As the second oldest of five fairly well-spaced children (I was 12 when the youngest was born), I changed many a cloth diaper on my youngest two sisters. Oh, the diapers I dunked, laundered, folded and put away! Now, my mother used the same set of thin, flat diapers on all five of us kids - and, even as you read this, a good number of those original diapers sit neatly stacked in her guest room dresser, still used as burp cloths and dolly diapers for and by her grandchildren. So, as I pondered the amazing longetivy and usefulness of even the cheapest of cloth diapers, and as I considered that even as a 12 year old I could handle the cloth diapering process, I felt confident that we should try cloth for our babies.

Yet I'll never forget the looks of shock and dismay we received at our first baby's shower when we opened not one, but several packets of Gerber birds-eye weave flat diapers and the accompanying diaper pins and vinyl, or "rubber" pants. Sadly, those looks of surprise were not because we'd registered for the most out-dated and flimsy choice for cloth diapering, but because we even thought we could get away with anything other than disposables.

 Luckily, someone along that dreamy road to babyland let us know that better diapering products were available today - to make cloth diapering faster, easier, and healthier than the cloth diapers of old. We did some research and discovered various wraps and covers, fabulous Chinese prefolds, "green" cotton, flannel, fleece, hemp, and a variety of other new (and old) ways of diapering our little one's bottom.

To be honest, my husband was not thrilled with the idea of using cloth diapers, but as we looked into the matter, we calculated that we would be able to save up to $2000 dollars - per child! - if we used cloth instead of disposables. We also discovered that, as our common sense had guessed, cloth diapers have a very minor impact on our environment, whereas disposables pose a tremendous threat to our world's resources and our planet's health. Some doctors we asked tried to tell us that disposables were better for our baby's health, but when we did our own research, we discovered quite the opposite was true.

Now that our first child is potty trained, our second is about halfway through his diapering days, and our third is on the way, we think we've finally figured out our favorite products, diapering methods, cleaning procedures, and, alas, that delicate balance between cloth and the sometimes necessary disposable.

Here are some of the factors we, and most cloth diapering parents, find compelling and help keep us on this, the narrow road of cloth diapering:

• The Diaper Dilemma: One Mom's Perspective
• The Diaper Dilemma: The Environmental Cost of Diapers
• The Diaper Dilemma: The Health of Your Baby
• The Diaper Dilemma: The Opportunity Costs of Diapering
• The Diaper Dilemma: Making Your Choice
• The Diaper Dollar