There are a few different kinds of cloth diapers, and some are better than others. We have the old school kind as well as fancy ones. Old school are of course the cheapest....they are called pre-folds and are basically just a piece of absorbent cloth with a few extra layers of cloth sewed in the middle. Very early on I needed to start doubling up and use two pieces of cloth...my baby was soaking through them too quickly otherwise. We didn't pay for these, but they cost around $75-100 for 4 dozen. (Gerber brand) They are nice to just have on hand when I run out of my fancy ones.

Here's how you go about folding the lil suckers:

Lay it flat.



Fold in the sides on an angle, so it tapers in. The wide end will be at the back of your baby.



The last step is to fold down the back as much as you need to. I don't do this with Eva anymore because she is long enough, but if your baby isn't then fold the back down.



I found this awesome contraption called a Snappi to use instead of pins. I never run the risk of poking my baby and I can do it up in about 3 seconds (for two it cost about $5):



So now that your cloth is folded, you've got to get it on your baby. Slide the wide end under the baby's bum. Bring the tapered end up through their legs.



There will be little flap things that form at the sides, so grab those and hold them in place like this:





Take your Snappi, and grip the teeth into one side of the cloth:



Stretch it across and hook the teeth into the other side:




Then stretch and hook the bottom:



It will look like this when you are done:



You are now going to need a cover over top of the diaper. These are Kushies brand and quite easy to put on because of the velcro. It basically does up like a disposable would:





These are Gerber brand and go on like panties. Not hard to put on, but not as easy to take off once the cloth is soaked in pee:





Your baby will have a little bit of a blubber butt, since they are bulkier than disposables. But...whatever.

These are not my favorite cloth diaper, since they do leak a bit easier. But my baby does wear disposables the odd time, and she has leaked in those too sometimes. So I would say they are only slightly leakier than disposables.

My favorite cloth diaper is called "One-size Bumgenius 2.0" (I think they have even upgraded to 3.0 now!). It is a kind of cloth diaper called an all-in-one. Usually when you buy fitted cloth diapers you have to buy them in sizes...you have to buy at least a dozen small, then medium, then large, so this is when it would cost you upwards of $600. The beauty of these puppies is that they size up and down from extra small to large. I think the size is 7lbs-35lbs. So you only need to buy your diapers once (whether that is 12 or more). I recommend getting at least 12. They would last longer and you would have to do less laundry if you got more. These are expensive and cost about $20 per diaper...but if you only buy 12 then it will only cost you $240. They are brilliant diapers because they have velcro stretch tabs like a disposable, they leak less because of the elastic gathered legs, and you don't actually have to touch a wet cloth.

Putting them on is easy....if you know how to put on a disposable, you are good to go! Just to show you how easy, here are some pics:





People are really great when you have a baby, and a lot of people will ask what you still need. These are what I asked for! You can only find them online, but if the person wants to buy them as a gift for you, they can just go online, order them, and have them sent to your house. It's really nice! I have had great service from this site. I have also found this site to be the cheapest and have ordered from them as well (although I noticed they are under construction right now).

There are of course other types of cloth diapers, but these are the only two I know from experience. The Bumgenius 2.0 is absolutely my favorite, but it is nice to have the old school ones around when I run out of Bumgenius and am doing laundry. My friend Carla tried another brand of all-in-ones as well as the Bumgenius, and liked Bumgenius better.

For the dirty job of washing these babies, check out Washin' the Lil Guys