As your baby moves from those tiny infant days to the big run-around toddler days, different size diapers take care of all your diapering needs. If you’ve chosen to use one-size diapers,  obviously you’ll need to decide when to change the snap settings to get the best sizing at every step of the way. If you’re at one of times, congratulations on this milestone in your baby’s growth!

Here are few things to watch out for to know it’s time to change to the next snap setting:

When the rise falls below the top of the hips, you know the diaper no longer comes up high enough to provide adequate coverage on the front of the diaper. The “rise” is the height of the diaper in the front – this often indicates the the back of the diaper is a bit short as well, so it’s definitely helpful to extend the rise at this point by moving up one snap setting.

When the leg openings become tight, that can also be an indication that the diaper is on the small side. Leg openings should be somewhat snug in order to keep messes where they belong, but if you can no longer fit one finger in between the leg elastic and your baby’s leg or if the elastic is leaving significant indentations in your baby’s skin, then it’s time to re-evaluate.

It should be noted, however, that tight leg openings can occur for other reasons, as well, so you should check out other fit issues before changing your snap settings. If you have a wonderfully chubby baby, the legs will probably become tight before the rise becomes too short, while if you have a long legged, lanky babe, the leg openings may never become too tight before it’s time to switch. Tight leg openings are merely a companion symptom. (Leg openings should never gap, however, so look for a different culprit if changing the snap setting results in gaps around the legs!)

However, if the diaper is tight around the waist and difficult to get on, that’s a good sign that your baby is ready to move to the next snap setting.

If pee regularly starts leaking over the top of the diaper, regardless of the rise, it may be time to change the snap setting. This can be due to a boy who tends to point upward or a girl who sleeps on her front – however, before you decide that changing snap settings is the best way to solve this problem, consider doing some “problem solving” by making sure to tuck your boy downward when you change him or by adding extra absorbancy to the front of your girl’s diaper.

The makers of BumGenius, one of the most popular one-size diapers on the market today, offers a helpful comment to keep in mind as well: Remember, babies change shape frequently as they grow up. You may have times when your relatively young baby is using their one-size diapers on the largest setting. The same child may be on the medium setting several months later due to increased mobility.

Also, one extra note for those of you who use Fuzzi Bunz One-Size diapers: Even though Fuzzi Bunz’s version of the one-size diaper uses elastic instead of snaps to change sizing, these guidelines still apply. However, the elastics allow more settings than snaps do, so you may choose to adjust them more or less often, according to what works best for you and your child. If you ever find yourself trying to find the “right” adjustment for your child, use this handy chart to find suggestions that may work for you.

Here’s the best to all you fantastic mamas as your child grows and hits many milestones in the first few years of life!

Just in time for Canada Day, we thought we’d point the spotlight on the diapers and accessories available at New & Green that are made right here in the Land of the Maple Leaf.

And there’s good reason to feel proud about these products – across the board, these are some of the best quality diapers on the market today, earning great reputations for excellent craftsmanship, thoughtful design, and sustainable manufacturing. All of these products are manufactured right here in Canadian factories, workshops, and studios offering fair wages to skilled sewers and designers.

Way to go, Canada!

AMP – Annie Marie Padorie

This mom-run business in Winnipeg provides hemp fitteds, the ever-popular Duo and One-Size Duo, and bamboo flats to New & Green. The hemp fitteds are soft and absorbent, the Duos are super-cute and known for fitting any baby well, and the bamboo flats add a touch of luxury to any diapering system.

Bummis

Bummis is perhaps the most recognized brand among cloth diapering parents across North America – and is based right here in Montreal. Bummis offerings at New & Green are extensive and include several covers – the Super Whisper Wrap, the Super Brite, the Super Lite, the Super Snap, and the Whisper Pant – plus organic prefolds (including a handy-dandy ready-to-go organic diapering kit and organic newborn packs), Fabulous wetbags, Fabulous diaper pail liners, fleece liners, training pants, and Swimmi swim diapers.

