the great diaper debate

since depleting my interest in diaper bags, i have moved on to a new and much more important research endeavor: diapers.

disposable diapers bother me. they smell gross (i hate that fake covering up poo smell scent). they're crinkly. and expensive, holy moly. and then i read that they stay in the landfill for 500 years. that is just wrong. "idiocracy," anyone?! the landfill mountains??

so i started looking into cloth diapers, spending hours and hours (im not even exaggerating) trying to decide (which is hard to do without a bum to try them on, since obviously the fergenjaegs will not be here for another 2 weeks or so...) what kind i'm going to like the best.

so what really sounds attractive to me is an "all-in-one" diaper, that you use basically like a disposable, just put it on baby til it needs changed, take it off and toss in pail, put on new one... all the absorbant layers are built right in. easy as pie. except that they cost the most, you have to have lots of them to diaper for a full day or 2 full days. and with lots of layers, can be harder to wash, take longer to dry, etc. I do have BumGenius's organic all-in-one and Sposoeasy's all-in-one on my try-it list.

but here and there i am finding what is called either a "hybrid" or an "all-in-two" - which is like an all-in-one only the absorbant part snaps in or lays right on top, so you can remove it when its soiled, but REUSE the outer part if that part is still dry and clean. SO much less laundry. and similar to a cover over a prefold, only NO folding or pinning.

there are a few "brand name" cloth diaper companies that make this kind of diaper, Drybees and Swaddlebees being two I'd like to try - and some even have biodegradeable/flushable absorbant inserts, so if you go out for the day and dont want to carry poopy cloth around in your bag, you dont have to. GroBaby is at the top of my list of dipes to try that have a flushable insert option.

but what i am really loving, is that several of even the brand name makers out there are just a bunch of WAHM's (work at home moms) sewing diapers for a better environment, healthier baby, and sharing their crafty genius with the rest of us. which led me to check out www.diaperswappers.com - which then led me to (and i should have thought of this myself, shame on me...)

etsy!

and etsy has its own cloth diaper club, www.etsyclothdiapers.com. and in paging thru the listings, there are lots of great handmade WAHM diapers out there. cute and affordable stuff. but one in particular really caught my attention: Urban Fluff's iCandy system.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/urbanfluff
http://www.urbanfluffblog.blogspot.com

its a cover in cute custom fabrics, with a snap in waterproof liner (keep the oshkosh's dry), and a multilayer absorbant insert that can be taken out when baby needs changed, and replaced with a new one, while reusing the same cover. since its in pieces, you only wash the parts that are dirty. and since its not a "pocket diaper" you dont have to spend lots of time stuffing inserts into pockets, or stick your hand down into an icky pocket opening.

i really think even jj will be able to use this one. and lots of cute prints to choose from, since its from a crafty WAHM ;) no boring solids!! fergenjaegs will run around in nothing but his skivvies!!!