Which is what many moms say when they are faced with the choice of what diapers to pick. Cloth diapers are cheaper and the environmentally friendly option, but disposable diapers are so much easier and more convenient.

If you want to try cloth, or are thinking about switching to cloth, here’s some possible solutions to the “I want to cloth diaper but…” fill in the blank thoughts you might have.

…I hate laundry. Buy as many diapers as you can afford to increase the amount of time between washes. It will also save on laundry costs if you don’t have to wash as often. I started with 18 diapers and was washing every two three days which was not very fun. Now I have over 30 diapers and do a load of diaper laundry every five or six days. Remember used cloth diapers have a decent resale value – often around 50% of the new price – so you are not wasting money.

…the used diapers will stink. Yes, used cloth diapers do indeed stink. When we had a home with an attached garage, the diaper pail went in the garage. Right now I live in an apartment and I have a pail with a tightly fitting lid that goes in the bathroom. A carton of bicarbonate of soda in or near the diaper pail will absorb some of the odor. Don’t get it on the diapers though. We are about to move to another apartment but one that has a basement and yippee! the diapers are going to live in the basement. Phew.

…I don’t want to wash poop in my washing machine. Yes, cloth diapers do indeed have the ick factor. Tip out as much poop into the toilet and flush it away before putting the diaper in the pail. Another way to cut down on the ew is to buy a diaper sprayers. These attach to a toilet and are used to spray all the poop away into the toilet. Many cloth diapering moms rave about them. I didn’t want to spend the money on one but kinda wish I did. And it’s not enjoyable, but moms have to deal with poop. When your baby poops on her clothes – and she will poop on her clothes – what are you gonna do with those? You put them in the machine. Run an empty load after the diaper wash if you are grossed out by the poop.

…my mom says it’s a bad idea. Our moms often don’t understand why our generation want to cloth diaper when we have the choice to use disposables. They often had no choice and many moms remember all the laundry they had to do and boiling diapers in the kitchen and can’t believe anyone would choose cloth over disposables. Modern cloth diapers are totally different to the ones your mom would have used and are much less work.

…My husband says it’s a bad idea. Husbands can be anti cloth diaper, usually because of the dealing with poop factor. Well, cloth does have disadvantages. But the advantages of cloth diapers are many – the biggest ones are price, and the environment. Cost is usually a good one for convincing husbands. They are better for the environment, using less resources and creating much less trash.

And there are also other advantages cloth has over disposable. Babies with sensitive skin may have happier bottoms in cloth. And babies who wear cloth are usually potty trained earlier, as they feel wetter in cloth diapers so understand the link between peeing and being wet sooner than disposable diaper babies. And cloth diapers are much cuter than disposable ones. How about a multi-colored diaper, or a flower print, butterflies, or puppies? Choose your arguments, present them in your most charming manner, and you’ve got a great chance of convincing him.

After crawling, the next motor skills milestone is usually pulling up to a standing position.  Crawling babies are fascinated by what’s in front, and just above them, and they’ll reach up to grab things just above their heads, and then the natural thing to do next is to pull up.

Balance is not good at first, and falling over is going to happen.  Your baby will be grateful for her diaper to cushion her fall. Cloth diapering moms have an advantage here, as cloth diapers are usually thicker and more padded for your little one’s tush.   Those of us with wood floors have to be extra careful about catching baby. Now she’s got some height, this is the first serious opportunity to fall down. Ouch.

The silly thing about pulling up, is that while pulling up seems to come naturally, getting back down again is not so.  Babies pull up, get all excited about being upright. Then little legs get tired, and they don’t know what to do! Either wail, panic, fall over, or all three.

So show your baby how to bend her knees so she can sit herself back down safely. Or you can demonstrate, or ask her older brother or sister to show baby what to do.

Sitting on the bed, or the couch, while your baby pulls up is fun, it’s cute to see her little face peep over the edge, and it makes a good game of peekaboo too. And it’s a good photo opportunity to snap a smiling face.

Next comes cruising along the edge of the couch or the table, and it’s in preparation for one of the most exciting milestones of all – walking!

I’m feeling super smug today. I’ve cloth diapered my son since he was six months old, when I bought a set of FuzziBunz diapers in size medium. He’s two and a half and those diapers still fit him. For that $200 investment, I’ve saved over $500 in disposable diapers in two years. And since I live in an apartment where the laundry is paid for, you can make that feeling extra super-smug!

It helps that he’s slim and didn’t need a bigger size of cloth diapers, which would have added to the expense. Moms who use one-size-fits all diapers, like BumGenius diapers, which fit babies from newborns up to toddlers, can also save money on buying diapers.

Once my son is potty trained, which I currently predict will be when they send Britney Spears to the moon, I can sell the diapers on Diaperswappers.com or craigslist, where they have a great resale value.