Aristocrats wool covers

Aristocrats is based right here in BC and their double-layered wool cover, made of virgin, untreated, Canadian wool, performs unparalleled for naps and at nighttime, keeping babies dry, warm, and rash-free. A fantastic choice for parents wanting to use natural fibres against their baby’s skin and for anyone wanting the best breathability available in diapering.

Muggabug

Muggabug hails from right here in the Lower Mainland and manufactures bamboo/cotton and wool doublers. The bamboo/cotton doublers excel at boosting the absorbancy of any diaper and the wool doublers are especially handy for extending the life of a wool cover.

Monkey Doodlez

Our wipe cubes come to us from the fabulous people at Monkey Doodlez just outside of Toronto and these wipes cubes make cleaning bums easy and squeaky clean. Just dissolve one cube in hot water, let the mixture cool, and then use it on your wipes to get all the uric acid and other rash-inducing agents off of your baby’s skin. Even better, one jar of wipes cubes can last you months and months!

Organic Bum Bum Balm

Bum Bum Balm is made here in the Lower Mainland and is an all-natural, organic salve to soothe and heal any irritation – be it on your baby’s bum or on your dry skin. This is definitely a best seller and a popular option among parents wanting an all-natural, non-petroleum-based, zinc-free diaper cream for their babies.

It smells good too! One toddler we know repeatedly opens the container to smell it during his diaper changes and makes sure it gets packed in his diaper bag before going out. (Please note: Bum Bum Balm is fragrance- and chemical-free! The wonderful smell is merely due to the lovely oils used in its formulation – coconut, beeswax, jojoba, calendula, and lavender, just to name a few…)

Taslie Cheeky Bum Spray – NEW!

We’ve totally fallen in love with this new item here at New & Green, which is made right here in Vancouver. It’s an all-natural spray that you use right on your baby’s bum and simply wipe off with your favorite cloth wipe. It smells great, is toxin-free, is packaged in a BPA-free bottle, and is getting fantastic reviews. Made for happy babies and parents everywhere!

We hope your Canada Day celebrations will be full of family and friends and you’ll have ample time to recharge your batteries. In amongst all the chatter and clamor, may you also have lots of opportunity to show off the lovely Canadian diapers that clad your baby’s bum! Happy Canada Day!

Up until now in our series on cloth diaper fabrics, we’ve covered the most common natural fibre fabrics – cotton, bamboo, and hemp.

But there are some very popular synthetic fabrics used as well within the cloth diaper industry – today we’ll look at microfibre.

Microfibre is popular due to its very absorbent nature (it can absorb up to 8x its own weight) and the fact that it dries very quickly. It’s usually made of a blend of polyester and nylon and is spun into ultra-thin threads, thus the name “micro-fiber.”

While microfibre is not biodegradable, it is considered an eco-friendly fabric because of its extreme durability and the fact that it’s designed for repeated use. And, of course, since that’s the whole premise of cloth diapering, it’s a “natural” fit.

There are very few diapers that are made completely of microfibre, however. Since it is so absorbent, it can dry out a baby’s skin if left in contact for extended periods of time. Thus, it’s usually used as a absorbent core inside an all-in-one diaper, such as the Easy Fit (where it’s paired with bamboo – talk about a no-leak combo!) and the AMP AIO, or as an insert in a pocket diaper, as in the Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz diapers. If it is designed to be directly against the baby’s skin, it’s usually topped with a layer of suede fleece to provide a soft, stay-dry barrier between the fabric and the skin, such as with the Flip diaper microfibre insert.

Microfibre is certainly versatile and diapers are only one of its many applications. Do you use microfibre in your home for cleaning or in diapers? Do you like it in diapers? What’s your opinion of diapers using synthetic components – is it the best of modern technology or should diapers only contain natural, renewable fabrics? We’d love to hear what you think!

