New to cloth diapering and loving it
Quick update: Toddler almost 2 and is now in only pockets day and night and it is working perfectly fine still. She can go 4 hours with no leaks during the day in a pocket diaper with 2 inserts, and at night 2 inserts in the pocket with just 1 alvababy newborn booster insert in between. She isn't interested in potty yet but everything is just perfect. These are just the best. With how well we take care of them I can totally see myself using them with no issues with the next baby too. Get them! (And a diaper sprayer lol) Update: These cloth diapers are the best. This brand is the best. They make cloth diapering cute and easy. They are so trim. You don't need to look anywhere else. My husband even likes them, though he was skeptical at first of my crazy thoughts to suddenly cloth diaper. We save so much money. Even my husband hates disposables now because they stink so bad when baby poos, and we learned that these surprisingly keep the smell in more than disposables. Regarding our stash, we have 24 pocket diapers, 6 small covers and 6 medium covers all from MK. The small covers were perfect for my baby the first few months because has always been very petite and didn't quite fit in the pockets at first, so I'd use the inserts in the small covers. Once she got a bit bigger, I switched to the MK pockets only. For a while our system was fine for daytime and night time in pockets, but then she started peeing more, so to keep the diaper trim, we started using one MK insert and one Alva baby newborn bamboo insert. The AB newborn insert is the perfect booster. This allows us up to 2 1/2 hours, and I'd change her for every nap and it worked so well. Now that she is 15mo old, depending on what we're doing or when nap time is, we still do the pocket with 1 regular Mk insert and one Alva baby newborn booster for about 2 1/2 hours. We can get 4 hours when needed in a pocket with 2 regular MK inserts. Never have any rashes or any issues in covers or pockets as long as we wash the cloth diapers well and don't over stuff the washer machine. For nighttime now we use medium MK covers with 2 regular inserts (sometimes they're the 5 layer bamboo, sometimes the 4 layer bamboo blend, imo doesn't matter which one they perform about the same) and we set up 3 Alva Baby newborn bamboo inserts between the 2 regular inserts. This gives us about 10 to 11 hours of nighttime sleep with no leaks and no rash in the morning though it can be soaking wet. The only time it has leaked is when I need to learn to tweak her new sizing as she grows, or when I accidently don't put the cover on right. I'm just so impresses with being able to cloth diaper full time day or night with little to no issues. I would definitely recommend the 24 pocket diapers with inserts, 6 small and 6 medium covers, and 24 newborn alva baby bamboo inserts. I think this is the best, safest stash ammount to fullfill your changing and growing baby's needs. That's just my opinion and what has worked for us. My baby has always been a heavy nighttime breastfeeder and the nighttime set up is just so great. Of course, the secret mvp is also the diaper sprayer. It always cleans poop right off and rarely do we get stains. The times we had really stained the inserts were usually when I'd feed my baby something dark like blackberries. But I don't care much for stains. It's clean and sanitary and my baby has never had a rash from the inserts. The pockets look practically new after many months of use. I never dry them in the dryer, I always hang my covers and pockets to dry. I always dry the inserts in the dryer, they won't dry in time in the sun. After so many uses and dries, the inserts have become so soft. Always use free and clear detergent for all cloth diapering and even our clothes. Never have issues with cleanliness of the cloth diapers. We also use cloth wipes on baby's bum. First, wipe down the poo with the diaper or insers as the "first wipe" then practically all the poo is off, so spray the cloth wipe with liquid, wipe bum, change baby, then spray down the poo'd cloth diaper and wipe, throw into wet bag. The wipes are some random grey brand I found on amazon. Wish I'd gotten MK as I'm sure they'd much softer, but these work fine. Use a spray bottle (water, a tiny bit of baby soap, and a bit of coconut oil, shaken and mixed well in the spray bottle). Initial review: I don't know what compelled me to suddenly look into cloth diapering my baby. I'm a first time mom, and I have no idea why one day I wondered what cloth diapering was like and was advertised these diapers on my phone since I look at baby stuff all the time. I have no one in my life that has done this or likes it, and out of the blue I began doing lots of research and reading reviews on Mama Koala diapers. What sucked me in are these beautifullllll patterns! And the thought of saving money each month as well. Well, I told myself I'd try a set of Mama Koala covers, and then shortly after ordered one set of Mama Koala pocket diapers. Immediately trying them it hit me, that modern cloth diapering isn't hard at all! I went back to order 3 more pocket diapers and am just in love with all these cute patterns on my baby's bum. I love having my 6mo in just a t-shirt and these adorable diapers around the house. I'm not obssessed with saving the planet as others, but it doesn't hurt that I'm not contributing to the land fill with disposables. I'm just so pleased, I don't even care to look at other brands because these work fantastically. The inserts hold up to 3 or so hours on my baby. Still figuring out an overnight method since I'm still using disposables overnight from her baby shower, but I've tried some overnight cloth diapering a few times to test it and just have to tweak the perfect combo of inserts for my heavy night wetter. All in all, these are all you need, they're beautiful, and I can't wait to try to make some new parents cloth diaper converts! Haha Side note, my baby is petite and didn't fit into the pockets until she gained a few pounds even though she was born 7.1 pounds. She was in the small covers for a few months before I started using the pockets. The pockets became my favorite as she became more wiggly as well now that she's 6-7 months old, and in pockets she's still on the smallest setting (not newborn setting though). Regarding inserts, I mostly air dry, but the inserts take over a day to air dry, sometimes a day in hot weather. It sucks if you don't have a drier. But the reason this is a good thing is that it means the inserts absorb moisture and retain it very well. So either you just need more inserts in rotation if air drying, or get yourself a small dryer if you want to keep a small stash. I only have 24 pocket diapers, I like being minimal and like washing them frequently to avoid any ammonia issues. It's preference though. If you're hesitant on cloth diapering. Don't be. They're cute. Easy to use. Easy to launder. You never run out of diapers. And in an emergency, you always have a way to diaper your baby if you ever are in a survival situation. (LOL we love camping so this last idea is a plus!) Read more
