When you tell people that you cloth diaper your baby, they will look at you like you have two heads. Then they will say something like, "...so you wash poop?" Yes. Poop goes in the washing machine. Deal with it. If you live with a baby, poop will end up in your washing machine eventually whether you use disposables or cloth, because blow outs happen no matter what!
I knew I wanted to cloth diaper our baby for several reasons.
1.) Eco-friendliness. My half-hippie heart can't stand the thought of my baby's diapers sitting in a landfill 200 years from now. It's estimated that disposable diapers take at least 200-450 years to decompose.
2.) Economical. For the first couple of weeks of baby's life when we used disposables, (because I felt awful, and there was no way I could even think about doing anyone's laundry) I felt like we were throwing money out the window every time I changed his diaper - and newborns go through A LOT of diapers, 10 to 12 per day. While the initial cost of cloth diapers can be expensive, depending on the type of diaper you choose, in the end you can save thousands of dollars by using cloth. If you use the same cloth diapers for multiple children, it adds up to even bigger savings. Even if you buy cheaper disposable brands, over 2 years of diapering it will likely cost around $1,200 to $1,500. Cloth diapers add up to an estimated cost of about $700 over two years, including energy costs from washing and the cost of detergent, and that is if you buy the fancy expensive cloth diapers.
3.) Comfy for baby. Cloth diapers are much much softer than disposables, and they don't contain the chemicals used in disposables to soak up moisture. We were treating diaper rash once or twice a week with disposables. Baby has been in cloth diapers exclusively for about 6 weeks now, and he has not had diaper rash since switching.
4.) It's easier! At least for me, and this probably sounds nuts, cloth diapering is easier. I would rather do a load of laundry than pack up the baby and head to the store to buy more diapers. Because even a short trip to Target is an event with a baby! We also use flannel wipes, so there's no running to the store for wipes either, everything gets washed together.
5.) Less leaks. Since using cloth diapers we rarely have any leaks, and we have definitely had fewer blowouts. The elastic of the cloth diaper helps contain the mess. With disposables, we had leaks almost daily. That's a lot of pee and laundry.
6.) They are so stinking cute! Cloth diapers come in adorable colors and patterns!
We dove head first into the world of cloth diapers, and I haven't looked back, I am in love. The only draw back I have found is that they are bulky, and look big under baby's clothes, but I got over that after a couple of weeks. I can deal with a little bulk in exchange for saving $ and saying good bye to diaper rash.
There are several different ways to cloth diaper, and it can be intimidating in the beginning when you are a clueless rookie! We have 2 different kinds of diapers - pocket diapers, and prefolds.
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| Diapers are sized by snaps and elastic in the legs |
Pocket diapers come with 2 inserts, a small and a medium/large. For day time I use one medium/large instert. For night, I use both a small and a medium/large. As far as brands, I have Fuzzibunz, Charlie Bananas, and bumgenius. I have found that bumgenius work best for night time. Fuzzibunz are the easiest to snap, so diaper changes are faster. Charlie bananas have less bulk, and tend to look better under baby's clothes.
Prefolds are the old-school square diapers. A friend of mine gave them to me when she was finished cloth diapering her baby. You just fold the rag into thirds and use it inside a diaper cover. This is one of the cheapest ways to cloth diaper, because when changing baby's diaper you take out the dirty diaper and replace it with a clean one, using the same diaper cover for about 3 diaper changes.
Washing: it's not as scary as it sounds. I
never touch poop. I take the diaper pail liner out filled with dirty diapers, toss it all in the wash, run a cold rinse, then wash on hot with Rockin' Green detergent. Easy!
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| Prefold diaper with cover |
I always get asked "so what do you do when you aren't at home?" Simple: a wet bag. A wet bag can be found on amazon, and anywhere that sells cloth diapers. You throw all your dirties in the wet bag and put the bag in the wash along with all your other dirties. The wet bag contains liquids and odors. I also have a reusable bag for the flannel wipes, so before we head out the door I dampen a few wipes and put in the wipe bag, and that keeps everything in the diaper bag dry.
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| Prefold and cover snapped, adjusted with front snaps |
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| Liners - small and medium/large |
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| Flannel wipes, so soft! |
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| Bag for wipes and folded wet bag (it holds 10 to 12 diapers) |
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| Our "quick trip" diaper bag (an old backpack) with all the essentials packed and ready to go! Changing pad, 2 diapers, wipes, wet bag, and an extra outfit. |
Thank goodness for all the blogs out there about cloth diapering (and Pinterest!). It can be a little intimidating at first, but we quickly got into the swing of it. Baby's daycare also accepts cloth diapers (not all daycares will) which is perfect. We are very happy with our decision to use cloth!
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