Have you got a question? Don't forget you can either post your question as a comment or submit your question using our Reader Contribution Form.Question: How often do you need to change cloth diapers? With disposables, you could go hours between changes...just curious what the "standard" answer is.
The Geek's Answer: Great Question! This question actually has multiple answers. You can expect to get different lengths of wear out of different methods/styles of cloth diapers and everyone's babies are different, some are heavy wetters and some are not.
In general I would say that cotton prefolds need to be changed more frequently than microfiber/hemp containing diapers. Not necessarily because they are inferior but because without a stay dry liner the moisture is up against the baby's skin making more frequent changing necessary. Changing every 1-2 hours, sometimes less, sometimes more.
Pocket Diapers such as BumGenius, KnickerNappies, GAD, etc. can be customized to suit your needs. One micro or hemp insert might be sufficient for a few hours during the day, doubling them up extends your wear, and really stuffing them good can get your baby through the night without needing a change.
My best advice is trial and error. You can read about some of my experiments with nighttime diapering in an old post HERE. There are a lot of factors that go into finding the right system for you. Experimenting with different inserts, different covers, pockets vs. all-in-ones, fitteds, fleece, hemp...The possibilities are endless and there is no reason why everyone can't find a combination that works for them.
4 comments:
cool! nice info. i have a question. i live in the catskills of ny state & now that the weather is getting chilly, it takes hours & hours or days for my diapers to dry outside. the sun just isnt' hot enough to do it in the short time like the summer months. so, my question is, if i still want to use the sun for killing bacteria and icky stuff, how long should i leave them outside?
thanks!!!
I think one of my favorite parts about cloth diapering is that you can really stuff the pocket diapers if you are going to be in the car or out for a long time where changing a diaper would be hard. My son would always leak through a disposable before I got to it but in his cloth I feel much more at ease.
I love pocket diapers especially at night because I just stuff them as much as diaperly possible. I need no leaks at night!
Julia, great question. I am dedicating this weeks Cloth Diaper Geek post to this question. I found some really interesting info on this topic. You can read all about it on the Blog on Tuesday! Thanks.
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