These are not your mother's (or grandmother's) cloth diapers, they are better!

When I was a baby, way back in the 1960's, I wore cloth diapers. Cotton gauze things with elastic-edged plastic pants on top. My mom tells me how disposables were just coming out, and they'd use them for trips sometimes but they were very expensive and nobody used them ALL the time of course....

When I was expecting my first child 9.5 years ago, I looked into cloth diapers to see where things stood. There were still basic cotton things, ie prefolds, and covers, but now with velcro. I thought, ok, my ancestors back to the beginning of recorded time have worn cloth diapers (or rags or skins or leaves or whatever!), so why change (pun intended) now. Plus, it seemed so much more sane to have a few diapers you wash every couple of days that last you for a few years, than to buy things you throw out constantly, both economically and environmentally.

We did that, basic white diapers with basic white covers (Proraps for anyone keeping score), and we were good. Ok, not perfect, as they didn't hold up well enough to our super pee-er and we did disposables at night, but I could live with a pack of diapers lasting a month or two. Kiddo number one took a bit over 3 years to become friends with the potty, so we got our money's worth. I think there was even a pink and a mint green diaper cover in the mix, about as exotic as it got back then.

Finally, after 7+ years, we managed the second kiddo. Of course cloth diapers still made sense, even moreso with all the green initiatives and propaganda all permeating our existence of late. And Wowza, was I in for a surprise!


There were still prefolds and covers, but many brands, colors and styles. When I bought my diapers originally, it was mail-order from Born to Love in Canada since I could not even find a local store that carried them. Now there are a bunch, and even the local toy store and green products store have several kinds. I didn't even know anyone else retro enough to use cloth back then, but now there are many websites, user groups and forums on the topic and I was amazed to see how many people are really way more into all this than I could ever have imagined, buying, trying, reviewing, reselling and what not...

I dipped my toe into the water of modern diaperdom, getting a few Thirsties extra-small covers in a rainbow of colors to go with our 8-year-old prefolds, that we started as soon as the cord stump fell off. It went fine and they were very cute.

I knew there had to be more absorbent overnight solutions by now, so I did some research and ordered a couple Thirsties Duo diapers and Tiny Tush Elite, both pocket diapers where you adjust the absorbency by varying the type and quantity of inserts you stuff into them. [more on the expanding smorgasbord of booty bundling soon]

Cutey Baby "That's a Wrap!" Review

In a modern marketing miracle, a Chicago-area mom has gotten major grocery retailers in much of the country to stock her CLOTH diapers in the baby section. See http://www.cuteybaby.com/?page_id=638 to find a store near you.



I just tried their new diapering system and I'd like to compare it to some others I have used. It consists of two parts. There is the cover, which is knit polyester fabric on the outside, and waterproof on the inside; and a separate soaker pad with 4 layers of microfiber topped with stay-dry fabric. The fabric is somewhat thinner than Flip and Thisties covers, but thick enough to do its job.

They also provide disposable liners to make cleanup easier.

My 25-pound 16-month old is at the upper end of the Medium (12-30 lbs) and the lower end of Large (25-40), and I was fortunate to be able to test both sizes on her.



(Gosh, my photography skills make her look fat. Yeah, well... :) Only one pic. She liked the large so well that she gave it a good workout right away and its in the wash).


Things I like a lot:

The insert is very soft and absorbent, washes clean well, and dries quickly. It can go next to baby's skin, unlike inserts for pocket diapers, and I would use them with other covers, too.

The fabrics are very cute, with a range of girl/boy/neutral prints.

The elastic is stretchy and soft and fits snuggly to contain messes (that was quickly tested!)

I like the liners for when I need to use diaper cream, but I don't use them all the time.

I applaud Cutey Baby for tackling mass market retailers like Jewel Foods in our area, to get cloth diapers into the hands of many more parents for the first time.

Minor complaints:
The cover could really benefit from crossover velcro, to be able to overlap the front tabs for a tighter, more adjustable fit. The tabs are proportionately longer than other similarly sized covers. The large would fit my kiddo in the rise but the waist is too large.

The low-profile velcro is pretty clingy, but not as thick or strong gripping as some
brands (Blueberry, Thirsties, Ragababe). I could see a toddler undoing it pretty easily, though mine did not yet get a chance.

It's a personal preference, but I'd like if they were made in USA instead of China, as many other brands do manage within a similar price range (Amazon: $14.99 cover, $10.99 soaker 2-pack. Chicago-area Jewel: 12.99/8.99).

I didn't realize until this week that the are only in grocery stores for a limited test period this month, to see how well they sell, so check them out while you can, especially the adorable monkey prints! They also have great wet bags available, to hold diapers before and after changes while you are out.





Sorry for the lateness of this review, which is due to a freakish malfunction of our post office and a busy work schedule. I was provided a diaper free of charge to review but the opinions are my own.