Yes. We use cloth diapers. I know that to a lot of people out there, hearing that brings up images of giant cotton rags, huge safety pins, and plastic pants. In other words, the way our parents used to diaper us. But, the days of the pins and the plastic are no longer! Cloth diapering has come a long way and the Fluff Fever is catching!
There are multiple reasons why I chose to cloth diaper. One being money.
Since we had our little bean, I have chosen to become a PAHM (Play At Home Mom). While we couldn't be happier with this decision, it also meant we went from 2 incomes down to 1. We are extremely fortunate to be able to make this change, and in the mean time I wanted to do my part to try to save us a little moolah. Enter, cloth diapers. Now starting out your "stash" as its known in the CD (cloth diaper) community can be a bit pricey especially compared to buying a couple packs of newborn diapers. However...that stash, can/will last you throughout all of your diapering days, even with multiple beans! So instead of buying another pack of diapers every week at the store, you simply do a load of laundry :) There are lots of websites out there that will tell you how much the average family spends on diapers a year compared to the cost of cloth. You can google it :)
Side note...you must have some will power not to buy every cute diaper you see, because that would sort of defeat the purpose of the whole money saving thing. It's hard, but I'm learning!
Now, the second reason that we use cloth should be the environment...but let's be honest, my number two reason is that they are so stinkin' cute! Cloth diapers these days come in a huge variety of colors and patterns and prints, the possibilities are endless! I am definitely an accessories kind of gal, and now that I no longer have a need for high heels and purses, fluff has become my new accessory.
And third, yes, I do care about the environment. So, cloth diapers mean less disposables in landfills and that's a great thing!
And as with any new endeavor, there are lots of things to learn. Some of it is trial and error, some of it is personal preference, and some of it requires some research. I will do some follow up posts that go into these more when it comes to quantity of diapers, styles of diapers, and washing diapers.