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| An AIO with aplix closures. |
-All in ones [AIO]
An AIO is considered the easiest option in cloth diapering. They are very daddy and daycare friendly and easy to put on baby. All an AIO is made up of a waterproof outer material, normally PUL[polyester lined with polyurethane], with an absorbent material, like microterry, microfiber, bamboo, hemp, or cotton. sewn into the middle and topped with a wicking material like flannel or micro fleece so that the moisture is pulled away from baby's skin and into the absorbent core. Fastening options for this are either snaps or aplix[A.K.A. velcro] I personally do not like AIO's simply because i prefer line drying anything with PUL [it makes it last longer] so because i line dry my AIO's they take almost a day and a half to dry after washing.
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| an AI2 with a snap in insert and aplix closures. |
-All in twos [AI2]
These are basically the same thing as an AIO except the absorbent core is removeable. So you have a shell with your waterproof material and you have an insert with your absorbent material and you wicking material on it. With AI2's the absorbent core normally snaps into place. These will also fasten with either snaps or aplix[velcro] closure. I do not have any of these diapers so i cannot tell you from experience but i would assume that they wash and dry the same as pocket dipes and i LOVE my pocket dipes. The downfall to these is that they do take some assembly but they will wash easier and dry faster than an AIO's
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| Already stuffed pocket dipe, stuffed with a prefold. |
-Pocket dipes
Finally my favorite. A pocket dipe consists of a shell with wicking fabric sewn into the inside and a hole in the back of the diaper that forms a pocket. You have an insert made up of an absorbent material of your choice that you then stuff into your dipe and you are ready to go. I personally love these because of how easy they are to wash and dry. I pull the insert out of dirty dipe and throw shell and insert in my pail and then when my pail is full i pick the whole thing up and dump it into the washer [no touching dirty dipes] i wash everything then i pull the inserts out and put them in the dryer and hang my shells on a drying rack and by the time the dryer is done so are my shells. Downfall to these is that you do have to stuff them when they are clean but that is also an advantage because you can personalize the amount of absorbency you put in your dipe by adding more or less inserts.
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| My daughter Skye in her aplix pocket dipe. |
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| Different sizes of prefolds |
-Prefolds
These are the way your grandma cloth diapered . . . oldschool, yes. But I still have a place in my heart for prefolds. A prefold is a rectangular piece of fabric that has a thicker absorbent middle. These can be folded different ways to add absorbency or comfort for baby. This is by far the cheapest route for cloth diapering but it does have a bit of a learning curve. Prefolds have to be folded and then fastened with either a pin or a nifty little thing called a snappi. When i am at home i will use a prefold fastened with a snappi and no cover on my daughter it lets her breathe without peeing all over my floor. My daughter is in prefolds with no cover when ever she isn't sleeping or out and about. So They also have no water proof outer layer so they need a waterproof cover if you are using
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| My daughter Skye in her prefold fastened with a snappi. |
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| Fitted diaper with snap closure. |
-Fitteds
These are diapers with no water proof outer layer but are made up of many layers of absorbent fabrics. These do need a cover for using them overnight or for long periods between changes but many people find them absorbent enough to go without a cover during the day. These normally have some type of fastener such as snaps or aplix[velcro] and are shaped like a diaper so there is no folding invloved. I currently have one fitted diaper that i made out of a prefold but i am waiting for the oppurtunity to get myself a few poopsiedoodle fitteds.
Now diapers like prefolds and fitteds have no waterproof outer layer so you will need to use a cover over them but again there are several options to choose from.
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| Wool cover in shortie style. |
-Wool
Alot of people prefer wool because it is very breathable but it can be hard to care for sometimes. You will need to lanolize your wool cover before use, this entails filling a bowl with very hot water and melting lanolin on top of the water and washing your wool in it until it absorbs the lanolin. This makes your wool water resistant. You must hand wash your wool with a wool wash and hang it to dry. The benefits of wool is that it is extremly light and airy on babys skin and helps to prevent rashes because of its breathability. Also, wool soakers come in many different styles such as pants[longies], skirts[skirties], and shorts[shorties]. these covers require no fasteners because they are often just a pull up style.
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| PUL cover with snap closures. |
-PUL
PUL is the same fabric that is sewn onto the outsides of AIO's, AI2's, and pockets. It is polyester that has been lined with polyurethane. The upside is that it is easy to care for, all you do is wash with your dipes and hang dry. But it has little breath-ability and it can trap moisture if baby is not changed as often as they should be. These covers also have snap or aplix fastening options.
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| plastic pants with nylon hem |
It is exactly what it sounds like. It looks like a tiny pair of pull up underwear except they are made of plastic. These are the cheapest covers to buy but they are not very good for babys skin and they are not very comfortable because the hemming along the edges is often done with a waterproof nylon that can be very abrasive on babys skin. Also, unlike the PUL which offers some air flow these will offer almost none. So when you are using these you will have to be very diligent about changing baby often. And make sure your baby has a little bit of diaper free time everyday, even just 5-10 minutes of air can help a lot.
I will be linking with the pistachio project.
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