Advice on cloth diapering, please...

To cloth or not to cloth...that is the question.

I've been looking more into cloth diapering recently and have to admit that I am still a bit intimidated by the whole thing, mainly because- not gonna lie- I don't deal well with what is contained in the diaper itself. I've heard awesome things about cloth diapers, and have done some research on sites like Wildflower Diapers in Scottsdale- which I can't wait to visit in person- but I need some advice from moms out there who have actually done it or are currently.Things I wanna know:

Do you love it or hate it?
What's the biggest challenge?
Is it more of a hassle than it's worth?
Do you ever mix it up with disposables- for example, is it an inconvenience to deal with cloth diapers when you're out and about?
Any inkling on what your child prefers?
Did you find it more or less expensive than disposable diapers?

Because at the rate our 6-lb. child is going through disposables, she is going to bankrupt us before she's potty trained! Ha! She is completely worth it but COME ON. I figure there has to be a better way to do this thing. 

So shoot me a comment with your thoughts! I'd love to hear what you have to say- and you'll really help me make the right decision moving forward.

Comments

[Amaris Kress]

andrea,
i follow this blog (i have no idea when or where i stumbled upon it, but i love it ha ha) and she posted on this topic just a few days ago. you may have to scroll down a bit to see...i hope it helps! love you!

http://dearbaby.tumblr.com/

[the ambitious mrs]

Personally I've always used disposables. Here is the way I think of it. Whenever I deal with a particularly nasty diaper, I think to myself "would I have paid $___ (cost of one diaper) to not have to deal with cleaning that on a more intimate level?" And my answer has always been, yes!

I have many friends who have tried cloth. If you're die hard it's do-able. If you're not, I've pretty much seen them all give up. You really have to be committed. You could always consider doing a mixture of both, so that you don't have to deal with the cloth when you're out and about. The people I know who are happiest with cloth diapers use a diapering service!!!

I know a woman here locally who runs a cloth diaper website. Her site is babycottonbottoms.com It's a good site and she is a wealth of information if you decide to try!

[Beth]

Hey Andrea...we went to high school together back in the day. I found your blog through a mutual friend's Facebook or MySpace. Just delurking to share my personal experience with cloth diapers.

My husband and I chose to cloth diaper our first daughter from the time she was a newborn. The beginning was a pain! It felt like I was changing a diaper every 20 minutes. Kathryn hated being wet. I was tempted to switch to disposables, but through a lot of trial and error, I found a system that worked for us. Kathryn was in cloth until she potty-trained six months ago.

We planned to cloth diaper our second daughter, too. This time we started with disposables and eventually decided it was easier to stick with Pampers. With two little ones, I didn't have time to wash diapers every other day. I can't even keep up with our regular laundry!

Sometimes I wish I was still cloth diapering. I still have all of my diapers. That's the great thing about them - when you're done, they can be resold! As gross as that sounds, there are moms out there willing to buy second-hand cloth diapers.

I feel like I haven't really answered any of your questions, but I've rambled on long enough. If you want to pick my brain, you can always email me. :-)

[jamie]

I have several friends who use cloth or a combination of the two. I encourage you to try it. Or at least rotate a couple in for options.

[Lindsay @ Likely Design]

I use cloth, along with disposables. Mine is 18 months old now and I love them. I also like using cloth wipes, which I just recently started doing.

I get my diapers from etsy.com/shop/monkeysnugglesdiaper (I think that's the address, I typed it from memory). You'll get used to what's inside, but it gets better after they're older and eating solid foods. :)

My washer has a 'soak' setting, so I use that when they really need some soaking, but otherwise they always wash out great.

I use disposables (Seventh Generation brand is my favorite) overnight, because she can soak through overnight, plus I don't like to leave cloth on that long = diaper rash. I also use disposables when we're out and about and I don't know if I'll be able to change her when she might need it. If I know I'll have time to change her when she needs it, I'll take cloth.

Hope that helps! Feel free to visit my blog for my adventures in cloth diapering. :)

xo, Lindsay

[rachel summy]

greenmountaindiapers.com
I HAD to start cloth b/c my one-year-old developed a rash from the disposable. I was intimidated. However, I had a friend who used cloth and she directed me to this website. I love cloth. It saves lots of money, and I never use cloth when we are on the road! It's too much of a hassle for me. It's easy once you get the hang of it. And being moms, it takes a lot to gross us out! I can give you so much more advice...like, you HAVE to buy HEMP liners for the diapers! They hold so much more moisture! And you have to get the snappy! So much better than pins.
If you need more info, please respond, email...rachel.summy@sccboe.org, or go to my blog, daddyslittlemonkey.blogspot.com
Congrats on the tomkatstudio job!