Please help me decide on cloth vs. disposables

kayemgi

I first read about cloth diapering on a blog I follow. They had a stash of BumGenius Elemental AIOs, used a regular free & clear laundry detergent, and generally made it sound wonderful. Then I started doing more research. I've been reading articles and blog posts and lurking on cloth diaper forums for over a year. I've compiled a list of pros and cons. My cons list is a lot longer and my husband is not fully on board and the cons list makes him even less so. I really want cloth diapering to work for us, but my list is saying don't do it. Can you look at my lists and help me out with some more pros? I know it's not for everyone, and maybe it's just not for us, but I can't help getting this defeated failure feeling when I think about not trying it, even though we haven't even tried yet. I don't even know why, but I really want cloth to work for us.

Pros

• Saves money (could be debatable, if using coupons and/or sales for disposables)
  
• Better for the environment
  
• Less stinky diapers in the house at a time (wash cloth every few days as opposed to a week of dirty disposables adding up)
  
• Less incidents of diaper rash
  
• Less poo explosions
  
• Smell less when wet
  
• No expensive Diaper Genie refill bags to deal with
  

Cons

• Seems like a lot of people have problems with stinky diapers, even when clean
  
• Have to do laundry every 2-3 days
  
• More work – laundry, rinsing out poo diapers, possibly stuffing if using pocket diapers, changes needed more often
  
• Certain types of diapers might not work for baby=wasted money
  
• Lots of confusion over the different types of diapers
  
• Lots of confusion about laundry detergents
  
• Not much space in our house for air-drying, which seems to be the best/preferred drying method
  
• Bulkier than disposables – baby clothes might not fit well
  
• Cloth might not work at night – read about a lot of people who use disposables at night because cloth can’t hold the wetness as well for baby to sleep through the night
  
• If baby does get diaper rash, can only use special creams and/or have to temporarily switch to disposables
  
• Must be changed every 2-3 hours? Because of smell and leaking?
  

I think my number one concern is about a certain type of diaper not working for the baby. We simply don't have the money to try one kind and then bail on that and try another kind and then bail on that and try yet a third. I've read one instance of a family using one type of cloth diaps and having it work for them just fine, but that's it. Are there any more of you out there?

TugboatSheila

I'm a CD newb so I can't speak to most of your list but I CAN speak to your main concern. 

If you bought an entire stash of CDs and NONE of them worked for you, you could sell those bad boys in a heartbeat. My stash is currently made up of new and very gently used items. If they have nothing worng with them people like me (and there are a lot of people like me buying!) would buy them from you quickly. 

musicalsilver

I think one of the reasons it "sounds like" lots of people have problems with stinky diapers is because nobody comes around here (or the internet in general) to rave about their non-stinky-problem-free diapers!  They only really post about problems.  So there's definitely a bias in the results you're seeing.

I have only had one main stinky diaper issue (albeit in the only about 10 months I've been doing this), and that's when I switched washing machines.  One quick tweak to my routine suggested by the lovely ladies of this board, and easy peasy, things seem to be working just fine again.

As for all your "confusion" points - those can easily be sorted out by more research, and then they drop right off your list.

As for certain types of diapers not working for a baby - maybe just try prefolds and covers - I have yet to hear of anyone here that doesn't have prefolds work for them.  You might go through a couple different covers to find a style you love, but then again, all the covers I've bought for LO have worked well enough to contain what they need to.  That would also eliminate your confusion about types of diapers and the whole stuffing diapers aspect.  Prefolds don't even need to be folded if you're feeling lazy.

I have one of these for hanging dipes to dry:

It takes up hardly any space and dries all of the covers/pocket shells LO goes through in two days with no problem.

Also, babies should always be changed every 2-3 hours (apart from at night), regardless of diapering type.  It's just sanitary that way.

And that's as many of your points that I have time to go through - I hope it helps!  It sounds a little bit like you're convincing yourself against CDs - so give it a chance!

runningyogimama

I'm just going to address your cons. I think you're reading so many problems (stink, detergent problems, rashes, etc) because people don't make daily posts just to say, "Hey! Everything is going great here!" but do post if problems pop up, so they seem more prevelant than they actually are. Don't make problems that don't exist. If any of those things do ever pop up, you can address them when they do.

You're also not going to be wasting money if a certain diaper doesn't work for you. You can sell them and make most of your money back.