Today is the third installment in our series looking at the fabrics commonly used in cloth diapering. You can see other posts in this series by clicking here.

Bamboo is one of the most popular fabrics for cloth diapers and definitely one of the most chic. It’s luxuriously soft, eco-friendly, and very absorbent. In fact, tests have shown that rayon from bamboo absorbs moisture on contact 70% more quickly than cotton and dries 20% faster. And for softness, it’s known for mimicking silk, cashmere, or french terry fleece.

It’s also with good reason that bamboo has such an eco-friendly rap:

Bamboo retains water, thus requiring very little irrigation.

It puts down deep roots, thereby supporting riverbanks and hillsides and avoiding erosion.

It is naturally anti-microbial, thus needing no pesticides or fertilizers.

It absorbs five times more carbon dioxide and releases 35% more oxygen into the environment than a stand of trees covering the same acreage.

It’s a very sustainable crop, as it doesn’t need replanting for years at a time and it grows very quickly. Once a mother clump of bamboo has taken root – generally about three years – it only takes one growing season of 3-4 months for the shoots to be ready for harvest. In fact, if the growing conditions are just right, bamboo can even grow more than a metre in one day!

When it comes to making bamboo into a textile, there’s a vast difference between conventional and sustainable practices, however. The fibres in a bamboo stalk are very short and cannot be knit directly into a yarn as with most other textiles, so they must be softened, pulped, and stretched like taffy to create the fibres. In the conventional process of turning bamboo cellulose into the silky-soft rayon we know and love, several caustic chemicals are used to soften and break down the fibres, which has a severe environmental impact and destroys the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo itself.

However, sustainable companies, such as the ones whose products we carry here at New & Green, are committed to creating their rayon in environmentally responsible ways. For example, Tots Bots, the makers of the Stretch Bamboozle and the Easy Fit, make sure their processing is done within the strict international environmental standards of ISO 9000 & 14000. The finished product also falls under the coveted European Oeko-Tex standard. And as an added bonus, viscose rayon made from bamboo is more biodegradable than other similar fabrics, including organic cotton.

In the end, organic, sustainably produced bamboo diapers are one of the best choices you can make. Make sure you check out the Bamboozle, the Easy Fit, the BabyKicks 3G, and the AMP bamboo flats!

Photo credit

It’s time once again for one of Vancouver’s premiere “mom to be” events – the Bellies to Babies Celebration! Don’t miss this spring’s show THIS SUNDAY, April 10. All the fabulous details can be found at the event website – www.belliestobabiescelebration.com.

The Bellies to Babies Celebration is a one of a kind event, offering a unique opportunity for new and expectant parents and grandparents to explore and shop for trendy baby fashions, décor and so much more! Community resources and support services will be on hand to answer questions for new and expecting parents.

New & Green will be on hand to answer questions, show off our favourite diapers, and let you in on the latest and greatest in the cloth diapering world. Make sure to come find us at Booth #42.

And best of all, in amongst all the other fabulous exhibitors and demonstrators, we’ll be on the mainstage at 1:00 with “Cloth Diapering 101″ – a FREE mini-workshop, just like our popular Cloth Diapering 101 workshops.

Because this is such an popular event, pre-registration is recommended, so check out the various ways to register today. And there’s no set admission fee – admission is by donation to The Greater Vancouver Food Bank “Basics for Babies” Program. In lieu of admission, donations of monies and baby supplies will be accepted.

Mark your calendars now and we look forward to seeing you there!

PS – We have an awesome draw happening at our Booth.  Come by and enter to win.  You will love it!  And did we mention the prize is worth more than $375?!

Today is the second installment in our series looking at the fabrics commonly used in cloth diapering. You can see other posts in this series by clicking here.

Organic Cotton

Cotton is one of the world’s most in-demand crops: more than 3% of the world’s agricultural land is covered in cotton. That’s larger than the entire country of Germany and approximately the size of all of Central America combined. Yet, organic cotton makes up less than 1% of that total.

