Cloth Diapering: Evaluations a year later

After over a year of cloth diapering, if I had to do it over, I would still cloth diaper with a few changes.

I would probably stick with just prefold diapers (they are the cheapest and have held up well) with gusseted covers. These have held up the best over the past year.

Lessons learned:
I used to have to change my little one half way through the night or he would leak through his diapers. Now at night, I put two diapers in the same cover and my little one is good to go til morning.

I would have made (and still need to make) a liner for my diaper pail. This can be made with PUL fabric so it is water proof and can be washed with the dirty diapers. I think this would help with the diaper pail smell that currently lingers in the pail.

For the poo-pocket diapers I made, the elastic is wearing out. I used the clear elastic that is supposed to be best for diapers and withstand the repeated washings and exposure to bodily fluids. I'm not very happy about the elastic wearing out.

I still use these diapers and they have good absorbency (as I made them with hemp fabric), but I am also not happy with the bamboo-cotton velour I used on the inside of the diapers. It is also absorbent, but the softness and pile of the velour has not held up. I would have been better off making the entire diaper out of hemp.