Diaper laundry is really no big deal. I find it a lot less of a pain than regular laundry, and I hate doing laundry. I also normally throw everything in the dryer, but I did hang a clothesline over my washer and dryer from wall to wall and that works just fine for line drying when I'm not feeling lazy. Stuffing 3 days worth of pockets takes about 5-10 mins while watching TV at night.

DD can pee through disposable doubled up at night. Fitteds hold that shit in at night! I've also seen posts on my BMB about what people do for diapers at night because of leaking problems, so it's not exclusive to cloth.

Yes, they're bulkier, but the bulk goes down ad baby gets bigger. Some people have to size up sooner in clothes, but it's honestly never been an issue here.

I don't know how changing every 2-3 hours is a pain. I wouldn't want to sit in my pee/poop for longer than that. How long so people go between changes in disposables? Honest question--even if we use disposables for some reason, I don't let her go longer than that.

sarenu1

Clean diapers should smell like nothing. If they smell, you have a wash routine issue.

Diaper laundry is no big deal. I find it harder to clean my house with two kids than do laundry.

No one says it has to be all or nothing. I use disposables at night for my 4 month old and cloth for my 2 year old. It's just a matter of finding what works for you.

And I agree, a baby should be changed every 2 hours during the day regardless of what they are wearing. And disposables smell when they are used. If a cloth diaper is cleaned right, it will only smell if it's on overnight (ammonia eventually forms) or if they poop.

Chichigo

Cloth diapers don't have chemicals to assist with absorbency, so they do need to be changed frequently. You can't use most common rash creams because they will affect absorbency. The CD safe stuff usually has more natural ingredients that are probably better for baby's skin (and mom and dad, too-I don't find it as hard to clean off my hands). Many cloth diapered babies don't need anything more than coconut oil. I have been using cloth for nearly four months and haven't had any issues with stink. I use mostly prefolds and flats, which do well with common detergent brands. They stand up well to repeated use of the dryer. I almost always hang my covers. We have a small folding rack on the wall of the laundry room. Prefolds and flats can fit any baby. You just need to find a fold that works for yours, and try different ones as the baby grows. These aren't as easy to put on the baby as pockets or all in ones, but cost about $2 each and hold up well. The cost of covers vary. You can try a diaper trial to find diapers that work well for your family. Most seem to cost about $125 , but you get most of the money back when you return the diapers. I started with prefolds and flats and buy used diapers to see what I like.

Mandmeesh

this is a large forum of CD addicts.  We love them, use them and troubleshoot all the time. 

You won't get any "use disposable" votes here  

start lurking here and you'll be convinced

kayemgi

Thank you all! All of that did make me feel a lot better. I didn't really think about that you need to change disposables that often too, I just often saw it as a problem people would post about. "My diapers leak!" "Are you changing every two hours on the dot?" sounds scary to a newb.

And it makes sense too that of course people are going to post about problems, but not when everything is peachy.

Seriously thank you for the replies, I hope this will help my husband come around as well!

sunshineinmay09

I'm going to come out of lurking....

I've been CDing my son since he was 12 months old. So I haven't cloth diapered a NB yet, but I've learned a lot about it on the board.

First, you can use both cloth and disposables if you're not sure at first what you want to do. Also, as already mentioned, you should be changing a diaper every 2-3 hours regardless if it's cloth or disposables. 

To address some of your cons:

- don't go borrowing trouble. It just seems like everyone has stinky diaper issues, because no one ever posts about how they're not having an issue right now. And if you do run into a problem, it can be easily fixed. The ladies on here are great at troubleshooting.

- doing the diaper laundry every 2-3 days is no big deal. You'll be doing that anyway with a NB. New babies can go through a lot of clothes, blankets, burp rags, ect. Especially, when using disposables, because they don't contain the poop explosions. It goes everywhere. I used disposables with my first two and poop would go everywhere. On me, the blankets, all over the baby. Up the back, down the legs. I always dreaded changing a poopy diaper.

- I don't think there's anything as wasted money in CDing. Whatever you don't like, can easily be resold. And don't buy just one brand or one type of diaper. The NB stage is the best time to figure out what works for you and what doesn't. And even that can change as baby gets older and you become more confident in your cding abilities.

