we used cloth with our youngest and plan to use cloth with the new addition due in july. in fact i've already started looking at new dipes.

its not the reason we decided to use cloth but the cute factor is a definate plus.

i have to agree you can do much better than the dipes sold in box stores...although the flats usually available are usable, they just require a steeper learning curve as far as folding techniques than do pre-folds or fitteds.

i recommend kissaluvs fitteds and bummis covers. they are easy to find online and reasonably priced especially when aquired used.

used dipes are usually just as functional as new but significantly reduce the eco imprint. e-bay has sadly discontinued the sale of used dipes but there are many natural parenting sites that allow it. best bets are diaperswappers, diapertraders, and mothering magazine's motheringdotcommunity.

if you don't mind spending a little more you can also find amazing quality and beautiful one of a kind dipes on hyenacart. spendy but nice to have one or two for special occaisions.

and the stink factor is almost non-existant with cloth. i don't know if its the cemicals or what but i find sposies to be much stinkier.

all in all i can't magine diapering any other way.

We use cloth diapers in our house and as everyone else has said the walmart brands are terrible. Now I could not afford the $15-20 per diaper that some can. So I went to littlelions.com got Indian prefold seconds and dappi nylon covers and hurray! for less than $35 our little babies have soft cotton on their bottoms all the time! I also bought a few kissaluvs diapers on craigslist for about 20 for 9. Not too bad at all. You can use snappi's to hold the diaper together, but I am a big fan of pins. I have never ever stuck my children and have stuck myself less than 5 times in almost 4 years.

We go around the house coverless and only use the covers at night or when we go out. No rashes and no waste! It saves us around $80 a month and is more sustainable than store diapers.

l cloth diapered my youngest and will also use cloth with the new addition due this summer

i'm already having fun looking at dipes and cover. the cute factor is not what led me to cd but its definately a perk.

just wanted to add that our stash was half used dipes and the used were just as functional as the new but reduced the eco-imprint by quite bit i'm sure.

e-bay has disallowed the sale of used dipes but there are planty of other places including diaperswappers, diapertraders, and the fsot on many of the natural / or attatchment parenting forums such as mothering magazine's motheringdotcommunity

and if money isn't such a big factor, hyenacart has some beautiful dipes

and one more thing sposies stink so much more than cloth

Those cloth diapers at walmart are aweful. I hate them. I make cloth diapes like the ones in the picture and they are NOTHING like the prefolds at walmart. Most of the modern cloth diapers do not need rubber pants and many are made with organic cloth and bamboo linings. They come in many cool colors and designs. Most of the cloth diapers like this are made by a person, not a company. This promotes cottage industry and gives needed income to those who need it and not Conglomerites. They do cost a little more but are well worth while. I'm sorry if I offended anyone or for any speling errors.

Non-chain store cloth diapers are definitely better (both in terms of quality and ethics) if you can afford them. At $12 each for used diapers, that's not everyone. For our situation, the birdseye or gauze ones (gauze weave ones are definitely more absorbent and durable than birdseye, though too large for use until my son hit about 6 mos) were barely within reach. Luckily my bgf works in a thrift store; we were able to pick up quite a few used. They have held up OK. On their 2nd-3rd baby, some are frayed, but only one has been repurposed to cleaning up after changing oil.

The diaper pins available at WalMart are godawful. Too small, very difficult to close on a squirming baby. Go to the craft department and buy the largest safety pins you can find instead (I like the curved ones better). They wear out much faster but have saved me much profanity.

Hint for getting max absorbency out of the birdseye diapers: Start with the prefolded variety. Fold one in thirds, lay it longways in the middle of another one. Fold the outer diaper in a wide triangle; leave 1 to 1 1/2 inch unfolded at the top. Wrap around baby, using unfolded "tabs" to pin. My son is a heavy wetter; this method buys 1 1/2 to 3 hours before he soaks through with no other cover. Using gauze-weave diapers, which are somewhat larger/thicker for the outer wrap makes pinning easier, also allows a diaper to last (normally) overnight. I lay a towel under him for good measure.

