Bailey Bouwman  00:03

The cloth diaper podcast is a weekly podcast dedicated to everything cloth diaper. Seriously. That’s it. We’re just going to talk about cloth diapers. We’re going to talk about retailers. We’re gonna talk about brands, and we’re going to talk about real Everyday Stories with everyday mamas to address weekly or check us out online at cloth diaper podcast.com.

 

Bailey Bouwman  00:27

Welcome to the cloth diaper podcast. You can find show notes for this episode and all others at cloth diaper podcast.com.

 

Bailey Bouwman  00:35

This is your host Bailey, we’re going to talk about something really exciting. Today, we’re gonna talk about the different types of cloth diapers. I know, right? Who knew that this would be a podcast. I tried to make a video, but it didn’t work. So let’s try to talk to you about it.

 

Bailey Bouwman  00:50

This podcast might be a little bit boring and a little bit basic. If you already know about different styles of cloth diapers, this podcast might be really helpful if you have no idea what you’re doing. This podcast might also not be helpful because talking about cloth diapers is super visual. One of the best things that you can do is visit cloth diaper retailer and get to look feel and experience all the cloth diapers.

 

Bailey Bouwman  01:16

 Unfortunately, that’s not for me. And so today we’re going to talk about different types of cloth diapers, there are 456 a whole bunch of different types of cloth diapers, which really makes modern cloth diapering really confusing. My apologies. I mean, our grandparents, they were using flat cloth diapers and maybe pull on rubber pants. That was it. That was their only option. Things were simple. And then the disposable diaper came along. And ever since we’ve been trying to compete with a disposable diaper for convenience. And so now we have a lot of different styles of cloth diapering, which may or may not make things easier.

 

Bailey Bouwman  01:56

 So starting with the easiest quote unquote, is the all in one cloth diaper. That means that it is everything you need one convenient package. Some well known brands that produce all one cloth diapers that are well renowned and well loved include the blueberry simplex, the bum genius elemental, the smart bottoms, 3.1. And what else can we think of that’s, you know, what are those are the top three I would say, in all in one category, you can always check out the show notes for today’s show. And I’ll have all the links to reviews from my own blog as well as other blogs, as well as detailed pictures to help you understand cloth diapers a little more. Anyways, back to all ones. So an all in one is everything you need in one convenient package. That means that the absorbency is sewn into the diaper. There’s no needing to remove things or add things. It’s just the way it is. That means that every brand has a different variation on the old one. Most of them I’ll say feature some sort of tongue like material that’s sewn from one end or both ends into the diaper, that you’re stuck with what you get as well.

 

Bailey Bouwman  03:11

So people like all ones because like, seriously, there’s no fuss, you put it on Baby. Baby does this thing, then you change baby, you take it off, you shake off the poop, you put it in the wet bag, you wash it, you dry it, and it’s ready to go. Like you don’t need to find any pieces and you don’t need to put anything together. You just grab the diaper, you put it on again and you repeat. Like it’s that easy. People don’t like all ones because sometimes they can be not so absorbent. Sometimes they can be really expensive. And sometimes they can be just not the right fit or functionality for your baby. I really like all in one cloth diapers, mostly because the convenience I love just grabbing them in my bag. Or I just love grabbing them out of the laundry basket. I don’t like them because a lot of the times they have lots of different tongues or layers of fabric in them and it can be really hard to get the poop off likes. Like it all gets all kind of yucky in there.

 

Bailey Bouwman  04:16

Yeah, it’s not it’s not so good. Oh, well. I also don’t really like all ones because I find that they are a smaller fit and I have big babies. So my toddler is now almost three. And he’s 40 pounds. I can’t squeeze them into an all in one for the life of me. I mean, what were the chances that I would have this monster toddler. If you’re looking at an online you’re going to be looking at a higher price point. I think the thirsties natural on one or thirsties microfiber one starts around $25 Canadian and you can go as expensive as like 36 or $37. Canadian. That makes it a pretty high price point. So you’re looking at for a full stash of 24 Have $700 Yeah, seems like a lot. Hey, but don’t forget that you’re gonna be spending two to three grand on disposable diapers for the course of a baby’s lifespan. So maybe it’s worth it. If it’s easy and it works for you. Maybe it’s worth it. Right.