- As for all the confusion, do more research. Find out what type of water you have and go from there. If you're confused about diapers, the consensus is to use prefolds or fitteds and some covers. Easy, peasy. Then you can round out your stash with some different types of AIOs or pockets and see what you like.

- I personally, have not had a problem with my son's clothes not fitting because of bulky diapers. And I don't see it as a big deal to size up a little bit anyway.

- If baby does get a diaper rash, you can always use a disposable diaper liner or fleece liner to protect your cds from the cream. Plus, I believe they make CD safe creams to use. 

- Drying's no big deal. You can use a dryer. Especially, if you use prefolds. And covers will dry quickly. Prefolds can withstand quite a bit of abuse.

Now can I say what I like about CDing? 

I personally like:

- No touching poop. I have not touched poop once since switching to cloth. 

- I love that there's no panic when you realize your on your last diaper. No sending DH out at 1am to grab a package of disposables.

- It has saved us a ton of money. Even DH has told me he's glad we switched to cloth. The money savings has been significant. Especially, as baby gets bigger, diapers get more $$. For example:

1 box of diapers - size 1- $14 for 45 dipes, are now the exact same price for a size 3 box of diapers containing only 30 diapers. So you have to buy more boxes. 

- no diaper rash. My son was getting diaper rashes from even the natural brands, like 7th generation. 

- I can reuse DS's diapers for this baby. So, more money saved!

I could go on and on, but those are the main points. But you have to decide if it's right for you. And if you try CDing and find it doesn't suit you, then there's no shame in switching back to disposables. At least you'll never have the what if? hanging over you. 

mrshudson618

You have a longer list of cons than pros, but what you have to consider is the WEIGHT of those pros vs the cons. For me, cost was our deciding factor, so the fact that I would have to do 3 extra loads of laundry a week, was easily outweighed by the thousands of dollars that I would save. 

Pros

• Saves money (could be debatable, if using coupons and/or sales for disposables)
  
• Better for the environment
  
• Less stinky diapers in the house at a time (wash cloth every few days as opposed to a week of dirty disposables adding up)
  
• Less incidents of diaper rash
  
• Less poo explosions
  
• Smell less when wet
  
• No expensive Diaper Genie refill bags to deal with
  

Cons

• Seems like a lot of people have problems with stinky diapers, even when clean Like PPs said, this is not true. Stinky diapers are not clean. You often hear about this because people don't talk about when things are going well, only when there is a problem.
  
• Have to do laundry every 2-3 days, True, but it is easy. No sorting, or folding, Just dump it in. 
• More work – laundry, rinsing out poo diapers, possibly stuffing if using pocket diapers, changes needed more often Already addressed laundry, I only had to rinse poo for about 2 months( and then it was 1-2 times a week, though that is not common), If stuffing is a problem, choose all in ones or prefolds or flats. 
  
• Certain types of diapers might not work for baby=wasted moneyYou could buy three stashes of different types/brands and STILL save money over sposies. And you can resell. Sposies=way more wasted money
• Lots of confusion over the different types of diapersHang out here, ask lots of questions, and just try it. A visit to a brick and mortar store can help a lot. watch the cloth 101 series on youtube.
  
• Lots of confusion about laundry detergentsAgain, this sounds worse than it is, because you only hear about the problems. Don't use a free&clear, don't use Rockin Green, don't use an ordinary liquid. Unless you have crazy water, a CD safe detergent or tide should be fine. 
  
• Not much space in our house for air-drying, which seems to be the best/preferred drying method You dont HAVE to air dry, but check out the octopus drying racks recommended above.
  
• Bulkier than disposables – baby clothes might not fit well This is generally just not true.
  
• Cloth might not work at night – read about a lot of people who use disposables at night because cloth can’t hold the wetness as well for baby to sleep through the night Yes, it can be tricky, and it is okay if you don't use cloth 24/7. However, I really believe that there is a solution out there for everyone. It might take some time and experimenting, but you can find it. If we did, anyone can.
  
• If baby does get diaper rash, can only use special creams and/or have to temporarily switch to disposables Why is using special creams a con? instead of buying Desitin, buy CJs. No big deal.
  
• Must be changed every 2-3 hours? Because of smell and leaking? How often were you planning on changing your baby in sposies? You should ALWAYS change your baby 2-3 hours no matter what kind of diaper they are in. It is also COMPLETELY false that you would have more leaks in cloth. In his prefolds, my 8 month old could easily go 4-6 hours without a leak, and you are guaranteed to have less newborn poop blowouts in cloth. 

