so many choices?

Alicia - posted on 12/18/2011

I have a blog post that talks a lot about getting started with cloth diapering: http://www.greenlifestyleconsulting.com/...

This paragraph from it is very relevant to your question, but I have answers to questions on EVERYthing on there.
I highly recommend that you try to find out if you have a brick and mortar store near you where you can walk in and touch and feel cloth diapers and discuss them with a professional. If not, there are many places to buy them online. I have recently been pointed to another on-line trial program at a Site called Jillian's Drawers. She has "Changing Diapers, Changing Minds Program" that is very similar to the Diaper Lab's program, only you don't choose what diapers, they send you their suggested package. This program has a $10 charge.

Jordan - posted on 12/10/2011

Personally I am an advocate of the FLIP system. It is great for newborns to toddlers. Never had a problem with leaks or anything. I would stay away from the Econobum covers because they do not work well on an infant or small baby. The Econobum inserts are great for when your baby gets to walking or a toddler because they hold more than the FLIP Inserts. BUt the FLip inserts are perfect for when they are baby/infants because they are smaller and not as bulky. I would say you need 8-10 diapers a day for a newborn and 6-8 for when they are walking. So I average at 8 a day. If you choose to wash everyday then you only need 1 1/2 days of diapers. I was every 2-3 days, so I would get 24 diapers. That will get you 2-3 days of diapers depending on the babies output. Never mix diaper creams with cloth diapers. It is not good for the Cloth Diapers and you will have to strip them to get it out. I recommend stripping your diapers every 3-6 months in hot water with dawn. Also I wash one cold cycle with detergent and vinegar, then one hot wash with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to kill bacteria in washer and in diapers. Line Dry is best for diapers and the Sun works as a natural bleach. But if you choose to put your diapers in the dryer I would most definitely use the hydrogen peroxide in my hot wash. That will keep rashes down. For us, we started using cloth wipes too. I made mine, you can buy them too. Some friends I have use wash cloths and fold them in half in the plastic container. The wipe solution I use is 2 cups water, 1/8 cup Olive Oil, 5 drops Tea Tree Oil, 5 drops Lavender Oil. The Oils are great for the skin and are anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. Since we have started using the wipe solution we have had 0 rashes. Also, the wipe solution is great for clearing up runny noses. If you use a spray bottle or choose to soak your wipes just wipe their nose with another cloth or a wipe and it clears up that day. Pretty awesome stuff. Hope you get it all figured out for you guys!

Cyndel - posted on 08/29/2011

Um wow...didn't realize it was that long! Congratualtions on your baby! Kuddo's to you if you can actually make since of anything I wrote!

Cyndel - posted on 08/29/2011

The best thing for preventing rashes is either a flat, prefold, or fitted with wool cover (the fitteds would be easy). As the wool provides more air flow, and prevents heat rash.
AIO (just like a disposable, they have a waterproof outer usually Poly Urithane Laminate fabric known as PUL, hidden soaker layer which can be cotton, hemp, bamboo, microfiber, or Zorb, and usually a stay dry cloth next to babies skin) are good for out in town or when your really busy but take a long time to dry, Some AIO's like bitti d'lish diapers have their soaker layer as a doubler/liner sewn on one end to the diaper for a much quicker dry time.
Snap in ones take time to prepare unlike the AIO but all you do is snap in the soaker layer and place on baby, I love the 2-3 that I have!
Pockets take a little more time to prepare then the Snap in Ones but they tend to be the favorite because you can stuff them with as many inserts as you need for out to town, long car rides or bed time. The stuffing makes prep time a little longer per diaper but totally worth it!
Then you have diapers that need a cover...flats, prefolds, contours, and fitteds.
Flats are the oooold fashioned diapers just a single layer...sometime double layer....piece of fabric that you have to fold up to fit baby, there are several tutorials on how to fold these on you tube, type in 'how to fold a flat cloth diaper' with either 'origami style' or 'Kite style' at the end you'll get some good video's! I love flats with wool for bed time!
Prefolds are the Gerber style cloth diapers you can buy at Wal-mart, DO NOT BUY THE GERBER BRAND! They have quilting batting in the center and are awful! and some babies have an allergic reaction to the batting. You can find Diaper Service quality prefolds on Ebay for great deals by the lot of 50-100 diapers. Green Mountain Diapers has good prefolds as well! You will need to learn to fold these, there are a whole lot of way to fold these, angle wings fold, jelly roll (my favorite and even incorporate it into the kite fold that I use for flats), newspaper roll, the bikini twist (great for girls as it puts a lot of fabric between the legs where most of girls pee will be, also great for crawling babies as it allows more freedom of movement). Again you can find all of these folds demonstrated on you tube.
Contours are just like prefolds but instead of being a rectangle that you need to fold it is an hour glass shape that you can easily place on baby with out a whole lot of fuss.
All three of the diapers I mentioned above need some way to close them, some people use safety pins Green Mountain diapers has some great locking safety pins, I use a snappy, if you look at any of the you tube video's showing how to fold flats or prefolds you will probably be shown a snappy and how it works...basically if you have used an ace bandage any time recently you know the little metal piece with teeth that holds the bandage on...it is the same concept. www.pootersdiapers.com has these for sale for a great price...also their how-to-guides are awesome and provide a few video links to you tube.
Lastly is the fitteds, these are just like AIO's except they
don't have a water proof outer and need a PUL or Wool cover. They snap, or Velcro, sometimes though not often they have no closure and you have to pin them or use a snappy on them. I love my fitteds...and they are just so darn cute!
Now for the covers:
Rubber pants...as in the Gerber rubber pants...not a good idea. They allow no air flow and cause heat rashes, and are uncomfortable around babies poor legs.
PUL covers, like thirsties or Bummies are great, they are gentle around the legs, the snap or Velcro shut. They breath but are water proof, and come in very cute colors and patterns, I love Thirsties Trees pattern cover!
There is fleece, yes fleece, you can use fleece pull on cover, shorties or longies, the cover only covers the diaper, the shorties cover the diaper but are basically a pair of fleece shorts and are so cute, Longies are fleece pants. Fleece breaths and his water resistant, it works similarly to wool but is much cheaper...I use it but not as much as my wool.
Wool is AWESOME! Wool when properly lanolized...basically putting the natural oils that make wool so water resistant and wonderful back into the wool after it has been used for a while...it can hold up to 40% of its weight in moisture before 'wicking' it onto other fabrics around it. Once it feels damp you just lay it out and let it dry and reuse...it has antimicrobial elements to it that keep it sanitary. You can use it 1-2 weeks depending on how often you use it before cleaning and re-lanolizing it. I can stretch it to three weeks sometimes because I only use it at night as I only have one wool cover right now and I prefer wool for night times, But when I had two covers before baby out grew them I used then all the time at home and almost never made it past 10 days before needing to re-lanolize.
www.pootersdiapers.com has a wonderful article on how wool works and caring for it in their How-to guides!

If you want some brands to look at and compare go to http://allaboutclothdiapers.com Autumn Beck owns this site and has a wonderful amount of info on all things diapering!
http://www.theecofriendlyfamily.com is also a wonderful center for cloth diaper information!
Good luck with your cloth diapering! I love it and I hope you find what works for you!