Cloth Diapering: How We Got Started

Before Abby was born, I had heard about cloth diapering and became intrigued by it.  I liked the idea of having soft, natural fibers up against my new baby's bottom.  Plus, they were so stinking cute!  But it wasn't until after she was born, and I made a few friends who CD'd (that's computer-speak for "cloth diapered") that I really looked into it.  

Abby, 2 months

We blew through the diapers that were gifted to us at our shower VERY quickly.  Those little newborns sure do know how to poop and pee!  We had reached a point where we were spending $20/week on diapers.  I talked to Steve, and he agreed that we should look into it - which in accountant language means he would do a cost-benefit analysis after we got a chance to talk to someone about it!

Luckily for us, Tallahassee has a great local cloth diaper resource: Ecological Babies.  We met with the owner, Jen Starks, one evening.  She showed us the ropes.  We got a run-down on all the different types of cloth diapers: pockets vs. all-in-ones (AIOs), prefolds and covers, you name it.  We even got to "use" them by pretending to diaper Curious George.  She also gave us a price list, and was very honest about what she liked, what most people bought, and what she thought would be the best diapers for us and our needs.  It was a great experience to have one-on-one "training" like that!

After our crash course on cloth diapers, we went home.  I'll admit I did some price comparison to online shops (and for the record, Ecological Babies has very competitive pricing compared to the online stores, and they're local!).  Steve did some math.  :)  After about a week, we decided to go for it.  Our initial stash looked like this:

Abby, 11 months

18 infant prefolds, cotton

3 infant prefolds, hemp

4 Thirsties Duo Wraps (size 1)

1 Happy Heiny One-Size

1 Bum Genius 3.0

2 Thirsties Duo Diapers (size 1)

1 Grovia AIO 

1 Fuzzibunz one-size (bought from Best Beginnings when they had their store vs. Ecological Babies).

Out of all of those, my favorites were the Thirsties Duo Diapers.  Of course, Abby outgrew those very quickly and we began to explore other brands.  We tried Kawaii and Tots Bots as she grew.  My favorites changed to Tots Bots very quickly.  They were super easy to use (the pocket insert is attached to the diaper) and have very strong aplix that has yet to wear out.  I also grew to dislike Bum Genius (I know I know...I'm probably only one of 10 people in the world who hate them).  The aplix wore out, the elastic wore out (I replaced both even), and out of all the diapers we own, they are the only brand where the PUL (waterproof fabric) has worn out.  They have since become swim diapers for Will.

Will, 7 months, in the Happy Heiny we bought for Abby

We got 2.5 years of HEAVY use out of all of those diapers.  Will is still using some of them.  But since he has been born, I have come to love the new Thirsties AIOs, and I am also developing a love for Alvas.  The rest I could take or leave.  I just wish the Thirsties AIOs took less time to dry (they take over 24hrs to line dry).  

For those of you who cloth diaper, what are your favorites?  For those of you who don't, what questions do you have?