We used cloth with #1, and now with #2, but I guess we're one of the few
to use diaper service. MIL paid for the first year or so with #1, but
we've been on our own since. You could go both ways, get service for a
few months, then use that time to figure out which covers you like, and
try different types of diapers once in a while to see what you want to
use when you buy your own. It could be a good gift registry thing too,
for people to pay for a week or a month of diaper service for you.

We tried a bunch of different covers. Decided we didn't like the rubber
pants because if there is a blowout, pulling the pants down over the
legs always resulted in spreading the blowout over every inch of the
child's lower body...

We tried covers we found in the store (Target, BrU) and they self
destructed very quickly, I tried wool and found them too fussy to care
for for my taste. I prefer anything that touched pee and poop to be able
to be practically boiled in the washer and incinerated in the dryer, and
I just didn't get what to do with the wool ones. It seemd to me I wasn't
actually supposed to wash them very often, and I just couldn't get my
mind around that. And then when you did, they needed special soap or
something. Mine were in tatters very quickly.

We have finally settled on the Bummis Whisper Wraps, which state in
their write-up that they can withstand industrial washing, which is
exactly the kind of thing I want! They have worked great for us! You can
make/buy washable liners to beef up absorbancy for naps and night, or
use a couple of diapers at once, with one or two folded inside one put
on reglarly, and maybe one size bigger cover for night.

-Karen, mom to Henry who will be 4 very soon, and William 4 weeks new-