 

Bailey Bouwman  05:14

Alright, so the next type of diaper that’s pretty popular and I swear, everybody like this is the diaper that people think about when they think about modern cloth diaper. And it’s the pocket, the pocket cloth diaper. I don’t know why the pocket revolutionized cloth diapering, I personally find the pocket pain in my rear. Regardless, pocket cloth diaper is basically just a polyurethane. I’m not going to build pronounce that word. The word is P UL or TPU basically is a laminated material. That’s the exterior of any modern cloth diaper is a laminated material to keep the wetness into the diaper. So pocket cloth diaper features a pocket basically, you have one layer of pol or TPU. That’s a waterproof material. It’s a laminate that keeps the wet in and the wet towel. And then you have a layer of other material. There’s usually an opening either at the front or the top with a diaper. And then it’s enclosed along the seams of like around the legs. The an insert is then put into that pocket and the material that is the pocket lining. So whether that be like a stay dry liner, a suede and athletic wicking jersey or a fleece that goes against baby’s skin, then there’s the insert and then there’s the the shell of the diaper or the P UL or the TPU.

 

Bailey Bouwman  06:37

 People consider these diapers easy. I have no idea why. Seriously, guys, you got to put an insert into the diaper. Every time you do laundry. It’s not easy. But off my soapbox, I’ll get pocket diapers are convenient for other people, it means that you can load up a pocket diaper with whatever absorbency meets your baby’s needs. And then it’s easy for other people to change them like there’s no fiddle farting around. That’s just the way it is. Most of my mom friends, they’re using pocket cloth diapers. Pocket cloth diapers can be really cheap, especially if you’re buying noncompliant brands off of the internet. Pocket cloth diapers can be really awesome because they’re adjustable, right? Like, you can put whatever you want inside that pocket.

 

Bailey Bouwman  07:25

Most pocket cloth diapers do come with a standard microfiber insert. But you could also take out those microfiber and put in your favorite prefold favorite flat, your favorite insert, you can also add as much as you can fit in there and get your baby just right. Some babies. They’re heavy wetters. And that just gives you a lot of room to wiggle. The one thing that I often find and I feel like we need to talk about is that people add too much to that pocket. And when you do you don’t get that good crease or seal along the legs. So that’s not necessarily the best answer, right? I mean, you shirt, you could put whatever you want inside a pocket cloth diaper. But if it doesn’t fit onto baby, like, you’re going to get leaks and you’re going to get gaps and it’s just gonna be a hot mess. Like it’s not good. So, word of why word of caution when it comes to pocket cloth diapers. I’m not a fan, but I know some people are. So a few other perks I guess you could talk about when it comes to a pocket cloth diaper, because there’s no inserts and there’s no layers, their poop just shakes right off like super easy. It’s easy for give to a caregiver and be like just put it on baby. And many of them have a stay dry liner. Like the pocket is stay dry material. And that’s important if your baby has a wetness sensitivity.

 

Bailey Bouwman  08:46

So some babies like they hate being wet. That means they cry more often. That means maybe they get a rash. And so sometimes that’s a good way to like grant that I don’t have babies who are like that, so it’s really hard for me to speak to that benefit. Pocket cloth diapers also come in a range of price points like we’re talking 15 to 25 in Canada, some of the major pocket diaper brands is the bomb genius 5.0 thirsties has a pocket blueberry has a pocket and then Apple cheeks easy peasy is a MP hmm, just name a few. All right. So the next style is called the all into the all into cloth diaper. It’s a little bit confusing. Honestly, I’m not so sure that the cloth diaper industry has like agreed to what this means.

 

Bailey Bouwman  09:39

And I see various definitions on different blogs and websites as per what an A all into is my perception of an all into cloth diaper is a diaper that can be two different things. So that means it can be a pocket and an all in one or it can be a cover and an all in one or it can be cover and a pocket. I hope that makes sense. When I think of an all in two, I think the latter lie baby or the funky fluff, cloth diapers. Some other all in twos could be the grovia hybrid system, or the best bottom system. All of these systems have diapers that on the inside of the diaper is snaps. So there are snaps on the outside of most diaper, the waist and the rise snaps. But snaps on the inside of the diaper are for like snapping an insert. So you can snap in an insert. And then you can wash and launder it like that just like an all in one is basically an all in one is a diaper. A diaper shell with a sewn in insert an all into is like a diaper shell with a snap it insert.

