You'll save money. When you buy disposable diapers, you are throwing away money with each diaper change. Exactly how much you'll save will vary depending on what brand of disposable diapers you (don't) purchase and what brand of cloth diapers you choose. On average, a family choosing a mid-range brand of disposable diapers will save about $1100 if they cloth diaper using 24 one-size cloth diapers like the bumGenius Original Pocket Diaper.

You'll prevent waste. Every baby wearing disposable diapers may generate as much as one ton of landfill waste before age two. Disposable diapers are a significant percentage of consumer waste and, according to reports from the EPA, represent the third most common consumer item in landfills.

It's more convenient. Today's cloth diapers reflect designs created primarily by parents solving problems. In the cloth diaper industry, parents are usually frustrated with their current diapering solution before they start creating new products. Often, their final product is significantly better than the product they were currently using. This is entirely true when comparing cloth diaper functionality to disposable diaper use. Cloth diapers are more convenient simply because they work SO much better than the alternative.

• Tired of blowouts? Disposable diapers are known for "up the back" and "down the leg" blowouts. These blowouts often ruin outfits for mom and baby. Worse, they also create a very challenging mess to clean in carseats, blankets, and bedding. Who wants to deal with that mess? Not all messes are avoidable, but, thankfully, most cloth diapers are designed specifically to prevent major blowouts.
• Out of diapers again? When you buy cloth diapers, your diapers are always available. Just wash and go.

Family disaster planning is the responsible thing to do. Even for families who primarily use disposable diapers, it is wise to have cloth diapers on hand in case of an emergency. The average store is estimated to have three days worth of supplies on their shelves. Given a disaster affecting the supply chain in the United States, it could quickly become difficult to access a fresh supply of disposable diapers. Keep a pile of one size cloth diapers on your storage shelf to ensure that your family is ready - no matter what happens.

Many parents initially look at cloth diapering for environmental reasons — and with good cause! The Women's Environmental Network in Europe has done some great work in furthering the use of cloth diapers in Europe through educating the public about the amount of waste generated by disposables. Based on a report from the Women's Environmental Network, The Real Diaper Association reports:

• Disposable diapers are the third most common consumer product in landfills today.
• A disposable diaper may take up to 500 years to decompose.
• One baby in disposable diapers will contribute at least 1 ton of waste to your local landfill.

Landfill issues are very important. This article is one of many that discusses this issue. Hawaii may eventually run out of places to put its trash. Many parents there are turning to cloth diapers in an effort to reduce waste.

A report published by the Environmental Protection Agency shows the Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States and gives an interesting view of the waste situation in the United States ten years ago. It says, "An estimated 3.1 million tons of disposable diapers were generated in 1997, or 1.4 percent of total MSW generation. (This tonnage includes an adjustment for the urine and feces contained within the discarded diapers.) The materials portion of the diapers includes wood pulp, plastics (including the super-absorbent materials now present in most diapers), and tissue paper. No significant recycling or composting of disposable diapers was identified in 1997."

The same report, published in 2005 (Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2005 Facts and Figures) showed that disposable diapers accounted for 3.6 million tons of waste and 1.5% of the total waste generation for that year. Once again, the report specifically mentioned that no significant recycling or composting of disposable diapers was identified in 2006.

Other parents are interested in cloth diapering because disposable diapers are expensive! According to a recent report about Disposable Diapers from Consumer Reports, "You can expect to spend $1,500 to $2,000 or more on disposables by the time your baby is out of them." Budget can play a large role in determining what kind of cloth diapering system to purchase.

In 2005, Kimberly Clark, the makers of Huggies,reported sales of $15.9 billion. Proctor and Gamble disclosed in their 2005 Annual Report that Baby Care is one of their core businesses "with a global share of approximately 37% of the market behind the strength of Pampers, with annual sales in excess of $6 billion."

By using cloth diapers, you save money with each diaper change. The money saved on diapers can support another area of your family's finances or could go towards helping someone else less fortunate. I know of a woman who actually takes the money that she saves from each diaper change and donates it to help babies in an orphanage that Cotton Babies supports in Africa.

A baby can be sensitive to the ingredients used in diapers. From Kimberly Clark's 2005 Annual Report:
"Super absorbent materials are important components in disposable diapers, training and youth pants and incontinence care products. Polypropylene and other synthetics and chemicals are the primary raw materials for manufacturing non-woven fabrics, which are used in disposable diapers, training and youth pants, wet wipes, feminine pads, incontinence and health care products, and away-from-home wipers."

