Cloth Diapers?!

While we were planning for the arrival of our daughter, my husband and I talked to a lot of parents about their experiences. A few of them mentioned that they used cloth diapers. My first thought was: cloth?! Aren't they messy and leaky and don't they use big pins? Then we started looking into it and realized that cloth diapers have come a long way since the ones our parents used for us in the 1980's and before. They come in cute colors and many have adjustable snaps and velcro. We then started crunching the numbers on the cost of disposable diapers vs cloth and came to the realization that we could save some serious money, especially since we registered for the diapers and received most of them as gifts. Also, we will be able to use them again if we have another child.

Here's what we ended up doing:
- We decided on the BumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers. We registered for them on our Target baby registry and on the Cottonbabies website.
- We bought a Diaper Champ on Craigslist for $5 to hold the dirty diapers until I do laundry. You can use regular kitchen size trash bags with it.
- We wash a load of diapers every two to three days, using the Target Up and Up free and clear detergent

I'm sure there will be more posts to come about the details and day-to-day of cloth diapering. We've been at it for four months now and it's working great!

Some Useful Cloth Diapering Links:
Great overview of cloth diapering: Lazy Moms Guide to Cloth Diapering
Website that sells several types and offers a gift registry: Cottonbabies
BumGenius Website: BumGenius