Cloth Diaper Q&A

My friend, Laurin, asked the following questions.

Why did you choose the pre-fold type? At first, I really really wanted the BumGenius3.0 diapers. These are "all-in-ones" that also are adjustable (aka "one-size) that are designed to fit babies newborn to 30 pounds. However, they are very expensive ($17/each) and I was worried about bulkiness on small babies. So, I chose prefolds because they are the most traditional type and also the most economical.

Do they leak very often? Rarely. Once Henry started sleeping longer stretches during the night, we had some issues leaking up high on his back. Now, we just bundle him up with two prefolds at night and have not had a nighttime leak since! However, there is a bit of a learning curve. It took the first week to learn to shove all bits of the prefold into the cover. Otherwise, you will have a leak where the cloth is exposed.

How expensive was it to get started? I started with a newborn prefold starter kit from http://www.nickisdiapers.com/. My thinking was that I would try the different covers (all newborn sized) and decide which cover I like the best for when I need to order bigger sizes. I am still using the same prefolds but I am anticipating buying a bigger size prefold when we upgrade to size large covers. As previously posted, my favorite covers are Prowraps Classics. These are the cheapest covers available and extremely durable. I like that they have a shiny plasticy inside so you can wipe out teetee with a wipe rather than washing the cover after every use. They have velcro tabs and look so cute when they peek out from under a onesie.
**Newborn starter kit with 6 covers and 24 prefolds -- $110
**6 size small covers-$40
**6 size medium covers-$40
**TOTAL: $190
Don't forget that this is a onetime investment. And, cloth diapers have great resale value on Ebay.