If needed, an information sheet about the specific ingredients in disposable diapers can be obtained from the diaper manufacturer at the request of your pediatrician. Using your pediatrician's advice, you should be able to choose the right diapering system. If you aren't sure about a particular product, call the product's manufacturer to resolve any questions before making a purchase.

Another issue frequently brought up in cloth diapering circles is dioxin exposure. According to a Mothering Magazine article, entitled "The Joy of Cloth Diapers" "Dioxin, which in various forms has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, liver damage, and skin diseases, is a by-product of the paper-bleaching process used in manufacturing disposable diapers, and trace quantities may exist in the diapers themselves."

More and more daycare centers are open to the idea of using cloth diapers. Most daycares that allow cloth diapers will only allow all-in-one cloth diapers like the Freetime. They will require that you provide a place to store used diapers and that you take your diapers home with you each night for washing. Be aware that your daycare center may be governed by state regulations related to diapering. You may find that initial discussion with the daycare more successful if you take the time to educate yourself about laws in your state first. Home-based or private daycare providers are probably going to be more willing to cloth diaper your child. Remember that ease of use is going to be an essential bargaining chip! Because public perception of cloth diapering still revolves primarily around flat diapers, vinyl diaper covers and pins, it may help to have one diaper from the system of your choice on hand that you can use to demonstrate the ease of use.

Good question! I think everybody asks us this question. It is important to note that it is EASY! Modern inventions (like flushable liners and the diaper sprayer) have taken the grossness factor out of this issue. First of all, your baby will go through different stages as they grow. Poop tends to change as your baby grows.

Breastfed baby poop is water soluble. You do not need to remove breastfed baby poop before washing.

Around 6 months of age, many babies start solids through cereal. At this point, stools transition to a thicker "peanut butter" consistency. For best results, this should be removed (as much as possible) from your diapers prior to washing.

Formula fed and older babies typically have firmer stools. This should also be removed from your diapers prior to washing. The solutions below are what we commonly recommend to families. We have many families who love the diaper sprayers and many others who swear by the flushable liners. We recommend that you evaluate the options and choose the one that you will actually use.

Flushable diaper liners laid inside the diaper allow the poop to be easily removed from the diaper. Just peel the biodegradable liner out of the diaper and flush the mess away.

Diaper sprayers are another fantastic solution. This handy little device attaches to the plumbing behind your toilet and allows you to easily spray the mess off. The small holes and concentrated spray allows the Minishower to do a better job cleaning diapers off than any other sprayer available. The Minishower does double duty during potty training as it cleans out potty chairs. The adjustable spray can also be used for feminine hygiene during the postpartum period.

It is easy to shake firmer stools off of the diaper into the toilet (no spray or liner required).

In a pinch, good old fashioned dunking will get the job done.

You shouldn't have anymore odor that you experience with disposable diapers. Many cloth diapering parents actually claim to smell less diaper pail odor when using cloth diapers simply because their cloth diapers aren't full of perfumes (like disposables).

Deo-disks are an inexpensive way to deal with diaper pail odor. These non-toxic deodorizers smell like citrus and do a great job cutting down on diaper pail odor. These deodorizing disks are used and recommended by diaper services.

bumGenius Odor Remover does a fantastic job removing the odors in diapers. The best way to combat diaper pail odor is to wash cloth diapers (laundry products here, washing instructions here) frequently, at least every other day. Finally, be sure that your diaper pail has a lid on it and keep it closed.

Some detergents contain ingredients such as perfumes, dyes, optical brighteners, and fabric softeners that may leave residue on fabric. In our experience, detergent residue can be problematic for cloth diapers and for little ones with skin sensitivities. If your child seems to be having issues with skin sensitivities, we recommend seeking the advice of a physician. In some cases, you may want to consider an alternate detergent choice. Cotton Babies recommends using detergents that clean your diapers well and work well for your whole family.

Do not use detergents containing pure soap, fabric whiteners, fabric brighteners, fabric softeners or anything scented. You may download a list of detergent recommendations here.

Absolutely not. If the diapers are clean, the washing machine is clean.

Water, detergent, the sun and occasionally a small amount of something sanitizing like bleach is plenty to get your diapers clean and stain free. We do not recommend the use of any other additives when washing your cloth diapers. Additives can damage the waterproofness and elasticity of your diapers. In addition, they can change the pH of your diapers resulting in skin irritations.

The best stain remover is the sun! Wash your diapers and then lay them out wet on the lawn with the stain facing the sun. It usually only takes a few hours before the stains are gone! If some remnants of the stain still linger, rinse the load again and repeat the process.

First, be sure that you're using enough of a good quality detergent. Follow the directions on the bottle for a heavily soiled load. After you've verified that you're using enough detergent, wash your diapers again! Most of the time, stinky diapers just aren't clean yet. If they still stink, add 1/4 cup of bleach.

The chief culprit for an ammonia smell is diapers that aren't clean and detergent residue. Make sure that you are using a detergent that does not contain any perfumes or fabric softeners. Make sure that you are using enough of a good quality detergent. Follow the directions on the bottle for a heavily soiled load. Diapers need to be washed twice using a full amount of detergent. Occasionally using 1/4 cup of bleach may be occasionally necessary to deal with stubborn stink issues that are unresolved by a correct washing routine.

When we started cloth diapering, we lived in an apartment and did not have our own washer and dryer. We were cautious about diving into cloth diapering so we started with a diaper service for three months and then decided that we were ready to venture out on our own. We've discovered that cloth diapering is very doable — even when you're washing in a laundromat! The system that we found that worked for us was simple:

• Wash everything together.
• Wash the load one single time on cold.
• Wash the load again one entire cycle on warm or hot.
• Sort the pocket diapers and the covers out of the load and dry everything else.

To wash a wool cover, simply hand wash in cold water using the wool wash of your choice. It is important that the woolwash contains lanolin. We recommend LANA Lanolin Soap. If you need to lanolize your cover between washings, try dissolving one tablespoon of lanolin in a cup of very hot water. Cool the water to the point that it feels warm and then press the cover into the water. Swish it around gently. Drain the water and roll the cover in a towel to remove excess water (do not rinse). Lay the cover flat to dry.

Dealing with Poopy Messes
Sometimes baby poo will get on the wool cover. If this happens, just rinse that part of the cover under cold water until the stain is gone, pat and then hang to dry. If an odor remains, follow the directions above for washing the cover.

When is it time to wash?
If your wool diaper cover smells like urine or like poo, it's time to wash. A wool wash with a high lanolin content and high quality felted wool will increase the amount of time between washings.

Looking for tips on lanolizing your wool diapers? Check out this helpful article here.

When our first son was born, we were given three months of diaper service as a gift. With the diaper service came seven dozen Chinese prefold cloth diapers per week. When the service picked up the diapers once a week, a load of clean diapers was dropped off at our front door. We used a large diaper pail and some deo-disks to store our diapers. We purchased diaper covers in several different styles to go over the Chinese prefolds. At the time, we were living in an apartment and I did my laundry in a laundromat. I had six small-sized diaper covers. This was only enough for one day with a tiny baby, so I rinsed them out before going to bed each night.

When the diaper service expired, a friend gave us a stack of premium-sized prefolds and some medium-sized cloth diaper covers. I was a little nervous about branching out in doing my own diapers at first, but soon discovered that it was actually fun! We washed our prefolds twice per week and just used a disposable diaper at night.

As Andrew started to get a little bit older, I spent some time online researching overnight cloth diapers. That is when I stumbled onto pocket diapers! I'd never seen anything like that before and after doing alot of reading, I eventually ended up purchasing my first pocket diaper on eBay. My husband and I both really like how easy it was to use pocket diapers, so, as Andrew got older, we found ourselves buying more of them. I had a pretty good stash of pocket diapers by the time he potty trained.

When our second son was born, we had a fairly good-sized stash of Kissaluvs and Dappi Nylon Pants on hand. This was my favorite combination when Oscar was tiny! Not too long after he was born though, we started working on the bumGenius design. We were really wanting a diaper that worked like a disposable diaper. It was important to have diapers that grandparents and baby-sitters would be happy using. So, bumGenius was born. Six months later, our entire cloth diaper stash was made up of bumGenius diapers.

Today, Oscar is two and twenty-seven pounds. He wears bumGenius All-In-Ones during the day and bumGenius One Size Cloth Diapers at night. His night-time diaper is stuffed with two bumGenius One-Size Inserts. We size his diaper up to a large at night to accomodate the extra stuffing. If we happen to use a pocket diaper during the day, we use it on the medium setting with one insert. He primarily wears all-in-ones during the day to avoid the hassle of having to find an insert to go with every diaper. Our cloth diapers are stored in a laundry basket (straight out of the dryer) or under the sink in the bathroom. We organize by style. All-in-ones, inserts, doublers and pocket diapers all get separate piles. Because his absorbency needs are different based on the time of day, we do not pre-stuff any of our pocket diapers.

