Apple Cheeks

I recently heard about Apple Cheeks cloth diapers, and was romanced by promises of the trim fit.  We've been testing them out for a couple of weeks now, and the results are in:

1. They are made in Canada, come in cute colors, and have snaps - a plus as far as I'm concerned.

2. They are not that trim.  At least not if you use their inserts.  Compared to the other diapers we've tried, they are comparable to the Happy Heinys, bulkier than the Bum Genious, 3.0, and much bulkier than the G Diapers.  If you use a Fuzzi Bunz hemp insert, they are pretty trim.

3. It is a little harder for me to tell when my daughter's diapers are wet.  With the other pocket diapers, I just stick my hand in the pocket (which is in the very back) to see if the insert is wet.  The Apple Cheeks opens in the middle of the diaper, so it makes it more difficult to do a quick-check.  Per my friend Amrita's advise, I do the smell test to see if there's pee.

4. The fit is great.  I attribute this to the two-size system they have.  One size pocket diapers are extremely bulky on the little ones, and the elastic at the leg holes isn't ideal once the babies are bigger.

5. They are a bit more expensive, and also do not come with free inserts.

Overall rating B+/A-

Update to Cloth Diaper Post

In an older post, I recommended buying fuzzibunz cloth diapers over the bum genius 3.0 diapers, because the fuzzibunz have snaps.  I have to retract that, though, now that bum genius makes a snap, one-size diaper, and they are made here in the US, instead of China (thanks Emma!).  

I am also trying out the G Diaper now that Isla's #2's are not so runny.  The majority of my friends who tried them in the beginning were put off, because the messy poos just smeared all over the place and got on the cloth diaper cover.  All but one switched to fuzzibunz or bum genius, or got fed up with cloth diapers all together.  My friend Anna gave me the remainder of her stash to try, and today is Isla's first day in them.  

Here is what I like about the G Diapers so far:  They are less bulky than the other cloth diapers, either disposable or all-cloth inserts can be used with them, and the pee-only disposable liners can be composted right in our backyard compost.  The test will be once Isla has a messy poo in them, and I will keep you posted on the results.

Cloth Diapers Explained

When I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to try to use cloth diapers for my little one.  The obvious choice for the environment, cloth diapers are SO much easier than I thought they would be - the difficult part was choosing which kind to buy.  Nothing I found online was any real help; there were so many choices.  I ended up kind of trying it all, and after diapering my daughter in cloth for over 10 months this is the scoop:

Once wet, all cloth diapers besides pocket diapers stay wet on your baby's skin.  If you don't want to be changing her diaper every 20 minutes, I'd suggest pocket diapers.  (I do still use pre-folds and fitted diapers with covers at home, when I don't do laundry and run out of the 15 pocket diapers we have).  Pocket diapers keep Baby dry by sucking all the moisture into the inserts, while the fleece lining stays dry against her skin.  They seemed gross to me at first, since you have to remove the inserts - which are full of pee - before tossing into the bin.  You just grab the end of the inserts, though, which is rarely wet, and even when it is, really no big deal.

A sprayer is key.  This contraption hooks onto your toilet, and you use it to spray off the messy poops.  First remove the inserts and toss them in a bin next to your toilet, then spray the poop off of the cover and toss that in the bin as well. (Get one or two wet bags to toss your diapers in when out and about).  Then, when you do laundry, dump the pail in, wash on hot with gentle detergent (I like caldrea in the blue sage or the neroli sea salt), and dry in the dryer or on the line.  

Part of me wishes someone told me to wait until my baby wasn't pooping 12 times a day before I started using cloth.  For anyone who feels cloth diapering might be too much work, or who has a lot (like more kids!) on her hands, I'd say wait to use cloth until your baby gets on the 1-2 poop a day program.  The pee diapers are SO easy, and spraying one or two poop diapers out a day is no biggie.  Once Baby starts eating solid food (at about 6 months) the poops become solid, so you easily shake them into the toilet nine times out of ten.

I like all the pocket diapers I've tried (bum genious 3.0, fuzzibunz, happy heinys), but I do think the fuzzibunz are the best.  If I could trade in all the diapers I have for what I really want right now, I'd have 18 hemp inserts (absorb so much, and are WAY less bulky) and 18 one size fuzzibunz diapers.  You'll need at least a dozen (18 would be ideal), but to be safe you can always just order a couple to try out and get more later on.  Each fuzzibunz diaper comes with a cotton microfiber insert, which works great, but is bulkier than the hemp.  I'd suggest sticking a hemp liner in each diaper underneath the cotton one if your little sweetie is a heavy wetter (like mine!)

Choosing to use cloth diapers is kind of like using a re-fillable water bottle instead of buying hundreds of the plastic, or bringing your own bags to the grocery store.  All of which I'm a huge advocate for.  If you want to take it one step further (I didn't do this, but my lovely friend Amrita told me about it!) you can buy your diapers used off of diaperswappers.com.  Even using them part time helps our planet so much!