My Love Affair With Pocket Diapers is Over
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Pocket diapers are popular with many parents for their ease and similarity to a disposable diaper. It really is a genius design that has made cloth diapering more popular and I dare say trendy.
I had a love affair with pocket diapers for a long time, but after over two years of stuffing and unstuffing pockets I decided that I needed a change. That change was toward more AI2s as well as prefolds and diaper covers.
Why did I end the affair?
Convenience is a relative term but the biggest reason why these types of diapers are more convenient for me is because I don’t have to stuff and unstuff them. I love being able to simply unsnap the insert out of an AI2 or throw a cover and prefold right in the wet bag. No messy hands, especially when you’re dealing with poo.
It’s just as easy when the diapers are clean. A quick snap or fold and I’m done. This doesn’t mean that I now fold diaper laundry in a more timely manner, but it is easier when I have two to three loads to fold.
I do still have a few pockets left in my stash, but not very many compared to the tons that I had a year ago. I still have about fourteen pocket diapers, but they are never the first diapers that I reach for. I admit that is still a decent amount of diapers, but it makes up a small percentage of my stash and is a lot less than there used to be! I keep them mostly to leave out for my husband who doesn’t particularly like “moving parts” and prefers the ease of an already stuffed pocket. I also keep them around so that he doesn’t use my favorite diapers and mess them up. Ssshhh. That’s our little secret.
Are you a lover or hater of pocket diapers and why?
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I like my pockets as they are versatile. Of course I started with those and dont want to get rid of them as money is on a budget. I can stuff em if I want, or use a flat or prefold and use it as a cover. I can even use them over a fitted at night. IMO it is a cheaper option as a cover 🙂
They’re a popular option but now I use mine almost strictly as a cover. As a cover they’re great, I’m just no longer into stuffing them. Any new diapers I buy are covers or AI2s.
I’m a pocket diaper girl, but then I’ve only been cloth diapering for a little over a year. I love my pockets and don’t know that it will change, but I’ve got an open mind for change so who knows?
We have started our CD stash for our first due in Dec and have a few pockets so far. We are thinking we might prefer to use one size AIOs so there is less stuffing and unstuffing going on. Since we really have no hands on CD experience we figure we will start off with a variety of diaper types and brands and then choose what works from there!
That’s a great way to go about it. You may like one style while your baby is small and like something else when they get a bit bigger. I loved having a variety because what i liked sometimes depended on the day.
My friend uses pockets and swears by them, however I have not tried cloth diapering and am looking for the perfect review of the perfect diaper before finally plunging in. I have no idea where to start! There are so many options!
There are a lot of options. I tried a lot of diapers before finding the perfect diaper for us. My suggestion to anyone new to cloth diapers is to try a few different brands and styles instead buying a whole stash of one kind of diaper. You can always sell any diapers that you don’t like.
I have a few for church/work nurseries, or changing in awkward non-flat spaces like car seats or small bathrooms on the go. But for at home and most of the time, prefolds and covers are practical, easy to launder, and most economical.
I’m not a lover or a hater of pockets. I have a few in my stash but like you, I definitely gravitate more toward prefolds and AI2s. I think they are just easier. Stuffing takes up too much time. Plus I’m trying to add more AIOs because I find myself getting lazier and my husband is much more likely to do more changes if he has AIOs available.
I have only used one pocket diaper that I received for a review/giveaway. While it was a good diaper, I’ll be honest: I’ll take my covers, pre-folds, and flats any day of the week! I hate the thought of doing laundry every other day or even every day and having to spend the money on buying 3 times as many diapers as we have now.
I use mostly prefolds/covers, but have been trying out a handful of pockets and AIOs to figure out what we like before daycare starts. I’m definitely not liking the process of stuffing the pockets, but I love how much faster they are to dry than AIOs. Can I ask what your favorite AIO/AI2s are?
