What I've learned so far: the cloth diaper edition

When I first found out I was pregnant I decided that I didn't want to do cloth diapering. I remember helping out with some of my younger siblings who were in cloth, and I remember hating it. I have vague memories of having to stand over the toilet swishing a diaper around until it was sort of rinsed off, and then holding my breath for that awful few seconds it took to put it in the pail...I just didn't want to have to deal with it.

And then I had my baby and realized how expensive disposable diapers are, and how cloth diapers have changed. I decided it might be worth it to give it a try. At first I was going to make my own. An endeavor that resulted in a bag of thrift store cotton sheets and shop towels sitting in my craft room closet. I tried to make two different diapers just to see if it would work, and got so frustrated I quit.

The test run of making my own. I used one of Alex's old t-shirts. Classy, huh?

So a friend was kind enough to let us borrow her stash of FuzziBunz until we can build our own cloth diaper stash. It was a HUGE relief. If you have ever had with zero knowledge of cloth diapering and just started looking at things online, you understand why I was overwhelmed. I had no idea how many kinds of diapers there were, specific soaps, dos and do nots, opposite opinions, etc.

I've had a lot of help though, my sister in law has answered many questions for me, and a blog I've been following since last September, The Accidental Wallflower, just finished off a whole month dedicated to cloth diapering.

So here's a few things I've learned:
* A removable shower head makes the poop rinsing way easier than the old swishing method. Turn the nozzle to the power spray setting. Rinse it all down the drain. Done.
*Cloth diapering is not as difficult as I expected (once I finally got the hang of it) and I feel good knowing I'm doing what I can to save some money and not produce as much waste.
* Cloth diapers are expensive!! Cheaper in the long run, of course, but I still haven't saved up enough to start buying my own. They can be anywhere from $6-$18 per diaper!
* An open diaper pail actually makes a lot less of a stink. Don't believe me? I have an open trash can for dirty diapers sitting by my nursery doorway and you can't even tell it's there. (Unless you get really close and inhale deeply. But really, who would even want to try?)
* You have to change cloth diapers a little sooner. I usually change Jacob every 3 hours or so, unless he's poopy, then I change him right away.
* Cloth diapers do not work for night! At least not for my little guy. I tried double inserts, I tried rubber pants, I tried pre-fold with rubber pants. He woke up soaked every time. So I still buy about one pack of disposables every month because we use them for night.
* It's not as hard to keep up with as I thought it would be.
* I can understand the addiction to buying cute printed cloth diapers. I keep planning what patterns I want to buy once I get my own stash.
* The homemade laundry soap I use for diapers works so well and is so much cheaper, I now use it for all my laundry!

And lastly, there's just something so satisfying and domestic feeling about seeing a clothesline full of freshly washed cloth diapers drying in the sun.

Do you cloth diaper? Let me hear your experience!