Martin Mommy: Cloth Diapers, Are you Crazy?

Typically, when I tell people that I have used cloth diapers before, I typically get reactions like "Are you crazy?", "Those are too much work!", "Isn't that really gross?", etc. I am glad to tell you the answer is no. Cloth diapers have come along way since your parents used them. They make all kinds at various price ranges. First off, I want to say that I am by NO MEANS a cloth diapering expert. I have not tried all different brands so I can't tell you from personal experience what the benefits of each kind are. I can tell you the reason why I have used cloth diapers and how they have made my life easier.

When my 4th child was a couple of months old and sleeping through the night, she would soak through her disposable diaper every night. I tried lots of different brands of disposables all with the same result. I was looking for another solution, so I looked into cloth diapers. I was looking for something that would not leak at night and was easy to wash. I also did not want to buy lots of different size diapers. After reading reviews, I decided to try Bum Genius 3.0 one size diapers. I bought one diaper to see how it went. I was so pleased. She did not have leaks. I decided to go ahead and purchase a few more since I was washing this one everyday so she could wear them each night. Once the new diapers arrived, I started using them during the day. I would alternate cloth and disposable diapers as well with my 3rd child who was almost 2. The great thing about these diapers is that they could fit both of them. I just had to adjust the snaps to fit each child. I ended up purchasing 12 of them. I would use the cloths at home and especially at night. I NEVER had a single leak. Once my daughter was 7 months old, we moved. In our current house, the washer and dryer is downstairs. As silly as it sounds, I stopped using my cloth diapers because it was not as convenient to wash the diapers. The disposables were not leaking anymore at night so I have been using them for about a year and a half. Now that Gunnar is 8 weeks old, he is sleeping about 8 hours a night and he is soaking through every night like my daughter did. I have been having to change his sheets and clothes every day. I decided that it was time to get my cloth diapers out since I am doing the laundry either way. A couple of months ago, Cotton Babies, the makers of Bum Genius diapers, sent out an email asking people to do an online survey in exchange for a $10 gift certificate towards a $20 purchase. I did the survey so I was very excited to use it to get something from Cotton Babies. I purchased a new Bum Genius 4.0 One Size cloth diaper with snaps. It arrived today. I am very excited to try it. I currently have 13 cloth diapers(2 are pink), so I am planning on alternating a day of cloths then a day of disposables since Gunnar typically goes through about 10-11 diapers a day. That way I can spend the disposable day washing the cloths. I am interested in getting more cloth diapers, but like I said I have only tried the Bum Genius ones.

If anyone reading this has another one size cloth diaper they recommend, I welcome your suggestions.