In order for cotton to be considered “organic,” it must be grown with non-genetically modified seed and can use no agrochemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, or fertilizers. Considering conventional cotton uses approximately 25% of the world’s insecticides and about 10% of the world’s pesticides, this is a major departure from conventional farming methods. For every T-shirt or diaper manufactured with conventional cotton, between 1/4 – 1/2 lb. of chemicals have been used. This has obvious ramifications for those with sensitive skin or those just wanting to limit their exposure to chemicals and other toxic materials.

Cotton – regardless of growing method – is a beautiful plant. It grows as a medium size bush, blossoms with delicate flowers, and then produces a ball of cotton as the blossom matures.

Cotton is an especially difficult plant to grow, and even more so when the farmer has chosen to grow organically. Insects are commonly drawn to cotton plants (thus the heavy usage of insecticides in the conventional methods) and an organic farmer must be both creative, persistent, and innovative in their methods in order to have a successful crop. Often “trap crops” are used, as well as soil amendments such as compost are used to encourage biodiversity among the plants, which allow other bugs to “take care of” the unwanted guest pests. Cotton also depletes soil of minerals and nutrients more than it filters back in to the soil, so in an organic system it’s an especially important crop to rotate every few years in order to maintain a sustainable operation and profitable harvests.

There are various standards for declaring cotton fabrics to be truly “certified organic,” and among the most stringent of those certifications is the European Oeko-Tex 100. Oeko-Tex is unique because it not only tests the cotton in its raw state, but it also tests the product in its final state for more than 100 toxic substances, as dyes and fabric additives can leave toxic residues on the fabric, including heavy metals, phthalates, and phenols. But good news! – nearly all of the cotton diapers offered at New & Green are organic and many of those are Oeko-Tex 100 certified, including Bummis prefolds and the Flip organic cotton insert.

What questions do you have about organic cotton or what have you discovered in your research about cloth diapering? This post is just the beginning – we’d love to hear from you!

Want to know more? Be sure to check out:

Ekopedia

Organic Trade Association

Sustainable Cotton Project

AboutOrganicCotton.org

Eartheasy: Solutions for Sustainable Living
Storchenwiege
How Eco is Organic Cotton? The Facts on 7 Questions | Gaiam Life

Cotton plant photo credit

Cotton blossom photo credit

A day in the life of an expectant parent – An introduction to Baby Planners

Let us introduce you to Sarah.

Sarah is a thirty-something professional in our city – she loves Vancouver (though hails from Toronto), she drinks decaf lattes, and she hits up the shops on 4th Ave. whenever she can for some retail therapy. And now, she’s expecting her first baby. You can imagine her excitement!

The next year will be monumental for Sarah and her husband, John – full of emotion, joy, and….. decisions. She hasn’t taken care of a baby since she was 16 and babysitting, though she feels confident that it can’t be too hard. Through the months, the questions pile up.

A friend suggests getting a midwife, but she wonders which clinic to call and what questions to ask.

Space is at a premium in their 900-square-foot apartment, so how will the crib, dresser, and change table all fit and still leave room for the big rocker she’s always wanted?

When she overhears moms talking about cloth diapers, she realizes it hasn’t even crossed her mind to think about diapering.

To top it all off, when she and John go to create their baby registry, they find themselves standing in the baby aisle at a large department store staring at the multitude of choices in front of them. Feeding gear, bibs, breast pumps… baffled and overwhelmed, they leave the store discouraged with nothing on their registry.

Sarah thinks, “There has to be a better way.”

There is definitely an easier way!

Sarah and John are the perfect example of what new parents often feel when they enter into the big world of the baby industry. Not everyone has family nearby for support, or experienced friends with babies, or the time and effort to prepare for the baby. And everyone from friends to store clerks has different opinions.

Let us introduce you to our friends at Oh Baby Baby Planners whose job it is to help minimize or eliminate the feelings of stress or uncertainty for soon to be parents.

