Cloth Diapers

I chose cloth diapers for a few reasons. First, I felt bad about all the bad stuff that goes into disposable diapers and the fact that they take years to break down in the landfill. But really, the biggest reason is that it will save us a lot of money over the course of the next couple of years that our little one will be in diapers. Right now he goes through 12+ diapers a day, and a 40 pack of disposables is around $11. If we use one pack in 2.5 days, we need almost 3 packs of 40 a week, so about $30 a week. $30 a week, 4 weeks a month… that’s about $120 a month on disposables. I can buy 6 cloth ‘pocket’ diapers for that price (even more, depending on the kind) and they will last from 8 weeks until he’s potty-trained, then through the next child too (and for the one after that, for people who don’t just want two.) Or I could buy 2 diaper covers (at $11 each) and 30 prefold diapers (6 for $20). Or 5 all-in-one diapers (at around $25 each). Over explanatory? Well, then I guess you get the point.

Cloth diapers are so easy (for all you nay-sayers out there…. DAD.) It’s just like a disposable- you take the diaper, put it on baby; when it’s dirty, you throw it in the diaper pail. Instead of taking the dirty diapers out to the curb, you throw them in the washing machine. I like to line-dry mine when I can, just because cloth diapers hanging on a line are so cute.

Here are the different kinds of diapers that I have:

L: All-in-one BumGenius elemental C: Rump-a-rooz pocket (I also have a kissaluvs and Fuzzibunz) R: Thirsties diaper cover (also have a bummis)

L: The all-in-one has a built in soaker pad; you just snap it onto baby and you’re done.

C: The pocket diaper has a pocket for the soaker pad- you stuff the pad in there after you wash it. These dry really fast compared to the AIO’s, but are the same when it comes to just snapping it onto baby.

R: The diaper cover goes over the old-style prefold diapers to hold everything in.

C: Here you can see the soaker pad that has been stuffed into the pocket.

R: Here is a prefold sitting on the cover- you can stick it in the cover just like this if you’re only expecting pee…

Or you can fold it and use a snappi to contain any mess the baby might have. Surprisingly, this is the way Nathan prefers to diaper Mason. It takes a little more time, but if you’re fast the velcro makes up for it.

Each diaper has their pros:

AIO (all-in-one): These are most like disposables. You just stick it on your baby and toss it when it’s dirty. No thinking necessary. These have soaker pads that you can put in for heavy wetters. These take awhile to dry. 1.5 times in the dryer, or all day in the sun, since it has a few layers. I’ve had to put them out on the line then take them in at night for a quick dryer run.

Pocket: I like these for nighttime. Since it has a pocket I can stuff a couple soaker pads in there and Mason won’t wake up in the middle of the night because he feels wet. The soaker pads get wet, but the layer that touches baby still seems dry. The only difference between these and the AIO’s is that you have to stuff the pocket first. No big deal if you do it after you do the wash. These dry super fast.

Covers: These are the cheapest option- you just take it off the baby, toss the prefold in the diaper pail, put on a new prefold and put the cover back on. These dry really fast on the line, and since they’re velcro don’t go in the dryer (our low-heat is too hot); I hang them next to the dryer and they’re dry in no time.

So far I’ve only bought one diaper that has leaked (and the occasional leak when I don’t fasten one tight enough). I had quite a few leaks from the disposables (we have a heavy wetter.) so I like not having to change his clothes all the time.

Anyway, the main point of this is to show how easy cloth diapers are. Put on, take off, wash. (Prewash to get out the pee and leftover poop, then wash.) Done. Just as easy to use as disposables but much cheaper in the long run. (See, no soaking like in the old days, pops.) Oh, and for poops- there’s this thing called a diaper sprayer (just like the sprayer by the sink) that you attach to the toilet and spray the poo in the toilet. If you don’t like that there are biodegradable liners that you can throw in the diaper and toss when it’s dirty. Of course, breast-fed babies don’t have real poops for awhile, and when they do it’s once every few days anyway, so it’s not like you’re dealing with 10 poopy diapers a day. Being a parent means dealing with poop! Oh, and putting them out on the line will take away any stains your diapers might get- the sun magically takes the stains away!