Clued in on cloth!

Now that Bryan and I are settling into our new home, we're finally ready to gear up--in a serious way--for Baby's arrival.  That means that Baby's nursery is finally coming together (pictures to come soon), with a new crib, changing table, layette, and, yes, our cloth diaper stash.

Over the past few months, we've received a lot of feedback and advice regarding our decision to go with cloth.  And, after weighing extensive options, we think we've put together a cloth stash that's practical and convenient, in addition to being relatively eco-, baby-, and budget-friendly.  Here's the rundown:

Our diaper stash is composed of three types of diapers:  fitted diapers with wraps (upper right and bottom left in the picture below), pocket diapers (upper left), and prefolds (that traditional-looking cloth diaper underneath everything else).  Each offers different advantages and drawbacks, but, between them, we hope to have all our bases covered.

Our diaper stash:  The Basics.

The Fitteds

Our Kissaluvs fitted diapers, together with gusseted diaper wraps, are reputed to be the hands-down best option out there for preventing diaper blowouts--particularly for newborns.  That's why they're our diaper of choice for infancy.  And, despite what you may have heard about cloth diapers, they're pretty darn easy to use:

A Kissaluvs newborn fitted diaper.

Wrap around Baby.

Snap diaper in place.

Place diaper wrap under Baby.

Snap in place, completely covering cloth.

Leg gussets provide extra protection
against blowouts.

The Pockets

If the fitted diapers didn't look easy enough for you, these pocket diapers will be your go-to option.  We plan to keep these around for babysitters who want the simplest option possible.  From what we've heard, they're also a great diaper option when traveling and--perhaps because they wick away moisture better than your standard cloth diaper--for overnight use at home.

Place the diaper under Baby.

Wrap and snap.

The trick to pocket diapers is the "pocket", of course, into which Mom and Dad can stuff inserts, as needed, to absorb wetness.  Here's a disassembled pocket diaper with a standard insert and a newborn insert.

Pocket diaper with inserts removed.

The Prefolds

And now for the ever-intimidating prefold diaper.  Really, it's not that complicated.  Though there are lots of ways to fold a prefold, I'll show you the simplest:

Fold the cloth into thirds.

Place folded diaper in wrap.

Place Baby on top of diaper.

Fold up and snap the wrap into place.

That's not so bad, right?

So now you're ready to babysit for us!

But, wait. What do you do once the diapers dirty, you ask.  Fair question.  Luckily, the answer is pretty straightforward.  As our babysitter, you pretty much just throw the used diaper in the diaper pail.  Then, every day or two, we'll throw the contents of the diaper pail into the washing machine.  At least for the first six months.  After Baby starts solid foods, things get a little more complicated--but not much; at that point, there are lots of tools out there to make any additional cleaning a breeze.