Here are five reasons why a baby planner could benefit Sarah and John (and you too!):

1. Save time.
Let’s face it. Sarah and John want to take advantage of the precious months they have together just as a couple – not wasting their weekends driving all over town test driving strollers or surfing the net for reviews on breast pumps. Baby Planners provide product and service recommendations, personal shopping services, even provide delivery, assembly and “training” in how to use all your new gear.

2. Save money.
Baby Planners will help you get it right the first time by choosing the right gear and services to suit your budget and lifestyle! They also help you find the best deals and discounts whether through our great relationships with local retailers, or through our savvy online shopping skills.

3. De-stress.
Preparing for a new baby is so exciting – but for most parents, it’s also a very stressful time. You are faced with a multitude of problems and choices you have likely never considered before. If only Sarah knew that a very reputable midwife just opened a few doors down from her office. Baby Planners can help you narrow your choices for you so your decision making process is relaxing and fun!

4. Find your parenting groove.
Baby Planners are on top of all of the current parenting trends, styles, and techniques. They’ll present options to you in a non-condescending and non-judgmental way. They can recommend techniques, books, and resources that suit your baby and your style. For example, recommending John and Sarah to attend a New & Green Cloth Diaper workshop is a great way to introduce them to cloth diapering.

5. Personal Concierge, anyone?
Baby Planners are here to help you manage all the details that need to get done before your baby arrives. Maybe you are on bed rest, or working overtime, or new to the city, or left things a little late – they are your go-to girls for everything Baby. No question is silly and no task is too small. They are here to support you through your journey into parenthood.

Note from New & Green: Oh Baby Baby Planners offer services for adoptive parents too! If you are needing cloth diapers and other baby supplies in a hurry or you’ve already had your baby and want help thinking through the options, a baby planner may be just the way to go.

This post was contributed by Camille Paulhus of Oh Baby Baby Planners.

Photo Credit

March 4th is the day to like us. 

Head over to facebook, hit the like button and grab the sale code.

You’ll save some money now on our top selling cloth diapering item (aside from the diapers themselves) and pocket some future savings, because we like you and we want you to come back and say hi!

See you over on facebook.

Welcome to a new series here on the New & Green blog highlighting the fabrics that are used in the wonderful array of cloth diapers that exist on the market today. Many parents at our Cloth Diapering 101 workshops want to know the benefits of using natural fibres and are curious about synthetic fibres, since they make cloth diapering so easy! Thus this series was born – through the year we will highlight several of the fabrics commonly used in the diapers that don your babies’ bums.

HEMP

Hemp is one of the world’s oldest plants and one of the ones that has been most used through history. It is earth-friendly, versatile, and renewable.

Though it’s a sibling to marijuana, which is grown for the use of its blossoms and leaves, hemp is grown mostly for its seeds and its fibrous stalk, which breaks down easily with very few chemicals during processing. It is known as a very eco-friendly plant, as it grows quickly, requires little water, improves soil nutrients rather than depleting them, is an excellent anti-erosion crop, and is naturally pest-resistant, which eliminates the need for pesticides. It’s also very easily grown without the use of herbicides or fertilizers.

All in all, it is a very “green” crop and can be easily made into thousands of different kinds of products with fewer chemicals than its counterparts. (e.g., in paper making, hemp requires fewer chemicals than wood; in the production of fabrics and other textiles, hemp requires fewer chemicals than conventional cotton; etc…) The end product when made into a fabric is naturally anti-microbial and very durable.

There is a serious downside to hemp, however. While it is now legal to grow hemp in Canada, there are no textile mills able to deal with raw hemp. In the US, not only are there no hemp textile mills, but it’s still illegal to grow the crop. Thus, it’s still necessary and more cost-effective for diaper manufacturers to import finished hemp fabric from other nations, usually China. This certainly increases the “eco-footprint” for any hemp diaper.

