through the fabric.

The Snappi is a very popular choice now. It has teeth on the back side that dig into the diaper and hold it (it will also dig into your babie's legs if you don't get it snug so be careful).


You will need some sort of a cover over the prefold or your babie's pants would be soaked!

COVERS


This is a Thirsties wrap style diaper cover made from PUL. It goes right ove the prefold and will prevent leaking on to your babies clothes. There are many styles of diaper covers to choose from, but this is the most common. Others include wool, nylon & fleece. I personally use wool (but that is for another blog post!)

Here are some simple folds (I'll get some pics on a baby doll later).

This is the trifold. Simple fold your prefold into thirds and lay it into the diaper cover.


Place your baby on top and wrap the cover around them.


Then there's the angel wing fold. Trifold the prefold like above but pull out the back to make wings.

Pull up the bottom to match the top.


Then you may have spread the part you just brought up around your babie's waist or if the diaper is big enough, just keep it folded. You can now close it with a Snappi or pins.




Coming up: Fitted, Pockets, AIO, washing your diapers...