here’s my immediate feedback by brand and then overall — click through if you are curious about cloth diaper reviews

i should note that the ones i’m using are all pocket diapers and all are snap waists since i refuse to use velcro (not only is it loud and catches on things but after time it wears out)

Fuzzibunz
back loading and the sizing is done by adjusting the elastic in the legs. i knew right off this was going to be a pain in the ass, and adjusting them enough times until we got the fit right was. other than that one of them seems to have some peeling or something in the PUL layer but i’m taking it back to the store to get their thoughts on it and i assume they’ll just replace it.

Bumgenius
(back loading) i like that the tabs where the snaps are is a little bit stretchy so you can really get a good custom fit. these are the only ones where the fleece doesn’t go all the way to the front, there’s about an inch of “waterproof” fabric on the top edge that i’m not crazy about but seems to be a non-issue functionally.

OhKaty
(front loading) we’ve only had one leak and it was in one of these but i’m sure it had more to do with user error than the quality of the diapers. that being said i’ve already ordered more of these because they have the best color palette, easily. for some reason i found these harder to load with the inserts than the others (smaller width?)

Charlie Banana
(front loading) i like how the outer layer of these isn’t nearly as stiff as the other brands. not sure if that’s good or bad in the long run but it makes me assume they’re more comfy to wear because of that. they also have the elastic sizing on the inside.

Blueberry
(back loading) these contained a major blowout sometime in the early morning on top of a 11hr+ pee diaper, not saying the rest can’t do that because i don’t know, but i was majorly impressed.

overall
- changing his diapers every 2hrs (or sooner if poop happens) and the wicking microfleece seem to be helping his rash go away. thankbabyjesus.
- i’ve learned not to wear rings when stuffing diapers, i feel like it kept catching on the PUL layer and possibly snagging it
- stuffing them in general is not a fun task
- lots of laundry because you have to wash diapers/inserts every 2 days but it’s like a rainbow of colors so it’s kinda fun
- i’ve had to clean poops out of the cloth diapers on many occasions and it’s really not a big deal nor is it as much of a hassle as i thought it would be.
- that being said you have to make sure to get it out of the creases in the leg openings because the washer will not get rid of any residue there
- as for the diapers themselves i definitely prefer the backloading because when unloading the front ones you’re basically sticking your hand into a pee puddle. front loading may be a better option for girls.
- surprisingly after a few days it was clear that i prefer the elastic sizing. main reason: when you’re trying to diaper a squirmy baby you do it FAST and when you pull on the snap size diapers too hard they come unsnapped.
- all these pocket diapers come with 2 inserts, during the day we could probably use one in each diaper but i just keep using two just in case. it’s a bit bulky but i also don’t worry about leaks because of this.
- i was tipped off by a great new Mom blogger about SunBaby diapers which are pretty much Bumgenius generics straight from China. i ordered a bulk supply of those since they’re about $12 cheaper PER DIAPER. other than those will be stocking up on Fuzzibunz since they’re probably my namebrand favorites because they’re elastic and backloading but they’re also one of the priciest ones we tried.

the other items i procured as part of the cloth diaper process are this wet/dry bag which is AWESOME and holds all smells in and can also be used when we travel, bamboo inserts for overnight diapers, and diaper liners which i have yet to actually catch any poo in but *fingers crossed* someday will. for detergent we’re using Arm & Hammer Free since it’s good for HE machines and i’ll soon be getting my poop sprayer (see comment about bad timing with liners above).

so that’s it for now… will update again after we’ve been cloth diapering for a month or longer.