There’s also the factor of softness. Hemp is a very sturdy, durable, absorbent material and until recently, most hemp diapers were more practical than swoon-worthy. However, both Annie Marie Padorie of AMP Diapers and BabyKicks have been among the first to use luxuriously soft combed hemp fleece in their diapers – we invite you to pick one up and feel the difference! They’re almost down-right cuddle-worthy…

Mamas (and papas) – what has been your experience with hemp diapers?

Photo credit

Birth Fest is an annual festival of all things related to belly, baby and family.  I went for the first time 4 years ago with my firstborn tucked into a sling and walked around thinking to myself, “Wow, this is a whole new world!  There are so many things out there to access in the way of support and great products that I had no idea about”.  Fast forward a couple years, New & Green was born and I found myslef on the other side of the “table” still with a baby on my back (just much bigger) and talking to lots of pregnant and new families about how to cloth diaper.  The next year, New & Green was on the organizing committee.  This is our third year being a part of the Birth Lounge Collective and the 5th annivesary of this great event.

What I love most about this event is that it is like a giant party where you meet new friends, catch up with old ones and really feel the love.  It feels a bit silly to say it, but really, it’s true.  Folks that get into the world of supporting new families do it because they love it right down to their core, and it shows.

So if you are in town on February 26th, come on down to Birth Fest at Britannia Community Centre on Commerical, say hi to us and check out the amazing folks that can support you on your parenting journey.

See you there on February 26th between 11-4.

~Karen

Eco-friendly materials are definitely the name of the game in 2011. Organic cotton, bamboo, and hemp all satisfy parents who are looking for more sustainable materials, and the BabyKicks One-Size Organic fitted diaper, the Stretch Bamboozle Bamboo fitted diaper, and the AMP Hemp fitted diaper are rising to the top as Parent Favourites.

Trend #2: Newborn to One-Size Diapers

One-size diapers are fabulous for increasing your savings from infanthood to toddlerhood, but they don’t always fit so well in the first few weeks of life. Thus, parents are choosing to pair newborn nappies (the cutest diapers – bar none!) with one-size diapers to get the best use out of both.

For N&G parents, the TiniFit, Kissaluvs Size 0, and the new Organic Cotton Newborn Pack are definitely get the top raves for newborn sizing.  BabyKicks 3G, the Tots Bots Easy-Fit, and the Canadian-Made AMP One-Size Duos are rising to the top in popularity for the infant-to-potty-training variety.

Trend #3: Back-to-basics Prefolds and Covers

We’ve written many posts on the beauty and simplicity of using prefolds, as well as have a prefold photo tutorial on our main site, and thus it’s no surprise to us that a large number of parents are choosing the simple, money-wise option of using prefolds and covers to cloth their babes. You can get these classic diapers in a box set or a la carte. Hemp prefolds are also available individually.

Trend #4: Style

This trend isn’t coming directly from parents, per se, but parents who are wanting to show off their babies’ bums have definitely fueled the fire on this one. Look no further than the limited edition artist prints on the Bum Genius 4.0′s and Elemental one-size AIO’s, as well as all the luscious new Super Whisper Wrap Covers from Bummis. Of course, the EasyFit always gets an honourable mention in the “cute” division, too!

So, there you have it. So far 2011 is shaping up to be eco-friendly, stylish, and money-smart, just like all of you.

We’d love to know – what trend will top your priority list this year?

We love to hear what you think about the products that we stock here at N&G.  While we spend oodles of time researching and reviewing, it really comes down to your varied, real-life expereinces.  Different families, different babies – it is what makes the cloth diapering world go ’round.

Last year on Facebook, we started hosting Parent Review Panels.  And it’s been fun!

This is how it works.  We select a product from N&G that we’d like to get real-time, real-world feedback on.  We head over to our Facebook page (Have you clicked the like button?) and we put out the call.  Sometimes we are looking for families with babies of specific ages and weights, sometimes we are looking for families using specific diaper covers and sometimes its just open to whomever wishes to participate.  After the call goes out, we collect the responses and select our Parent Review Panel.

