and the little one said..."wipe my bottom, slave" (all about cloth diapers)

Daddy and I made a quick foray into cloth diapers. It was short-lived, ultimately because we use disposables in daycare and she's in daycare almost full-time. But if I were a stay at home mom, i would definitely use them all the time. This site has a really great overview of the basics.

Our pros: initial up-front investment, but afterward, can save thousands. they're super cute and come in all kinds of neat colors. better for the environment (some say that the water and electricity it takes to wash them negates the benefit but we have HE washer/dryer), they feel really comfy (didn't test drive myself), but they're so soft!

Our cons: washing poop. having to throw poop into toilet instead of just folding up (daddy gags at the thought). daycare.

So, we did a LOT of research before we dipped out toe in. We narrowed it down to the following and here are our thoughts...

Bum Genius 3.0 - a one-size (for diapering life) pocket diaper (which means it has an insert that comes out and gets washed separately). If we went all in with cloth diapers, this is probably the one we'd choose. In our experience it worked very well. A little bit bulky due to the one size and the sizing snaps are a bit awkward when set on the smaller size. The diaper wicks away moisture really well.

FuzzinBunz - another one-size pocket diaper, just with a different fit and snaps instead of velcro. A lot of moms have said they prefer snaps (especially with older babies who discover how to undo the velcro). But these snaps are too much -- it's really difficult to link them up right and get it closed - I found myself getting extremely frustrated! I would just convert the BG's to snaps if it became a problem, which can be done. It was originally a selling point to me that the legs were adjustable - but i found it hard to figure out where they should be and it didn't seem to affect the performance (in fact, this one had a blow out the first time we tried it, maybe because the legs weren't tight enough). It's also the bulkiest diaper we tried.

Bum Genius All-in-One -- like a disposable diaper but you put the whole thing in the wash instead of in the trash. This is my favorite of all! The only disadvantage is that it doesn't come in just one size, so you have to buy up when your child grows out of them. But they are the cutest, have the best fit, and we found had the best performance. Plus, they're the easiest to use! The disadvantage of this diaper often cited is that they take much longer to dry. I found this to be true but once I figured out that if i turned it inside out and dried it it was almost dry through one cycle. i just leave it out for a while after that and it dries in no time.

Flip - A diaper-cover like thing with inserts; including a disposable option. I was really excited about this one -- it seemed to be a great option for daddy. But I wasn't a huge fan. The poop and pee often escaped the insert and when it did, it gets on the cover -- which is kinda ickier than getting on fleece with the other kinds. I imagine it wasn't as comfortable for her either. There is nothing to really hold the insert in place so it seemed to bunch up some on us (especially the disposable insert). Overall, probably our least favorite.

Good luck!