Cloth Diapering: What We Use

Several people have asked us recently about cloth diapering, so I thought I would use a couple posts to describe what we use and how cloth diapering works for us. So far, we really love it, so I am excited to share with you! Perhaps I can convince a few mommies-to-be to jump on the cloth diapering bandwagon with me through this series of posts 🙂

The twins came home from the hospital at 5 pounds 5 ounces, so we did not use cloth diapers until they were 5 weeks old. We used Pampers Swaddlers premie, then newborn, disposables instead until they were about 8 pounds.

When I told my family that we would be cloth diapering, they assumed that it would be a plain white piece of fabric held in place by two diaper pins. Cloth diapers have come a long way since my grandmothers diapered their babies. They still make pins and prefolds and covers, but those are not the styles that we use.

Types/Brands of Cloth Diapers We Have

When I was pregnant, I researched cloth diapering like crazy. I wanted to save money on diapers. I also did not want to buy a whole bunch of one type of cloth diaper up front, only to find out those did not work for us or our babies. I had also heard that different babies like different styles/brands better so I bought a small variety up front. Once we had used cloth diapers for a few weeks, I bought more of the types we liked best through thanksmama.com, which is a great website for ordering cloth diapers in bulk! All of the cloth diapers we own have snaps, regardless of brand/type. Here is what we have so far…

*Rumparooz Diapers (20)

Rumparooz are pocket diapers, meaning you put an absorbent insert into a pocket sewn into the diaper. They also have double leg gussets on each side of the diaper to prevent blow outs.

*Lil Joeys Diapers (2)

Lil Joeys are the newborn version of Rumparooz. They do not have a pocket or insert. It is all one absorbent piece. They worked much longer for Eli but he outgrew them at 2 months old when he hit 8 pounds.

*BumGenius All-in-Ones (Freetime) Diapers (14)

These have two absorbent layers sewn into the diaper. They are most like a disposable diaper since you do not have to stuff an insert in or take an insert out. There is also a pocket if you need to add additional inserts, like for overnight.

*BumGenius Pocket (4.0) Diapers (2)

These look just like the all-in-ones from the outside, but do not have the sewn-in inserts. They have inserts for a pocket instead. All BumGenius diapers have one leg gusset on each side, unlike the double gussets of the Rumparooz.

*Alva Pocket Diapers (2)

These have absorbent inserts similar to the BumGenius pocket diapers with one leg gusset on each side. Yes, we have the mustache one 🙂 It was a gift! These pocket diapers tend to be a little skinnier than other brands and we might buy more of these in the future when the twins are a little bigger.

*JungleRoos Pocket Diapers (4)

These have absorbent pocket inserts and one leg gusset on each side like the Alvas and BumGenius diapers. The biggest difference is the amount of snaps. You can overlap the snapping side flaps for a tighter fit around the waist.

*Incredibum Pocket Diapers (2)

These diapers have overlapping snaps like the JungleRoos.They also have the pocket inserts. These do not fit as well as others above so we do not use them very often.

* Trend Lab Pocket Diapers (2)

These have overlapping snaps and pocket inserts as well. You can see that they also have more snaps for sizing, compared to the others. These do not fit the babies as well as the others, so I do not use them often.

If you attempting to do the math in your head, I will help you out… We have 48 cloth diapers total, although the babies have already grown out of the 2 Lil Joeys diapers. We have significantly more Rumparooz and BumGenius (Freetime) all-in-one cloth diapers than the other types/brands. Those two types work best for us right now, in terms of fit and ability to keep clothes clean/dry. I think my husband Tommy prefers the BumGenius all-in-ones because he does not have to pull the wet pocket insert out of the diaper before placing it in the wet bag. I really like the double leg gussets of the Rumparooz because I think they do a great job of containing big bowel movements, which happen often at our house! In the past 10 weeks of using cloth diapers, we have only had ONE minor “blow out” from Emry Jane. Eli has an uncanny ability to pee out of the side of a cloth diaper, but I have adjusted the tightness of the diapers and change him more often (every 2 hours) and that has helped keep his clothes dry!

Up Next: Cloth Diapering: How It Works for Us (Our Setup and Wash Routine)