Am I crazy?

So I have spent the better part of the last few weeks researching to death the idea of cloth diapers. For those of you out there that are behind the times, as I was just a month ago, there are some really cool options out there for cloth that are ultimately better for baby, the budget and the earth! No scary diaper pins and crazy plastic pants required!

I was shocked and amazed, as was my husband, that on average the amount spent to diaper one child from birth to total potty trained is about $2000, not including wipes!!! Aside from the idea that thousands of those stinky diapers are just sitting, pleasantly existing- at this very moment- in our local landfill- ick, I mean double ick! Zach so sweetly calls our's stinky "trash mountain". There are some really great websites out there that go into tons of detail about cloth diapering pros and cons, (I've hyperlinked one, for anyone interested).

So, I first presented the idea of cloth to my hubby who not so gently said "are you crazy? no way, you already have way to much to do to be thinking about adding more work with cloth diaper". So I just dropped it, and decided that it was a nice idea, but I guess he was right.

But then, it just keep creeping back up, it seemed every time I turned around some one I knew had a baby in their arms with a cloth dipe on the bum. So...I took up the research again and started figuring dollar amounts to invest in cloth vs going with disposables. Like I said before the numbers are staggering!!! Michael and I revisted the idea and decided to buy a few to try out on Sydnie, to see if I liked it or not.

The initial dive into the world of cloth was intimidating to say the least. I mean there are flat folds, chineses prefolds, indian prefolds, fitteds, pocket diapers, all in ones (AIOs)...not to mention a gazillion different brands (I have to mention a few cause the names just make be grin: Bumgenuis, Swaddlebees, ImseVimes, Kissaluvs, Thirsties, Pocketchange, Fuzzi bunz, Dream-eze, and my personal favorite name "Happy Heiny's") some which require fasteners, covers, inserts, doublers, liners....oh the lingo is just mind numbing, and I've just only hit the tip the iceberg here. But I think, finally, I may have a good grip on what types/styles are out there, how they work, and how much effort and money goes into each different type. We have decided to try out a onesize "pocket diaper" for the simplicity of ease of use, ease of laundering, and the "grow with your baby" idea, they are supposed to adjust to fit babes 7-35 lbs, although the cost in not the cheapest-- you still blow away the cost of diaposables! Plus, I think they frighten my hubby the least, because the look and work like diaposables...you just have to launder and reuse. What a concept, eh??

Here's a look at what we are trying out....will let you know what we think :o)


Please post comments if you or anyone you know uses cloth diapers, I'd love to pick some more brains before we make a final decision.