New Modern Cloth Diapers - So Many Choices! Any Success Stories?

I love my BumGenius and recently added two Flip diapers for night. You are probably going to get as many opinions as what you have found online. I prefer the pocket diapers for their simplicity - even my husband has no problem with them. And the BumGenius are amazing for leaks. I can't seem to get a disposable to contain my daughter's poopy mess, but the cloth are awesome.

I recommend trying on of the sampler packages. This will give you an idea of the options and which ones you like. Or, buy a couple of kinds off of one of the used sites, like www.myuseddiapers.com or
www.diaperswappers.com.

The least expensive by far is prefolds with covers. The most expensive is AIO (all-in-ones, meaning the absorbent part and the cover are sewn together and look pretty much like a disposable, except fastened with velcro or snaps).

We use a combo of various kinds of cloth diapers. For me, I use primarily the prefolds (they are my fav) and covers. I like the prefolds best because they are frugal, they wash great, are absorbent, and I like the fact that I can get a custom fit by the way I fold and/or pin them (if you don't like the idea of pins, try a Snappi--it's sort of like the thing with teeth that you use to hold an Ace bandage on, but safe for the baby).

DH uses fitted diapers with a cover, or AIOs. DH likes the simplicity of the fitted/AIO, and I hazard a guess to say, he really likes the AIOs best. They are really like using a disposable, in terms of ease of putting on/taking off, and anyone can easily & quickly learn to use them.

If you want to cut the costs of cloth diapers, buy used (see above links), check Freecyle, and/or sew or make friends with someone who can sew--sewing fitted diapers is really pretty easy (I can say this, and have sewn several and am a beginning sewer).

We also highly recommend using flushable diaper liners, especially for the newborn phase. My brother & his wife, very "eco" people, tried cloth dipes 2x (once with each child) and were "defeated" by the poop issue. It just grossed them out too much to have to scrape or hose poop into the toilet. With the flushable liners, you just drop the liner & poop into the toilet & flush, so there's minimal contact.

Depending on how "eco"/"frugal" you want to go, you can also get reusable diaper wipes of flannel or terry--you wipe, and drop the used wipe in w/ the diapers and wash them all together. I wanted to do this, but DH was too grossed out by this, so we use disposable wipes. But he's doing cloth diapers, so I'm not gonna complain!! :)

I do use the cloth diapers when we go out around town. I use gallon ziploc bags with a little bit of baking soda (to help absorb smells) to hold the used diapers and just put them in the diaper pail when I get home; I can fit about 3 used diapers in one gallon bag. You can't carry as many cloth dipes in the diaper bag, though, as you can disposables, and they are bulkier and weigh more, so that part I don't like. For trips longer than 1 hour in the car, or overnight out of town for the weekend, we tend to use disposables unless we know for sure we have time to do the laundry before going home (I just can't stand the thought of hauling a load of dirty diapers in the car home after a vacation).

You've already gotten some great advice! But I want to invite you to the DFW CDing group on facebook! We're new, and a great way to meet other local CDing parents, and also to learn more and ask questions. We'll have our next meeting on 10/9 (Saturday), and also on 10/13 (Wednesday), at 10am at North East Mall in Hurst. BUT if you can't make it, I live in The Colony and I'll be happy to meet you anytime (just message me or leave a comment on the FB page). I have a variety of CD's that you can look at, or ask any questions. Also, on our FB group page, there's a list of local CD shops if you want to go visit one. Some also hold diaper demos. There's also info on CD's, as well as washing info, under the discussions tab.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/group.php?gid...

My favorites are pockets and AI2's (all in 2's). My least favorites are prefolds. Like PP's have said, it all depends on what you think you'll like, and also what works for your baby. I always suggest trying a small variety, so that you know what works for you. You can always sell what you don't like!

(just a note, I do not sell any CD's, I'm just very much a CD advocate and love to share how awesome they are!)