I soak solid soil in the toilet for about 5 minutes, scrub, toss in a dry bucket with a tight lid, and wash my hands. I wash in hot water (I probably wouldn't, except that he had lots of ear infections, took lots of antibiotics, and now he's quite susceptible to Candida), dry in direct sunlight. They dry FAST. Soak of 1 part peroxide to 8 parts water removes stains wellish, but just washing does OK; hey, they're diapers.

To keep up with diapers for one child takes me about 1/2 large

Does anyone know where to get patterns to make your own cloth diapers? Also, is it necessary to use the plastic/rubber "shorts"? Thanks!

There is a huge cottage industry out there for cloth diapers and covers. I started selling my own cloth diapers and wool covers on ebay and recently switched to etsy.com. You can easily check out my wool diaper covers at newtraditiondiaper.etsy.com.

If you are serious about cloth diapering then don't use plastic covers, they are as bad as disposable diapers for holding moisture on your child. Wool helps moisture to evaporate off your childs skin, keeping them cooler and dryer. Its environmentaly friendly and easy to care for.

There is a huge cottage industry out there for cloth diapers and covers. I started selling my own cloth diapers and wool covers on ebay and recently switched to etsy.com. You can easily check out my wool diaper covers at newtraditiondiaper.etsy.com.

If you are serious about cloth diapering then don't use plastic covers, they are as bad as disposable diapers for holding moisture on your child. Wool helps moisture to evaporate off your childs skin, keeping them cooler and dryer. Its environmentaly friendly and easy to care for.

I have to suggest another small home business for cloth diapers--don't go to Walmart! Go here: http://sunflowerbabies.com/

My mother started this business in the 90s, and it's now under new ownership. I have since become a customer and I'm very pleased with their service!

From their site:
Sunflower Babies is just one of many small cloth diapering businesses owned by parents who are working from home while caring for their children. Every time you support such a business, you are nurturing a family as well as committing your dollars towards diapering options that are more affordable to the family budget as well as kinder to our environment.

Why go to all the fuss of cloth diapers? Check these out. http://www.gdiapers.com/

I also used glass bottles and if you are pumping, your milk does stick to the side a bit, but just give the bottle a swirl and it all comes off. My daughter really loved these bottles much better then the super expensive plastic ones that were supposed to be at the perfect angle for no air bubbles.

I have dropped my glass bottles on the floor and on the cement and they have never even been chipped. I can't say enough about how much I love them. Also, they are still in perfect condition for my next baby. No waste.

I actully make all and one cloth diaper for babies. Send a email if interested.It is great to see mothers looking for cloth diapers and glass bottles. Way to go!!!

Amazing site for products and info for the cloth diapering family, owned and run by real mommies!
www.wildflowerdiapers.com

I know there are worries about plastics, but please also do your homework concerning glass baby bottles and breastmilk, as some nutrients cling to glass and do not get to baby.

When I suggest cloth diapers to my friends, I get the "UGH, I can't deal with the smell and mess." Thought I would share my cloth diaper routine. After removing diaper from baby, dump solids only in toilet and flush. Place these along with just wet diapers into a diaper pail with a tight fitting lid - no rinsing necessary. When full, dump entire pail load into your clothes washer. Run a cold rinse cycle using no soap or detergent. When done, reset your machine to hot water wash, cold rinse, add soap and go. The sun in line drying bleaches any stains, and the diapers come out clean and smelling like sunshine. Fold while baby is asleep or in the evening watching TV. Janet

The Brits did a carbon footprint study of cloth "nappies" versus disposable and the results weren't what they were expecting.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4969413.ece

The Brits did a carbon footprint study of cloth "nappies" versus disposable and the results weren't what they were expecting.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4969413.ece

I drink a lot of water. When we were wiped out by Katrina in New Orleans we moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina. The water from our well is delicious. However, since I like to carry around a bottle to my opffice or work shop or outside to garden, I had been using plastic water bottles. I've been reading more and more about how the plastic is being leached into the fluid in the plastic bottle and suspected that's why the water was starting to taste bad. So I did a search on the Internet and ended up with the Specialty Bottle company. I bought a dozen seventeen ounce square bottles (with the caps) for twenty bucks plus another twenty for shipping. Glass and packing are heavy! I couldn't be happier. The bottles are first class and I would have no hesitation ordering any kind of glass bottle product from these people.

