diaper styles, aplix vs. snaps and how i feel about OS diapers....

remember way back when i hosted my very first blog event - Fluff Fun?  the whole reasoning behind the destash and restash of our diaper.... stash.... was to replace diapers that weren't working for us that i had purchased in my cloth diapering naivety with diapers that would serve us better for a longer period of time.  since Fluff Fun went live, i've won several other diaper giveaways and reviewed a few more.  i even have a couple of diaper reviews coming up during a month long event celebrating amelia's first birthday next month!!

so i decided to give you my take on the difference in diaper styles, options and sizing.  i wish i could have found better reads on cloth diapering when i first began my quest for them before amelia was born, but i had yet to be introduced to the blogging world, twitter, and all that is the cloth diapering obsession.  literally, i was totally on my own. 

not to completely bash brands - but several people have asked me what brand we destashed.  so here's the skinny..... when i was, oh, about two months along, i decided to cloth diaper.  i have absolutely no idea why because i didn't have any guidance in this {i was Pamper-ed as was my younger sister, all my cousins, pretty much every friend i know to date} and therefore had no idea what to look for.  one day i saw that JULIA ROBERTS cloth diapered..... heck yeah!  and by me saying that JR cloth diapered.... i mean that her nannies cloth diapered her children at her discretion.  anyway - she used gDiapers and they were adorable!  thus, i was introduced to cloth diapers.... hybrids at that. 

i loved the fact you could flush the inserts, but it wasn't even economical over disposables at almost 42 cents per diaper change.  caleb was not going to go for that.  around the time we were preparing to buy, gDiapers came out with their gCloth, a cloth insert for their hybrid diapers and i was sold.  i bought over $800 {eight hundred dollars} of gPants, gCloth and liners, along with a few packs of inserts for camping, long trips, etc.... that would hopefully last us from birth to potty training.  yeah.... right.  we dealt with terrible leaking and repelling {oh my naivety.... Tide is not my friend}, and even after finding my now dear friend Rockin Green Soap, the diapers still weren't what we needed, let alone a horrible overnight diaper solution.  we were still stuck buying disposable diapers.

enter Fluff Fun.  i got a ton of great new diapers to review based on cherished recommendations from friends in town and a few diapers i had never heard of but now completely adore.  some of the diapers didn't work for us, but most were wonderful - and best of all, we are now able to cloth diaper full-time, including overnight and at the pool!  since this great event {that i was thrilled to share with all of you!}, we've increased our stash further with more of the diapers that we love and are slowly weeding out the ones we use as "back up" diapers.  maybe an auction is in the near future??

during the restash, i decided to try as many diaper brands, styles and options as possible.  we now have over 50 diapers {holy moly} that range from hybrids to double stuffed pockets to inserts and wraps.  i've recently been trying out a few AIO {all-in-one} diapers, and really like the ease of these diapers - but they are more expensive than any other style of diaper.  so here's a few bulleted points i've come up with concerning diaper styles....

• {hybrid} our first take on cloth diapers.  definitely still caleb's favorite choice, especially the grovia AI2 shell sets.  they are simple, pack really well in the diaper bag, and you only have to wash the shell occasionally.  other popular hybrid diapers: Flip, Urban Fluff iCandy, gDiapers
• {pocket} my new favorite! pockets are powerhouses - plain and simple.  while not as "green and crunchy" as other diapers, the most popular pocket insert is made of microfiber and can hold so.much.pee.  we double up two microfiber inserts for a 12 hour diapering experience for amelia {read: bedtime}.  there are other insert options, too.  hemp, bamboo, zorb, cotton/terry, minky.  seriously, the sky is the limit! there are so many pocket diapers on the market, as they are the most used style.  my favorites would have to be the bumGenius 4.0 and doopsy.  other popular pocket diapers: Happy Heiny, Charlie Banana, AppleCheeks
• {AIO} we are somewhat beginners in the realm of AIO diapers, but so far i really love the options!  or lack of options.... this has to be the easiest diaper to use for non-cloth diapering folk, because you don't have to stuff, snap or fold any type of insert.... it's already sewn in.  just slap that diaper on gently put the diaper on your babe and away you go!  my all time favorite AIO is definitely the bumGenius elemental {i'm a recent convert to bumGenius, can ya tell?!}.  it's cute, it's soft and organic and fits amelia really well.  other popular AIO diapers:  GroVia, KissaLuvs, Rumparooz

these are the three styles of diapers that we own, but there are so many more styles out there to choose from -- you can start at the bottom with prefolds and covers, fitteds, countours, wraps.... you can even start changing out standard inserts with higher grade inserts made with more sustainable materials.  the possibilities are endless.

another great option with cloth diapers is the way they close.... you get to choose with most brands!! aplix {velcro} is still my favorite, but only for certain diapers.  i love the aplix on the thirsties and bummis diapers.  it's super strong and has fabulous fold back laundry tabs that actually stay put.  you can also choose snaps.... snaps are a really great option for babes who like to pull at the diaper tabs!  the only downfall is trying to push together so many snaps with a wiggly baby!  you can find many different snap variations - waist snaps, waist and hip snaps, double waist and hip snaps.... the list goes on and on.  each version giving you more play with the fit and snugness of the diaper, but ultimately more grief as your baby fusses, trying to get away and play!  we have plenty of diapers in each option, and it honestly doesn't make a difference to me which one i grab.

when making the decision to buy cloth diapers, you can also choose between sized and one size {OS} diapers.  i'm a big fan of OS because you don't have to purchase more diapers later on down the road.  there are rise snaps along the front of the diaper giving you several inches of adjusment as your child grows. 

now, not all diapers are made equally.... plain and simple.  at ten months old, amelia is in the 90th percentile for height and weight.  she's a big girl.... don't judge her!  all of these one size diapers i got several months ago are starting to get a little.... snug, shall we say?  i'm talking, we've had the rise snaps competely undone for over a month now and still see amel's plumber's crack.  now, i'm not angry per se.... more perturbed, but it's life.  and apparently caleb has noticed, too.  when i mentioned this issue to him last week, he told me he was just waiting for me to bring it up and start asking for new diapers..... he's such a turd.  i did not ask for new diapers, thank you very much.  but, we are going to have to get creative in our final pre-potty training months.

cloth diapering has been a total joy for me, and caleb has been a real sport about it all.  he is good about everything except unstuffing pockets before dropping them in the wetbag {sorry to throw you under the bus there, sweetheart}....  he even changes poopy diapers!!! i must say, that after destashing all of our gDiapers, we did hang on to one very invaluable gProduct {haha... i made that one up!}.... the swish stick!! we have never had a diaper sprayer, so this little doo-dad really made a world of difference for us.  it's hanging right next to the toilet, and gets used several times a day.  *ahem*

i hope that this very wordy overview of some select diapering products will help at least one person.... if you have any questions, please leave a comment and i promise to update with further details, descriptions and answers!!  oh yeah - and if you made it this far, thanks for reading.  you deserve an ice cold coca-cola.... grab one for me too! *wink*