How I did it: When I became pregnant, I was enrolled in a college English class. We had to do a research paper on a topic of our choice, and I decided to do mine on the environmental and financial impacts of cloth diapering versus disposable diapering a baby. I knew pretty much nothing going into it, and by the time I wrote my paper, I had myself convinced!

Websites were my biggest resource and I read so many articles and message boards, talked to diapering moms, and browsed the numerous stores online. It was so overwhelming at first -- prefolds, fitteds, contours, covers, all-in-ones, woolies -- what?! I made up a chart of types/brands/whether or not a cover is needed/cost, etc then decided to build my stash. I say this took me 6 months to accomplish because that is how long I spend researching/purchasing diapers.

Now we've been exclusively cloth diapering for 11 months and are expecting another in cloth soon! My husband and I are both glad we're using cloth for a variety of reasons. Some may argue that it is too much effort or too gross, but we've hever had any complaints.

Lessons & tips: I didn't buy any big package deals because I didn't know what would work best for me and baby. So I say I bought "one of everything." By the time Baby arrived, I had Chinese and Indian prefolds, different brands of fitteds, all-in-ones, covers, etc.



By the time he outgrew my newborn stash, I knew which diapers I wanted to stock up on and which I never wanted to use again. There are many things to consider and weigh. While the all-in-ones seem pretty snazzy and easy, they are usually more expensive. We didn't settle on one system, but use different diapers depending on the situation (all-in-ones in nursery or for a sitter, fitteds with a wool cover at night, pockets during the day.)

Resources: The cloth diapering message board on mothering.com provided so much information from tons of experienced moms.

My favorites online stores have been Cotton Babies, Green Mountain Diapers, and Mama Oh! Baby. They have so many cute diapers and other pretty baby things, as well as information and how-tos.

Jan 11, 2009, 10:19PM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer