to continue on our theme of cloth diapers, i want to share a review of the brands we have tried.
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| esther hope, modeling a gerber prefold |
our fitted diapers
we own 3 brands of fitted diapers: kissaluvs, little beetle and thirsties.
we only own one of the thirsties diapers. it fits really well, which i like and it is the right thickness/absorbancy. the downside is that it has aplix closure, which i usually try to avoid. the aplix is starting to wear down after about a year's worth of use. i'm not sure if they offer a version of this diaper with snaps.
the majority of our diapers are little beetle size two fitted diapers (this is what we exclusively used with our first two foster kiddos). i already reviewed these diapers here, but i'll add a few things. a few months ago, these diapers started breaking down and now a few have so many holes that they are unusable. i don't think this is something wrong with the brand, it just happened because we have been using them for about 2 years, and 2-3 years is the normal life span for cloth diapers (it doesn't help that i used to machine dry them for the first year of their use). so, this has been a bummer to lose some diapers, but again, its not because of poor quality on the part of the diaper. we no longer use the wool covers they came with, and have had much more success with normal plastic covers. though we have been overall pleased with these diapers, i probably wouldn't buy them again, merely because of the price. however, the style is exactly what we like, so i would probably go for a cheaper diaper with a similar style.
we also own five kissaluvs size 0 diapers. i like, but don't love these diapers. they are thin, so you will need to use an extra layer of material in them (i use the extra liners from our little beetle diapers). they fit a bit oddly, but this has never been a huge problem because the cover always keeps it snug. they are pretty versatile: even though they are size 0, we have found them to work from the smallest newborns all the way up to 16 or so pounds.
our pre-fold diapers
we also own 3 brands of prefolds: gerber, econobum and sweet bottom baby boutique indian prefolds.
these are all pretty similar, except for different size/thickness. econobums are supposed to work for all ages and sizes. in reality, you probably can't use them until baby is at least 9lb, otherwise they are pretty bulky. they are nice and thick, and we often use them overnight.
the geber diapers are super thin. i think in reality people buy these more for use as burp cloths, but we have been given two or three packages of them and i mostly use them for diapers. they work well as a liner for extra absorbancy in an overnight diaper. if i use them by themselves, i usually double up since they are so thin. the upside is that they dry super quickly, which means they are the first ones that get used after i do a load of diapers. i wouldn't ever buy these, but i have made use out of them since we have received them as gifts.
the indian prefolds are great. they are the right thickness: right in between the thicknesses of econobum and gerber. i would definitely buy these diapers again.
what brands of cloth diapers have you tried?
I would like to add my thoughts about the brands I have, for anyone else reading.
ReplyDeleteWe have only used Clotheez pre-folds and they are great. We have been using them for a year, washed every 2-3 days, machine dried (Cincinnati does not owe to line drying very often). There is no visible wear.
I have used both Thirsties and Bummis covers. Both snap and aplix. I find that the Thirsties leak all the time, even though they are adjustable. No matter which setting, they leak like crazy. They snap to adjust and aplix to close. I find that the aplix is starting to wear down after about 8 months.
I prefer the bummis, snap or aplix. There are far fewer leaks, but they are not adjustable. The first set I had showed no wear, even at the aplix, but I found the snaps were harder to open and close than I preferred. They are way cute too.
thanks for sharing your thoughts, sadie! i forgot to mention this in my post but different brands will work well for different babies because of differing body shapes.
ReplyDeleteso, for example we really like our thirsties covers, but you mention that they leak a lot. sometimes people have vastly different experiences like this because the diapers fit their babies differently.