Cloth Diapers: Your Friends Are Using Them

7,020 disposables vs 24 reusable

When we decided to try to have a baby and I started my consumer research on the things we needed to buy, one of the first things I looked into was cloth diapers. I'd never actually seen one, but had seen friends on mention them casually on Facebook. I didn't know people still used them! Why would you bring such an anachronistic item into your home? Were they martyrs? Isn't there enough to do with a new baby?
I've seen estimates that the average child uses around 7,000 disposable diapers. The environmental impact of all those diapers had always bothered me, so I wanted to look into a reusable option. I quickly learned that there's a whole world of a modern cloth diapers. They're easy to use, are so much better for the environment and save buckets of money. I've been using them for three months and cannot figure out why more people aren't doing it.
Cotton Babies has a good overview of using cloth diapers. 
Honestly, they are almost as easy as disposable diapers if you have time for a couple of extra loads of laundry each week. We have had far fewer diaper messes since we started using them, and I'm super grateful for that!
We mostly use a style of diapers called pocket diapers. The diapers have a waterproof cover with a pocket you stuff with an absorbant cloth insert. There are dozens of options, but these are working great for us!