[QUOTE=pk1027;8359411]
Anyone planning on doing cloth diapering? I’ve been on What to Expect forums a bit lately and reading about it and it seems like such trouble, especially when you are out and about or on vacation. I don’t think I want to keep a pooped up diaper in my bag while I walk around the mall or zoo.
I never minded cleaning horse poop but having to scrape poop out of the cloth diaper, then rinse it out and do wash constantly seems like more trouble than its worth. My eco-friends are all about it. Maybe I have the wrong idea??[/QUOTE]
I’m on month six of cloth diapering, and am really, really happy with it! We’re using Applecheeks, which are fabulous, and my little girl’s bum looks wonderful. She was a month early, so spent some time in disposables while she was still too small for the Applecheeks. While in disposables (even the “good” brands!), we were constantly trying to keep ahead of diaper rash, likely due to her sensitive prem skin. We made the switch to washables once she was big enough, and haven’t even looked at the diaper rash cream since. (For what it’s worth, I also don’t use prepackaged wipes, but instead just use a wet face cloth to clean her up. Since I’ve already got the baby laundry going, it’s easy to just add the face cloths to the wash too. We used a prepackaged wipe exactly once when we first brought her home - the hospital used cloths - and she screamed her little head off until we washed her bottom!)
Washing is not a big deal at all, especially before they start solids. Honestly, there is no scraping or prerinsing at all while they still have milk poos. Once you’re into more solid food, things do change, and you’ll want to go to either a disposable liner on top of the washables (it allows you to just pick up the solids and dispose of them easily), or you’ll need to give the washable liner a quick swish over the toilet to get the solids off. I do a load of baby laundry every two or three days, and really don’t feel that the diapers are an extra burden. I’d be washing all her things separately anyways with a gentle detergent, so this just means I don’t wait as long to make up a load for her.
As for packing the dirty diapers, you can get excellent purse-sized impermeable diaper bags for the dirty stuff, or just use a disposable when heading out. I keep a stash of disposables for when someone might be looking after baby cakes that isn’t comfortable with her washable diapers (I don’t want her left in a soggy diaper because someone’s scared of putting together a new one!), and for longer days out when I don’t want to lug the dirty ones home.
All in all, I am so pleased with our decision to cloth diaper, as is my husband. I would never push it on someone who wasn’t interested, and absolutely wouldn’t ever suggest it to someone that didn’t have their own washer and dryer, but I can’t imagine going the exclusively disposable route, or trying to keep my baby’s bum quite as happy in disposables.
If you’ve got specific questions, please ask. 
I don’t have any experience with brands besides Applecheeks, but do think it’s important to stay with the brands that use natural fibres. I’ve seen a few babies in synthetic fibres, and they seem perpetually stinky, plus less absorbent.
As an added bonus, you can also recoup expenses by selling the covers once you’re finished with them, provided you take care of them.
It just works best for our little girl, plus keeps the costs down a bit more as well (especially since we’re already doing baby bum laundry!).
