A decade ago, my Aunt welcomed her little baby boy to our family – the first baby in our close knit circle since I was born. I helped out with many of the day-to-day tasks involved in raising a child – but the one area I stayed far away from was the diapering duty! She had chosen to use cloth diapers for her son, and to me it was a gigantic and smelly mess. She had a whole stack of dingy looking cotton fabric pieces – both pre-purchased and homemade – along with a slew of crinkly white plastic covers that made a funny noise when you picked up her son and also left red marks on his chubby little legs. I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to follow her lead when I had my own son, imagining spending hours scrubbing a pile of smelly diapers just to save a couple of bucks.
However, this summer was the wave of baby boys being born in my circle of friends, my son being the youngest of the pack, and all of my close friends have been raving to me about the benefits of using modern cloth diapers. They hold in leaks better, they told me. They are better for the environment, I already knew. They really can be cost effective, at least if you’re planning on having more than one child (no pressure, wink wink!). I did the research, I heard the rave reviews, and I almost plunged into the cloth diaper world.
But yet, I resisted, never quite able to get past the memory I had of my Aunt’s experiences.
However, last month I was offered the opportunity to try out the Buttons brand of two-in-one cloth diapers and I was curious to see what all the buzz was about. I was nervous because in my research on cloth diapering before my son was born I had read about all of the different styles of diapers and inserts and covers and liners – and I was worried it would be too complicated for me to dive right into!
However, Buttons Cloth Diapers turned out to be the perfect diaper system for a newbie like me – and it just may have made a believer of me after all! Their covers are really beautiful and soft with a lot of stretch to cover any smooshy bum shape – not at all like those horrible crinkly white covers I remembered. These one-sized covers adjust to fit babies approximately 9-35 lbs. The Buttons diaper cover is unique for its ability to adjust in size by way of a series of snaps across the front rise and around the waist which is also elasticised for the perfect fit. The legs have double-gussets, which not only improves the fit but also ensures that every mess stays where it should – on the durable and absorbant liners.
The cover I received, “Thicket”, incorporates a beautiful bright green leaf design which makes me think of clean, fresh, healthy things, so that alone is a big win. The company offers a vast selection of covers to choose from in all sorts of patterns and colours to liven up your day – I’m tempted to collect them all!
What was most surprising to me, however, was how easy the liners were to use. I received a small daytime cotton/hemp blend and a nighttime doubler to match. Each Daytime insert is soft yet thick, with four layers of premium natural fabric made up of 55% hemp and 45% cotton, and one layer of soft fleece on top to wick away moisture and keep baby’s skin dry. Each Nighttime Doubler has five layers of premium natural fabric made up of 55% hemp and 45% cotton, for maximum absorbency, and are intended for use with a Buttons Daytime insert snapped on top. Two snaps secure it perfectly in place in the beautiful cover. The liners come in two sizes to properly customise their fit within any one-size cover.
Most importantly, this system is incredibly easy to use throughout the day – just snap in or out a liner and wipe the beautiful double layer PUL cover and you’re ready to go again! Because of how easy it is to keep the covers clean, you can reuse them throughout the day, which is not only faster and less work, but is also more budget friendly!
Being a first-time cloth diaper user, I was a little surprised at how bulky they were compared to disposable diapers, so that will take some getting used to, but otherwise I found Buttons cloth diapers really wonderful to use. The best part was that they kept my little darling so dry throughout the night that he slept for a solid three hours for the very first time!!!! I had no idea that cloth diapers could be so rewarding to use, and thankfully I had the opportunity to use Buttons two-in-ones which made them easy and effective!
**Disclosure: I received a sample of the product to facilitate this post. No other compensation was provided and all views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.
By Aleisha