The parents on the panel receive a product from us, use it and then tell us all about it and show us how it works for them.  There’s a few more detials, but we’ll let you find that out when you apply to be a Parent Reviewer.

Have a look at some photos of past review panels and keep your eyes (or better yet your Facebook News Feed) peeled for the next call for a Parent Review Panel.

The EasyFit Parent Review Panel Photo Summary.

The Stretch Bamboozle Parent Review Panel Photo Summary.

We’ve officially left January, but we still have some 2010 roundups for you.  We took a look back to see what accessories hit the top five to make life easier for cloth diapering families in 2010.

#5 Kissaluv Organic Hemp Wipes.  These wipes are thin, yet absorbent.  Big enough to clean up a big job and thick enough to avoid any risk of hand-poo contact.  They also work well as mini doublers in the early days.  One feature that is repeatedly praised is the smooth side/loopy side so you can choose what surface works best for the job at hand.

#4 Microfleece Stay Dry Liners.  Doing double duty to keep zinc based creams from staining your diapers and keeping bums dry, this seems to be a must have for most cloth diapering families.

#3 Fabulous Wet Bags.  These gems came on the scene this year and have been a fabulous addition.  With a zipper and loop and made from the durable, yet light and flexible Super Brite PUL, these make managing the dirties easy when you’re out and about.  You can find one in our swimming bag and attached to our stroller handle.

#2 Bio-Soft Liners.  Now these go out of our shipping centre in droves.  Making poop management easier is what we like to do and these are our go to solution.  Just ask any parent with a baby that is 6m+.  One tip – if you are into medium or 15lb+ diapers or a diaper with a stay dry inner layer, go for the larges, you’ll find them the most functional.

#1 Rockin Green Cloth Diaper Detergent.  With formulations to match your water quality and funky names and awesome scents, doing laundry just got easier and cool.  Yes, I said cool.  This has made the lives of many many families sweeter in the smell department.

What was your “must have” cloth diaper accessory for 2010?

We are well into 2011 (can you believe that February is knocking already?), but wanted to give you a quick look back at our most popular diapers of 2010.

#5 The XS Fuzzi Bunz.  This diaper makes it into our Newborn Rental Kit because its tiny and it works well.  Parents love the trim fit and the ability to use it from day one.  It fits babies from 4-12lbs.  How could it be anything but cute?!

#4 The Organic Cotton Prefold.  This is a tried and true solution.  Many parents that are looking to balance the baby budget start off their days using organic cotton prefolds and sealing the deal with the Bummis Kit.  It’s a no brainer way to start out and it saves loads of money in those 12 changes a day months.

#3 The bumGenius 4.0 in Snaps.  Parents have heard of this diaper.  Its a well known and well loved brand that can take you from almost birth to training pants or underwear.  The stay dry lining and impressive absorbency along with ease of use make this one a popular choice.  It’s often one that parents transition to when they outgrow those little organic cotton prefolds.  The release of the snap version was very very well received, indeed.

#2 The EasyFit.  An awesome diaper on all accounts.  Easy to use, easy to wash, easy to dry.  This is a great choice for families who are wanting an option that is easy for all involved: Mom, Dad, Grandma and Daycare.  And it’s little sister, the TiniFit is a spitting image of the EasyFit, though much, much cuter.

#1 The BabyKicks 3g.  This diaper has taken Canada by storm.  It’s unique features are really hitting with Canadian parents.  An all natural diaper (organic cotton, hemp and bamboo) that is equally impressive in it’s trimness and absorbency and has this neat feature of breathable gussets.  That means that it’s been able to be bumped to the ranks of “Awesome night diaper” amongst many cloth diapering families.  And did you know it can be used “pull-up” style when you get to the potty learning days?

And that’s it folks.  Let’s see what 2011 brings.

What was your top diaper for 2010?