What's new in cloth diapers

These are not your mother's or your grandmother's diapers.

For starters, "hardly anybody uses pins," says Hillary Ryan, a Tacoma mom who sells cloth diapering products through her business, Wai Baby.

Instead, there are Snappis, T-shaped pieces of rubber with soft teeth that grip fabric, not baby.

While startup costs for cloth diapers are steeper, you pay for materials once and reuse them. And when your child is out of diapers, the soft squares of fabric can be used as household rags.

The basics: Diaper fabrics range from cotton to hemp. Prefolded diapers are rectangles of fabric that can be unfolded and expanded as baby grows. Contoured diapers are shaped like an hourglass, making them easier to put on. Fitted diapers have elastic legs and waists.

Baby wraps: Plastic pants are passe, although many moms still use them. Modern diaper covers come in a variety of waterproof fabrics, many of them made of the same types of materials used in outdoor gear. Some wraps attach with Velcro, others use adjustable snaps.

All-in-ones: These combine an inner diaper and an outer cover that's attached to

the diaper. The all-in-one is secured with Velcro or snaps. The whole thing gets washed after it's soiled.

Pocket diapers: Outside is waterproof polyurethane, inside is microfleece or other soft material. The two layers are sewn together, with a pocket opening in the back in which you insert a prefolded diaper or special insert that comes with the pocket diaper. The whole thing closes with snaps or Velcro. When baby wets, moisture passes through the inner layer and is absorbed by the insert.