- Cloth diapers are cheap... eventually. Initially the cost of cloth diapers seems high. I think we spent around 400-500 dollars total on our "stash". This sounds like a lot in up front costs, but when you consider that the average American family spends close to $900 a year in disposables it seems like a steal! The one month we did have to pay for disposables for Allie (mid move and before she was big enough to fit in her one size diapers), we spent 80 bucks on diapers. Shoot me! That really hurt us! When we finally got her in to her cloth we were so happy we went with them! Our diaper paying days were done! No need to shell out 80+ dollars a month, we already payed for them before we even had her!
I suggest any pregnant mommas considering doing cloth on a budget to purchase $60 worth of cloth diapers every month of their pregnancy (coming to a grand total of $540 worth of diapers). This is less than you would spend on disposables monthly with your baby. It's cheaper in the long run to purchase in bulk or mass order when there is a particular brand you want on sale, but for those who just dont have that much extra money available at once, this method works great. - Buy used! It sounds gross but if you strip your diapers and sun bleach them they are like new. Honestly you cant tell the difference in my used and new diapers and they are 100% sanitized. websites like diaperswappers.com and jilliansdrawers.com are great for buying gently used diapers.
- Cloth diapers leak less than disposables. That's right. You heard me. If your CD's (abbreviation for cloth diapers) are prepped right, washed in the right detergent, and put on correctly (and tight enough) chances are youll never have a leak. Allie's poop explodes out of her disposables EVERY time she poops (see Here if you dont believe me). She hasnt done this once in her cloth.
- Cloth diapers are easy to take care of! There is SOME work involved. Of course. You must wash the things often. For some people this is a deal breaker. But that's because you dont consider that you have 5 loads of laundry a day anyhow because babies spit up ALL the time and if your using disposables chances are youre dealing with poopsplosions on a regular basis.
Honestly, what's one more load especially when it's one that doesnt require folding and putting away (that's the part of laundry I hate, and we throw all our CD's in a basket downstairs so no effort at all there). - Youre saving the environment. There is some ridiculous amount of disposables that are in land fields. Also they take 500 YEARS to disintegrate. Though the choice to CD had little to do with that for me, I do feel happy knowing we arent adding to the waste.
- Better for baby. The chemicals in disposables are really nasty. I mean seriously, have you SEEN how much liquid the things absorb. That stuff cant be good. Yes there is a ton of research that talks about exactly what is in them and how bad they are for baby and the environment but Im too lazy to find the links at the moment. Just do some research, it wont be hard to find. Also there is some research that says it is also a potential cause of infertility in males because disposables stay much warmer than cloth (bet you didnt know that either did you! Cloth is cooler hehe)
- Cloth babies are much less prone to diaper rash. Fact.
- Cloth babies typically potty train earlier and easier
- No longer does cloth entail dunking poo in toilets and dealing with pins and covers. It's as simple as as disposable that you wash (though there are many other options out there too). And exclusively breastfed babies have water soluble poo so it can go straight to the wash for a rinse and wash. Once solids or formula are introduced just purchase a handy dandy diaper sprayer and your good to go!
- THEY ARE ADORABLE! I mean look at these things! How cute are they? So much sweeter than paper diapers.
- CD's dont make your house stink. I have a diaper pail (aka a trashcan with a flip up lid) in Allie's nursery (which we are rarely in), but most of her dirty diapers end up in a pail liner in our living room. No lid or anything. And guess what? My house doesnt smell (from diapers at least, the dog is another story). I honestly thought this would be my biggest issue, but imagine my surprise in knowing it's a complete non issue! Granted it helps that my child only poops maybe 2 times a week (and when she does it smells more like popcorn than rotting trash) so as soon as we get a poop I do a load of laundry. But even if I didnt the trashcan diaper pail works just as well as any diaper genie Ive seen.
OK. Now for the potential cons. These weren't deal breakers for me but I want to be an open book so you can make the best decision for you!
