My friend is interested in cloth diapering, and I'm no expert! Her husband wants to do what's easiest, but she is leaning towards prefolds.
What are the pros and cons of all in ones vs prefolds?
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Off the top of my head....
AIO Pros: Easy to use and most similar to disposables - no stuffing, no extra steps
AIO Cons: I think they're harder to add absorbency, take longer to dry, most AIOs are microfiber which doesn't last forever and can have stink/buildup issues, usually more expensive, can't be re-used without washing
Pre-fold Pros: Easy to wash and dry, can secure around baby for better leak protection or can just tri-fold them, made of natural materials (usually), easy to add absorbency, usually the least expensive CD option, covers can be re-used multiple times
Pre-fold cons: If you trifold you might get poop leaking out onto the cover and then you can't reuse it, it's a 2 steps process, folding and pinning around baby can be a pain/needs practice
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I decided against AIOs because of the cons @MrsCB: listed. We used prefolds for awhile but I hated them! Even using the jelly-roll fold, the EBF poop was constantly leaking out of the diaper and it was just so frustrating. So we switched to fitteds. And I love them! I think fitteds are a good mix of the AIOs and prefolds. The ones I have are cotton/hemp (re: all-natural) and are really absorbent, then I have 3 covers that I reuse. Best of all, the poop doesn't leak out!
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@allison: Which fitteds do you use? We're going with Thirsties and GMD workhorses for the newborn stage, but I'm not sure if we'll want more of those after, or we'll want to try a different type.
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@MrsCB: I'm using Kissaluvs hemp/cotton ones. They're pricey, but work well for my heavy-wetter. They come with a snap-in booster, too, which is great! And there are only 2 sizes, so once you're out of the newborn ones, you only have to buy one more set (which I think is unusual for fitteds).
http://www.amazon.com/Kissaluvs-Organic-Cotton-Unbleached-15-40lbs/dp/B002UD6C0C
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Like @MrsCB said, AIO are most similar to disposables, but on the downside, they are the most expensive.
We're planning on doing a combo of AIO (for daycare) and pre-fold/cover (for home). On my AIO stash (10 diapers), I have spent about $200. For pre-folds/covers, we were gifted 3 Thirsties Duo Wraps, and I purchased 3 more for around $35 dollars. I bought 2 dozen yellow edge (small) prefolds for $56, and will buy 3 dozen newborn prefolds for $72. This is all I'll be purchasing prior to LO's arrival. Later on, I will need bigger pre-folds/covers, but another set of the Duo Wraps should last through toddlerhood, and LO should be going through less diapers by then too.
We'll probably do disposable diapers when we are away from home for a few days.
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There really is no right or wrong regarding cloth diapering. For what it's worth, we went with AIOs (and still use them) at first because Mr. T was worried that some sort of master level origami was involved to use pre-folds. Since then we have tried/used both, and continue to use both in different situations. He said after he tried a pre-fold for the first time, "If I had known how easy these were I would have tried them first!" Ultimately, Lorelei's body type means that AIOs, or at least the brand we've settled on, works best for us. The pre-folds are so bulky under clothes (at least all the ones we've tried) that if we get pants that can accommodate the diaper, they are way, way, way too long. So for us a trimmer diaper means she can wear pants that fit. We were not as concerned about the cost-saving aspect of CD.
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I skimmed and didn't see anyone else mention - prefolds are cotton and stay wet as opposed to AIOS that have 'stay dry' fabric. Our LO seems to get rashy with cottons against his skin, we tried prefolds & covers and the actual folding and using was easier than I thought but I HATED the bulk and how it left his skin. When he was itty bitty the cover rubbed his umbilical stump bloody as well, so I had to quickly buy a fleece cover and it was a pain.
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I think AIOs were easier to get on and off the baby, but harder to take care of. They're more of a pain to wash and dry and we had major stink issues with AIOs that we never had with prefolds and covers.
Prefolds and covers are not nearly as intuitive to use on the baby, but they're so easy to deal with otherwise. The prefolds themselves can go in the dryer, the covers dry ASAP if you just leave them out a little while, and we never had buildup/stink issues, plus the prefolds are great at doubling as burp cloths.
We used prefolds and covers for the first few months when we assumed LO would be too little for the one-size adjustable AIOs, and then switched to AIOs before eventually going to disposables for several reasons.
