When I started cloth diapering a year ago, I had no idea whether or not it would last. Now that we're one year in, I can honestly say that it's been a great experience.
My first "stash" of cloth diapers were the twelve Fuzzi Bunz diapers that I ordered for Hudson. I loved them, but the elastic was a pain for me in the beginning (and honestly, two of my diapers were ruined because of the elastic). When it came time to order some for Finley, I decided to give Bum Genius a try. I love them, too. Her diapers are a lot easier to get the right fit, but I'm not as big of a fan of the inserts in those as I am of the Fuzzi Bunz inserts- I'm hard to please! I still think they're both great, and I like using them to cloth diaper my kiddos.
The washing is always a work in progress. I don't find the washing to be intimidating, the drying to be annoying, or the stripping to be a pain. The biggest pain is stuffing the fluff! Ha!
My process for washing the fluff is pretty simple. For starters - I use liners. That makes the um, nastiest part, a bit easier to take care of. Then I throw the diaper in the wet bag (I keep it hanging on my linen closet door in the laundry room), and they all just collect. I do try to separate the inserts from the diaper before I throw them in the bag so that I can just unzip the bag and everything goes into the washer without any intervention by me!
I've found that I like Rockin' Green the best for washing the diapers, and while I love a good air dry, my stash hasn't always offered the luxury of time when it comes to waiting on those puppies to dry. I have been operating at 10 diapers for Hudson and 10 diapers for Finley for the last few months. In fairness, they do not wear cloth to bed, so that makes things a bit easier. I usually wash and dry them every two days.
And that would be the only place where things have gotten dicey. The washing of the diapers pushes back the washing of other things. My clothes. Brian's clothes. The kids' clothes (although theirs seem to be clean more frequently than mine are!). I do my best to make the cloth a night wash so that I can dry them the next morning, and that has worked pretty well!
When it comes to the opinions of the people who actually wear the diapers - I would say that they unanimously prefer cloth to disposable. Hudson has gotten to the point that he downright shouts "CLOTH DIAPER!." at me (usually when we're on our way to the Y, because honestly, I'd just rather send them in a disposable in case they need to be changed). Finley isn't quite as vocal, but she does do a little dance that involves banging her hands on her legs when she sees me grab a cloth diaper! The hardest part of potty training Hudson (no lie) is that he currently asks me for cloth diaper occasionally, even though his new big boy pants are just as comfortable!
When I think about all the money we've spent on disposables over the last 6 and a half years, I feel a little sick to my stomach (for real). I honestly think that the best review that I could give to my cloth diapering experience is that it's something I wish I'd done with all 4 of kids! Really!
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