Why I love All In One Cloth Diapers
Before you read this, let me just give you a disclaimer: I like all types of cloth diapers. At some point in time, each is my favorite: fitteds, flats, pockets...I don’t discriminate. Now that I’m pregnant, though, my fixation is with all in one diapers because they fit best into my current lifestyle.I never used to buy all in ones because in my experience, they were usually the most expensive diaper. At least they used to be. When I got pregnant while my son was (is) still in diapers, I had no energy to cook, clean, wash laundry, or play with my kids.
Stuffing pocket diapers and folding flats was just too much. I couldn’t keep up. So I
bought a bunch of AIOs, the least expensive ones I could find. We purchased Diaper Rite
and Imagine AIOs. At $10 to$14 apiece, I was able to purchase about 8 of them which
was gave us a grand total of 11 and was enough to keep us going when I was too sick to
stuff or fold diapers.
Now, I’ve discovered that these AIO diapers are the only diapers that really contain my two year old son’s pee. Since he’s older, the volume of his pee has increased, and he has always been a heavy wetter anyway so leaks have been an issue for us since the beginning. I’m glad to have something that is not only easy to use but that contains messes really well.
So, all that said, why do I like them?
1. They can go directly from the wash to the bottom. No multiple steps to worry about.
2. They’re pretty. Both brands come in nice colors and prints.
3. They’re absorbent. They really contain wetness and messes without issue.
4. They’re very fast to use.
5. They’re adjustable: besides being one size fits most, the absorbency (which is either snapped or sewn in) often lays open on one end (or two) and can be folded as needed. You can also add another insert underneath the absorbent layers.
6. Surprisingly, the synthetic fibers line dry almost as quickly as an unstuffed pocket diaper.
Downsides?
1. They require more rinses in the wash. They don’t wash as easily as a flat diaper or a prefold.
2. They take a longer time to dry than pockets and shouldn’t go into the dryer regularly like flats and prefolds. All natural fibered AIOs take an especially long time to dry. I love my Imagine Bamboo AIOs, but they take a full day longer to dry than my other AIOs. The insert even takes an extra spin in the dryer. Of course, this isn’t just true for AIO diapers. Any type of diaper with natural fibers will probably take longer to dry.
