I Heart the Prefold

When I started cloth diapering over a year ago I never thought I would utter the words, "I love prefolds".  In the world of cloth diapering they are pretty archaic and not nearly as amazing and high tech as the pocket diaper, all-in-one, hybrid systems, and on and on.  But as we have these amazing advances that make CDing more accessible for every lifestyle, more and more die-hard followers of the fluff (hehe) are falling in love with prefolds all over again.

I started CDing with pocket diapers.  I use Kawaii and Bumgenius diapers, but I was CDing two children and needed a cheaper way to increase my stash so I wasn't washing everyday.  I decided to buy a dozen PFs and some covers and a Snappy to give them a whirl.

You can find many video tutorials on how to put on your prefolds.  Here is a really good one.

This uses a Snappy, but I have even used PINS.  Yep, when I lost both of my Snappis I bought some pins until I ordered new Snappis.  Not as fast, but still gets the job done.  So why do I love prefolds?

SUPER easy to wash and dry.  They wash up and dry very nicely and easily.

CHEAP.  Even buying the more expensive ones, you save a TON.  Take the money you save to buy really cute covers.

MULTIPLE uses.  I have used prefolds to stuff my pocket diapers and they make an excellent overnight diaper when paired with a hemp doubler.

EASIER than you think to use.  It didn't take long to master changing prefolds.  

SPACE saver.  I don't know why, but these store so much easier than my other diapers.  Just a stack of prefolds and a wad of covers stuffed in a drawer.  SO easy.  

NO STUFFING.  I love my pockets because they do last a bit longer absorbency wise but I really dislike stuffing diapers sometimes.

Here's my Bela rocking the fluff cover-free :)

Cloth diapering has really turned out to be something I can feel awesome about doing for my kids.  I was never one of those natural child-birthing, breastfeeding, organic food only,  attachment parenting types.  I kind of rock the mold a bit for a CDing mom :)  I hope I prove to all moms that CDing is for EVERYONE!  You can do it too!  Save money, save your kid's bum, save the planet :-)

Night Time Cloth Diapering and My Go To Diapers

We have been having nighttime diaper issues since about 6 months ago.  We only cloth diaper my daughter, who is 1 1/2 right now and she was ALWAYS leaking.  We ended up putting her back in disposables for night time since we use them for big brother anyways.  Well I thought about it and that was 30 diapers a month which wastes money, which completely defeats the purpose of us doing this.  We could save a whole box of diapers by trying to figure out how to keep her leak free at night in CDs.

Well I happened upon a blog post at Cloth Diaper Addiction about this very topic and it was about using prefolds at night.  I'm like seriously...you must be kidding.  But prefolds are cheap, I already have them and it really couldn't hurt.  My daughter has even woken up wet in sposies so we needed a new option.

So I did just like she did.

 Here I have an Imagine prefold, a Thirsties hemp doubler and a Bluebery diaper cover.  In the blog she places the prefold sideways, so the center panel is left to right not up and down, this didn't work for us so it really just depends on the prefold you are using and your baby's shape.

Fold up like so and place inside diaper and fasten.  No need to use a snappy, just lay inside like you would a pad and because there is a little extra bulk, it won't move around.

This worked like a CHARM!  She woke up dry even though she woke up in the middle of the night (teething) and had another cup of milk.  She usually never wakes up so this will definitely work on a normal night.  I have no idea why this worked...but who cares!

So this brings me to my favorites.  I haven't used tons of diapers mostly because I don't have the time or money to try a million brands, I just stick with what works.  

My workhorse diaper is the new Bumgenius 4.0 pocket diaper.  It just WORKS.  It can always last for longer than the typical 2 hours, is perfect for going places and using with daycare, nursery workers and other family members.  Super easy to put on (we use the snaps version) and they wash nicely everytime.  Not a SINGLE complaint here.

My second favorite is a surprise and ties in with my nighttime diaper dilemma.  PREFOLDS.  I LOVE PREFOLDS.  They seem really old fashioned and maybe aren't as stylish but I love them.  Here are a couple reasons.  They are CHEAP.  Wash and dry easily.  No stuffing! (My favorite part). Incredibly versatile.  Incredibly absorbent.  Prefolds scared me a bit at the beginning of my cloth diapering journey, but now, I just wish I had more!  Add some fun diaper covers, a few Snappis and some hemp inserts and you are good to go.

And that's it.  I am sure other moms could give you a list three and a half miles long, but this does the trick for us and to me, cloth diapering should be SIMPLE, not more complicated that disposable diapering.

Questions are welcomed :) I love answering them :)