I used cloth, and the investment in 4 dozen high quality pre-folds plus wraps lasted through my 2 kids and then were passed along in excellent condition. I only turned to disposables when my babies had the runs, so pretty rarely. Cloth diapers were fine at night and when traveling.

There are several things about cloth I preferred over disposables: I’d rather toss a load of laundry in than bundle up a baby to go buy diapers at the store. They only amounted to a couple of loads of laundry week, “work” which my washer and dryer did. (Yes, I get that it’s a privilege to have a laundry room.) My kids knew when they were wet (unlike with “stay-dry” disposables which are too effective and often result in delayed potty training). Cloth made potty training a breeze. They were easily trained at 24 and 30 months, respectively while their disposable clad peers didn’t learn to use the potty until 3 or 4. We saw very little diaper rash. I was also good with not putting human waste into the trash can.

What I didn’t like: people getting all defensive about using disposables—I never evangelized and couldn’t fathom why anyone would think I cared. Baby clothes designed to accommodate slim disposables were too tight for chunky cloth diapers.

Overall, I loved using cloth and would do it again.