Not your momma's cloth diapers.

Bumgenius Diaper

Cloth diapering is one of the things that we do to save money and keep diapers out of the landfill. It can take between 300 and 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose. Not to mention the fact that they are full of those chemicals that so handily soak up all that pee. So for us cloth diapering makes sense. 

These are not your momma's cloth diapers. They are much easier to use and much cuter. My youngest is running around the house right now wearing a diaper that looks like a like a milk cow. He also has bright colors, trains, and an American flag. These new cloth diapers come in many different forms.

There are very inexpensive options, such as prefolds and waterproof covers, as well as the more expensive designer diapers. We started cloth diapering by buying a package from The Natural Baby Company for around $80. This package included prefolds, waterproof covers, and snappis (the closures that replaced pins.) It is enough diapers for about 3 days depending on the age of your baby. Washing every 3 days can get old but if you are on a budget this really can't be beat.  You could spend $80 in one month buying disposables.

Next we started using Bumgenius pocket diapers. These are stuffed with a very absorbent insert and put on the baby just like a disposable. For Daddy's and Grandparents it doesn't get much easier than this. As an added bonus you can buy these in One Size Fits all. You simply adjust the snaps to whatever size you need. I used the same diapers on my 2 year old and 6 month old  by adjusting them.  You can buy packages of these too.

There are also hybrid diapers like Gdiapers that use chemical free biodegradeable inserts. You still have to wash the covers, but you flush or compost the inserts. These are nice because your house never gets stinky. But you do have the recurring expense of buying the inserts. (About $30 a month for 1 baby.)

Washing cloth diapers is also much easier than you probably imagine. Once you get the hang of it and have that moment of enlightenment where you realize there is nothing unnatural on your baby there is no going back. So grab a couple diapers and give it a try, you never know you might get addicted.