ETA: If your biggest concern is having a type that will fit different shaped kids, I would try flats or prefolds and covers. They are the most customizable fit, cheapest, and most forgiving when it comes to laundry(i.e. you won't have to stress about detergent)

freezorburn

Just because you have more cons doesn't mean they outweigh the pros. In my book, the pros are huge. I'll comment in your gray box:

kayemgi said:

Pros

• Saves money (could be debatable, if using coupons and/or sales for disposables) If this is one of your main reasons to CD, you absolutely can save money over disposables. Even over couponing with disposables. On the other hand, you will find that a lot of us on this board have a bit of a shopping addiction when it comes to CD!
  
• Better for the environment This is not trivial. I visited a working landfill when I was in grad school. It was the worst thing I ever experienced. After that experience I would so much rather that my baby's solid waste gets processed by our sewage system than end up in landfill.
  
• Less stinky diapers in the house at a time (wash cloth every few days as opposed to a week of dirty disposables adding up) Yes
  
• Less incidents of diaper rash I have no basis for comparison, but my mother helps out in the daycare for her church, everybody is in sposies and they all have diaper rash, whereas my eczema-prone boy is rash-free.
  
• Less poo explosions Yes
  
• Smell less when wet Yes. Sposies have chemicals and fragrances that make them smell worse when they are wet and dirty.
  
• No expensive Diaper Genie refill bags to deal with Yes
  

 Cons

• Seems like a lot of people have problems with stinky diapers, even when clean Like PPs said, your perception is skewed because people come here to get help if they are having an issue. Generally we don't have a ton of threads about how great things are going. Maybe we should.
  
• Have to do laundry every 2-3 days You would have to do it this often anyway, because with sposies you would have more blowouts and you would be doing more laundry in terms of baby clothes, crib linens, carseat/bouncer/swing liners, etc.
  
• More work – laundry, rinsing out poo diapers, possibly stuffing if using pocket diapers, changes needed more often If you are using sposies you should be putting the poop in the toilet anyway. And as in my previous point, do you think it is less work to be cleaning poop off of all the things that sposies blow out onto? Changes are the same amount as for sposies. We CD'd part-time when building our stash and DS was dealing with wetness sensitivity. So, I changed him when he was wet, regardless of what type of diaper he was in. Otherwise he was miserable and would let me know it.
  
• Certain types of diapers might not work for baby=wasted money Consider doing a diaper trial. That way you can figure out what works for you without a huge financial commitment. And you can return or sell what doesn't work for you. Wasted money is throwing a wet or dirty sposie in the garbage. Especially if you haven't even had the chance to fasten it onto your baby.
  
• Lots of confusion over the different types of diapers This Youtube series is very helpful. Link to 1 of 7.
  
• Lots of confusion about laundry detergents It's really not that hard. What exactly are you confused about?
  
• Not much space in our house for air-drying, which seems to be the best/preferred drying method I air dry covers and shells, I use something similar to the Octopus that PP linked. The rest goes in the dryer.
  
• Bulkier than disposables – baby clothes might not fit well You can size up or get extenders for onesies. There are some brands that fit CD better. And they are cute! DS's pants won't stay on if he is wearing a sposie, because he is a beanpole.
  
• Cloth might not work at night – read about a lot of people who use disposables at night because cloth can’t hold the wetness as well for baby to sleep through the night There are some very well-made nighttime CD, it's rare that the collective wisdom of this board can't help you find a solution.
  
• If baby does get diaper rash, can only use special creams and/or have to temporarily switch to disposables Depends on the rash. If we were using sposies I would still use the CD safe creams because they tend to be less toxic than some of the conventional diaper creams. I mean, have you looked at how Desitin scores on EWG's Skin Deep Database? On the other hand, if you are dealing with a yeast rash then you may need to use a Rx cream and use a liner, and disinfect your diapers. There are people here who can help you with that too.
  
• Must be changed every 2-3 hours? Because of smell and leaking? Babies, newborns especially must be changed every 2-3 hours or more often because they constantly pee and poop. Regardless of what kind of diaper they are wearing. 
  