- CD's do use a lot of water. I do 3 full washes every time I wash my diapers. The general recommendation on diaper care is one cold rinse on the highest water level setting, one hot wash with detergent on the highest water level followed by one cold rinse without detergent. So that's three full tubs of water for 1 load of diapers and I do diaper laundry every other day. If your water bill is particularly high in your area this might be an issue. I live on base and therefore dont pay for water. Win win for me.
- If this sounds like a lot of work it isnt. You just dump your pail liner out with the dirty diapers, throw it in as well, turn the knobs and leave. Come back when the machine is done running, turn the knobs to the hot cycle, add a little diaper detergent, leave. Come back, turn the knob back to cold, start wash, leave. Once the wash is done you can either toss your entire load in the drier or if you have time and want to sun bleach your diapers to get rid of stains and sanitize you can line dry them. I can honestly get diaper laundry done on my no sleep auto pilot mode LONG before I get to dishes or folding laundry or pretty much any other chore.
- Not everyone knows how to use CD's or WANTS to use them. With the plethora of CD options out there and the fact that most babies wear disposables most day care workers, baby sitters and family members are not aware of how CD's work. While some CD mommas swear theyve never had a daycare that would have an issue with CD's, I wouldnt know because we've never put Allie in daycare. But I do have to do a mini session with baby sitters and parents who watch Allie on how exactly to put them on. Most of my diapers are snaps and while they are really easy they do take a second to explain. If you know your little one will be in daycare check with them before purchasing your CD's.
- CD's clean better with top loading washing machines, though they can work just fine in front loaders, you just have to do a little extra investigating to make sure all the suds are out of your diapers. If you dont own your own washer it might be more cost efficient to use disposables since youd have to pay per load.
- CD's are slightly bulkier than disposables. This really all depends on the type of diaper you end up using though. Some are much bulkier than others. My favorite diapers are only slightly bulkier than a disposable. My daughter can still fit in to her clothes the same as she would a disposable. The only diapers we have to put her in a larger size outfit to wear are her night time diapers which are supposed to be a bit bulkier.
- You have to change CD's more often than disposables. You cant leave your child in a CD for 10 hours like you can a disposable (though you should only do that over night if you can help it IMO). My overnight CD's can hold 10 hours worth of pee, but my day times cant, and shouldnt. I change Allies diaper anywhere from every 2 to 4 hours. I generally only let her go 4 during the day if shes taking a long nap or I simply forgot. Havent had a leak though! I mostly change her every 3. At night she stays in the same overnight diaper from the time I put her down until she wakes up for her day in the morning. Again no leaks!
- CD's take a bit more effort to travel with. I actually wouldnt go on a road trip trying to CD (though many moms do). But for day trips out of the house they are just as easy as disposables for me. My average sized diaper bag holds 3 diaper changes just fine for me as well as a few back up disposables and a wet bag for my dirty diapers. Usually we arent away from the house long enough to need more than 3 changes, but if we are always have my back ups handy. I generally dont go anywhere that would require more diapers than that and if I did Id probably just use disposables. Even still with those few exceptions being the only time I use disposables we havent bought a single diaper since switching over to cloth (still have a bunch in the baby shower stash for such times). But just out to dinner, church, play group, friends house, the city for a day, all these situations I CD in with no problem or inconvenience.
And because I get asked this a lot to, here is a recap of our diapers:
Favorite daytime and travel diapers: One Size Grovia all in two hybrid Snaps
Favorite Sitter diaper: Grovia AI2 Aplix (aka velcro)
Favorite overnight diaper: Bumgenius 4.0 Pocket diapers with 1 micro fiber insert and one hemp insert.
Least favorite diaper so far: Fuzibunz. These are the only ones that have ever leaked on me, but it's rare that they do. They just dont fit Allie well.
Our entire stash is one size so from about 2 months to potty training the same diaper should fit.
I hope that helps inform those who wanted to know a bit more. There is a whole world of CD's out there and can be a bit overwhelming but if you have any questions and dont know where to go you can always ask me:) Im happy to help!
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