all in one diapers vs.pre folded?

Rebecca - posted on 11/16/2009

I'm a big fan of all-cotton -- easiest to keep clean, best on baby's skin (in my experience). Check out www.greenmountaindiapers.com for LOTS of options with all-natural fibers, including prefolds, fitteds, and AIOs.



I have a couple AIOs from GMD, but our stash is mostly PFs (with a few fitteds that I mostly use when we're out of the house). I don't feel that PFs are more trouble to put on baby when we're at home, using Snappis. Of course, I do have a very cooperative husband who dove right into CDing and learned how to use a Snappi and do all the different folds! The benefits of PFs are many...easy to wash, can be used as burp cloths and doublers as baby grows, and of course they are a very cheap option. Even if you mostly use pocket or AIO dipes, you will probably want to have some high quality PFs for wash day or to use if baby has diarrhea (much easier to clean/sanitize).

Jen - posted on 10/21/2009

my vote: prefolds. Even better? Gro Baby. So easy to clean, and the ease of an all-in-one, and cheaper than all-in-ones. Check 'em out. They are very trim! Might work for your baby.

Samantha - posted on 10/21/2009

I love prefolds. Their cost is a lot less than AIO and Pockets, they dry faster and take up less space in the storage area.



Cons-Many fear them during diaper changes because they require some folding and pinning (unless you use snappies), don't hold as much pee and may cause a problem if your child pees a lot at once-that's when doublers come in handy. Or you can do like we do and have pocket diapers so that grandparents and sitters can change diapers, and you can use when the child sleeps at night.



I recommend trying several different brands because the fits are all different and your life style will be different from everyone elses. See what works for you and your child.

Hannah - posted on 10/21/2009

I love my Bambino Mio Prefolds! I am now using them on my second child. The main advantage I found was that you only need a few covers, then can choose the number of cloth inners you want (depending on how often you want to have to wash them- I got 20 and wash a load every other day). They also dry really quickly. The downside is that baby sitters could never get the knack of them as they do take practice to fold - only takes a day of use for a parent to learn, but I took pity on the babysitters who couldn't get their heads around them, and let them use disposables....

You can get lots of different size of cover from birth to potty, but I found I didn't need every size, I managed with just 3 of the sizes, and the velcro cover adjusted to fit a wider age range than advertised, and only needed 2 sizes of inner, plus some booster pads for when older.



Never tried any others as never had to. You'll find most mums feel really passionately about the ones they have used and liked, it's a 'baby brain' thing, lol.

Jenny - posted on 10/16/2009

I would agree to purchase a variety if you can. We purchased prefolds to begin with, cause they are the cheapest. We used them for several months before we had to stop cause our son had constant diaper rash cause he was always wet in a prefold. We really liked them though, we used snappis with them and bummis super whisper pants and wraps. When we switched, we got fuzzi bunz and haven't gotten any others. We're on a limited budget, so as much as I wanted to get one of each and try them, we just couldn't afford it. We have been very happy with fuzzi bunz, they keep his bum dry and they're very easy to clean (they are a pocket diaper). You can buy anything to stuff in it, even dish towels if you're desperate. :) We used microfiber towels from target, then we saved up enough to buy inserts (we have a heavy wetter, so the standard inserts didn't work for more than an hour). I like the inserts much better as far as stuffing goes, fewer steps than folding the towels, but they both work. good luck.

Jessica - posted on 10/07/2009

My husband and I both had a difficult time with prefolds because of the folding. We gave up on those after our little girl was just a couple weeks old. His favorites are AIOs because they are so easy. They were also my favorites until we realized they were causing our little girl's frequent diaper rash. We've had to switch to fitteds with wool covers because they provide more airflow which has helped eliminate the rash problem. I really like using the fitteds. They are just as easy to put on as AIOs, with just one short extra step (compared to AIOs) of also putting on the wrap. I find them easier to wash because they dry more quickly. You may receive an overload of suggestions and opinions because what it really comes down to is personal preference. We were thankfully advised to purchase a variety of CDs in the beginning in order to figure out which worked best for us and our baby. I'd recommend doing the same. Best of luck!

