Cloth diapers - the good, the bad and the downright crappy

From CozyBums.ca (not someone I have purchased diapers from).

Before we had our daughter, my husband and I made the decision to go with cloth diapers.

We still use them, except at night because my daughter can really open the flood gates and I never found a cloth diaper that could contain it.

But anyway - we have used cloth diapers for more than two years now and I wouldn't change to disposables. I will use toss-aways when we're going out for a day somewhere, just because I don't always want to bring the wet bag with me, but for the most part, our daughter is in cloth.

There's no difference, really, between cloth and disposable except for what you do with them afterwards.

And when it's just a pee, cloth are a breeze.

The only time I curse cloth is when I have to clean poop off them.

When a baby is breastfed, there's no real need to spray off the poopy diapers - they come clean in the wash. No muss, no fuss.

But once they eat solids, you have to clean the diapers before you clean them, because your washer can't handle solid poops. And fair enough. I don't want to wash my own clothes after a load of poopy diapers.

So we have a spray attachment on our toilet (just a "personal bidet" - not a specific diaper sprayer because they are the same damn thing, just the diaper sprayer costs more because it's for diapers. Makes no sense).

Spraying off poop into the toilet sounds like it should be easy. But it's not. I get that shit (literally) everywhere. Pretty much every time I have to clean off a diaper, some ends up on the floor, or the side of the toilet, or my pants or slippers. Occasionally I'll have a clean go of it - when that happens, I pat myself on the back and remind myself it's not that hard.

The worst are blow-outs. While it is rare for us to have a true blow-out in cloth (where the poop escapes the diaper), what usually ends up happening is the entire diaper is covered in poop. Now where the hell am I supposed to hold it while spraying it off? While I'm sure other parents will agree ending up with poop on you by accident is no big deal - actually touching it on purpose is a whole other issue. It is not something I want to do.

And on those days, I hate cloth diapers.

Would I change to disposable? Ask me while in the middle of cleaning a poopy diaper and I would tell you immediately yes, yes I would. Ask me any other time and I'd tell you the hassle is worth it. I know I'm saving money and my toss-away diapers aren't going to be sitting in a landfill for decades. To me, that makes it worth it.

Cloth diapers I have used: AppleCheeks (good), Comfy Rumps (good), Kawaii (not my favourite), G diapers (I'm meh, by my husband prefers these ones), and a few other types of diapers.