I am expecting my third child in Dec and would like tips on cloth diapering him/her. I cloth diapered my son who was born in 1990 using prefolds and flat diapers and he had horrible diaper rash all the time.
I got remarried two years ago and had my daughter 14 monts ago. Because of my experiences with my son, I have been using disposeables with her. She has never had so much as a red bum in all this time. Now with the new one I want to try cloth again, for all kinds of reasons. Frugality is a must, so we can't afford any of the high end cloth pocket diapers or all in ones like Fuzzi Bunz that are out there. I'd be interested in hearing what you all have to say.

THANKS!

We went the red route with DD when we would use cloth, so we ended up using a combo of cloth and disposables to help prevent that. Cloth needs to be changed REALLY quickly once it is wet/soiled, but that isn't generally a problem as most parents I know don't want their kids wet/dirty. I also discovered that the laundry detergent was an issue. Most laundry detergents nowadays (even ones formulated for babies) have enzymes in them. These enzymes were what were causing major problems for dd. She would get something that looked like a chemical burn if we put two cloth diapers in a row on her. So we had to keep switching them out. We were never able to find a detergent we were happy with around here.

I definitely preferred the cloth, though, because they never, ever leaked. We bought Little Lambs AIOs- they were less expensive than most brands, worked great, and were cute. We bought most of them used. We also had a large combination of other types- all-in-twos, CPFs, homemade, etc. They were pretty much all given to me or purchased used. I like using a Snappi with my CPF instead of pins.

There is a whole lot to know about cloth diapers! :)

Put a cup of vinegar in the rinse water for cloth diapers to control diaper rash.

I second the vinegar. I also bought some cheap fleece at Walmart (I bought navy blue so it wouldn't show stains.) I put it between baby and diaper. The wet flows right through and stays off baby.

one of my fave cloth diaper learning places!
www.punkinbutt.com
this site has really good ideas on how to care for cloth.
and i bought most of my cloth diapers, and covers at ebay check the sahm and wahm under grateful bunz there at ebay she makes really good wool covers for next to nothing hope this helps

what has helped with the diaper rash problem for us is vaseline. we haven't had that many rashes with our kids(expecting #10) when we would use the vaseline after every diaper change. on a rare occurrence when the babies would get a rash, we would just let the little tyke run around diaperless for 15-30 to let the air get to the skin...and that works wonders.(of course, sometimes, there would be a little mess to clean b/c of this idea...but well worth it). As far as diapers, theirselves are concerned, we make diapers from old t shirts & sweatshirts. They don't fall apart like the store bought diapers. for less that $2, you can have a dozen diapers if you buy the tshirts at garage sales....the best ones to use are the ones without logos on the front...just cut the shirt straight across right underneath the sleeves, turn the raw edges under & zig zag stitch around the entire diaper.

my mom had me and my sister 15 years apart and then another one when I was 17. She had used cloth with me so she did with my sister also. Being 15 and babysitting all the time I HATED cloth diapers. I did not use them with my children but definately see the need for some. Good luck in whatever you choose.

As far as diapers, theirselves are concerned, we make diapers from old t shirts & sweatshirts. They don't fall apart like the store bought diapers.
I made diapers from receiving blankets with old washcloth middles. They worked great. Any soft flannel would work I expect.

I have been using cloth for almost 3 years. To go cheep and easy, I would recommend Indian or Chinese prefolds, a couple of snappies, and Bummis Super Whisper Wrap. If you (or a good friend) knits, you can make your own wool covers. I have also had good luck with proraps, but my med ones i could not use w/ my 2nd DD. My first DD wore them out. You can also find good used diapers. Just know what your buying. I have found most of the fitted and AIO you find on e-bay are not that great. You have to know what to look for to get the good ones. Feel free to PM me, if you have questions

I have used cloth for the past 5 years! yikes thats a long time! and will be using them on #3 due in August.

most of the rash problems from cloth are the detergent. you may need to strip them of the residue (wash a bunch of times in water so hot that its almost boiling). Vinegar is good to use to get rid of the ickies, but if you have hard water it makes them smell - so baking soda is a good alternative.

I make and sell cloth, but for home use I have used everything I can get my hands on (sweatshirts, tshirts, towels, blankets). even came up for a use for that 'favorite sweater' that dh insisted I toss in the garbage.

I'd get the cheap prefolds or flats (you will have to fold them) and splurge on a good quality cover.

Thanks for all the tips, ladies! This will be useful for me as I've dreaded the huge bill of buying disposables!