I don’t like AIOs either because of their dry time. The only AIOs left in my stash are a Swaddlebees (now Blueberry) Simplex and a Blueberry Basix since they’re a tongue style and don’t take 2 days to dry. My favorite AI2 is Ragababe, hands down, but since those are pricey and not easy to get, I also like SoftBums a lot and Funky Fluff used as an AI2
I’m a lover of pocket diapers. I don’t get why people “unstuff” them. The inserts (of mine at least) come out in the wash because of the agitation. I’ve only rarely (and by that, I mean maybe three times in 14 months) had it not happen. Stuffing can be a pain, but in the last week, I’ve taken to only stuffing them right before I put them on him. I keep them in a wet bag (that I use to take them out of the dryer) and grab a pocket and an insert when I go to change him, stuff it, then put it on him. Easy peasy. However, I would DEFINITELY like to invest in some prefolds to use as inserts, because microfiber is not my friend.
I have an HE top loader without an agitator so inserts don’t agitate out in my machine. Not even AppleCheeks
I love my pocket diapers! I don’t mind stuffing them at all! Pockets are what always seem to work the best for us and I don’t ever think I’ll end that love affair lol!
I used to love stuffing pockets. I’d look forward to diaper laundry (and I still don’t mind it at all) and I would stuff and fold my diapers right away. Now, I often still have a load drying on the rack by the time I need to wash another load. I have definitely gotten lazy 🙂
I dislike stuffing pocket diapers. The few pockets that I still have, I use as covers. I simply lay my BB insert inside.
I do that sometimes, too. I have been known to lay a prefold or natural fiber inserts inside a pocket diaper shell and call it a day
I could not have said this better myself. My daughter is also 2.5 years old (potty training though) and the last year I have slowly gone to prefolds and covers and have started selling my pocket diapers.
I have all pockets, with the exception of one BG Freetime. I always loved my pockets (which are 95% FuzziBunz), but I find myself being drawn elsewhere. Of course, the thought of buying more diapers has my anxiety level skyrocketing mainly because I know that the hubby is going to freak. When I started cloth diapering 2.5 years ago with my first son, I had no clue what I was doing or what I would like. That resulted in my buying a lot of diapers, most of which I hated. The learning curve with cloth is pretty expensive.
I am in a love/hate relationship with pockets. I honestly prefer my AIOs (bumGenius Freetime) but they are more expensive. I hate stuffing them but I do like how they are all one piece, especially for me when we’re out and about.
We mostly have pockets because that is what the daycare requires (pockets or AIOs). If we weren’t doing daycare I would have done prefolds since that’s how I and my siblings were raised, and after helping diaper my siblings I’m used to the folds. Having said that, my son is very sensitive to wetness and I’m sure that pockets have allowed us to stay in cloth. I also love the ease with which I can add absorbency and stuff with all sorts of materials.
I admit, I’ve never even heard of pocket diapers before. We use disposable b/c that is what fits my family’s lifestyle the best.
I’ve never tried pocket diapers – when I did cloth, it was the old-fashioned square cloths that my grandmother used. They have a lot of really cute styles now that protect better than the old fashioned cloth squares that I used, but finances were extremely tight, so I never got the opportunity to buy any of them.
I used pockets almost exclusively with my 2nd child ( 1st cd child) & started the same way with #3. I had reoccurring ammonia issues with the pockets & MF this time & now hate them & found the prefold/flat love. I still kept the pockets we have for dh to use, but stuff them with flats & prefolds…. no more stink! I just wish I had tried pf & flats before!!
I have a handful of pockets and they aren’t my favorite. I was using AI2s and still do, but prefolds are my go-to diapers now. I didn’t like the stuffing and they never felt as clean to me :/ OH! And I always got annoyed if they didn’t agitate out.
That makes me so sad! After three years, I still <3 my pocket diapers. I actually find the stuffing of the diapers to be so very soothing. (At least you're still in love with fluff!)
Oh yeah, totally still in love with my fluff! I know that I should at least be starting the process of potty training my 2.75 year old but that would mean that I would need to stop buying my fluff. They don’t NEED to be potty trained to go to Kindergarten, do they? 😉
I only have pocket diapers in my stash but the more time that goes on, the more I’m asking myself why! lol I think I was intimidated by prefolds when I first started CD’ing but now I’m starting to think I would probably prefer prefolds over pockets. The next time I add to my stash though, I think I’m for sure going to get AI2s.
I started to ask myself the same question and then I made the switch. Prefolds scared me as well and I still don’t mess with folds and snappis, I just trifold them, lay it in a cover, then call it a day! 🙂