Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers

Grandma and Grandpa Treiber gave us a 6 month diaper service gift that includes cloth diapers plus pick up and delivery-- so no washing (thank goodness).

Originally, I didn't even think of cloth as an option; most of my friends with kids kind of balked at the idea, so I really just wrote it off. Then, we received the gift so I started doing some research.

My findings after using cloth (and occasionally disposable for 3 months):

• Cloth diapers including the cleaning service (along with pick up and delivery) costs approximately the same as disposables (assuming you are using 8-10 per baby per day or 5-6 per baby with disposable)
• Cloth is better for the environment overall (even though there is some argument about the energy used to wash the diapers)
• I have had no problem with diaper rash with cloth-- we just make sure their lil bums are dry before putting on a new diaper
• I change them after every feeding (every 2 hours approximately during the day)
• I use disposables at night- I decided it wasn't worth having babies waking up because they are wet, and disposables are definitely the masters in absorbtion
• I couldn't figure out how to put the cloth diaper around their hips (the pre folds were not big enough-- and maybe they aren't meant to go around their hips even), so we just fold them in thirds and place them in the cover.
• Covers: We bought a bunch at Soft and Cozy baby in Baltimore. Gussets are KEY. The interior lining of the cover should be water proof (many are not), and I prefer the velcro ones as opposed to the snaps (I have heard that as they get older snaps may work better because the kids cannot get them off themselves). I bought Thirsties brand and have been really happy with them, about $12 each.
• Peeing is not a problem, just pull out the wet one, wipe and dry the cover, insert new one and you're ready to go. Poopin' is messy. You are supposed to clean off the gunk before putting it in the pail to be sent out, but we generally skip that part. Since they are eating breast milk it doesn't really come off anyway since its more liquidic than anything else. You can get it off the covers, but expect a stain in the non-waterproof portions of the cover.
• Travelling with cloth. We generally do not. We will put them in disposables when we go somewhere and defintely if we travel for more than one day. They can stay in disposies longer with minimal leakage, however, it still does leak! I am not sure how #2 can work its way out of the top of a disposable but it happens! If I do travel with cloth, I just bring a ziploc bag for the soiled ones.
• Diaper Service: we use Modern Diaper Service and have been extremely happy with their service. They come every Friday around noon, and they even go to the back of my house (since we have a lot of sidewalk traffice during the day in front of our house).
• Disposables: we have tried both Pampers and Huggies-- Pampers overall has been our favorite, Huggies leak a lot more (but there are way more coupons for Huggies so we still end up getting those). We go through maybe 30 disposables every 3 weeks or so with using them at night and when we are out and about.