Cloth diapers aren’t for everyone, but they’ve been a great choice for us. It helps a lot that I love doing laundry (yeah, i know I’m a freak), they are probably better for the environment, and they have lots of little benefits, like cushioning learning-to-walk bottoms better, and looking cuter than disposable diapers too.

I’ll close with a cute story… My son loves our neighborhood fire station. One of the times we were there, a firefighter dad-to-be asked if my son wore Pampers or Huggies. I use cloth, I told him. The other firefighters standing around chimed in with their opinions on different diaper brands and I can’t imagine a more surreal conversation than a bunch of burly firefighters with axes slung over their shoulders, chatting about diaper pins.

There is a 9 year gap between my youngest child and my second youngest child. I distinctly remember my first visit to the diaper aisle after that long hiatus and being amazed at the many, many options out there.

Since I became a parent 15 years ago, I’ve used a lot of different kinds of diapers. I’ve learned a lot in the process.

I used cloth diapers for a while, but I stopped. I had a bunch of reasons why I stopped, although I admit that I felt guilty for changing to disposable diapers for a while. Firstly, there was the reality of our situation: we lived in the country and had a small septic tank and a well that was slow to refill. I had to limit my water usage, and washing diapers would have set me over the limit. Secondly, since I used a diaper service, the chemicals they used to whiten the diapers caused my children to break out in their diaper area. Thirdly, I found that it was actually cheaper for me to buy disposables than to pay for diaper service. This may not be true in all areas, but in our area, there were only 2 services available. Both charged me an extra fee because I lived so rurally and they had to travel outside their ‘normal’ area of service. A ‘minor’ consideration which turned out to be somewhat major, was the difficulty I had finding diaper pins in our small, rural area. The fact that these things were difficult to find meant that I spent a lot of time and gas money driving to find supplies when my batch of pins became dull or got lost.

I tried ‘off brand’ diapers after that, thinking that all diapers were really the same. Why shouldn’t I use the inexpensive ones? I found that almost without exception, the off brand diapers were adequate, except for one brand, which is no longer made(remember, I started my diaper journey 15 years ago). I also found that I had to change my children more frequently when they used these diapers. In the long run, I suppose I wasn’t really saving any money at all because of this: it cost me less to buy a pack, but I was using more diapers than I would have if I had bought a more expensive brand of diapers. As my children aged, I found that the ‘off brand’ diapers would not make it all the way through the night without leaking.

When my son came home from the hospital, I used a certain brand that had a dip in the front of the diaper. The idea was that the umbilical cord wouldn’t get irritated or rubbed by the diaper. I really liked those diapers as before then, I’d try to roll the front of the diaper or cut the diaper until the baby’s cord fell off. It was nice to have a diaper that was ready to go, and I’d recommend this diaper for all new parents.

I did some experimenting between the ‘major 3′ brands available when my son was born. I found that one brand caused him to have rashes. One brand just plain didn’t fit his body shape so well. I use the other brand – Luv’s, although I’ve noticed that it sells out quickly in our area.

At night time, I do use Huggie’s Overnight diapers and I’d recommend those to other parents who have trouble with their children wetting through their diapers during the night. Yes, it would be possible to change my son during the night, but I’d prefer to let him sleep if I can. It also means that I’m not washing crib sheets and blankets every day and bathing him when he gets up.

After some experimenting, I’ve decided that the expensive swim diapers are worth every penny. Since we live near the beach and have a pool, my children spend a lot of time in the water. I have tried washable swim diapers, regular diapers, training pants with plastic pants over the diaper, and the swim diapers. The washable swim diapers are OK to use if your child is older and is somewhat potty trained. If your child messes in them, it’s difficult to get the waste out and I found that it doesn’t always stay in the diaper either, which can be embarrassing. Regular diapers swell up greatly in the water and I’ve even seen some ‘explode’ leaving the diaper insides all over the pool and your child. They are also really heavy when soaked! We had one regular diaper weigh in at over 2 pounds after a swimming pool trip! Training pants with plastic pants over them are definitely my second choice given the options. If you are on a tight budget, this might be the option for you.

I am not really thrilled with disposable training pants. When it comes to potty training, I prefer the old school option of heavy cloth underwear and plastic pants, although this option is definitely more work than using disposables.

I found for my children, that the disposable training pants actually seemed to slow down the overall potty training process. I haven’t quite figured out why, but it just happened that way. Several people I’ve talked to also had this experience. Then again, I’ve talked with parents who had just the opposite experience too. There are some great things about the disposables: disposable pants are definitely easier to use if your child makes a mess as you just rip the side off and throw away the diaper. If you don’t have a washer or need to conserve your water, they would be a great choice. They are also great to use at night if your child has outgrown regular diapers and is not yet dry at night time. Of course, all of this convenience can get expensive too.

I’ve tried to share some of my observations and experiences to hopefully help you simplify your diapering choices! However, you may find that your circumstances and issues are different than mine, or that your children don’t have the allergy issues mine did. Whatever diapering decisions you make, I hope that your journey to the ‘diaper free zone’ will be a quick one!