I think my number one concern is about a certain type of diaper not working for the baby. We simply don't have the money to try one kind and then bail on that and try another kind and then bail on that and try yet a third. I've read one instance of a family using one type of cloth diaps and having it work for them just fine, but that's it. Are there any more of you out there?

To address your final concern: there are a few people for whom one type of diaper is what works for them and it's all they need. But most of us on this board have a diverse stash. A lot of us find that different diapers work well for different situations and stages, and you can more easily troubleshoot when you have a diverse stash. Sometimes you have a fit issue and you shelve a diaper for a little while and then it works again for you. I like prefolds and flats because they are economical and durable and versatile, but I like pockets and AIOs for the diaper bag. There is no reason to limit yourself to one brand or one type of diaper. Again, maybe you should look at a diaper trial if you are still unsure.

haileyq

I honestly think that most of the "cons" come up when people don't know what they're doing. CDing is not mainstream, so you are going to have a learning curve. If you don't know that you're supposed to do a pre rinse and wash your diapers in poopy pee water, they will stink. If you don't know that microfiber can't touch baby's skin and you do it, your baby will get a rash. If you don't learn how to do folds with your prefolds they will seem hard. It's little stuff, and if you do some research, hang around here, you'll pick up the knowledge and be fine. I think of it like breastfeeding- it wasn't done really for a few generations, so the general knowledge surrounding it wasn't just lying around, and if you ran into issues with breastfeeding it could be really hard. It really does save money, and with a new baby you're doing so much laundry anyway, you really won't notice the diaper laundry a couple of times a week. And sizing up clothes? So? Put your baby in what fits. My son was in 18 month clothing at 6 months, unrelated to the CDs, he was just a big boy. I wasn't going to try to squeeze him into a 6 month onesie because that's what the tag said...

I started off slowly and grew my stash as we got more comfortable with CDs. I would say go with well loved brands, they're well loved for a reason. Even if they don't fit your baby well, you'll have no trouble selling them vs some obscure WAHM that no one's heard of.

Aurora_Borealis

Here is how to help ensure success in CD-ing that will hopefully address some of your concerns:

-Don't buy all of one kind of diaper and hope it works. Get a variety and see what you like and what fits your baby. And don't expect to like the same thing the entire time you CD your child. Toddlers often require an increase in absorbency so what worked at 4 months may not work at 18 months. Also, 'one size' diapers don't fit newborns.

-Even though the person in the blog you read used a Free & Clear detergent, just don't. I promise that almost every single 'why do my diapers stink?' post on here involves either a liquid Free & Clear detergent (All, Arm & Hammer, whatever) or Rockin' Green.

-Lurk here and ask questions before you buy anything. Diapers on Zulily aren't 'deals' but the ladies here are good at posting PSAs for real sales on reputable brands. Also, read the advice given on the stash building and trouble shooting posts to get an idea of how to get started and what to avoid.

Rrrrrachel

You may want to consider a diaper trial somewhere like Jillian's drawers to see what works for you. That way you're avoiding "wasting" money on things you don't like or don't work well. What works may still change as baby grows, but it will at least give you a starting point.

 A lot of stuff seems confusing at first but isn't once you actually get started.

CLLDLL

I think PPs have given you some great info. So I'll only post a couple comments that I don't think have been addressed yet.

1.) Cost - We used disposables on DS2 and spent right around $3000 (with sales and coupons) to diaper him until age 4 when he finally potty learned. The last year of diapers was the cheapest so even if your kid trains early you'll still spend easily $1500-$2000 on cheaper brands or with coupons. As others said CD stashes rarely cost over $1000 unless you get obsessed with and expensive, hard to find fitted brand or something.

2.) CDs in my experience don't stink clean or dirty. Seriously. Your kitchen garbage will smell worse on a normal day. When they get to stinky poo and stinky toddler pee phases you'll spray/soak those suckers and the smell is gone.

3.)If you run into wash routine issues or have questions about what to get come here. There are some very knowledgeable ladies on here who have BTDT to pretty much any issue you might have or any need you might have.

4.) On your PROs list you need to add baby may potty learn sooner. There are several moms with kids 18-26 months on here who are already PLing. Not that every kid does, but it's more common to learn early because they feel the wetness and they won't with disposables.

PipSqueak0313

One other thing on the cost issue.....as my dh put it: If you spend $100 on cloth diapers and decide you don't like it/they don't work for you then have you really lost anything more than you would have if you had spent $100 on disposables? 