When you are trying to figure out what kind of diapers to get, it seems like there are a million different accessories you can buy. Each accessory has a very specific purpose. Some of those products have a wide audience and others have a narrow application. So, here is what we would recommend as the basics for most families.

At a minimum, you need a diaper pail. A plastic trash bag will work as a liner, but it isn't the most environmentally friendly choice available. We recommend a washable diaper pail liner (the bumGenius Diaper Pail Liner's are great) and deo-disks to cut down on pail odor.

Cloth baby wipes are absolutely essential. When you are changing a diaper, the wipes usually end up on top of or inside of the dirty diaper. It makes no sense to be trying to keep the wipes separate just so you can throw them in the trash can. If you use cloth wipes, the whole pile just ends up in the diaper pail.

A wipe warmer is a nice thing to have. It keeps your wipes warm, wet and ready to use near your changing area. As an alternative, consider a bottom cleaner like bumGenius Bottom Cleaner.

Do people really still use cloth diapers?
Yes! As a matter of fact, cloth diapering has become quite the vogue thing to do, especially among environmentally conscious parents. All of the new choices in cloth diapers have made it as easy to use cloth diapers as it is to use disposable diapers.

How many do I need?
A newborn can easily go through twelve cloth diapers in one day so we recommend purchasing 12-18 cloth diapers in the newborn or small sizes. An older baby doesn't need quite as many diapers, but you should still plan for 8 diaper changes and an overnight solution. Once you've picked out your diapers, don't forget to get two or three dozen cloth baby wipes, a waterproof diaper tote for your diaper bag and, if you have an older baby, a diaper sprayer is a must-have.

What does everyone else buy?
Our best selling newborn cloth diaper is the bumGenius Littles. For older children, most of our customers prefer bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diapers or bumGenius All-In-Ones.

If you are cloth diapering on a tight budget, consider using prefolds and cloth diaper covers. Most families also buy a cloth diaper pail, pail liner and deo-disks.

What about overnight diapering?
Our top selling overnight cloth diapers are our bumGenius Original 5.0 combined with two of our Hemp Babies hemp inserts. Our customers who prefer All-In-Ones are buying bumGenius All-In-Ones and using an additional doubler to boost the diaper for night-time use.

I just recieved my diapers. How do I start?
Prewash bumGenius, and other polyester diapers once before using. Microfiber inserts should also be washed once before using.

To reach their full absorbency, unbleached Chinese prefolds and hemp products should be washed 5-8 times with very hot water and approximately 2 tablespoons of detergent in each load. This removes oils and waxes from the cotton and hemp (normally removed during the bleaching process) that prevent liquids from absorbing into the diaper. White prefolds only need to be washed 3-5 times before use. To shink the products to their proper size, we recommend drying between each pre-wash.

My unbleached prefolds/hemp inserts are leaking!!
Make sure that you've prewashed them enough. Remember, they need to be washed 5-8 times in very hot water with a tiny bit of detergent in each load. If you have used your diapers before and haven't encountered this problem, I recommend putting a folded soft terrycloth washcloth inside the prefold diaper. The terrycloth will be able to catch the pee before it rolls off the diaper. The cotton is absorbent, but sometimes it doesn't quite 'grab' the liquid fast enough to keep it from rolling off and around the edge of the cotton. This method will also enable your baby to go coverless in a prefold diaper with fewer leaks.

Newspaper Fold
This is the simplest of all cloth diaper folds. Fold the diaper in thirds with the thick part in the middle, fold any excess length towards the back and lay in a velcro® or snap diaper cover.

Angel Wing Fold
Follow instructions for the Newspaper Fold. After laying the diaper in the cover, fold the back edges open like wings. Use these wings to secure the diaper with a Snappi Diaper Fastener or diaper pins.

Bikini Twist Fold
Lay the diaper flat, place the baby on the back of diaper, pull the diaper between baby's legs, twist 180 degrees. Using the back wings of the diaper, use a Snappi Diaper Fastener or diaper pins to secure the diaper closed.

Too Much Bulk Fold
This is a little harder to manage because it requires an extra step but if you're having problems with the front of the diaper being too bulky you can try one of the two following solutions:

• Using the Newspaper Fold, put the excess diaper length folded towards the back of the baby instead of the front. This will cut down on absorbency for a little boy but will reduce the amount of bulk in front.
• Using the Angel Wing Fold, fold the diaper down a few inches in back BEFORE starting the instructions for the newspaper fold. This option was the most effective for us.