 

Bailey Bouwman  10:48

So it has that functionality of doing multiple things you can choose to snap in the insert, or you can choose not to snap in the answer. You can choose to reuse the diaper or you can choose not to reuse the diaper, you can choose so many different options. Still a little bit confusing. And a lot of these diapers I would also either classify in their major categories, so Lullaby and funky fluff, I would consider those primarily versatile pocket diaper, whereas grovia and best bottom, those are more of a versatile cloth diaper cover. The nice thing though, about like all into cloth diapers is that they tend to have natural fiber inserts. And they tend to be a really good price point. Most of these diapers we’re talking like 20 to $25 for a complete system. I hope that kind of makes sense. Honestly, I’m still a little bit confused after three years. But what really classifies is an all in two and why we’re using that term. And

 

Bailey Bouwman  11:45

maybe we should just call them like multifunctional cloth diapers or multi dimensional and then that’s not really good word either. If you have an idea, let me know, email me or connect with me, I’d love to know. So the next cloth diaper that I’m going to really talk about is cloth diaper covers. So cloth diaper cover is some sort of material that you use to cover over absorbency. There’s few different types of materials people use. So there’s going to be the modern P UL or TPU base cloth diaper cover. And that’s going to be kind of like what everybody talks about. It’s one size, it can be wipeable on the inside. That means that there’s like the laminate material there and you could just take a cloth and you could just wipe out any poop or pee. Sometimes some brands like omake and grovia. They have like a liner in them and so they’re not really wipeable you just got to air dry, which we uses. And then there’s other cloth diaper covers that are different materials. So you can also use a fleece as cloth recover and that will keep the wetness in fleece is kind of cool that way. And then you can also use wool and wool is a great natural fiber for babies who have allergies to rubber and the elastics are they have pol TPU sensitivities. And it really helps give the

 

Bailey Bouwman  13:00

a great breathable solution to a lot of cloth diaper moms and parents. I think wool probably deserves its own episode. If you have any questions about wool, drop me a line. I used wool mostly with my first baby but I didn’t really get into it with my second I don’t know like

 

