Am I a candidate for cloth?

[abunchoflemons]

i do wet pail with detergent & regular cycle. hot cold high soil., rinse heavy. i havent tstripped mine in our 16 month cloth. 0prewash nice for diluting pee if dry pail. i put detergent in prewasgh. love wet pail though....u definitely are a can6didaete to try cloth.

[Kabuki24]

It's easy. It really is. I have not noticed an increase any utility bill. You don't have to buy any fancy detergents or anything, so really I might buy like an extra jug of detergent every 6 or 8 months. I've never had to strip my diapers (I might be getting lucky because I have a water softner). Dealing with solids is a non-factor. When you have a kid you deal with lots of body fluids regardless. If you are washing 2 - 3 times a week, you shouldn't have much stink. Get an aluminum pail with a cover and you're golden.

[delladea]

As others have said, as long as you have your own washer and dryer it's worth a shot. ESPECIALLY with EBF diapers!! You could always get a few to try and wash them with your towels, and if you don't like them keep them as an emergency spare or sell them on DS.

We mostly use prefolds, snappis and covers. Prefolds and covers are cheap compared to pockets, hybrids, and AIOs, however these systems are generally more user-friendly. You can also tri-fold a prefold into some covers, however I found that with the Thirsties covers they don't quite contain everything with my DD, but others do this with their babes with no problems! You could get by with two-dozen prefolds and six covers minimum, maybe three dozen diapers if you're like me and forget about the laundry in the washing machine...

My DD is 10 months and VERY squirmy during changes -- even I am having a hard time getting prefolds on her! I do think it is a good idea to have some "easy" cloth diapers for when you're out of the house or when someone else is watching your LO. When she was around 3 months I got a few BumGenius 4.0 one-size pocket diapers and they worked fine until she was about 7 months. Her shape changed and the diapers just didn't fit her as well anymore. I'm currently trying out gDiapers with the disposable inserts and cloth, and so far I'm getting a huge thumbs-up from my MIL who watches DD when I need to go out.

I do laundry every other day, but I have gone three days in-between washes before without too much stink. It's not a big deal with prefolds, but with other diapers I've heard they can break down if you don't wash often enough? Once you get a routine down, it's really no big deal. I usually throw some towels in with the diapers after the initial rinse -- they seem to get cleaner because they're agitated more and I don't have to wash towels as often! If you have a place to hang them out to dry - even better! I've been without a clothesline for the last four months, and I've only noticed a marginal increase in our electric bill. We're on a well, so I have no idea what the difference in water is.