Though I have tried many similar diapers, I had never tried an Alva Baby diaper, and I was curious. When I saw a minky Mickey diaper for $5.59 shipped, I had to bite.
Alva Baby diapers ship directly from China, so it took 3 weeks to get to me.
The diaper has snap closures with an overlap, is one-size via 3 snap down rise settings, and has a stay dry inner.
The diaper has a rear pocket opening, and PUL outer. The washing instructions say not to wash the diaper in water over 95 degrees (I have seen this washing instruction repeated on other diapers that I suspect came out of the same factory), however, optimal washing temperature for cloth diapers is more like 120-140.
The diaper came with a single microfiber insert.
Here is the small setting measured folded and stretched:
Medium:
v
Large:
I put my 8 1/2 month old, 16ish pound son in the medium rise setting. While it seemed to fit OK, and didn’t leak, I noticed considerable “wing droop” the next time I changed him, despite the hip snaps.
My real question is how it will hold up over time. So, I plan to wash the diaper with each load, at my normal water temp, and I will report back in a few months. Update after washing for 5 months (published 2/5/13)
I paid normal retail price for the pictured diaper. I was not asked to write, nor was I compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
[…] was curious about how Alva Baby cloth diapers compared to other diapers that are also made in China and appear identical, but cost much […]
I’d love to hear how this has gone for you, especially washing on hot. I have a bunch of alvas but am afraid to wash the covers on hot because I had one delaminate quickly. The seller sent a replacement, but I don’t want it to keep happening so now I have to wash inserts on hot and do a separate load of covers in warm. Thoughts?
I was going to post my update in the next few weeks actually! Other than the printed area washing away very quickly, I have had no issues at all. The problem is that I only have ONE, so my not having issues doesn’t mean that if I bought 23 more, I wouldn’t have problems with those, kwim? I washed on hot about 3x/week for the past 4 months.
Thanks! I will try hot and see how it goes. I am cloth diapering to save money, so if they delaminate that’s not really saving money. 🙂 I want them clean, though! Thanks again!
Here’s my update: https://change-diapers.com/2013/02/how-do-alva-baby-cloth-diapers-hold-up-over-time/ 🙂
I have bought alva babies too! The majority of my stash is alva cloth diapers. Some are from lotus bum and then another brand (can’t think of it right now) I also have 1 straight from the factory.
At first I had no problem with them. I mean they aren’t the best quality of fabrics, but they fit my lo fine. But now that she is bigger 20#. . They fit her horribly. I HATE them, they all fit her different even though they are the same brand. Some I am on the last snaps, while others are still at the first snaps!
But you get what you pay for!
Good experiment idea.
I’m sure Kim from DDL would love to hear the results!
Yes I would 🙂