Cloth Diapering.... is it worth all the fuss?

So I had decided prior to getting pregnant that I would use cloth diapers opposed to disposable, mostly because of the environmental impact. It seems like a waste to throw out 8-10 plastic diapers a day. Not too mention in the long run cloth is more economically savvy. Depending on how many children you have, using cloth diapers can save your literally thousands of dollars.

But I will admit I didn't realize how many things you needed, or I should say, how many things there are out there to make your cloth diaper journey just that much easier (and that much more expensive).

Some of my recent purchases (along with 27 g-diapers already purchased on ebay):

According to all the mommy's on the web, if you use cloth diapers it is not any more work to use re-usable wipes. I purchased a pack of 12 from bynature.ca .

To keep my momentum going, I plan to use cloth diapers as often as I can (with the exception of long trips). To do this in a reasonable manner you want to "contain" the mess. There were trendier bags, but after reading the the reviews these simple zippered wet bags had the highest rating for effectiveness and cost. I ordered 2 purple. Like I said I wanted the cut print bags but for the price and the reviews, I didn't think it was worth it.

I wasn't sure what type of system for diapering I should set up but after reading reviews and suggestions I decided to go with a dry pail system. If I were to do a wet pail, you basically throw in the dirty cloth inserts into a water solution and then move them to the washing machine. According to the "experts" they say it can be quite messy and smelly. So using a dry pail with a cover is best. But to help with the mess and the smell I also purchased the following:

We'll see if this is worth the $11's I spent.

I also purchased this nifty little attachment for the toilet. Basically you spray off the poo and just toss the cloth into the dry pail (well it will become a moist pail pretty quick). My friends sister used this and swore by it. So hopefully she's right.

And just because I thought it was cute and somewhat necessary I bought bum bum balm.

So this is my system. I still intend to buy a nice odor holding diaper pail. I have picked out this slightly overated and expensive one that I plan to buy this weekend. I justify this by saying I will use this system for the next hopefully 5 or 6 years. Then pass it on to whoever decides to cloth diaper.