Cloth Diapers

Hey everyone!I'm THINKING about trying for a baby and I already know I want to use cloth diapers... but the selection is ridicolous!  The prices are also insane!  So I need a little advice from someone who has used them... if you can answer all OR some of my questions that would be WONDERFUL. 

- Are there any good patterns that you have used?

- Are the "one size fits all" any good?

- Are rubber pants still necessary with todays diapers?

- If you bought your diapers, which brand worked best? 

Feel free to add any extra advice.

THANKS!

Wow! I used cloth diapers 20 years ago. I had NO idea such choices even existed now. Amazing! I used cloth on 2 kids. I used hand-me downs on the first baby but happily, by the time the second one was born, diaper service was available in my area. It was worth every penny! Good luck!

If you have the inclination there are diaper services out there.  I used cloth diapers for my first and got a pattern and materials a fabric shop.  When people I knew found out that I was going cloth they helped make them.  Very cool.  Make sure you get a pattern that includes an cotton panel in between the layers for absorption!  They definitely leak more than the average store bought diaper so I recommend rubber pants.  I used disposable for my second and third babies.  So much less work.

I hope you do have a child, and as many as you can support!  It's wonderful to hear this from someone--that you're really _planning_ responsibly and taking everyone else into account with your decisions.

As I recall from my younger cousins, the cloth used is important.  If you can't find a service, the initial cost of the two or three dozen will be amortized over the child's use of them, and any subsequent ones as well.  A green shower would be an idea, and you could educate your friends and perhaps set up a scheme to pass the diapers, and toys and clothes as well, as needed among your group of young mothers.

I'd think the rubber pants would be necessary when the child is fully dressed and leaving the house, but you'll learn all that gradually from people with direct hands-on experience.

Best wishes!

Just a cursory Google search on "cloth diapers" brings up many links, most seemingly with helpful information in addition to the advertisements.

Again, best wishes!

Here's a thread that I started last month on cloth diapers:

Cloth Diapers ~ So many options

There were a lot of helpful responses. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE bumgenius 3.0 cloth diapers.  I have 18 of these for my 5 month old, and they're all we use.  They're supposed to fit from birth through potty training, though our boy didn't really fit into these until he was about 6 or 8 weeks.  They're fantastic--they work like disposable, with stretchy velcro tabs and everything.  Even babydaddy and babynanny like them, and find them easy to use.  They don't leak at ALL, and they're super easy to take care of.  We used the traditional "chinese prefolds" with diaper covers for the first couple of months until the bumgenius diapers fit our boy.  Those diapers leaked, almost invariably, but they did the job while we were at home, and I just ended up changing onesies.  Anyway, hope that helps.  And btw, the website that sells bum genius is www.cottonbabies.com ; Good luck! Oh, and as a caveat, they are pricey ($18 each) but the $ you save over a couple of years that you would have spent on disposables, not to mention the cost to the environment in landfill waste, is totally worth it.

Can anyone give me an idea of how much they spend a month on disposables (in canda if possible)?  I am seriously considering a diaper service but it is pricey and want to be able to compare to disposables. TIA!