Fritz Owens
Professional pianist, composer, photographer, teacher and keyboard recording artist for over 40 years in New Orleans -until Katrina.

I agree with other comments that the cheap "birdseye" diapers (usually by Gerber) that are available at Walmart are hardly effective. Some good links are offered in previous comments for high quality cloth diapers, and an internet search will uncover many more. It's also easy to make your own diapers by repurposing towels, sweatshirts, etc, or with new fabrics. Cotton, hemp and bamboo fabrics are popular for diapers, and you can find patterns online, too.

A general rule of thumb is to not get any cloth diaper stuff at regular box stores because you can get much better quality online or specialty shops. Check out http://www.diaperpin.com/home.asp for great reviews and locations to purchase cloth diapers and accessories. Another great place to buy used cloth diapers is http://www.diaperswappers.com/. This site also contains a plethora of discussion on parenting topics.

I purchased glass baby bottles from Wal-Mart in the Summer of 2008. I had searched multiple times at Wal-Mart and failed to find them because they were not displayed with the other baby bottles in the baby section. Most Wal-Mart associates told me that they didn't carry them. Then one day I found them displayed a top shelf in the baby food section. They were not easy to spot. I informed a Wal-Mart Manager that I had been searching for these for a long time and suggested they display them with the other baby bottles so that shoppers could more easily find them. Well, Wal-Mart managers at the Osage Beach, MO store have taken my advice. So, if you are having difficulty locating glass baby bottles at Wal-mart, look in the baby food section.

Diapers and plastic pants from Walmart? This is not especially helpful advice and suggests that the person giving it has not diapered in the last ten years! There's no need to use plastic pants, which are hard to get on and off and require the use of pins, when there are such good Velcro wraps available. We used wraps and cloth diapers with our son, and it was no trouble at all. While the wraps are about $10 each, you only need four or so at a time since you wash them regularly (but not with every change). There are a number of companies that offer diapering supplies on the Internet. One of my friends also had great luck buying used diapers and wraps on Ebay.

Diapers and plastic pants from Walmart? This is not especially helpful advice and suggests that the person giving it has not diapered in the last ten years! There's no need to use plastic pants, which are hard to get on and off and require the use of pins, when there are such good Velcro wraps available. We used wraps and cloth diapers with our son, and it was no trouble at all. While the wraps are about $10 each, you only need four or so at a time since you wash them regularly (but not with every change). There are a number of companies that offer diapering supplies on the Internet. One of my friends also had great luck buying used diapers and wraps on Ebay.

We are also doing our part to make the human population better by making kids who understand what it means to be good humans! The more the merrier, as long as there's a good reason for it! I think I hear my babies waking up now...

I first purchased cloth diapers at Wal-mart, but after paying nearly 2 dollars APIECE I got fed up with it, along with the cheap and toxic vinyl pants and went online to http://www.babybestbuy.com/ and bought 4 12 packs of Chinese cotton prefolds for $4.99 each! I purchased Rikki wraps for more than I wanted to pay- nearly $15 at MotherEase.com. I recently ordered a snap off pull on wrap at kidsstuff.com for $10. I bought two 8-oz glass baby bottles with REAL rubber nipples from a website (that I can no longer find-sorry!) but I found an identical bottle (except I bought the 6 pack of real rubber nipples separately for about $3) at www.zearth.com for I think $4.99 per bottle. Not bad. Hope this helps!! Mary

I agree with the editorial about mountains to climb except for the part on shrinking our population. My husband and I have 5 children, our philosophy is that when irresponsible people can have a lot of people, the people who are concerned about our future usually have less or no children because of these concerns. Soon the majority of our population will consist out of materialistic, irresponsible, not well behaved selfish and spoiled people and the people who were raised with morals and values that support conservation, sharing, caring and responsibility will be a small minority.We felt we needed to counteract with having a lot of children ourselves.