I love my cloth diapers! We use a variety since my daughter is tiny. I loved my prefolds and cover when she was little because I could customize the fit a bit more than I could with a one size diaper. Now that she's up and moving, I prefer the one size since they're easier and quicker to change. One size pocket diapers are a lot like disposables. They are made of an outer shell that has a waterproof lining and a pocket. There is an insert that you put into the pocket, this absorbs the pee. When you change the diaper, you have to remove the insert. I store my diapers in a kitchen trash can lined with a pail liner. Once every couple of days I wash my diapers.
For the poopy diapers, I flip the poop into the toilet and swish if necessary. It's kind of gross, but as Moms, we deal with gross stuff all the time. It only takes an extra minute or two.
For the babysitter or when I'm out and about, I prefer a sleeve diaper like Pocket Change or SmartiPants. The insert comes out of the diaper in the wash, so I don't have to touch it after it's been marinating all day ;) In my diaper bag I have a small wet bag that I keep the dirty diapers in. I just toss them in the diaper pail when I get home. You can also use a Ziploc bag or a plastic grocery bag.
From my personal experience, it's so hard to say "This diaper is the BEST" because they all fit a little differently and are "best" for different things. I love my Fuzzi Bunz for nap and night time, they are really absorbant and easily customizable for just about every child. I love my Bumboo Pockets for running errands because they are really trim (thin) and I've NEVER had a leak. I like my SmartiPants for the babysitter because I don't have to remove the inserts before washing. I like my prefolds and covers for around the house. It's a lot of trial and error, to be honest. I would find a diaper on clearance and buy one. If I liked it, awesome! If not, it went to the bottom of my stash. I've also found that some of the diapers I hated when my daughter was itty bitty are awesome now that she's bigger.
We didn't start cloth until my baby was about 3 moths old. We still use disposables if we're going to be gone overnight, if the baby is sick, or if she's staying with my parents (they don't quite "get" cloth).
I highly suggest The Cloth Diaper Whisperer. They are AWESOME over there. It's a blog about cloth and they are so incredibly knowledgeable. I'm always happy to talk fluff, so you can message me on here if you have any other questions!
It's all so overwhelming at first. I was lucky enough to have a great set of Moms I could rely on for all my info.

Cloth diapers like disposables depend on the baby. But for my son I live fuzzibunz and for a one size fits all diaper envibums
http://www.envibum.com/
Envibums is a more custom fit for a baby since they rely on elastic for the diaper to fit the baby and not snaps.
Cloth diapers are a pain at first, but so is anything new. If you do choose this route you can get items that make things easier that are considered "luxery" items, like a diaper sprayer and liners that disolve when flushed (they are great for out and about so when the baby poops you don't have to carry around the poop, just take the liner off and flush!)
I do a blog about cloth diapering if you want to check it out.
largebummies.blogspot.com
I do step by step usage, and describing what different things are so it's pretty good for beginners :D
Oh and you can ask me any questions, jut personal message me

Congrats on your 6th baby! We're expecting our 4th in January. We switched to cloth diapers when our second child was born, because we had two in diapers at that point and needed to save money. We started off with prefolds and covers (the least expensive system) and as we saved money slowly worked up to my favorite system, one-size pocket diapers and all-in-one's. These kind go on in one piece, and fit babies from 8-35 lbs, so I only have to buy them once.

I also run Babies Bottoms and More, a cloth diaper store in Farmers Branch, TX. We have probably 20+ different types and brands of cloth diapers in stock, and I would love for you to come by to see and touch the actual diapers. A lot of times you can get a really good idea of what kind of diaper is going to work best for you when you see them all in person, side-by-side. Our website is www.babiesbottomsandmore.com and you can give me a call at ###-###-####.

The only kind of diapers I would steer clear of is the Gerber brand prefold diapers with plastic pants and pins. Those diapers are no longer 100% cotton, so they are not very absorbent, and the plastic pants will leak if they're too big (which is common, because they're not adjustable). And I hate pins - use a Snappi instead!

Check out gdiapers. You can order them at www.gdiapers.com or you can buy a starter kit at Whole Foods. They are cloth covers with a plastic liner that holds a flushable insert. They take a little practice but I liked them. You can flush the inside or if you throw it away they break down in 2 months instead of 500 years so they are better for the environment and it's less laundry than traditional cloth. Some people use them for compost! My daughter never had another diaper rash after I started using them.

Cloth diapering is super super easy. I've got two recent blog entries reviewing my experience during the first 10 lbs and now using them at daycare.
They are here for the first 10 lbs: http://girlsseekinggabber.blogspot.com/2010/09/cloth-diap...
And here for daycare (this is really a review of one size type diapers) http://girlsseekinggabber.blogspot.com/2010/09/cloth-diap...

I would highly recommend checking out the websites DiaperPin.com and Diaperswappers.com for general info, diaper reviews and wash information.

Cloth diapering can be a pretty big start up expense, but I cut our costs down significantly by buying gently used from Craigslist and Diaperswappers.