Any expecting mom who plans to cloth diaper knows you get loads of resistance from people who dismiss you with a pee-shaw, saying, "Oh, that will last two weeks!" I was determined to prove all those nattering naybobs wrong, so I set out to find the most fool-proof cloth diapers available.
Along came Fuzzi Bunz (can I get some "epiphany" sound effects here?).
These things work like nobody's business! They have a lightweight waterproof outer shell and a fleece lined inner pocket. Inside the pocket, you can stuff a Chinese prefold cotton diaper or a hemp insert called a Joey Bunz made just for Fuzzi Bunz by another company (Baby Kicks). Fleece isn't absorbant, so moisture (read: pee!) soaks through the fleece and is absorbed by whatever you've stuffed the pocket with. Your child can go for longer periods of time in one diaper than with most other cloth diapers and still have a dry bottom!
The diaper closes with snaps, not velcro. It takes more time to get it on your wiggly baby, but, on the other hand, he or she won't be able to rip it off as easily as velcro closures. I wash them with my other diapers and line dry. They dry very, very quickly and have yet to stain.
Fuzzi Bunz recently went through a design change for the better. The originals were all fleece and worked well but were oh so very bulky (made baby look like Oompah Loompah- huge hiney!). Some people had problems with them wicking (moisture soaking to the outside of the diaper). Mine always worked just fine.
Many people use these for nighttime use only, stuffed with two prefolds or two to three Joey Bunz. Recently, I've found my five-month-old son will soak through two Joey Bunz and we'll get a small amount of leakage by the morning, so I may have to step up to stuffing my Fuzzi Bunz with three Joey Bunz. The new Fuzzi Bunz are trim enough for daytime use. Also, if you don't tuck the "wings" in right, you may get some minor leaking, too.
These hold poops quite well, too. The legs have elastic and there are several rows of snaps to get a perfect fit (so no poopy shoots up your sweetie's back, ick!). My son is still mainly breastfed, so his bowel movements aren't very solid, but I hear solid poops just roll right off fleece, so the Fuzzi Bunz should perform well in that respect.
These are not cheap (about $14 each new; check auctions for used ones) compared to other cloth diapers. But they are well worth it. The construction is sturdy and they should last you through at least two children. Fuzzi Bunz make up about a third of my cloth diapers, and they always are the ones I reach for first.
So, to all those folks who told me this would last two weeks, I say, HAH! You didn't know about Fuzzi Bunz! So there!
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