One other item to add to your pro list: you don't have to cuss/swear/whatever WHEN the baby pees or poops on the new diaper in the middle of the diaper change.  This is not an IF statement since it has happened with pretty much every baby in diapers.

sunshineinmay09

CLLDLL said:

I think PPs have given you some great info. So I'll only post a couple comments that I don't think have been addressed yet. 1.) Cost - We used disposables on DS2 and spent right around $3000 (with sales and coupons) to diaper him until age 4 when he finally potty learned. The last year of diapers was the cheapest so even if your kid trains early you'll still spend easily $1500-$2000 on cheaper brands or with coupons. As others said CD stashes rarely cost over $1000 unless you get obsessed with and expensive, hard to find fitted brand or something. 2.) CDs in my experience don't stink clean or dirty. Seriously. Your kitchen garbage will smell worse on a normal day. When they get to stinky poo and stinky toddler pee phases you'll spray/soak those suckers and the smell is gone. 3.)If you run into wash routine issues or have questions about what to get come here. There are some very knowledgeable ladies on here who have BTDT to pretty much any issue you might have or any need you might have. 4.) On your PROs list you need to add baby may potty learn sooner. There are several moms with kids 18-26 months on here who are already PLing. Not that every kid does, but it's more common to learn early because they feel the wetness and they won't with disposables.

This seems to be true for my DS. He's been asking to use the potty when he needs to poo and he's not quite 2. He also realizes when he's wet and wants to have his diaper changed. It took my DD (used disposables the whole time with her) until she was 3 before she was potty trained and it was an extreme challenge to get her to that point. She wasn't fully potty trained until 3 1/2.

kayemgi

You all have brought up so many points that I didn't think of before, now I'm overwhelmed in a good way! I think we can definitely do cloth diapering after reading all of these responses. I think I was partially overthinking it all and partially biased because you guys are right: most people come to the internet for help with problems, not to post about how great something is going. I truly appreciate you taking the time to reply to me, you made me a definite convert today!

Mandmeesh

Now go buy all the diapers

cedenton

I'm pretty sure everything has been addressed, but I'm bored so I'll reply.

Cons

• Seems like a lot of people have problems with stinky diapers, even when clean _ Nope. Never.
  
• Have to do laundry every 2-3 days. Yeah...so what?
  
• More work – laundry, rinsing out poo diapers, possibly stuffing if using pocket diapers, changes needed more often. So buy AIOs. I just stuff while I'm watching TV so I don't consider it time consuming. Changes aren't more often. You should change sposies every 2-3 hrs, as well. People just don't.
  
• Certain types of diapers might not work for baby=wasted money. Nope. Not wasted. Sell them and buy what might work better. Or do a trial before buying.
  
• Lots of confusion over the different types of diapers. Do some research.
  
• Lots of confusion about laundry detergents. Use Tide which seems to work the best for most people. If your child has a sensitivity then work from there.
  
• Not much space in our house for air-drying, which seems to be the best/preferred drying method. They make drying racks that screw into the wall and fold down when used. But, I use the dryer for my AIOs and inserts. I only line dry pockets and covers.
  
• Bulkier than disposables – baby clothes might not fit well. Yes, they are bulkier, but I've never had that problem. If you do. Buy a size up. Problem solved.
  
• Cloth might not work at night – read about a lot of people who use disposables at night because cloth can’t hold the wetness as well for baby to sleep through the night. I am one of those people that often use sposies at night. Sbish OBF with fleece longies actually work great ON for us, but I only have three and two sets of longies. Anyway...still cheaper than using sposies all the time.
  
• If baby does get diaper rash, can only use special creams and/or have to temporarily switch to disposables. They're not really special creams. Just more natural. We've only had bad rashes when he's had diarrhea and no cream would make a difference until it stopped, so...
  
• Must be changed every 2-3 hours? Because of smell and leaking? Again...so should disposables.
  

lunarrainn

Lots of great points! Personally I have "wasted" a near full box of disposables because the stopped working after they were opened. That was $40 and just the time with a full box. When we switched to cloth, her pants fit better because of her shape at the time. Maybe assign a number to each pro and con depending on how important they are to you, and see how you feel. I wanted to use cloth for awhile before I switched. I didn't have a good reason. All the benefits were a nice surprise. Parenting has a learning curve, but it is really nice when you can rely on people who have done it before you. New babies generally need a new diaper every time they eat, so they go though a lot of diapers.

