We had many reasons that we wanted to try cloth diapers. The most obvious reason was to avoid all that waste and I understand that we use more water and energy doing more laundry, but it is still something I wanted to do. The second reason was the cost. I know there are all sorts of articles published about how much we spend on babies and diapers are a huge part of that cost. A jumbo pack costs $20 and lasts a little less than two weeks! We spent $200 on a pail liner, sprayer (gotta clean the poop off), cloth wipes, and one size diapers. We have enough diapers to get us through 3 days, which is plenty because you are supposed to wash them every 3 days.
The diapers we chose are one size diapers, so they are designed to expand (using snaps in the front) as he grows. We have a few pocket diapers for night time use (you want easy at 2 am), but the rest are just covers and we change out the insert when it gets dirty. You just spray the poop into the toilet and toss the insert or diaper into the pail. A little baking soda can be added to prevent a stinky nursery, but we haven't had a problem with it. I also like the cloth wipes better. I just spritz his little heiny with some water and wash off. It doesn't irritate him like the disposable wipes do. Traveling isn't really a problem either. We have a small dry bag and dirty diapers just get put in it until we get home to clean them.
It is a little more work, but overall I like the cloth diapers better. We've had fewer leaks than when we have used disposables (we do keep some on hand just in case), we don't have problems with diaper rash, and I enjoy not feeling guilty about all that waste. The cloth diapers are a little bulkier, mostly because I didn't get the sized diapers, but we haven't had any problems with his cloths not fitting or interfering with his movements.
Has anyone else tried cloth diapers? What do you think?
