Back to the beginning...

I thought it was time to take some photos of the different types of diapers, so that those of you who haven't come across modern cloth diapers before, would have more of an idea what the heck I'm talking about!  In amongst all the AIO, AI2, OSFA, OSFM, FB, BG, PF abbreviations & associated cloth diapering jargon, are the 4 (well, 4 of the 5) basic types of modern cloth diaper - the AIO & AI2 (all in one & all in two), the fitted, the pocket & the prefold.

We will start with the pocket diaper.  This diaper consists of a waterproof cover, which has a stay-dry layer on the inside - and in between the waterproof cover & stay dry inner, are insert - which provide the absorbent layer/s for the diaper.  They do up with either snaps or velcro/aplix, and come either sized (small, medium, large, x-large) OR in a OSFA (one size fits all) style.

the waterproof outer

the stay-dry inner (microfleece)

the cover and an insert

the insert slides in between the two inner & outer layers

Next, we have the fitted diaper.  The fitted diaper has all it's absorbency sewn in, and often will come with an optional soaker which can be snapped in, OR is sewn in as a flap.  Fitteds are NOT waterproof and require a waterproof cover.  As with pockets, these can be fastened with either snaps, or velcro/aplix

fitted, fastened with snaps

inside the fitted, you can see a detachable soaker pad

Now we get on to the AIO & AI2.  They are a combination of the fitted and the pocket, in the way that the absorbent layers are sewn into the diaper, and again there can be the snap in, or sewn in soaker flap, but unlike the fitted - and like the pocket, the outer material of the AIO is waterproof.  There is a distinction between the AIO & AI2 however.  The AIO - as said above, has all the absorbency sewn into it, whereas the AI2 has the cover - referred to as the 'shell', however all the absorbency needs to be added to it - generally with snaps.  The AI2 is sometimes referred to as a 'snap in' or 'snap in one'.

the AIO & AI2 are the same on the outside

the AI2 has a shell - with all the absorbency separate & to be snapped in for use

all the absorbency that can be snapped in (you can customise to suit your child)

the AIO however, has all of its absorbency sewn in, with or without an extra soaker flap

And last but not least, we have the prefold.  The prefold is the closest thing to the old school flats that were used 'back in the day'.  The diaper is essential sewn in thirds, with absorbency on the inside.  The two outer sections with less absorbency, the inside with more (usually 4x6x4 layers), and they can either be folded into a pad shape (trifolded), or they can be folded & fastened as with flat diapers.  As with the fitted diaper, prefolds do require a waterproof layer over top of the diaper.

a prefold in its flat state - you can see it is sewn in thirds, lengthways

a prefold in its trifolded state

Another option for cloth diapering - as I mentioned with the prefolds, is using flats.  I haven't added them as I don't have any personal experience using them, however I do plan on purchasing some & giving it a go - so stay tuned for my flats experiment! 

set up costs!

I think a lot of people think of the start up costs of using cloth diapers, and that puts them off - because paying hundreds of dollars in one go, CAN be very off putting, especially if you don't have hundreds of dollars just floating around.  But I am here to tell you that you don't NEED to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars!  I personally think that prefolds & covers are the cheapest way to go, probably followed by OSFA (one size fits all) AIO's or pocket diapers....

So I have done some research online - using New Zealand websites, to get some cost comparisons for the price of diapers from birth to potty training...
*** please keep in mind these prices are for brand new nappies, from reputable stores - you CAN certainly pick up preloved diapers a lot cheaper (I may actually add an example to this post) 


Real Nappies have a 'birth to potty' pack which costs $600 and contains 6.5dozen prefolds, 23 wraps, 8 rolls of 100 liners, 2 bags of nappy sanitiser, 2 night time boosters, 1 pair of potty training pants and 1 wetbag

& when searching various websites I found Tweedle have 6 packs of small prefolds for $19.80, and 6 packs of regular prefolds for $21.60, and on YoYo Nappy I found a cover which has a OSFA option, for $25.00.  This little combnation would come to a total of $344.00 (2doz small prefolds, 1.5doz regular prefolds & 8 covers)

When it comes to OSFA pocket diapers, the cheapest I could find were from Cherub Tree, where you can get 20 OSFA pockets for $349.70... 20 is the minimum number of pockets I would be wanting & is what I started out with.

Sticking with Cherub Tree, I also found their AIO diapers for a bulk price of 447.70 for 20 diapers.  Again, 20 is the minimum amount of diapers I would want to have on hand

I know a lot of people will still be thinking that $344.00 is expensive, particularly at one time, so for an example of how cheap you can do things, here are some examples I found on TradeMe...

• 18 prefolds (regular size) - $40.00 buy now
• 18 prefolds (small size) - $40.00 buy now
• 8 prefolds (newborn size) - $20.00 buy now
• 8 Real Nappies wraps (newborn size) - $20.00 buy now
• 4 Real Nappies wraps (infant size) - $20.00 buy now
• 5 Bummis wraps (small/infant size) - $35.00 buy now

there are none on right now, but you can see from those prices that you could most likely find 6-8 medium wraps for $30.00-40.00, so you could almost say you could get a whole system on TradeMe for just over $200.00 (most people I've spoken to have said they've not had to go past a size medium for wraps)



So here are some of the 'cheaper' deals I came up with on my search - keeping in mind these are for TOTAL diaper packs, that will do from birth-3yo approx

• TradeMe prefolds & wraps, some used, some unused, some barely used - $200 approx
• Tweedle prefolds & YoYo Nappy covers - $344.00
• Cherub Tree OSFA pockets - $349.70
• Cherub Tree OSFA AIO's - $447.70
• Real Nappies 'birth to potty pack' - $600.00 (lots of extras)

What is important to remember is that you DON'T need to buy everything all at once...  There is no reason you can't buy items as you need them (unless of course you are getting a bulk deal), and remember to email the owner of the store to find out if they do lay-by (lay-away).  I was able to pay off my initial stash of OSFA pocket diapers, over the space of about 12 weeks, which made it VERY attainable!  Another way to develop a stash of diapers that won't cost the world, is to join an online cloth diapering forum, such as The Nappy Network (NZ) or Diaper Swappers & check out their 'FSOT' (for sale or trade) areas - I have purchased a lot of my diapers this way & definitely won't hesitate to do it again!

