Adventures in Cloth Diapering Part 2: The Diapers

There was a Part 1, there has to be a Part 2, right? :-)

I wish I could say we've tried as many diapers as we have detergents.  Unfortunately no one told me to experiment before I bought my dipes, so I just put a whole bunch of one kind, Fuzzibunz One-Size Pockets, on my registry, bought a whole bunch more, and then, as an afterthought, threw some BumGenius One-Size pockets onto my Target registry.  Wouldn't you know, I got every diaper on my registry. :-)  Then a friend loaned us a bunch of her gently used Perfect Size Fuzzibunz (small). So I can comment on both types of Fuzzibunz, one kind of BumGenius, and a DryBees hook and loop all-in-one pocket (yes, it's an all-in-one and a pocket!) which I got as a souvenir from the Great Cloth Diaper Change (I'll try to remember to talk more about that soon).

I love that the Fuzzibunz one-sizes have grown with Jem since he was a wee newborn and will continue to grow with him until he's out of diapers. We tried using them as soon as we got home from the hospital, but since Jem was short they covered his cord stump and gave him "smelly button." So we switched to prefolds and plastic pants (which I don't love doing, but they serve their purpose) until the belly button was completely healed.  We put him in again at about 3 weeks, and he was a tiny guy at that point (under 7 lbs) but they fit fine. Very fluffy, but very cute!  I love the convenience of the snaps, and while I don't really love adjusting the leg elastics (which takes some experimentation) I love that I CAN adjust them.  The colors are cute... we bought gender neutral colors.  Stuffing them can be a bit of a pain, especially for my husband, who has bigger hands than I. You really do have to buy bigger inserts, the ones they come with only last so long before baby starts soaking right through them in one pee... they could stand to be a bit wider. I like that they wick moisture away from baby's skin... however, I think BumGenius might actually be better at this.  We have had leaking issues off and on, due to not adjusting the elastics just right, our infamous hard water fiasco, and the inserts bunching up.  So they aren't foolproof.  But I still like 'em.

The Perfect Size Fuzzibunz are better for preventing leaks, in my opinion, at least with the inserts our friend loaned us to use with them. Jem was able to wear them from about 2 or 3 months until almost a year... again, he's a small guy, so other babies might not be able to wear them that long. We really had no complaints with these, except that now we have to return them to our friend! :-) I still don't know if I'd want to buy them... they have to be replaced with a larger size eventually... one size diapers seem like a better investment to me!

The BumGenius pockets are our go-to diapers for nighttime.  You can stuff them with as many inserts as you need (usually 1 to 3).  Unfortunately the inserts they came with are terribly small and flimsy, so it's wise to buy or borrow other inserts.  We bought some super absorbent hemp inserts, and use one of those with two smaller microfiber inserts now that he's older and a heavy wetter (I couldn't tell you what brands of inserts we've bought, none of them have tags and I just don't remember).  I believe we have the BG 3.0 dipes, the hook and loop (velcro) kind. Hook and loop is easier for babysitters and grandmas to get the hang of, but can get tangled in your laundry, so we only own six of them.  I'd LOVE to try the BGs with snaps! Another friend of ours uses them and loves them.

Lastly, I just got this DryBees All-in-one pocket, size medium, with hook and loop. I really like it!  It's fits Jem like a glove. I do have to stuff it with an extra insert since Jem is not a light wetter, but it works very well.  My only complaint is that the laundry tabs for the hook and loop don't seem to work very well.  I make sure they're secure before they into the diaper pail, and when they come out of the dryer they're undone and stuck on something else.  This also happens with the BGs occasionally, it's not a big deal.  Just kind of annoying.

I just discovered some other diapers I'd like to try, and am working on obtaining some.  If I manage to do so I will certainly post about them here!  Thanks for reading!

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PS ~ We have switched back to Nellie's All Natural detergent.  For now.  The Lulu's was nice but ultimately not strong enough for our weak washing machine and lukewarm water. Hopefully when we get a better machine and move somewhere we can control the water temperature we can give it another try!