Why We’re Choosing to Cloth Diaper

At the risk of this becoming a baby-only blog (which, face it, it definitely has lately!), I want to talk about something a lot of my friends find absolutely crazy – cloth diapering.

If you’re like a lot of my friends, cloth diapering brings up images in your head of white diapers you have to fold around the baby, secured with huge pins that threaten to stick both you and the baby.

Honestly, 5 years ago I might have told you it was the same way now, but this is another reason I am so thankful for the blog world.  My fellow bloggers taught me that now was different, and I’m so glad they did.  There are a lot of resources out there that tell you the differences between different types of cloth diapers and how to use them, but I’m not here to do that – I want to tell you why I believe it will work for us.

I have three younger sisters, the oldest being nine years younger than me.  Since I was old enough to help, I changed a lot of diapers.  My mom used disposables, and it never occurred to me to use anything else.  I remember the huge boxes of diapers we would buy, and can only imagine what my parents spent on diapers (at one point, all three of my sisters were in diapers since they’re close in age!).  Once all my sisters were potty-trained, it was a huge relief for everyone, and I didn’t want to see diapers again for a long time!

Before Chris and I started trying for a baby, I began to research pregnancy and babies, as any future mother does.  I ran across multiple articles on cloth diapering and was intrigued, but it was a calculator on the cost of diapers that really got me interested.  Buying your own cloth diapers and washing them yourself seemed to save an exorbitant amount of money – and I love saving money!  I then began to do more research into them, and discovered so many other things I loved about cloth diapers:

• No diapers sitting in a landfill forever – no one knows how long it takes for a diaper to decompose.  Gross.
• Less occurrence of diaper rash on babies
• Some diapers are adjustable and fit the child their whole time in diapers
• They’re reusable for future children
• They come in ridiculously cute colors and even prints!
• With pocket diapers, you can adjust the absorbency with different inserts to fit your baby’s needs
• No chemicals next to baby’s skin
• Some parents report their children potty-training earlier when they’ve been cloth diapered
• No taking out trash full of diapers all the time
• No late night trips to the store if you run out of diapers – you just wash them!

Honestly, #1 for us was definitely cost – who wants to spend all that money on diapers!  With cloth, we’re able to buy one set of diapers and be done.  We’ve chosen to go with pocket diapers, specifically the Bumgenius 4.0s.  I loved that they were easy, got great reviews, and if you pre-stuff them, are as easy as disposables.  Plus, it doesn’t hurt that they’re pretty darn cute.

We’ve already started to buy them a little at a time so we’re ready to go when BB arrives.  The ones we chose cost about $18 per diaper, but I’ve been able to find some sales and have gotten them for as low as $13 per diaper.  I want to have 30 of them so we can wash every other day, and we’re already up to 20.  Cloth diapering isn’t popular in the DC area, so I knew I wasn’t likely to get any for my baby shower – so I started buying them.  I get excited every time a new set arrives!

Now, as excited as I am to use these, I don’t want people to think I’m completely blind to just using them.  Our diapers are rated from 8-35 pounds, but from what I’ve read, begin to fit best at about 10 pounds.  We won’t be buying newborn cloth diapers – we’ll be doing disposables until BB fits into these.  I figure it’s a good compromise.  I know when BB is born and we first come home, I’ll likely be overwhelmed with a lot of things about motherhood, so we’ll do disposables until BB hits 10 pounds or so.  I don’t want to put more pressure on myself than I know I’ll already have, so that’s what’s going to work for us.  Buying a few months’ worth of disposables will be just fine with me.

I plan on trying to use the cloth all the time once BB is big enough, but I know there are some situations I may need to concede – like daycare.  We’re going to work to try to find a daycare that will take our cloth diapers (we’re going to try to find a home daycare and they’re way more likely to take them), but if we can’t, then BB will need disposables while at daycare.  If we go on a long-distance trip, I’ll likely use disposables since I won’t have easy access to a washing machine.  Otherwise, we’re hoping the cloth works for us!

Since other bloggers have been such a HUGE resource for me in this department, I plan on keeping you all updated on our progress – even if we outright fail.  Hey, trying can’t hurt, right!

Some cloth diaper info if you’re curious:

http://austinist.com/2006/09/27/bun_in_the_oven_paper_or_plastic.php

http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2009/04/10-benefits-to-using-cloth-diapers.html

http://mothering.com/green-living/crazy-for-cloth

http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php

http://www.diaperjungle.com/advantages-of-cloth-diapers.html

What are your thoughts? Do you have any experience with cloth diapering?