You can of course spend a lot of money building your stash if you wish - I'm a believer that when it comes to cloth diapers, you often do pay for quality - not that I'm saying the cheaper options I've mentioned above are bad quality - I have used all of those brands & have no complaints!  But if you did want to spend hundreds - urm, even getting toward the thousand (plus!) dollar mark it would be very easy... it all comes down to what you feel is acceptable to pay, because when you are done with the diapers there is a market for used diapers, so you could guarantee to make some of your money back!

If you ask me, trawling the internet for hours looking at diaper options & what prints etc you JUST HAVE TO HAVE, is a lot more exciting than walking into the supermarket & chucking a pack of 'sposies' in your trolley!

"Eww but cloth diapering is GROSS..."

"EWWW BUT CLOTH DIAPERING IS GROSS!"

... how many times have I heard that since I started using cloth diapers?  I don't know - I never kept count, but it is one of the most common replies I receive, when I say the simple phrase "I"m using cloth diapers".

Cloth diapering + gross don't really go in the same sentence for me, unless it is with regard to teething-baby-poop, or stomach-virus-baby-poop.  I'm not too sure why people automatically think that cloth diapering is gross, there hasn't been one time when I've thought "oh god I wish I was using disposables - this is so gross", well I have said that on the odd occasion - but never seriously.  You try cleaning diarrhoea off a diaper you forgot to line with a liner & tell me if YOU don't wish for just a second you could just wrap it & throw it away!

I guess a lot of people make judgements from their impressions of cloth diapering 'back in the day', when you did have to scrape the poop off diapers and have a bucket of dirty diapers in dirty water, creating a horrible stink in the laundry or wherever they were stored... that said, I remember very clearly my two aunties using cloth diapers (20+ years ago) and I don't remember it being gross.  A little labour intensive PERHAPS, but that was about it.  I used to be fascinated by my Aunty doing a special fold for my boy cousins - up until then I'd only been around girl babies, and found it very interesting that boys needed a different fold!

I find that cloth diapering now - compared with back then - seems a LOT easier.  Simply a case of remove dirty diaper & wipe little bottom, place baby on top of new diaper & snap/velcro/aplix the tabs, remove dirty liner from dirty diaper & dispose of any solid waste in the toilet (often these liners can be flushed along with the poop), then place dirty diaper in 'wet bag' or DRY diaper pale.  When ready put the diapers in the washing machine - then hang them out or put them in the drier.

Yes  - when cloth diapering you do have to deal with poop, but that's the same when you're using disposables... no matter what diaper you use there will always be a bum to wipe, and as far as I can see that is really the closest that cloth diapers become to being 'gross'.  If you use diaper liners most time any poop can be removed from the diaper by simply lifting off the liner... on the odd occasion poop does miss the liner & get on the fabric of the diaper, a quick run under a fast flowing tap - or with a diaper sprayer, and it's gone...  That may be the ONLY positive side there is to disposables.

You tell me - what looks 'grosser', more 'offensive', like something you'd hate to have in your house?

A pale full of used disposable diapers....

Cloth diapers folded & ready to be used

'old school' cloth diapers - aka 'flats'

Cloth diapering has come SO far from 'back in the day' - the cloth that our grandparents & parents used.  Back then the only real option when it came to cloth diapers, was using the flats & pins that we probably all naturally associated with cloth diapering when we were younger.... These are the diapers that were most likely used on us, because going back not so long ago a bulk of babies were in cloth diapers - it was more 'kooky' to use disposables than cloth diapers... go into any backyard and chances are you'd find cloth nappies drying on the washing line, getting ready for their next use.  When it came time to change diapers, the diaper was folded, slid under the baby & then the magical (well to me it seemed that way!) task of pinning the diapers took place - a fluffy cover (if a cover at all) was placed on top & the child was good to go.  Then out to the laundry the used cloth diaper would go - and into a pale of cold, manky, stinky water it would sit until a load of diapers was put into the washing machine & then back out on the line - where the whole process would repeat itself.  In most households in your street - in the street next to you & 50 streets away, THIS would have been the process.  It was just normal!  It was what you did when you had a baby!

Then disposables became more widely available - and cheaper, more parents decided to take the leap & try out the new fandangled diapers to see what the fuss was about... and in the space of a few years suddenly cloth diapers became a thing of the past for most families, and disposables were a regular part of life with a baby.  The history of cloth diapering is something I'll get into another time, but long story short - cloth began becoming somewhat popular again, but this time things had changed.  Cloth diapers were easier to use, more hygenic - and a lot cuter...

Going along with the 'cloth diapering is gross!' theme, take a look at these pictures & tell me which you think is the 'grosser' of the two - which would you sooner put on your babies booty?

A 'MCD' - Modern Cloth Diaper

A disposable diaper

The only thing that is gross about cloth diapering, is the poop aspect, and whether you are using cloth, disposables or eliminiation communication - you are going to have to deal with poop, so if you ask me you might as well make the rest of the diapering experience a darn cute one!