Cloth Diapers

So, I've recently decided to try cloth diapers. After talking to people who have been doing it for a while, I decided I wanted to go with a pocket diaper. So I bought several gently used cloth pocket diapers from a couple really great sites (www.diaperlab.com for four of them). I have to say: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CLOTH DIAPERS!!! We only have six so far, so I'm either washing laundry twice a day, or I have to go back and forth between cloth and disposable.

What do I love about them?
1 - I love that they keep Mitchell's little tushy DRY! He's a VERY heavy wetter, and when I take a disposable diaper off of him, his heiny is wet and sometimes has what I think is little tiny pellets of the gel from the diaper on him. When he gets diaper rashes, this is awful and it hurts him so much. Ben & I agree that cloth diapers may cut back on both the number and the severity of diaper rashes for him. When I take a cloth diaper off, his little bum-bum is as dry as can be.

2 - They are CUTE! Have you seen how adorable some of the prints are for cloth diapers? These aren't your grandma's cloth diapers!

3 - They're EASY! After being washed & dried, I stuff the inserts back in. Then they are prepped and ready for diapering. Merely take off one diaper and put on the other, same as disposables (only with snaps instead of velcro, though velcro is also available). That's it! Pull out the inserts and throw diaper and inserts either into a diaper pail, wet bag, or just into the empty washer rather than into the trash.

What I don't like?
1 - You have to use special detergent. To wash, I pull the inserts out and wash the diapers and inserts together in hot water with Country Save detergent, then I dry them without a fabric softener sheet. Enzymes and softeners and brighteners and such can build up on your diapers to make them less absorbent, so it's important to use the right detergent. I usually use the ALL Free & Clear, but it still has stuff that will build up on the diapers. However, this isn't a BIG deal, other than it's more expensive, because with all the skin conditions in our home, it may end up being helpful.

2 - It's a little gross to change poopy diapers. However, when is it NOT? You've still got to wipe stinkies off of little tushies, disposable or cloth. If it's a hard chunk, you just dump that into the toilet and flush. If it's not so hard, you still just pull out the inserts (which you CAN do without touching anything gross) and throw it all into where ever you put your dirty diapers. It really isn't that bad. PROMISE!

So, all that said...
Which diapers do I like the best?
What do they look like?

Well, I'll save these two questions for tomorrow!!