Prefold cloth diapers are the cheaper of cloth diapers. They are square shaped and are meant to wrap a baby's diaper area with secure diaper pins or Snappies. You can get these by the dozen and they cost around $14-$21 a set. The prefold is thicker in the center for better absorption and thinner at the sides for more comfort. To use a prefold cloth diaper set you'll need three pieces. The cloth, the pins, and a vinyl cover. The vinyl cover is needed to protect your baby’s clothing from getting wet. They come in many different fun baby colors and cartoons.

Prefold cloth diapers are mostly made out of gauzy fabric or Birdseye but you can also find some made from hemp or velour. These fabrics are very absorbent and many people are using them because they are very easy to clean and also dry up quickly.

More and more people are switching to cloth diapers not only for health or environmental reasons but because of the economy situation.

Are you saving money using cloth diapers? That depends. After a baby is fully potty trained he/she will have gone through $1500-$2000 worth of diapers depending on the brand that was used.

When you are figuring the amount you spend using cloth diapers you need to consider the amount of soap and water you use. There is also the consumption of electricity and wear of a washing machine and dryer. By the time a baby grows out of cloth diapers they will have cost you $900-$2100, also depending on the brand, do the math adding the additional costs of the laundering.

If you are looking to save even more you can try the chinese prefold diapers which are just as good but more simple.

Cloth diapers are more advanced than they used to be long ago. They are much easier to wash than people might think. Cloth diapers are cleaned differently depending on the texture of the stool and the baby's age. If your newborn is breastfed, the stool is water-soluble. So you can wash it as is.

As your baby grows and starts to eat cereal, his/her stool will change texture. This should be removed from diaper before washing.

From then on the stool would only get firmer and easier to throw directly into the toilet. You then should wash and add it to the pile of dirty diapers. It is best to wash all diapers in one load together.

More concerned parents are choosing to use prefold cloth diaper. There are many reasons for this. Some see it as a way to keep their baby's skin dry and healthy. Some babies develop diaper rashes more frequently than others. Being wet for a long time with no air circulation and all the chemicals from absorbent gels and dye allergies combined with ammonia from the urine causes a diaper rash in the diaper area.

A chemical called sodium polyacrylate is known to have a connection with toxic syndrome. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) dioxin and some dyes found in disposable diapers can cause kidney and liver damage and also harm the central nervous system.

It has been reported that the fragrances in a disposable diaper have caused rashes, dizziness and headaches. Sometimes a child would pull pieces of the diaper and get them into their noses and mouth. This causes choking hazards. These chemicals can also be deadly to your pets.

The Journal of Pediatrics states that 54% of babies 1 month old using disposables had rashes and 16% were in very bad condition.

Every baby is different than the other; some babies may not react at all by disposables when some will have an immediate allergic reaction.

Don't get me wrong, a baby can still get a rash from cotton cloth diapers if it has been wet for a long time or if the cloth diaper hasn't been properly disinfected after the last usage.

Making the choice between the two is a matter of preference. What your budget is, how your baby reacts to the fabrics and how you feel about where the waste ends up.

You will need to change cloth diapers as soon as it gets wet because cloth doesn't hold as much urine. Cloth diapers also need to be sanitized very well before reusing.

• · Economical
• · Absorbent
• · Easy to wash and dry
• · Used as diapers
• · Available in different colors

• · Hard to put on fussy babies
• · Will leak if not covered
• · Takes longer to put on than a disposable
• · Pins can be hard to place
• · Stools that are runny are harder to handle
• · Adds 2 extra loads of laundry a week
• · Harder to deal with when traveling

When you hear the facts about our environment you naturally want to make a change and this is also a reason for most people's choice of cloth diapers. Disposable diapers are filling up our landfills. It takes up to 400-500 years for the diaper to decompose. Whereas cloth cotton diapers are biodegradable and can be put in compost. One baby using regular diapers adds 1 ton of waste to the mess.

Chinese prefold cloth diapers which are made from cotton, would be the natural way to go, but the choice is yours; it's good to learn the advantages and disadvantages of each. It is different in every home. What works for some may not work for others. You can use a combination of both when situations call for it. Test a few different kinds and brands and see how your baby will react. Outweigh the pros and cons before you decide what's best for your baby, yourself, the environment and lastly, your budget.