Erica - posted on 10/06/2009

Personally, I hate prefolds. I've never used them on my own child, but the girl I nannied for had primarily those. They were bulky, awkward, and difficult to get on a child that would rather run off before the diaper went on. Squirmy babies and prefolds aren't always a great mix. While my son would probably be fine with them because he sits patiently for diapers, a more squirmy child would be difficult.

My personal preference is contours or fitted diapers because they're significantly less bulky than prefolds. They may not be as nice as pockets, but they're my preference even after having used both. With pockets there's too many steps of preparation involved and I can't remember to stuff them. I love AIOs, even though they do take longer to dry because they're easy and require so little work.

I think the best thing to do is try as many as you can and find out what works best for you and your baby. After all, every child is different. Fitted diapers with snaps worked best for my son because he'd undo pretty much everything else by the time he was 6 months. The girl I nannied for did best with pockets and AIOs because she was rather active and would never want to lay still long enough for me to get the diaper on her. There's also the consideration of certain kinds of diapers being bulkier than others, which may change the size or style of clothing you have to buy. Some require covers and others don't, so that's something to take into consideration. Sometimes covers can become part of an outfit, such as the case with longies and shorties. Just give some consideration to everything and what will work best for you.

Kimberly - posted on 10/05/2009

I really agree with Mary, there are pros and cons for both and that's why we have a stash that includes just about every kind of diaper made! :) (Obsessive?) I have never been a huge fan of all-in-ones, but they are the diapers my husband tends to use most when he's doing a change, so I always keep 2 or 3 (that's honestly all I need for this situation...) in our stash. I've spent most of my son's time in diapers (he's 17 months now and just *beginning* potty training) being a big fan of either pockets (which we use for naps and nights because they can be super stuffed with extra inserts, or daytime running around because with a single insert they fit trimly under clothing) and prefolds, for the reasons Mary mentioned. Prefolds are very flexible and I'm a huge fan of wool soaker covers. Now that Henry is starting to potty train, we've discovered the world of fitteds (like Kissaluvs and Kiwi Pie, but there are soooooooo many more!) with a wool cover. He seems to be able to get these kind on and off a bit easier (and so can I) when we're trying to rush a visit to the "bobby." (That's what he calls it.) I'm planning to buy quite a few fitteds for the baby I'm expecting in December, because they seem quite handy and still let me use my wool covers that I make and love so much. You can do a lot of diaper research at a site like this: http://www.diaperpin.com/home.asp which has lots of reviews and listings of shops, or I really like to research diapers at this retail website: http://www.kellyscloset.com/ because she carries so darn many different brands of diapers and the customers leave excellent reviews, which help me select what I want to try next.



My biggest piece of advice is that you shouldn't feel like you have to choose one style of diaper and then buy 2 dozen of just that. Although it is much more confusing for my husband (I try to keep a basket on the changing table of "easy to use" dipes just for him) to have a wide variety, I can't imagine not having all different types of dipeys for all different types of situations. Plus I think it's just more fun. :) I also think the wide variety helps keep you covered as your baby grows. I buy some "perfect fit" type diapers, like Kissaluvs fitteds or Fuzzi Bunz perfect fit, and then also one-size diapers that last all through, like bumGenius 3.0 pockets, or Blueberry pockets (my absolute fave, but hard on the budget...) And then of course our standard old prefolds are always there for us. :) Have fun!

Mary - posted on 10/03/2009

It all depends on what you are looking for. AIOs are loved by a lot of people because they are easy to use (especially for babysitters, dad's, grandparents, etc) but they can be expensive to buy and have a longer drying time in your drier. I don't like them that much because they don't have as much flexibility as, say, a pocket diaper where I can stuff it heavier at nap time and lighter for awake time.



PFs are lovely b/c you can fold them how you need them (more up front for a boy, roll in at the crotch for containing BF poo, etc), they are cheap, you can sun stains out whenever you need to, can use for all kinds of baby messes and then later for dusting, clean, etc.



Keep in mind there are more diapers than AIOs and PFs. There are pocket diapers (cover built on), pocket fitteds (use with a cover), fitteds (with a cover), All-in-twos, birdseye flat diapers, one-size diapers and tie diapers. I feel like I am forgetting something, but I am sure someone else will post to add on information!