I discovered the world of cloth diapers while on a message board for moms with the same due date month as my oldest son, now 3. I didn't have children yet and had no idea that cloth diapers were even a modern option. After seeing posts about it, I started to look into the idea and was amazed at all of the different options. and they were so cute! Yes, cuteness is definitely part of what won me over. Here are some of the factors that made me decide to use cloth:
1. They are CUTE!
2. I buy my stash and then don't have to add diapers to my weekly expenses*
3. No chemicals and such next to my baby's booty
4. Not adding hundreds of diapers to the landfill to sit there for hundreds of years
5. Did I mention how cute they are? and soft?
*to add to my second reason, cloth really does save me money... however, it can be HARD not to buy every cute new diaper I see. It may sound silly for those who haven't tried cloth, but it really can be kind of addicting. You have been warned. :) Seriously though, I love that even when money is tight, diapering my child(ren) doesn't have to be part of my worry. I already have everything I need so I can focus my budget elsewhere.
Common misconceptions and questions I hear about cloth:
1. They leak more
I have actually found the opposite to be true. An unexpected benefit of cloth has been the lack of blowouts. When babies are little, especially before starting solid food, dirty diapers can be somewhat...explosive (experienced moms know what I mean). I didn't realize that leaks would actually be MORE of an issue with disposable diapers since a common misconception about cloth diapering is that you deal with more leaks. I have had very few blowouts when using cloth, and the leaks are minimal. A little around the leg or right at the back, but nothing like I have experienced when using disposables. With a disposable diaper, there is no stretchiness at the back like there is with a cloth diaper. So poop tends to "explode" out of the back of the diaper and gets everywhere. With wet diapers, you do of course have to change a cloth diaper regularly, but they hold a good amount so unless you plan to leave a diaper on your baby for 5+ hours (and I really hope you don't...) then wet diapers leaking shouldn't be an issue. It can be somewhat tricky to find an overnight solution with cloth, but I know plenty of moms who have issues finding a disposable solution for night time as well, so there isn't a big difference there. Babies are different and sometimes it takes a bit of effort to find what works.
2. But... What about the poop??? Isn't that gross???
I don't know about you, but I think poop is gross no matter if the diaper is cloth or disposable. There is no way around it as a parent though... just one of the "fun" things we get to deal with. The only difference with cloth is that you don't just throw out the diaper. While you are exclusively breastfeeding this isn't even an issue. Just throw the diaper in the pail. The washer takes care of the rest. You have a few choices here though. You can buy disposable liners that you just dump of the diaper into the toilet and flush away, or you find another way to get the poop off. All you really need to remove is anything solid, so you can just shake it over the toilet and put it in the pail. I choose to use a diaper sprayer to help remove as much as possible (it installs to the toilet and is like a mini shower that you can use to spray off poop into the toilet) because it seems to help prevent as much staining. It does add an extra step, but its really not a big hassle.
I am sure there are plenty more questions and misconceptions, but naptime is over so I will address more later if needed. Let me know if you have a question about cloth that you would like me to answer in a future post.
I have used cloth diapers for over 3 years now, with both of my children. Yes, I have used some disposable diapers on occasion, but cloth has always been our main diaper. I have never regretted my choice and couldn't imagine it any other way. I plan to write about the various types of cloth diapers and my experience with them over the next few days.
Crunchtastically Yours,
Casie