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Not all AIOs have "stay dry" fabric. We chose ones that do not. Usually for that they use a fleece. Ours have a bamboo insert that performs and feels similar to cotton once it is broken in. Children can vary in what seems to work best for their skin. When Lorelei was a newborn we used Kissaluvs size 0 fitteds and Rumparooz covers, both of which have cut-outs for the umbilical stump.
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Everyone else has summed it up well.
But there are systems like Flip that are still a cover and insert but have the option of less bulky or complicated inserts than prefolds. You can get organic cotton (still fold but thinner) or stay dry microfiber (just one simple pad to lay in). We use flip during the day and it's nice that they aren't so huge on my kids bums, and take up less room in the washing machine.
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I can only speak to AIOs, but I think if her husband is most concerned with ease of use, then that would be the way to go. I like that it's very easy for people who might be resistant (i.e. when my mom, MIL, friend, or babysitter is taking care of LO) to cloth diapers to easily know how to deal since they're so similar to disposables.
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@MerryC: Do you have any issues with poo leaking off the insert and getting on the cover in the Flips? I really like the idea of that type of system since you just have to lay the insert in, but I wasn't sure if they were only good with pee.
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Everyone else has made great points. I just wanted to add that u loved prefolds/fitteds in the early days, but we've switched almost exclusively to AIOs once LO got squirmy. It's true, not all AIOs are stay-dry. We use BG Elementals which are organic cotton. Cotton works best on my baby.
@MrsCB: I love my workhorses! Especially in the beginning! Now I tend to prefer my Babee Greens fitteds because they're trimmer.
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@MrsCB: I typically change the cover with a runny poop, yes, but it doesn't leak out of the cover. And as the kids get older and the poop gets thicker, it actually rarely gets on the cover now. And sometimes it depends on how quickly I notice
Any poop that does get on the cover doesn't stain or anything, so its no big deal. I have 8 covers for my twins and have never run out between laundry.
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@Mrs. Bee: Besides wanting what is easiest how does her husband feel about CDing in general?
Personally, if her DH is not 100% on board with possibly getting down and dirty with a diaper I think AIO's would be hands down more daddy friendly. However they take longer to dry and can build up with the stinks. We LOVE our Ragababe AIO's though and never had an issue with dry time or odor.
Prefolds and covers would be the cheapest and can also be super easy. If mastering the different folds might be difficult for her DH then fitteds would be another great alternative with a little added ease of use compared to the prefold. So many great fitted options out there ranging from the inexpensive to the designer.
On a personal note...my DH is really weird about bodily fluids, so while prefolds can be easy, he would have totally been grossed out by them and preferred AIO's from the two options. I also think they would have been too complicated for him, at least at first, and he would have struggled with wrapping (he had trouble with snaps haha). We did fitteds for a little and he was grossed out by how the entire fitted got wet so also stayed clear of them.
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After researching all of the options we chose to go with mix of aplix/snap BG Pockets. I wanted something simple that DH and caregivers would be on board with.
We have since replaced our aplix with all snaps and now do a mix of pockets and AIO.
The AIOs are awesome in the morning when we are running late and I can just grab & go.
I do wish I had done a newborn rental service - we used pampers swaddlers for the first 8 weeks.
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We haven't even started CDing yet, but we're going to try and are building up a stash (LO arrives in July), but my husband is also really against the idea of having to touch the poo/pee in any way, shape, or form.
Of course, even with sposies, I know parents end up touching poop and pee, so I think he'll get used to it, but I've been surprised to see that so far, DH doesn't really like the way BUmGenius AIO's look (and how they work in theory), compared to some of the options like GroVia or Gdiapers that have the disposable liner option. (I know you can use liners with any diaper though).
So, I've decided to stop collecting BumGenius for now until we've used them and decide we like them--then we'll go from there. So far we have 9 BG 4.0s that we were gifted from friends and 7 Freetimes. I may buy 1 pack of Gdiapers and 1 pack of groVia just to compare.
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We use AIOs (BG Freetime) and pockets (BG 4.0) and I actually like the pocket ones better/think they're easier. There are fewer crevices for poop to drip into, they dry a lot faster and sticking the insert in takes no time at all.
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G diapers uses a three part system, cover, snap in liner and the pad. I found this to be idea for us, but only because I bought enough of the system so I could have the diapers ready to go.
Any poop that does get on the cover doesn't stain or anything, so its no big deal. I have 8 covers for my twins and have never run out between laundry.
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