Cloth Diapering Simplified–Top 10 reasons for cloth diapering

1. It’s no harder than using a disposable diaper–Cloth diapering has come a long way.  Put out of your mind images of sticking a baby with a pin or soaking dirty diapers in a pail of water.  With velcro diaper covers you can use prefolds (old style diapers) with no pins, if you prefer to go more technical, check out fitted, all-in-ones, or pocket diapers.  You’ve got a lot more options than your grandma did.
2. Easier to restock when you run out–I would much prefer to throw a load of diapers in the wash than to load up the baby and head to the store.  Washing a load of diapers would take 10 minutes of my time (including folding), going to the store would be at least and hour of my day shot and probably a lot more money spent because I would get there and think, “Oh yeah! I need _____ too.”
3. Frugal–You can diaper a child from birth to potty trained for less than $300 (depending on what cloth diapering system you choose) versus about $1300 to use disposables for the same amount of time (assuming $10/ week for diapers and toilet training by 2.5 years old).  You can also use cloth diapers for more than one child so you could (potentially) diaper 2 or more children for around $300 ($700 average when you include the cost of water and detergent).
4. Easier to potty train–with cloth diapers children can actually feel when they are wet, and judging by Wiggles’ reaction, it isn’t a happy feeling.  According to the National Association of Diaper Services, cloth diapered babies potty train a year earlier on average than their disposable clad peers.
5. Long term use–cloth diapers can last through multiple children as diapers and when they have reached the point where they are not suitable as diapers they make great burp cloths or cleaning rags.
6. Disposable isn’t–have you ever thought about where that disposable diaper goes after the trash service takes it away? After one use of a disposable, they create a landfill problem (both because of the quantity of diapers and because of the dangers of having human waste in open landfills).  On a side note, did you know that you are supposed to shake out solid waste from disposable diapers too!  It’s written on the side of the package.  In many states it’s illegal to put human waste in the trash.
7. Easier on the Earth’s resources–Disposable diapers take a terrible toll on the Earth’s resources.  It takes 1 cup of crude oil to make 1 disposable diaper, not to mention the use of wood pulp.
8. Less Toxic–Then there’s the matter of bleach and other chemicals used to make the diapers white and absorbent.  There are a lot of chemicals being legally dumped into rivers from diaper plants.  Less toxic to the Earth means less toxic to my baby.  Why do we worry about eating organic, drinking filtered water, wearing natural makeup, etc and then put harsh chemicals against your sweet baby’s sensitive skin?
9. (possibly) reduce diaper rash–Even though I, personally, have not had to deal with diaper rash, I did notice that the baby’s skin looked healthier almost as soon as I switched to cloth diapers.  By healthier, I mean peach colored instead of red.  Many parents leave disposibles on their baby until it is completely full and can’t hold any more this means that the baby has been sitting with bacteria and ammonia right next to his skin for a long time.  With cloth diapers, the covers breath and you can’t ignore a wet diaper so the bacteria gets wiped away faster.  With disposables “dry” ? “clean”.  Or as one cloth diapering mama said, “It’s a diaper, not a toilet!”
10. Finally, Cloth diapers are just so darn cute!

Tagged as: Baby Gear, Cloth Diapers, Frugal living