Trying Out Cloth

[Edited a large chunk out; don't want to offend my close friends who have different opinions than me.]

I have a lot of friends who use cloth diapers. I've heard tons about them, how they save money, etc. I've heard pros and cons. I've thought about a lot...I like the idea of how they can save money. I wanted to try it out, but without making a huge commitment. I didn't want to buy a ton of cloth diapers only to find out I don't like them.

I got a surprise package from Kimi recently. She sent me some of her son's cloth diapers (he's potty trained and doesn't need them now). So, I tried some out. But after a [very] brief trial, my answer is...no thanks.

First, I tried a Dream-Eze. It's supposed to be a very trim all-in-one diaper, but it's still much bulkier than a disposable. I know this sounds ridiculous and superficial, but...I don't like the bulk. Even of the "trim" cloth diapers. My son is a chubby little guy, so it made his butt look huge. Not a fan. But the diaper itself fit well and did a good job. He napped in it and it didn't leak.

Next, I tried a short wing quick snap flap wrap with a separate cover. Again, good fit and no leaks. But it was super bulky compared to what I'm used to. Way bulkier than the Dream-Eze. I had to put him in larger clothes than usual to fit over the bulk.

Now here's where it gets gross and gritty.

Lastly (there's a reason for this), I tried a regular quick snap flap wrap with a cover. Like the others, it fit well, no leaks, and was bulkier than I'd prefer. But...he pooped in it. And we're not talking roll-right-off-the-diaper kind of poop. No. This kid has sticky cling-to-the-diaper kind of poop. Everyday. 3-4 times a day, at least.

If I could magically do cloth only for pee, I'd be more willing to do it. But with a kid who poops so frequently and not always predictably...not so much.

Also, I couldn't tell when he needed to be changed as easily with the cloth. I can tell by feel with disposables. With the cloth diapers, I had to take a peak - which is harder to do with cloth than disposables.

But then there's the hassle of washing them. Cold rinse cycle, hot wash with tiny amount of detergent, hot wash with no detergent. Plus longer dry time. It takes too long to wash them. And the frequency of having to wash them for full-time cloth diapering. Yeah...I'm not willing to wash diapers every 2-3 days. I only do 3-4 loads a week on average, and typically all in one day. I'd be more than doubling my laundry time. No thanks.

So after a [ridiculously short] trial, I know cloth diapers are not for me. As much as I'd like to save money by switching to cloth, I'm not willing to deal with the hassle of poopy cloth diapers and the extra laundry. I'd rather buy disposables. I like being able to throw the poop away.

John feels the same way. To be honest, he wasn't really interested in cloth diapers to begin with. He didn't want to deal with the mess, either. But he was open to trying it out, just to see. And we found that it's definitely not for us.

I know 3 diapers isn't much of a trial. It didn't give us a feel for all day everyday. But we got enough of a feel for it to know we don't like it. That's enough for us. At least now we can say we tried it.

To my cloth diapering friends: I commend you. You're stronger than I am. I don't think I can handle it. Kudos to you.

As for me...I'll stick with disposables.