I have been cloth diapering my son since he was a little over a year old. I was always hesitant to start earlier because I thought washing was going to be a hassle. Now that I am in the thick of it, I realize it’s no big deal. Diapers are much easier to wash than normal clothes because there’s no sorting or folding involved. You definitely don’t have to worry about whether your cloth diapers are wrinkled, so it’s okay to just let them sit in the dryer for a while if you don’t have time to take them out. Sometimes I just leave them in there and take one out as needed for a diaper change.
For a while I have been using prefolds and waterproof covers (I use the Thirsties Duo Wraps), but recently I added ten pocket diapers to my stash. I bought the square tab, extra soft Kawaii diapers, which retail for $6.99 and come with two microfiber inserts. So far I really love them. Honestly I love having both prefolds and pockets in my stash for different reasons. Prefolds are easier to clean when you’re dealing with diarrhea. Pockets are much easier for going out and about. Pockets are also much easier for babysitters to use.
The reason I prefer pockets to all-in-one diapers is the fact that while they wear like an all-in-one, they wash more like a prefold. I pull the inserts out of the diaper before tossing both in my dry pail. Once I am done washing, I pull all the diapers out and put them in the dryer on low heat for 15 minutes. This is just enough to dry them without wearing them out with excessive heat. I pull them out and put all the inserts (and prefolds) into the dryer and run a full 70 minute drying cycle on high heat. Everything dries faster when it’s separated like that, and I don’t worry as much about the diapers getting rinsed properly.