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Originally Posted by ThankfulMama  OK--totally embarassed to ask this. . . Please forgive my total ignorance here. . . 
I went to the green mountain site and poked around; how do those prefolds differ from, say, the gerber ones I got as general purpose wipes/burp rags?
Also, how do the prefold/cover compare to the bumgenius diapers I see so many other mamas using? |
Don't worry! I remember being totally confused by the gazillion options when I started trying to figure out what to buy. But it's not that complicated, and CDing nerds like us are happy to drone on about it endlessly, haha:
Think of diapering systems as two components: the absorbent part and the waterproof part. The part your baby pees in, and the part that keeps the pee off the couch.
For the absorbent part, you basically have the option of diapers you wrap around the baby yourself: flats (just a big piece of cloth) and prefolds (a big piece of cloth that has been folded and stitched into place). You also have fitted diapers, which are diapers that are shaped like a disposable diaper and have elastic at the legs, back, etc, and have closures like Velcro or snaps. Flats, prefolds and fitteds all require separate waterproof covers.
For covers, your options are pretty much PUL (a slick waterproof layer on the inside of cloth, basically), fleece, and wool. There are many permutations. But if you go with something basic like a Bummis cover it's unlikely that you'll be wildly unhappy.
There are other kinds of diapers that organize the absorbent/waterproof part of the system differently. For instance, AIOs ("All In Ones", like BumGenius) have the cover and the absorbent layers all sewn together. They go on like disposables, super easy. Pros of AIO diapers are that they are super easy. If you can use disposables, you can use these. No learning curve. Cons are that they are pretty expensive (say about $18/each) and many people find that they are harder to wash and dry (there are a lot of layers for stink to build up.)
Another kind of diaper is "pocket diapers" (like FuzziBunz) that have the waterproof outer and the feel-dry inner layer sewn together, but no absorbent layers: you stuff those in yourself. Pros are that they're almost as easy as AIOs, you just have to stuff the pocket. And they're easier to wash and dry, in my opinion. Cons are that they're about the same price as AIOs. And you have to stuff the pocket.
Prefolds and covers are not hard, but AIOs are definitely easier. However, financially, I think it's harder to make a diaper like BumGenius pay for itself. Amazon is selling them for $17.95 with free shipping. So say you need a bare minimum of 20 diapers to get through two days and have a few spare while you're washing, you'd spend $359 on diapers alone. You'd have to use those diapers 1436 times before you break even with 25-cent disposables: if you change eight times a day, that's about six months.
So with diapers like BumGenius, you're still likely to save money, just not nearly as much as you probably would with a simpler system like prefolds and covers. Expensive diapers like BumGenius become a better deal the longer you use them and the more children you can use them for.
PS: As a PP said, the Gerber prefolds are very thin (not very absorbent!) and shaped differently (more "rectangular", unlikely to fit well on a baby) than Green Mountain-type prefolds.
