So you’re entertaining the idea of going the cloth diaper route, but you’re feeling a little overwhelmed with options. We’ve all been there. Let’s talk it out in this mini-series: Fluff, Four Ways.

Curious about other options? Check these out:

• Prefolds and Covers

• All in 2s

• All in Ones

I’ve got to be very honest, pocket diapers are not my favorite. I know, I know, many people swear by these and they’re some of the most common mass-produced diapers you can find, so they’ve got to have something great going for them. In the few months that I used them, however, I was unable to figure out what, exactly, that something was.

My Experience with Pocket Diapers

We used the Grovia My Choice Trainer diapers for about 4 months when our son was ready to start using the potty but still having accidents. These have some built-in absorbency, but they also have a pocket to add more absorbency for nighttime or if you’re anticipating some difficulty in getting to the toilet in time. Basically, they’re extra absorbency optional pocket diapers. For trainers these work out just fine, but I’m grateful that we weren’t using these when Little Guy was going through 10 diapers a day!

I found that if the absorbent inserts weren’t placed inside the pocket just right, the diaper wouldn’t sit well and we would have leaks. It’s true that with any diaper, proper placement of the absorbent layer is important, but prefolds and covers as well as AI2s are much more forgiving, in my experience.

Unlike AI2s or Prefolds and covers, you have to remove the absorbent layers from inside the pockets before you wash them. This isn’t so bad if you can pull it out with a wipe immediately after taking it off your baby or toddler, but a messy poop can make that challenging. If, heaven forbid, you don’t pull the absorbent layer out immediately, that means reaching into a cold, wet diaper to pull out a soggy layer later. This makes pocket diapers a hard no for any kind of childcare situation for my family. Daycare centers in my state must not manipulate cloth diapers in any way other than putting them on and taking them off children. This means that, if we were to send pockets to daycare, I would be pulling out soggy inserts that had been marinating in a wet diaper tucked in a wet bag for up to 8 hours. No, no, and no.

I also found that the pocket opening was challenging for my husband to navigate. He doesn’t have huge hands, but they’re certainly bigger than mine, and it was particularly difficult for him to get his hand in there with the absorbent layer and wiggle things around until it was in there just right. This meant that most of the burden of prepping the diapers once they came out of the wash fell to me. I know that, in many households, the bulk of all things baby-related falls to the mother, but in our home, we try to split the burden of all things childcare as evenly as possible. Being in a situation where I was really the only one who could manage prepping the diapers was frustrating for both of us.

Pros:

• Plentiful and affordable options

• Customizable absorbency

• Accepted by childcare centers

Cons:

• Extremely gross when you get them home from daycare

• Difficult to stuff, especially for people with larger hands

• A large stash is necessary

Shopping List:

• 24+ Pocket Diapers

• 24+ Soaker Pads

• 24+ Boosters

• Wetbag

Approximate cost: Starting at $350

Recommendation: 5/10

This feels like a really harsh rating, but when compared to the ease of All in 2s and the affordability of prefolds and covers, I really can’t recommend pocket diapers over either of those options. If you are gifted pockets, you should absolutely be grateful for the addition to your stash, but I absolutely would not buy an entire stash of these or depend on them in any kind of childcare situation.