Cloth Diapers Rock: Daycare, 11 ish lbs

In my prior cloth diaper post, I mentioned how One Size AIO/Pocket type diapers didn’t really fit Will when he was 0-10 lbs. Well my friends, they still aren’t the best. Will has some skinny legs. Janet and I rejoice over anything on his thigh that even slightly resembles a roll! You might ask, well, why are they using one size instead of sized? I know I could use sized, but both cost and hassle wise, that wouldn’t make sense either. I didn’t/don’t want to have to figure out what to do with a complete stash of x or y size every time he grows out of it. I might be making my way over to the dark side on a two size system though. What I didn’t mention in my prior post was how much I hated pocket diapers even before Will was born. Stuffing and remembering which insert goes with what diaper is annoying. You will see these themes in my reviews.

Onward to daycare info. When sending a kid to daycare in cloth, one must remember two key things: Always be grateful the daycare will use them and keep it VERY simple. Using these two principles I have two categories of diapers: Pre daycare and daycare.

Definitions:

Pre-daycare diaper: Right before we walk out the door, I put him in a diaper that is easy for the daycare to take off. These diapers usually have snaps that took me a minute or two to figure out when I first tested them on Will, so I wouldn’t want daycare to have to deal with them.

Daycare diapers: Diapers that are both easy to put on and take off, almost always Aplix/Velcro/hook & loop and occasionally the easiest of snaps.

My reviews of diapers of each category

Pre-Daycare Only Diapers

Fuzzibunz: Of all the pocket diapers, these have fit Will best all along thanks to the adjustable legs. It’s a pocket, so I still hate stuffing it, but it is easier to (un)stuff than most others. This is pre daycare only because the snaps aren’t particularly easy to deal with or adjust. These come in pretty nifty colors and have never leaked for us.

BumWear: These diapers are beautiful (batik prints!) and fit well! I hate to cover these up because they are so cute and incredibly soft on the inside. They aren’t the easiest to use due to lots of snaps and the stuffing is a pain, but they work really well. They roll down in the front for the newborn phase, snap down in the rise and have leg snaps so you can adjust the size of the leg. Along with the adjustable leg, they have an inner gusset that seems to be great at holding in infamous EBF poop and have never leaked

Pre-Daycare and Daycare Diapers:

Bumgenius 3.0 and 4.0: Super easy diaper with the aplix, pain to stuff, super absorbent, but occasionally leak around the legs. I hate the pastel colors.

Flips: This is an all in two diaper versus a pocket and isn’t a pain to (un)stuff by any means. It is essentially a snapping cover a BumGenius Sized soaker lays in. Like the BG, it’s been known to leak around the legs. This is one of the only snapping systems we send because the snaps are very basic to figure out (no overlaying). Theoretically, we could probably send extra soakers with this instead of more diapers because the cover wipes clean- but as it leaks around the legs, why bother. The colors available on these are a little nicer.

GroBaby: Another all in two. This one we had high hopes for as I adore the aplix/Velcro type stuff and the idea of being able to just change the soaker if it was a pee diaper. It is easy to snap in/out the soakers and thus you have to touch less pee/poop when washing. Unfortunately, we’ve yet to have a diaper where the pee or poop didn’t get on the cover. Apparently the GroVia’s have a layer of PUL now so you can wipe them off. They’ve also been known to leak around the legs.

Happy Heinys: See Bumgenius description. Two additional pros for these though: better colors and made in the U.S.

Kissaluvs Marvel One Sized All in One: Coolest diaper ever. This diaper has a soaker that’s attached. Instead of having to pull it out to wash, it flips out on its own. The only slight annoyance is having to flip it back in after it washes, but I’m more willing to do it because I didn’t have to figure out which soaker goes with it or put my hand in a dirty diaper to pull it out to wash. While it has snaps, they are easy to use. This diaper is sized generously and occasionally leaks around the legs. I think in a few pounds I will love this diaper. These get extra points for decent colors and being made in Texas.

Thirsties Duo Diaper size 1: These diapers make me want to cross over to the dark side. They are a two size diaper system: Size one is ~6 to 18 lbs and size 2 is 18+. I bought one on a whim because I love love love Thirsties Duo Diaper Covers. Not only are these easy to use just like the covers, but the diaper has an opening on each end, so you can throw the diaper into the wash and the insert agitates itself out! Thanks to the size 1 generally being cut trimmer and the adjustable rise, these always fit. They never leak thanks to the double gussets. They are also the trimmest of the bunch and work well under the G.ap jeans Grandma bought. These get extra points for colors and being made in the U.S.

All in all, I’m not ready to write off any of these diapers. For the reduced ick and work factor, I’m heavily leaning towards the Kissaluvs and Thirsties.

Packing the daycare bag
My bag always includes: 

• Two changes of clothes
• Two Wetbags- one with 6 clean diapers, one empty and ready for clean diapers. I really really adore Planetwise zippered bags. I have 4 of those and 2 Thirsties mini duffels. I bought so many knowing that at some point I would get behind on laundry. 

Feel free to share your experiences with me! Have I missed any of your favs?