Edited to uncorrect autocorrect. 

kayemgi

@mrshudson618 Thank you SO much for the link to that cloth diapering 101 video series. I wish I had found that sooner. It takes all the mystery out of it and it's so helpful to see video of all the different types of diapers and accessories. 

I seriously feel 1000% better about trying cloth now! Thank you to everyone here!

emmylou78

I was confused by all the acronyms too at first. It sounded so overwhelming, but the YouTube videos helped.

Totally ditto what all the PPs said.

And to address the last statement: I'm on of people that bought a stash of one dipe. I chose Bumgenius pockets bc it worked for a lot of people and it didn't have a lot of complaints. Also, I figure with one diaper type, it'd be less confusing and I couldn't get a preference . It's worked so far! I do have prefolds and some small Kawaii pockets for the NB phase.

And regarding the creams: I use coconut oil. I saw a mom recently slather on desitin on her baby's bottom. It looked so gross!

Don't be scared!

jess9802

We primarily use flats and covers. I have no regrets about our decision to CD. I love that we've spent less than $400 on CDs (a good chunk of our stash were gifted to us).

Seems like a lot of people have problems with stinky diapers, even when clean. Stinky diapers aren't clean. The biggest challenge can be finding a wash routine that actually gets your diapers clean. Our experience has been flannel flats are super easy to clean, even with a HE washer.

Have to do laundry every 2-3 days. True. I don't mind doing laundry and CD laundry (even folding the flats) has never bothered me. YMMV.

More work – laundry, rinsing out poo diapers, possibly stuffing if using pocket diapers, changes needed more often. True. Not going to lie. I really hate spraying diapers. Not enough to stop CD, but DS's transition to solids and "ploppable poo" has not panned out as I was lead to believe.

Certain types of diapers might not work for baby=wasted money. True. Pocket diapers have been a big bust with my son. I thought I would like Flips (an AI2 system) more than I did. (My husband thinks they're great.) Fortunately I only bought two pockets and two Flips. I was totally surprised by my love of Gro. This is why you try diaper trials, buy more than one kind of diaper, and consider flats/prefolds and covers, which are the most intimidating at first but really the easiest IMO to care for.

Lots of confusion over the different types of diapers. You'll pick it up pretty quick. There are some great tutorials on YouTube. If you can find a brick and mortar retailer or attend a CD class at a local baby boutique you'll find it very helpful.

Lots of confusion about laundry detergents. We've always used Tide with great success.

Not much space in our house for air-drying, which seems to be the best/preferred drying method. PUL needs to be air dried. If your stash is exclusively AIOs or pockets then you will need a drying rack of some sort. We hang our covers up to dry above the dryer, or on a hanger in DS's closet. They dry really fast.

Bulkier than disposables – baby clothes might not fit well. Or they might fit better. DS is a small kiddo, and his bulky CD bottom keeps his jeans on his hips.

Cloth might not work at night – read about a lot of people who use disposables at night because cloth can’t hold the wetness as well for baby to sleep through the night. Nighttime diapering is tricky for EVERYONE, even those who use disposables. I had to buy doublers and start folding two flats together to get DS through the night without leaking. The bulk is ridiculous, and watching him walk up the hallway is hilarious. But he generally is able to sleep 12+ hours without leaks.

If baby does get diaper rash, can only use special creams and/or have to temporarily switch to disposables. With our flannel flats, I use the Desitin anyway. But there are CD safe preventive creams.

Must be changed every 2-3 hours? Because of smell and leaking? Yeah, and just general hygiene. But it's also not a big deal. When they're really little they poop all the time, and so you sort of get used to changing them regularly.

joyfultrex

what everyone else has said. My only addition is I bought a little bit of everything just in case something didn't work for my DS. I haven't found any diaper that doesn't work at all for him. Yes, I like some better than others, but they all work.(I didn't buy any no name brands off of zulily or similar sites though)  So, I wouldn't be afraid you're going to buy something and then not be able to use it at all.

My biggest fear for you would be that you fall in love with all the diapers and have to talk yourself out of buying new diapers just because they are so cute.

lunarrainn

Cuteness gets me every time.