An incredibly long ramble about cloth diapering.

Once upon time, back in 2009 when I was pregnant with Tyler, I did a good bit of studying up on cloth diapering, and seriously considered switching.

For that matter, I think I might have also considered cloth diapers with Alan, but honestly... when liver disease entered our lives a lot of things changed... including the memories we have of Alan's baby days and the weeks leading up to his arrival.  Many of those details were overshadowed by or even replaced with Liver Disease.

But I digress... with Tyler I know I got right up to the edge, but chickened out.  Maybe it was the safety of sticking with what I knew, or maybe it was the fear of spending the money on a cloth diaper setup only to decide later I didn't like it.

So just as we had done twice before, we used disposables.  Two years later, I didn't even think twice about them with Brooklyn.

And then along comes my sister.  Kristin spent a large part of her pregnancy reading up on cloth diapers.  She learned all the types & styles, pros & cons, how-tos & how-not-tos.  Long before her bundle of joy arrived, he first orders of cloth diapering gear did.

Logan - 3 months

I've enjoyed having a front row seat to seeing how cloth diapering really works, and it seems to suit them well.  Even so, by the time we were expecting Daniel, we had been really blessed with lots and lots of disposable diapers.  Lots.  No really... we have a lot of diapers.

So once again, I haven't considered cloth an option for us.  With being gifted so many diapers, it wouldn't make sense to spend the money on a cloth setup.  

However... just a day or two after bringing Daniel home I was reminded of the problem we've had with every newborn boy: leaky diapers.

Wet pjs, wet blankets, wet sheets... no fun.

By comparison, Kristin had very very rarely had this problem with Logan in his cloth diapers, so on her first visit to meet her new nephew she brought a stack of her smallest diapers and covers for us to try.

I put them on Daniel sporadically for a few days, mainly because I just wanted to see what it was like. It was fun to try out the 'other side' and do things my sister's way, but then I went back to disposables.  It just seemed easier for some reason.

A few days ago I noticed Daniel had a consistently red bottom.  I used our favorite diaper cream a time or two, but it didn't seem to do much for him.  It wasn't quite a rash... just... red.  Then I had another idea to try: the cloth diapers!

So all day Monday I used only cloth on my baby's little tooshie.  And what do you know... by the end of the day... no red!

So... after all the rambling, what's my final verdict?

• I love the wholesome feeling of putting a soft cotton diaper on a baby bottom.
• The covers are cute and easy to use.

• Fastening with a snappi is super easy and quick.

• No leaks = awesomeness.

• Washing and drying them was not a big deal at all.

• Like his cousin Logan, Daniel seems to have less tolerance for a wet or dirty diaper when he is in cloth, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Will we be switching?  Probably not.  We have tons of free disposables, remember?  I can't imagine spending the money on cloth at this stage in the game for us.  If I had it to do over, knowing what I know now I would have bought them for Tyler, no doubt.  Look at the use we would have gotten by now!

I don't know all the details and lingo (I'm pretty sure the diapers Kristin loaned us are prefolds), but if you are interested in cloth diapering I would encourage you to visit Kristin at her blog!