Hi NaeNae,

It is so confusing when you are starting out especially if you haven't seen mcn in real life.

When we had DS I used terry flats (the ones at kmart/target) and disposables. He was a super wee-er and we were changing him every hour of so and ended up giving up on cloth. When DD was born I had discovered mcn and so pleased I did.

Here are just a few things we learnt a long the road.

Disposables cost about $25 a week depending on what brand you use so if you use mcn and have a full time stash of 24 nappies you have paid off your stash by the time your bub is 6-7mths old and you never have to buy another nappy again! (Assuming you use a onesize)
Pockets and AIO do not require any extra covers or pilchers, fitted and flats do but they are cheaper. One size means they fit from 3kg - 16kg (approx)

Washing - I'm very naughty I wet pail so I soak my nappies in cold water for 1-2 days (approx 5-10litres) I then pour this water into the washing machine, rinse then pop DD clothes on top and finish a normal wash - no stains, no scrubbing, no chemicals in the water. We use half a cap of washing liquid (purity) for a whole load so I spend about $4.00 on washing liquid a month. Modern cloth nappy org state it is 1 litre of water used for every cloth nappy compared to 3.5 litre for every disposable

Hassle - Our routine is so simply change the nappy, throw it over the baby gate into the bucket in the laundry tab on my way back to the lounge room, every 2 days wash, dry - I stuff my pockets while Ari is playing outside and when she was younger I would do it while she played on the floor or while I was changing her. AIO are more convenient as you don't have to stuff them however they are more pricey. I think on average I would spend maybe an extra 4-5 min a day mucking around with nappies which is worth the many benefits like no nappy rash, cooler bum (live in tropical nth QLD), cheaper, no leaks or poo blow outs (had at least 4-5 a WEEK with DS) looks so much better and most of all Ari loves them! She gets the giggles when we put them on her :-)

HTH