Will's Thoughtstream

I'm a big fan of cloth diapers: our children rarely get diaper rashes when they wear cloth diapers, children potty train themselves earlier when they wear cloth diapers, the diapers are free from endocrine disrupting chemicals, and with a good washing machine or diaper service, they are very easy to maintain. They are also a small fraction of the cost of disposable diapers.

That said, I think there are a few key things that can make the adoption of cloth diapers easier.

1. For the first two or four weeks, use only disposable diapers. You'll have enough going on in your life, that you don't need to also try to figure out how to correctly put on cloth diapers, and wash them. You'll also have to deal with the packaging material that babies come with, a.k.a. meconium. That's super sticky and messy, and not something you want to mess with on your nice new cloth diapers. Just set a firm date at some point two to four weeks after the baby is born, and then transition to cloth diapers.
2. Use disposable diapers when you go out. We've used cloth diapers when we go out, and the truth is that is it a pain. Sure, you can do it. And if you are a totally gung-ho environmentalist, you probably will do it. (Get several washable, water-proof bags to store dirty diapers while out and about.) But we decided to simplify and use disposables when we go out, and use cloth at home. The babies are home 80% or more of the time anyway, so we still get most of the benefit of cloth diapers while avoiding the worst of the pain.
3. Invest in a high quality water-saving, front-loading washer. Whether you use cloth diapers or not, the amount of laundry doubles once you have a small baby. It's ironic, given how small their clothes are, but true. An excellent front-loading washer such as the Whirlpool DUET will not only get all of your clothes clean using less water and energy than your current washer, it will also consistently get diapers (even yucky poopy diapers) spotlessly clean. In fact, when we purchased our Whirlpool DUET, we eliminated any prewashing or scrubbing of the diapers, and they are still brilliantly clean, using only environmentally friendly detergent and no bleach. The Whirlpool DUET is just outstanding.