Covering Your Bum

Which Cloth Diapers I Depend On

We have three kids. I’ve increased my collection of cloth diapers not only because I was diapering more kids simultaneously, but also because I learned what mattered to me, which brands had those features, and where I could get more.

We used prefolds. That’s because, when we started cloth diapering, I only knew one person who used cloth diapers. She used prefolds, so I went with it. Even though I now own pocket diapers and all-in-ones, I still love my prefold covers most. (But I’ve come to see the light on better inserts. More on that in a moment.)

Hands down,Thirsties is my favorite brand of diaper covers. I drove several hours to buy my first Thirsties diaper covers. Then, unable to get them in my town or online, I watched local parent listservs and haunted craigslist for more. My perseverance paid off and I got two batches of random assortments. They’ve all been through at least one kid before my three, and all of them are still in my rotation. In fact, I only use Thirsties. I have many other kinds, including pocket diapers, and all-in-ones, that I use when all my Thirsties covers get covered in poop. I have mostly the one size type, like these:

Thirsties Duo Wrap Reusable Cloth Diaper Cover on Amazon

But I also own a couple of sized Thirsties covers, and I love them just as much. I bought what I could get in terms of sized versus one size fits all, but now amazon sells them. Here’s the sized version:

Thirsties Reusable Cloth Diaper Cover Hook and Loop Closure on Amazon

All but one of my Thirsties covers have Velcro, aka hook and loop. I have one snap variety, and after many years of cloth diapering and laundry getting stuck together, I see the advantage in snaps. For the purposes of laundry, snaps beat Velcro without a doubt. But I don’t use my diapers for the washing machine or the dryer. And Velcro closures provide a better, easier fit on my kids every single time.

Additionally, many of the pocket diapers I inherited have lost their snaps. When my Velcro gets less sticky, I clean the lint out of it. When a snap falls off, I have to make do. It’s possible, but not very nice, to use a diaper missing a snap. I, for one, though, don’t have the patience to gingerly unsnap a diaper at every single diaper change. My Velcro? I can rip that stuff off. Worst case scenario I’ve had (after three kids and buying all but two of my Thirsties covers secondhand), is that the soft side of the Velcro comes slightly detached from the cover. I can fix that with a needle and thread in a couple minutes. I can’t fix a missing snap.

I have, however, out of sheer luck, upgraded to pocket diaper inserts inside my diaper covers. Originally, I used standard Gerber prefolds inside my diaper covers. I loved them, and used them with zero blowouts for my first two kids. I had the occasional urine leak the first few months before I figured out what I was doing. Knowing what I know now, I could’ve avoided that as well. But at the time I vastly preferred leaking pee to leaking poop. Having used disposables on eight other babies, I had more than my fair share of poop outside the diaper. The only reason I used Gerber prefolds? That’s what I could buy. I found a local store that carried their own supply of unbleached prefolds, and I bought twelve of those, too. The variations in size and thickness between the two kinds gave me many options and went from birth to potty no problem.

Then, with my third child, a friend gifted me her entire stash of cloth diapers and my world revolutionized. I took her Fuzzibuns and bumGenius pocket diaper inserts (which had also been through her three children, and some of them she got secondhand as well), and stuck them into my Thirsties covers. Life was excellent. And dry.

Amazon does sell both bumGenius and Fuzzibunz and Rumparooz pocket diaper inserts, which I use with my Thirsties diaper covers. But Amazon seems to sell these products through third parties, which means you can probably find a better deal at a local shop or alternate online retailer. But for comparison’s sake, and so you know what you’re looking for in the store, here’s the link to the bumGenius version, which has snaps to change the length to fit a range of diaper cover sizes.

BumGenuis Cloth Diaper One Size Insert 6 Pack NO Longer Available on Amazon

Fuzzibunz Microterry Diaper Inserts NO Longer Available on Amazon

Because I’m not one to turn down free useful things, I now use the pocket and all-in-one diapers that have survived any number of bums as basic diaper covers. I don’t stuff things into pockets, I don’t drag them out of pockets all wet or poopy or both. I lay the inserts on top of whatever I have, place a flushable liner on top, and we’re good to go pee or poop.