On Cloth Diapers

I've had the opportunity to use both cloth and regular diapers. To be honest, the changing of a cloth diaper isn't all that different from a regular one. I mean, a gross diaper is a pain no matter what you catch it in. ;-) That said, my main complaint about the cloth variety are the clips used to secure them.  The family of 1 boy and a girl used t-shaped clips like this. (Though not as fancy and colorful)

What is not shown is the ace-bandage-esque clip used to claw the flaps of the diaper and hold it in place. These were my trouble. First of all, they were sharp (Duh! Kind of have to be to serve the purpose) and if they accidentally slipped out of your grasp, on account of say...a squirming baby, they most likely ended up snagging on your finger. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I don't like the thought of accidentally catching a sweet little cherub faced angel with one of those, cause it sure smarts! So I was always very careful to put my digits at risk, and of course, all my nerves and care caused me to have this accident even more than had I just relaxed and did it. (I'm a worrier, what can I say?)

So that's my beef with cloth diapers. I've never had to launder them, so I don't know about that aspect, but this painful one soured me a bit on the idea. I often imagine the impact it might have on the environment and the money I could save by using them, but then my sister-in-law reminds me of the cost of detergent as well as water and then I'm unsure if cloth really does trump Huggies or Pampers.

I've had a bit of practice with them now, but knowing myself as well as I do, I'm guessing I'll go the easy route.