Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Why Cloth Diapers?

How I got into using Cloth Diapers..

When I was pregnant with Boo Boo, I never once thought about using cloth diapers, that was 3 years ago and I thought people who used cloth diapers were still doing the whole, prefolds, diaper cover and rubber pants thing. Like what our mothers & grandmothers had to do.

Well in August of 2010 I was at a playdate with some of my local Moms Like Me friends and their babies and two of them had their kids in "modern cloth diapers" and they of course were showing them off to all of us! I cant remember for sure what kind they were wearing but I was so impressed by how cute they were! But I still wasnt sold on the idea of cleaning them myself. I again thought of dunking diapers in the toilet and that grossed me out! Even though at this point I was a pro at cleaning poo from clothes and bedding (Boo Boo was a blowout baby from the beginning) So why would cleaning it from diapers be any different?

Well I continued to follow my friends on their cloth diapering expirence and kept the idea on the back burner.. In October of 2010 after Boo Boo had a horrible rash for a couple days that butt cream just wasnt getting rid of, I needed to do something quick, everytime I put a disposable on him he screamed! I had heard a new diaper store that just opened in my town and I thought I would just go and browse and see what they had available. I think I did ask my cloth diapering moms what they suggested beforehand and kept that in mind. When I got to the store I was a little overwhelmed, I had no idea there were that many kinds and styles of cloth diapers! (prefold & covers, all in ones, all in twos, pocket diapers, fitteds, one size, hybrids) I knew I wasnt interested in prefolds and covers, although they have come along way from the kind our parents used. The whole system seemed too much for me, I wanted something as easy to put on as a disposable. I was instantly attracted to SoftBums for that reason. I had no idea the shell could be used multiple times a day if just wet, I just knew I liked how it fit on the teddy bear they had available to try out diapers, haha. I bought one shell and 2 pods and one super pod. I thought it was alot of money up front but I was desperate for something this soft against my babies butt and All Things Diapers did have a return policy if the diaper didnt work out for us I could bring it back for something else.. I fell in love with the system and cloth diapering for that matter once I realized it wasn't any more work than disposables, and the extra laundry I didnt mind doing for him to wear such cute comfy diapers! Oh and his rash went away within the next day!

So why use cloth diapers vs disposables?

  • For us we like the idea that they are a good investment. If you know my hubs than you will understand that one, he is a money man. If you take care of your cloth diapers and treat them well when you are done using them you can sell them. Thats right, and if your lucky and they are in really good shape you can get up to 40% of what you spent on them back! If your really lucky and the print is now retired and hard to find, people will buy them for the same price as new. Although if you dont take care of them and you dont use them enough to get your monies worth out of them, and you can find anyone to buy them.. then you lose. But when you buy a disposable and use it once you lose as well.
Lets look at logistics: a disposable diaper will cost you $.18-.43cents each, depending on sales and what size you are buying, (average is .22cents) times that by how many you use a day (4-8 average) times that by 365, thats $482 a year you just put on your kid, he pooped on and then you threw in the garbage. Now most kids wear diapers for 3 years, so thats $1,445 total spent on disposable diapers from birth to potty, thats not including disposable wipes! Now lets look at cloth diapers, average cost for one diaper is $18 a diaper + $5 for soakers, you would need about 6-8 to cloth diaper full time washing everyday, 12 if washing every other day & 24 soakers. So we wash every other so thats $336 for the 12 diapers & 24 soakers, add $20 for wet bags, $30 for cloth wipes, and $13 for detergent every 6 mos. Thats $444 for diapers from birth to potty. It would be less if you bought all your diapers used, but if your going to be using them for 3 years you might want to invest in them new so that they are in better condition when you are done with them. So you have a better shot at selling them. You could expect a return of $250 from your diaper stash. Guess what else is super nice about cloth diapers? You can use them on multiple kids, so that makes your money go even further!!
  • Some people like the enviromental factor of cloth diapers, and in the business we are in (renewable energy) you would think that would be a big part for us too.. but like many people in this world, if you cant see the waste and harmful effects its hard to care about what you are throwing away. I know that it may take 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose but I dont see dumps piled high with diapers all over the place. If they are burning the waste and that is going into the atmosphere and destroying the earth that way, I can see how that is bad but I never hear news stories or articles about it.. So like I said, I understand and agree its hard to care about it when you cant see the damage that is being done.. Thats not to say I dont care, but it's just not my #1 reason we use cloth diapers, thats all.
  • I do however care about chemicals on my babies skin, and if you have ever opened a clean disposable diaper and smell it, it smells like alot of chemicals! If you ever take off a soaked diaper after being worn for a couple hours it has increased in size 3x, have you ever wondered what chemicals can make that possible? and they are being soaked into your babies skin..?? That is kinda scary! I like that cloth diapers you dont have to worry about that, its cotton, just like your clothes. What we are supposed to have on our skin. not paper and chemicals.. right?
  • Last reason, a baby a year old and older is for some odd reason very interested in taking off their diaper. It doesnt matter if its clean or dirty, they like to take it off.. Well cloth diapers can come in snaps or velcro closure and that is when the snaps come in handy, they are much more difficult for them to take off and that saves you a morning of having to clean their bed!
That said, I have spent alot of time with trial and error. Not every diaper works for everyone, and some diapers work better for babies at different stages.. I have tried several different brands and kinds of cloth diapers and I still go back to Softbums AI2 diapers. They are the only cloth diaper on the market that is a true one size diaper, with their slide2size (drawstring) leg elastic adjustment system you can customize the size of the diaper each diaper change or as they grow.. from birth to potty training. SoftBums also being an (all in two diaper system) you can just change out the soaker pod if wet and keep the same shell and use it 3 times a day, before washing. Once the new little one is here I will be taking lots of pictures of the way this system works for us.

If you are looking into using cloth diapers or just want some more factual information about them. Here are a few resources I have found useful!!

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