Cloth Diapers... who knew they could be kind of fun?

As a full-time mummy, I no longer had any excuse to NOT use cloth diapers. For a long time I tried to convince myself that the ecological footprint of disposables was actually similar to cloth, because cloth required so much energy and water to wash. 18 months of throwing out masses of disposable diapers has disabused me of that notion, and when I think about the energy and materials that go into the manufacturing of disposables, I feel slightly ill. That having been said, I will freely admit that if I were still working, I'd still be using them. But I'm not, and I'm not.

It took a little playing around to figure out what diapers were going to work. Thanks to the lovely women at Mothering Touch, and a convenient requirement to get my friend Sue some try-out diapers from JamTots, and a fortuitous discovery of 3 6-packs of flat flannel diapers in our closet (I have no recollection of purchasing these, but the first few months of Rowan's life are a little hazy generally), I had plenty to play with:

3 baby Kangas
18 flat flannels
2 bummis original covers
1 snugglebees fleece/hemp insert
2 snugglebees 2-layer hemp inserts
1 big-ass (forget name) 3-layer hemp insert

After playing with these for a couple weeks and feeling like a complete doofus for having absolutely NO clue how to fold a flat diaper (Eva finally showed me how to do an origami fold, which works GREAT), Beverley and I (because she got roped in too - she looks after Rowan 2 days a week) each came to the same conclusion that what works best is a flat flannel origami fold with a fleece/hemp insert, in a bummis cover. What's shocking is that this is actually one of the cheaper options, since the bummis covers are only $10, the inserts are somewhat less than that, and I already had the flats. So after an initial experimental outlay of about $70, I was able to complete the stash I needed for only another $50, and if I decide to sell the less-successful baby kangas, I should be able to recoup another $35 or so. (If anyone wants them, let me know! They're virtually new and they'll come with inserts.)

I am doing laundry every night, but that's actually not particularly onerous. The folding part is even fun. (so far...) I'm actually really pleased with how well this has turned out.