The FAQ is broken into two sections. The first section regards Better Bums diapers, specifically. The second section are FAQ's about cloth diapering, in general. It gets down to the nitty gritty without being 47 pages long.
1. Do BB's come with inserts? No. Most people reuse their inserts as they change sizes, so I don't force you to buy inserts you may not need.
2. Um, I just got my diapers today and there's NO WAY these will fit!!??? If you're used to more bulky diapers, they will look small. But try it! You'll most likely be amazed. I had a friend who opened up a package of mediums and thought they were newborn size, but they fit beautifully.
3. Do you ship internationally? For most orders, I'd be happy to ship internationally to most countries. Please email me before ordering and we'll see what we can work out.
1. There are so many different kinds of cloth diapers--what do I need? This is a really loaded question. First, you need to decide what types of diapers to try. The main types are: prefolds, fitteds, pockets and AIO's (all in ones). You can of course try a selection of these, but these are the pieces you will need to make your diapers work--
For prefolds and fitteds, you need the diapers themselves, and covers or wraps. For pockets, you need the pockets and inserts. For AIO's, you only need the AIO diapers.
Ok, but which one's best? There are advantages and disadvantages to each system. That's why most people have a combination of different types. I'll list the biggest advantage and disadvantage to each kind, based on my personal experience.
Prefolds:
Advantages -- Cheap and multifunctional without dealing with a ton of sizes. Disadvantages -- Can be a bit unweildy to fold and a bit scary for non-cders like daycare and your in-laws.
Fitteds:
Advantages -- Easy to put on and wash. Disadvantages -- To be honest, the biggest one used to be that they weren't available with a stay-dry liner and that they were bulky. Better Bums has changed that. They do take much longer to dry than pockets.
Pockets:
Advantages -- Easy to change absorbancy and easy to put on. Disadvantages -- Can be harder to wash and need stripping and a bit more expensive than other options.
AIO's:
Advantages -- Wash and wear. Anyone can use these; they're as easy as disposables. Disadvantages -- They're the most expensive and take FOREVER to dry.
2. I'm so confused--what the heck are doublers, inserts and liners? This one gets a lot of people but it's really pretty simple. Inserts go inside the 'pocket' of pocket diapers and are the absorbant part. Doublers add extra absorbancy. For instance, for overnights I use pockets stuffed with an insert and doubler. You can also lay a doubler in your fitted diaper or cpf for overnights or naps.
Liners can be used with any diapers--cpfs, fitteds, pockets or AIO's. They come in disposable or washable forms and are used for two reasons: they help with solid waste clean-up and/or provide a stay-dry barrier against baby. Disposable liners only help with waste clean up; reusable liners made of microfleece or suedecloth do both.
3. So when I change my child, what gets reused and what do I put in the wash? Almost nothing is 'reusable'. The only exception are covers used with fitteds or prefolds, which I recommend airing out between uses.
4. How many diapers do I need? How often do you want to wash? Most people wash every other day and a good sized stash for babies who are still getting changed throughout the night is approximately 22-26 diapers. For older babies who only use one or two diapers at night, 18-22 is a good estimate. You don't need to find the 'magic number of diapers' before your baby is born. If you don't buy quite enough, you'll have to do laundry a bit more until you buy a few; no biggie. Buy a few more until you have enough to make you comfortable.
5. There are 73 lists of detergents I can't use and they all contradict! HELP ME!! How do I wash these things? Ok, take a deep breath. It's really not as hard as it sounds. First off, when you take the diaper off your child you'll want to keep it in a trash can or diaper pail. I put mine in a step-on trashcan with a heavy lid which has a wet bag inside. On wash day, I take the bag up and throw everything in the washing machine. Do a cold rinse with nothing. Easy :) Then, do the biggest, baddest wash your machine has with half the detergent you would usually use. I like Sun detergent. I've also heard that Purex and Tide free are very good. In general, the cheaper the better. Then do an extra rinse. A lot of machines have an extra rinse built into the super duper load. In this case, skip the extra rinse. So, to make it even simpler: rinse, wash, rinse. To dry, either put them in your dryer on medium heat, or lay them out in the good old sun.
But wait, what about stripping? When? How? Ok, ok. Stripping is done to remove detergent and extra 'junk' from the diapers. PUL and microfleece/suedecloth are the biggest offenders and they just LOVE to hold on to anything they can. If you find that urine is rolling right off your diapers and not being absorbed, or that it's soaking right through everything, try stripping. First, wash like normal. Then do a heavy wash with about 2 or 3 tbsp of Dawn dishsoap. I like the cheap old blue Dawn the best. Then rinse until there are no more suds (usually 2-4 rinses). Voila, sparkling clean yummy diapers.