Answering Cloth Diaper Questions

I've had quite a few questions about cloth diapers since my last post and I thought I'd take a minute to answer some of them here in case there are others of you with the same questions.

Which diapers to do I like the best?

I gave some of my recommendations in this post and have to say that I like the Fuzzibunz and BumGenius pocket diapers the best.

Which are better FuzziBunz or BumGenius?

Honestly, I like both of them. When I first tested out cloth diapers I was going to invest in some one-sized BumGenius diapers because the Velcro was so much easier to use than the snaps. Then I ended up finding a woman who was selling her stash of small, medium and large Fuzzibunz for cheaper than what it would cost to buy one-sized ones. I have to admit that at first I was a little discouraged by the snaps because they take a more work to figure out than the Velcro. Snaps take a few seconds longer to do up and sometimes it is easy to snap them so that the diaper is crooked. There is a small learning curve to the snaps, but it isn't hard to get over. The learning curve is true for the the one sized diapers as well. BumGenius one-sized diapers are easier to adjust than the Fuzzibunz, but once you've figured out how the elastic adjust the Fuzzibunz one-sized aren't hard at all. To me it seems like the Fuzzibunz and the BumGenius one-sized diapers seem to be about the same amount of bulkiness... which in all honesty, after all my fussing, isn't really that noticeable.

While I like both brands of diapers I am glad that I got the Fuzzibunz instead of the BumGenius because I've only had my BumGenius for 6 months and the Velcro is already starting to be less sticky. I think it will probably survive these two babies but I don't think it will hold together for more babies. If you are intending to use your cloth diapers for more than one or two babies I'd invest in a diaper that has snaps. Plus, toddlers can't pull snaps off as easy as they can Velcro! I also like the Fuzzibunz because the don't have a lip over where the insert goes in like the BumGenius do. With the lip you have to reach in a pull the insert out, which sometimes can be kind of gross. If the diaper doesn't have a lip the you can just shake the liner out into the diaper pail. Less touching of bodily fluids.... good.

The bottom line...they are both really great... one-sized diapers are a good idea... and BumGenius just came out with snap diapers which look fantastic.

How many diapers do you have? Is it enough?

I have 13 diapers for Rose and about 15 for Asher. I think this is a pretty good number. I could probably do with fewer for Asher, around 10 would be plenty, but wouldn't mind having one or two more for Rose.

As for sizing I think it is safe to say that if your child is wearing a disposable size 1 or 2 then they would fit a small sized cloth diapers, if they are wearing a 3 or 4 then they would be a medium sized cloth diaper, and if they are in a 5 or larger they would be a large sized cloth diaper. Asher is two years old, he isn't super skinny or super chubby, he weighs about 35 lbs, and wears a size 4 disposable diaper. His large cloth diapers are still too big for him-- we have to put them on the smallest setting-- and I don't know if he will grow into them before he is potty trained. They might come in handy as nighttime pants for him while he is learning to use the potty at bedtime, but I am considering selling them because I don't know how much we will use them.

Where can I buy diapers?

I got some of mine from Jillians Drawers and really like them.

I've also heard good things about Nicki's Diapers, Green Mountain Diapers, and the Diaper Pin.

The cheapest way is to find someone in your area selling their stash... check the classifieds or craigslist.

Does anyone else have recommendations for where to buy cloth diapers or how to make your own?