CLOTH DIAPERS

Figuring out which cloth diapers to go with was actually more painful than giving birth. I didn't understand what Pockets, AOI (all-in-ones) Pre folds, Snappis, Covers, Soakers etc were. That is until I found this amazing store on the UES (Upper East Side) called metro-minis. It was hippie heaven in the middle of Manhattan. Kyoki was amazing at walking me through it all, and now I shall try to simplify it all for you. I'll update this post tomorrow with photos... I promise.

So the basics:

There are three kinds of diapers.

Pre folds -

These are the kind our parents put us in and make great burp cloths. I suggest buying them from a reputable source such as the Bummis brand or from clothdiapers.com. The ones they sell in Babies R Us and Target are cheap, not very absorbent, and don't have the correct number of layers to provide the right amount of thickness. Basically the way these work is you can either fold them in thirds and put them inside a cover (I'll explain in bit) or you put them on like a diaper and pin them at the sides. There is an alternative to sticking you and the baby with diaper pins called Snappis, which were surprisingly invented by a man and are GENIUS. They hook into the fabric like the metal things that you use on an ace bandage. Once you have the diaper on you need to make the situation water proof. That is where the diaper cover comes in. The cover goes on top of the pinned on diaper or you can lay a diaper in side and put it on that way. You will need 12-24 diapers and about 4 covers. Covers sell for $12-$15 and diapers are about $1.50-$3 a piece.

PROS: For the true environmentalist this is the way to go, there is much less manufacturing and therefore it is more eco friendly. This method is also MUCH cheaper. If you don't like the diapers you can use them as rags, dusting cloths, burp cloths.

Cons: Not as user friendly. You will need to buy 2 sizes of diapers the first will probably get you through 4 months, the second will get you through potty training. You can also buy one size fits all covers that will last you from newborn to potty training or you can buy sized covers, you will have to get a bigger size every few months. This is costly and I didn't find that these fit any better than the one size fits all.

All In Ones (AIO)

Pocket Diapers