Cloth Diapering

Yes, I plan on cloth diapering. Let me explain. I have had so many people tell me I am crazy for wanting to cloth diaper. They all say, 'Oh, that'll only last a couple months' or 'You want to scrub poopy diapers?!' Anyone who grew up in the older times (my parents generation) saw their parents or even older siblings cloth diapering their children and let me tell you, the technology has GREATLY improved since those times. So it's been mainly my mother, and aunts telling me I'm nuts for wanting to cloth diaper. Because its true, I want to cloth diaper.

Not just for the financial benefits, but also for the environmental impact. I'm not a hippie by any means, although Jared says I'm becoming more granola as the years go by, but I definitely wouldn't want to deal with throwing away 15-20 diapers on a daily basis for the first six months. It just seems way way way to wasteful for my taste. Plus the idea of spending upwards to $200 a month on diapers is something I am not OK with. It's like throwing away your money, literally.

The main complaints of cloth diapering: having to deal with poopy diapers, the cloth diapers are inefficient in fit and fabric easily stains, the smell is awful, and it's inconvenient because of necessary soaking and scrubbing of the diapers.

Firstly dealing with poopy diapers doesn't bother me at all, and I think I can just chalk this up to my four years of CNA work. But also you don't really have to touch any poop more than you would if its disposable diapers, because the recommended practice is to have a hose hooked up to the sink and while holding the end of the diaper rinse the poop into the toilet and flush. Pretty non-poop touching if you ask me.

Secondly like I said previously cloth diapers have changed immensely in technology which has changed the typical ill fitting fabric which stains easily, to specific diapers that can fit snug-ly from birth to potty training and are made of anti-bacterial stain resistant fabric (minky). I am specifically planning on using Fuzzibunz Elite one size which, while costly to get started, are designed (and tested by many other mothers) as being the best fitting diapers for complete diapering until potty training. From all the mothers I have spoken to who have cloth diapered they say there is rarely ever blow-out's with this type of diaper, and if there are blow-out's they would happen in a typical disposable diaper as well. So if a blow-out is going to happen it will happen regardless of what type of diaper they are wearing.

Thirdly regarding the smell the same mothers I talked to noted that if you leave poopy diapers inside for any amount of time, it's going to cause the same smell as if you don't wash dirty cloth diapers on a daily basis either. Either way there is a poopy smell in the house, and the benefits of washing poop into the toilet immediately out of the cloth diaper will help get rid of the smell faster. I've heard of mother's using disposable diapers leaving them inside for a couple days before taking the trash out, so I think that would create more smell then cloth diapers because you have a limited number of diapers so you have to wash them on a daily basis essentially.

Fourthly the ages of having to pre-soak your diapers in buckets before washing the diapers in the washing machine and having to sit and scrub poop out of cotton cloth rags that had to be pinned around the baby is over. Because of the fabric of the new cloth diapers that are specifically not going to absorb poop, the majority of it rinses off into the toilet eliminating the need for scrubbing diapers. Also because of the bacterial resistant fabric no pre-soaking of the diapers in bleach is necessary.

Major plus's after doing my research on the realities of cloth diapering now is pretty obvious after debunking my mother's issues: they are do gosh darn cute!

Like this cute cow print one. I mean, come on, it does not get cuter than this!

Another huge bonus of cloth diapering is you are dramatically reducing the amount of harmful chemicals and possible rough fabrics from disposable diapers that can cause diaper rash and irritation on my tender babes bum. 

Lastly these cloth diapers are meant to last for multiple children. So the initial investment of $400-$500 can last through two to three kids. If you can stick through cloth diapering, it essentially reduces the amount you spend for each child's diapering. Two kids would mean $200-$250 apiece, and three would mean $134-$167 apiece.

For me it's a no-brainer. But we'll see how it goes after I go back to work. The one true downside is that I will need to be doing laundry on a daily basis. But I really plan on sticking it out even if it isn't the most convenient option like disposable diapers. The real question is, how will Jared fare?

p.s. a lot of my information on cloth diapering came from here.