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Alva Baby cloth diaper review

alva babyAlva Baby offers an affordable alternative to expensive cloth diapers for parents who want to “dip a toe” into the cloth diapering world. I purchased a bundle on Amazon that includes a pack of 6 Alva Baby pocket style cloth diapers and 12 microfiber inserts.

While these diapers are significantly cheaper on the Alva Baby website, they will take between 2 and 3 weeks to arrive as they ship from China. I have Amazon Prime, so I received them in 2 days with free shipping (so it was worth the extra cost in my opinion).

The diaper covers themselves fit reasonably well for my baby, who is 10 months, 30 inches, and 23 pounds. The diaper tabs each have three buttons and there are plenty of ways to secure them onto the front of the diaper.alva_closeup

For our purposes, the microfiber inserts that come with the cloth diapers are not sufficient. Our boy is a heavy wetter, so within the pocket insert, we use one Alva Baby microfiber insert on top of one HappyEndings TM 5-layer charcoal bamboo insert (runs about $20 for a pack of 6 on Amazon). The microfiber insert is good for fast initial absorption of the urine while the bamboo insert is slower absorbing and holds significantly more liquid.

Although my son’s growth has slowed, I will say that if he grows too much taller these diaper covers may not be long enough. With two inserts in the pocket, these diapers sit just below his belly button. The leg gussets are adequately large for us, even with two inserts, but they may be less forgiving for a baby with very thick legs.

Even with the added cost of purchasing additional inserts, the Alva Baby diapers are still quite a bit cheaper than other cloth diapering brands. The Alva Baby diapers have enabled us to effectively cloth diaper part-time (excluding trips out of the house and overnight) and significantly cut down on the number of disposable diapers we use.

Alva Baby moustache cloth diaper
Alva Baby moustache cloth diaper

Both the diaper covers and inserts have remained stain-free and fresh smelling thus far  (2 weeks in). I wash my diapers and inserts on the “whites” cycle in my washing machine. To assist with easy clean-up and avoid stains, I also use the Bumkins flushable diaper liners ( a pack of 100 is available on Amazon for $8).

As an added bonus, some of the diaper designs and colors are pretty darn cute. Alva Baby cloth diapers are available on Amazon here for individual sale for $12 (with 2 inserts ) or here in bundles of 6 (with 12 inserts) for between $43 and $53 depending on the style you choose.

3.5 / 5 stars     

Liz King

Liz King is a former biomedical research scientist that now blogs from home when she is not chasing her ever adventurous toddler. She lives in the Greater Philadelphia area with her husband and son.