Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers are a huge topic these days with families who are living a green lifestyle. My husband and I decided with our youngest who was born last spring we would use cloth diapers. When I brought this topic up to my mom and others they said I was nuts! Cloth diapers were a pain; washing them was a nightmare; disposables are so easy; why would you want to put in that much effort. I took all the comments, thought about them and then made my own decision. The first 4 months we used disposable diapers. I did a ton of research on disposables, all the chemicals in them that is harmful to baby's skin and their health. I thought about all the space in the landfills that disposable diapers were taking up and how long each diaper would take to finally break down. After a ton of research I found Nature Babycare diapers. These diapers are produced in Europe, they don't have any harmful chemicals to hurt baby and they decompose! They were great! We used them for 4 months and also when we are out of town. They are great. I totally recommend these for anyone who doesn't ever want to use cloth diapers with their baby.
After 4 months (and the whole 4 months I did research) we decided we were ready to switch over to cloth diapers. I talked to friends who currently used cloth diapers and found our their favorites and what they liked and disliked about each one. My husband (really just me) decided on two different brands, Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bumz. We love our cloth diapers! Every time I was a load of diapers I think about all the money I am saving my family by not having to fork out another $30 on a pack of diapers. I think of all the landfill space we are saving by not throwing away diapers. I believe it is one of the best things we did for not just our baby boy and his health, but also for our checkbook and the environment!
The major argument I hear from individuals is that they could never imagine washing cloth diapers. That was my biggest fear about switching to cloth diapers. But I have to be honest, it's really not that hard! I was diapers about every other day. I was the shells by themselves and then wash the inserts by themselves. To me this is faster and I feel they get much cleaner. It takes me a couple of hours to complete the wash and then about 5 minutes to stuff the inserts in the shell and that's it! It's so simple. For anyone thinking about using cloth diapers I would have to say to do it! Make the switch, especially for those SAHM's trying to save money! It's a big investment in the beginning, but with websites like diaperswappers.com you can buy them pretty cheap. Friends are willing to swap with you as well if they no longer plan to use them. I believe it's one of the best things you can do for you baby!