We have been slowly switching over to cloth diapers from disposables. With two in diapers, it can get expensive to buy diapers and wipes every month. Compound that cost with the fact that my babies have slightly sensitive butts, and it can really add up quickly. Cloth diapers seem like a perfect alternative for us. Plus, they are so cute and seem so much more comfortable on tiny tushies. I have also told Imogene, she has to quit wearing her diapers because her new baby brother will have to wear her diapers. I couldn’t tell her that with disposables. Plus, the cloth diapers feel wet to her and made her quickly aware of her bodily functions. She is now very well on her way out of the diapers. I am very proud of her progress. I have now tried several one size pocket style diapers and thought I would post my thoughts on each. We decided to switch the older two to the one size pocket diapers because they would have a greater weight span and would be easily used on each child. Emery will still require his own special newborn diapers until he gets big enough to fit in the one size diapers, but those can always be reused next time we need newborn diapers. (For anyone interested, I have a cloth diaper registry for Emery on nickisdiapers.com and jilliansdrawers.com.)
First up is this Rocky Mountain One Size Pocket. This diaper has the shortest rise of all the diapers we tried. The inside is colored suede cloth (the same material in a bumGenius 3.0 OS Pocket). The quality of the fabric of this diaper is not up to par with the others I tried. It also did not come with an insert. This diaper cost me the same as a bumGenius or Happy Heiney diaper, and fell short on delivering. I will say the snaps are great and I have no problem with leaking. However, the outer PUL seems very thin (you can see the insert through the diaper). If I had paid about $5 less for the diaper, I would have been happier with it. However, I felt a little ripped off with this diaper. I really wanted to like them because they come in lovely color combinations. Unfortunately, I do not like them enough to purchase another. I do not recommend this diaper unless you find a fantastic clearance deal and are aware you’re getting an inferior diaper.
Here is my Happy Heiney One Size Pocket. This is another example of a diaper I really expected to love that just fell short. This diaper has the tallest rise of all the diapers I tried. Unfortunately, it is also impossibly narrow for the chubby one (that’d be Aidan). It does fit Imogene perfectly and is now used as her primary nighttime diaper. I do like the contoured inserts for Happy Heineys. They are nice and wide. I’ve had no problems with leaking while Imogene was wearing this diaper. (Aidan is another story.) The inner is a nice thick fleece. It pills pretty bad after several washes. The main problem with this diaper (other than it only fitting one of my children, which defeats the purpose of buying one size diapers) is the aplix or velcro closure. It is very wide, which I thought would be fantastic, but that causes a problem. The problem with the wide velcro is that it warps in the dryer. After a couple wash and dry cycles (and I dry my diapers on low heat), the velcro no longer lays flat. You have to really work to smooth it out when putting it on the child and the laundry tabs will not stay closed for anything! Because the laundry tabs will not stay closed, the outer PUL has several places where the Velcro has snagged it in the wash. Overall, this diaper is not a good choice for us. The lime green, as you can see, is very lime! The pastor loathes the color of this diaper. I thought it would be fun, but apparently it is really made for night wear so the tots don’t get run over by a car.
Pictured above is a Blueberry One Size Pocket and a Swaddlebees Econappi. (The Blueberry is the cute cow print and the Econappi is the green.) These are basically the same diaper. They are made by the same company and have the same insert style. The inside fabric is different. The Blueberry has a plush fleece fabric inside and the Econappi has a super soft organic velour inside. The inserts are the same style, but the Blueberry is microfleece and hemp where the Econappi is an organic combination. They are both extremely absorbent and very soft. I think the Econappi is my favorite of all the diapers I tried. The fit for both is fantastic. I will admit, that I was not impressed with the look of the Blueberry when it first came in, but it has exceeded my expectations. The snaps are wonderful. The company claims they can be used as an all in two, but when I tried that it didn’t work out at all. These are the most expensive of the diapers I tired, but are well worth it in my opinion. We will be buying more of these.
The two pictured above are both bumGenius diapers. The first (the lighter green) is a bumGenius all in one organic diaper. It is the only non-pocket style we tried. I like it. It has snaps and is very absorbent. The inner layers are organic cotton, which are not as soft on the tush but work well. They do feel wet very quickly in this diaper. The only problem, and the reason the Pastor is against these, is that they take quite a while to dry. It wouldn’t really be a problem if we had several of these instead of just one. To dry completely in the dryer, this diaper takes 3 cycles. Now, I normally run 2 with my diapers. (I run one shorter cycle on low heat, remove all the exteriors and then run one cycle on medium heat.) After the second cycle, this diaper is not dry. One more makes them dry. I typically hang dry it the rest of the way dry.
The second, darker green diaper above is a bumGenius 3.0 One Size Pocket. I like the fit of this diaper and I like the function. The main problem is the aplix. It is small and wears out very quickly. In the short time I have had this diaper, I have already seen more wear on it than I would expect to see after a year. The Velcro tabs are small, so they don’t warp- they just quit holding as well as they should. The laundry tabs occasionally come undone in the wash and have created several snags in the outer PUL. I am not a big fan of the suede cloth interior, but it isn”t a problem, just a matter of preference. If they could make this diaper with snaps, I’d be all over it. However, they don’t, so I won’t be buying more.
These are the most recent addition to our stash. I got them on clothdiaperclearance.com for a great deal. They are Haute Pocket One Size Pockets. I got mostly firsts, but the two brown ones are seconds. The difference? The brown ones have 9 snaps across the front and the others have 11. This does mean that the brown ones do not fit Imo. The manufacturer of this diaper says the snap weight range is up to 30 pound, but Imogene is 35 pounds and they fit her. The rise is similar to the bumGenius. They have snaps and I love that. The interior of these is a super soft fleece. Seriously, the fleece is SO soft! The pocket opening gapes a little bit and I wish it closed better, but I have had no problems with them. Because the outer PUL is breathable (and slightly stretchy) they are not good night time diapers. When the kids wake up in the morning after wearing this diaper, even with a doubler, their pj bottoms are damp. They don’t leak, but after 12 hours at night, they do let some moisture out. These are great daytime diapers. I really do like them. So, if you can get a few before they are all gone, do it!
1 Comment
April 18, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Super helpful! I have been adding cloth diapers to our registry and so it was really great to see what you have tried and what you liked. Since I have no idea what I am doing, it is great to be able to have the help of someone who does!