Fluff Talk Thursday!

Cloth diapers! Earth Day! What a wonderful combination! 
Do you know how long a disposable diaper takes to completely degrade in a land fill?500 years! Yes, I said 500.  Did you know that? I can't imagine what people are going to think thousands of years from now.  
Do you know how long an average cloth diaper takes to degrade in a land fill? 0 years! I say 0 years because you can reuse them most times through multiple children.  Cloth diapers today are so simple to use and are extremely well made!
What cloth diapers have I tried and what do I think about them? (This is going to take a while.)
My first cloth diaper I ever tried was gDiapers but, I must admit they were not "cloth" they were still disposable diapers.  Well, not really disposable in the traditional sense of the word. gDiapers are hybrid cloth diapers.  They have a cloth diaper outside cover that is washable with an inside waterproof liner that houses a  disposable "pad".  These diapers really lead me down the path to modern cloth diapers I use today!

Next I made my own fitted diapers from adorable flannels. Love those and still use those today! I attempted a few covers on my own however, they did not fit very long and I found that they were made much better from a few WAHM I found on Etsy and eBay! I used these type of diapers for almost 5 months before I decided to try some pocket diapers.

My first pocket diaper was bumGenius.  I bought them from diapers.com and pretty much got them "free"! I was impressed with them, really, I was! I only had a couple so I would rotate them through my own made fitted and sometimes would use them as covers over the fitted ones. They worked great.  

Next I ventured into prefolds because I thought they were more simple and frankly, I wanted to see how they worked out.  Loved them too.  They are one of my favorite systems for out and about because they are more compact taking up much less space in my ever shrinking diaper bag! I purchased my prefolds on diaper swappers and got an awesome deal.  Mostly I use them folded in thirds and laid into whatever cover matches my daughters outfit for the day. I can usually get by with one cover since she really messes off the prefold.  Sometimes I need a bit more reassurance in the prefold's ability to hold in a particularly messy poop so, I Snappi it on then use a cover.

I discovered many other cloth diapers through entering contests on various blogs, winning a few.  I won FuzziBunz, GroBaby, Kissaluvs Marvels, Softbums and some Etsy made cloth diapers.  My favorite concept in cloth diapers it the GroBaby system however, it does not seem to hold in the messes for me and I have yet have to opportunity to use a cover more than once before washing it.  

My absolute favorite diaper is the Softbums diaper system.  they have an incredibly absorbent and soft snap in liner that is sort of double the absorbency when folded down in the front to fit your little one.  My favorite part of this system is that it is completely adjustable and usable form birth to potty training.  I have made this diaper small enough to successfully fit onto one of my daughters baby dolls that is slightly smaller than an average newborn.  The amazing drawstring adjustable elastics in the legs and cross over velcro make them so simple to use.  Also, they are super trim and fit under everything my daughter wears especially jeans! My only wish is to purchase more so I can fully use this system when out and about.  I just don't have enough liners to make it through a day out or I would! 
Now that I have briefed you on what is good about cloth diapers, head out and save the planet this Earth Day 2010 and consider changing your baby's diapers to cloth.  The planet and your babies bum will thank you! :o)