Bailey Bouwman  13:19

back to the modern cloth diaper cover. So the modern cloth diaper cover is unique in that like a pocket. You can customize it to whatever you need. Basically, you just put whatever insert you want inside the cover just like you would with a pocket. But it’s gonna touch baby’s skin so there’s no pocket there. That means that you can’t use microfiber because microfiber does not go against skin. But you can use any type of natural fiber material that you want. I use a pre fold and I fold it into thirds. I’d lay it in my diaper. I put it on baby. Boom done that. That’s it. And then when baby wets, I take out the pre fold and I add a new dry one. And when baby poops, I dump the poop and I put it all in the washing machine. There’s other ways you can use a cover. You can also use covers over a flat and you can fold a flat into thirds into a like an Insert Shape or you can fold a flat onto baby and attach with pins or snappy or Boingo. You can also use cloth diaper covers over fitted diapers and fitted diapers are probably gonna be the last day where I talked about today. They are like like a what do you think of a modern cloth diaper they’ve got snaps and they’ve got different size options and they’ve got different absorbency in them. But they’re all made out of natural fabric fitted cloth diapers all needed cover. Some of them can be worn for short periods of time without a cover they have like a special fleecing material in them. That gives us like a waterproof protection. They’re not really good for car seats or anywhere where there could be a compression risk because they’re not that waterproof, but they’re definitely waterproof enough to keep your couch Dry. Fitted cloth diaper brands include a sustainable, sustainable baby ish, and novels as well as some work at home moms. And that would be like Lily and Frank humbard, Twinkie, Tersh. And a few others. If I think have any more, add them on the show notes for sure. I’m not super familiar with fitted cloth diapers just because fitted sheets are really great if you have a heavy wetter kid or a kid who has sensitivities, or you just love natural fibers, they’re quite expensive fitted cloth diapers just because they use really great material. They’re often made by dedicated moms at home. And because my kids can just rock a modern cloth diaper without any sensitivity issues. And because we’re not heavy wetters I just haven’t ventured down that pricey. Avenue right? Fitted cloth diapers are going to cost you anywhere from 3040 $50 and upwards depending on how much absorbency and what type of quality materials you’re using. Definitely a scary price point, but definitely worth it. I mean, if you have a heavy wetter like you could be spending $60 In disposable diapers overnight for an entire year. Right. So if if it’s like important to you, you find the money for it. And sometimes I feel like in cloth diapering we talk taboo about money that it’s scary to spend money on things. But it’s okay to spend money on things right. It’s okay to spend money on things. We don’t all need to be cheapskates. Dude, I know. Right? So how do you know what type of cloth diaper to get started with? My biggest piece of advice every single time is that you should choose a cloth diaper that you fall in love with. So choose a print or choose a pattern that you love. And start from there. I mean, hmm. So if I was to start cloth diapering today, I would probably pick out one of the gorgeous florals available from smart bottoms, I would pick out that new rainbow print from grovia. I would pick out fable from buttons. And I would just like, just choose your favorite prints and start from there. And that that’s a great way to go. So if you can’t just willy nilly pick around on cloth diapers, you need to think about what’s your budget, how much money do you have to spend. So a super cheap stash of covers and prefolds probably gonna cost you about $200 Canadian, and more. Super cheap stash of all ones is gonna cost you about $600. Canadian, it’s hard to imagine spending that on one drop, and I never did either. There’s lots of ways you can budget for it, putting a little bit of money away every month, buying a diaper every month, and it will slowly add up. So you’ve got to think about what how much money you have to spend. And then you got to think about well, who’s going to be changing baby who’s going to be doing the laundry? And how does that all work. So I’m a stay at home mom and nobody else changes the bums but me so cloth, diaper prefolds. And covers work really good. But if you’re at daycare, all day, that’s where like a pocket cloth diaper comes in handy or an all in one cloth bag where because they can’t change out the insert. And a lot of the times people are really kind of stuck up and like No, I’m not doing cloth diapers, and you really need to help them right. So

 

Bailey Bouwman  18:18

you need to make it convenient, easy. So as much as I complain about pocket cloth diapers, I do send the thirsties pocket with my youngest to the babysitter once a week. Because I know that it’s an easy diaper for her to change. She doesn’t have to worry about anything, and it always fits great. You think about who’s changing the diaper, you’re thinking about your budget. Also think about what your needs are. So do you need natural fibers? Do you need certain reputations? Do you need certain things in life? Like, I don’t do pocket cloth diapers because I don’t want to do the laundry. I do mostly natural fiber cloth diapers because I think that’s really important. I don’t like the idea of microfiber touching my hands. And as a synthetic. I know that microfiber sheds in the wash, so I don’t do it. For me. Buying Canadian is really important. And so cloth diapers manufactured in Canada, always trump my list when I’m trying to purchase a new diaper. That’s just something that’s really like, really important to me as a consumer. That’s not everybody’s sticking point. If that’s not your selling point, then don’t even think about it. But there are cloth diaper manufacturers making in the United States. There are cloth diaper manufacturers practicing under ethical guidelines and China. And there are non compliant gray market diapers that do have sketchy work conditions. But if that’s not important to you, then that’s not important to you. What else could you think about I think that’s about it. So you’re gonna think about your your price, you’re gonna think about who’s changing the diaper, you’re gonna think about how much time you have. You’re gonna think about what values are important to you when searching for a brand. And so When you’ve got that list compiled if you still don’t know where to start, reach out. Also if you have a cloth diaper retailer near you go check them out. I love stopping into cozy bottoms. They are like five minutes away from me as my local cloth diaper retailer seriously addicted, and that’s where I got started. And every Wednesday I go in and I tried to buy something. I think that’s it for today. I’ll have the show notes at cloth diaper podcast.com. I’ll include some pictures, some links. If you have any recommendations for future shows. Send me an email Bailey at cloth diaper podcast.com And I’ll talk to you later. Bye