why in the world are we choosing cloth diapers??
my intent for this post is to provide a brief overview of the reasons behind our ambition to use cloth diapers.
*note: i do know that cloth diapers may not be the best fit for every family! i never would have considered cloth diapers but then my friend, molly, started blogging about her usage of cloth diapers. i realized that cloth diapers were maybe not so out of the realm of normality & started doing my own research. if anything else, i hope this post exposes you to the fact that there are indeed people who cloth diaper! & perhaps it will allow you to at least consider the decision for your own family.
1. MONEY
we know that the Lord has called us to be stewards of our resources - our money, time, energy, etc. financially, there is a major benefit of choosing cloth diapers over disposable. you can save around
$1500-$2000 per child if you use cloth diapers! there are upfront costs to cloth diapers as you are building your stock but if you invest wisely, you can use the same cloth diapers on most if not all of your subsequent children. so if you have 4 children, you can save up to $8000!
2. ENVIRONMENT
though trent & i are not 'super green' about all things, we do know that God has called mankind to rule over creation. we shouldn't look at this flippantly as we are called to care for the earth. of course, we would be the first to say that we are not the most faithful in this area. but, these stats have really opened our eyes:
* it takes roughly 500 years for 1 (yes, one!) disposable diaper to decompose
* you use roughly 6,000 disposable diapers on 1 baby... adds up quickly!
* 18 billion diapers enter the landfill every year
3. BABY'S HEALTH
cloth diapers can really cut down on diaper rash! of course, if you leave the cloth diaper on too long & if you don't wash all of the detergent out of the diapers, diaper rash will occur. however, if you care for cloth diapers properly, rashes can really decrease.
4. POTTY TRAINING!
disposable diapers are created with a stay dry absorbent material - this is great b/c they absorb a lot! this can be a negative when it comes to potty training time. b/c the material does a great job soaking urine up, the baby has a hard time feeling or sensing when he/she is wet.
a lot of cloth diapers are now made with a stay dry material as well. however, you can purchase certain types of cloth diapers made with cotton inserts - they are still absorbent but they don't wick the moisture away. this is very helpful when it comes to potty training time b/c
it will allow the child to feel when he/she is wet.
5. CUTENESS
okay so a lot of cloth diapers are super cute! here are some pics of ones i adore (the 1st one is my absolute fav!!!) ...
"But cloth diapers are so difficult!"
* today's cloth diapers are much different than you may expect!
they make 'one-size' 'all-in-one' cloth diapers. these are the easiest cloth diapers by far. you actually put the cloth diaper on exactly as you would a disposable diaper - but typically you snap it on instead of velcro it on! this particular kind of cloth diaper comes with sizing snaps so that you snap up or down to fit the baby from 7-35lbs. so you can use this 1 diaper for essentially the entire time your baby is in diapers!
"Ugh but what about all the washing?"
if you are using an easy all-in-one diaper, once the baby soils the diaper, you throw it in your pail and every couple days you take your pail liner full of diapers to the washing machine & do a wash. if you use a prefold, fitted, or insert diaper PLUS a cover, after the baby soils the diaper, you throw the prefold/fitted/insert into the pail but all you have to do wipe the inside of the cover & reuse it! also, instead of having to buy tons of trash bags for your disposable diapers, for cloth diapers you can purchase a reusable pail liner. you don't have to buy any trash bags at all! so once you are ready for a wash, you simply wash the pail liner with your cloth diapers. super easy!
"But what about gross stinky poopy diapers?"
well if the baby is breastfeeding, the BF poop is actually water soluble. so, you can actually throw the soiled diaper straight into the pail & then into the wash or you can rinse it before putting it in the pail. with the big poopy diapers, you have a few options. you can buy flushable liners to lay inside of the cloth diaper - this liner picks up the poop so you just have to throw the liner with poop into the toilet. also, they make a diaper sprayer (think of that sprayer on your kitchen sink) that you attach to your toilet. you just spray the poop off the diaper & into the toilet. you can always just take the diaper to the toilet and knock the poop into the toilet yourself as well.
* side note... did you know that on every box of disposable diapers, they actually tell you to knock the poop into the toilet before throwing it into the trash??
Waste removal
As the Pampers bag recommends, you'll want to dump bowel movements in the toilet. Then just roll the diaper into its backsheet, using the tape or fasteners to keep it closed, and dispose of it in the trash.
they make all kinds of cloth diapers... prefolds w/diaper covers, fitted diapers w/covers, pocket diapers, all-in-one diapers, etc. perhaps i will blog on the differences and ones we intend to use in the future.
if you are interested in cloth diapers, please feel free to email me for more info. also, you can find tons of info from people who have actually used cloth diapers at these sites:
*great tutorial on how to put cloth diapers on... this is helpful if you are interested in the most frugal cloth diapering route with prefolds (cotton insert) and diaper covers
*she had twins! if she can do it with twins... then certainly i can do it with 1 baby!
*some good stats on this site as well as helpful info & her preferences on the best diapers
*where you can buy cloth diapers - i used this site to get the cloth diaper pics seen above
*excellent info if you're new to cloth diapering - plus you can purchase diapers & accessories from them
