Why Cloth Diaper
Why I decided to cloth diaper
I decided to cloth diaper during my first pregnancy, when my grandmother told me that her kids (my dad!) potty trained early because of that. Plus it's eco-friendly and saves you money, so I thought why not. My husband, being a huge environmentalist, happily agreed that it was a great idea.
So easy and gentle on the skin
With the newborn runny milk poop, "blow-outs" tend to be a common problem when using disposable diapers. We, using the cloth diapers, experienced exactly ZERO blow-outs to date. What's more, our baby has never had a diaper rash thanks to the chemical-free cloth on his bum. For care, cloth diapers these days do not require soaking. All we had to do was a couple of extra loads of laundry a week!
Saves you money
Buying cloth diapers for one child can cost anywhere between $300 to $500 (less if you buy second-hand) and it costs about $150 per year per child for energy and detergent. Considering that one child goes through 6,000 diapers by the age of 2, that's an average saving of $1,000 every year. The saving grows even bigger when the cloth diapers are used on multiple children.
Going green
An estimated 20 billion disposable diapers are added to landfills each year, making them the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and it takes up to 500 years to decompose; they will still sit there after your great, great grandchildren will be gone.* That's A LOT of garbage! Believe it or not, using cloth diapers on one child DOES make a huge difference.
Creative outlet
But all those great things were just some added benefits. To me, the best thing about cloth diapers was the fact that it gave me a creative outlet in the midst of (chaotic) parenthood. The choices seemed overwhelming at first, but soon I found myself enjoying learning about different types of diapers, accessories, and ideas to make it as easy as can be. With the internet and everyone else telling you what to do when it comes to... everything, having one thing under my control (hello, freshly cleaned diapers!) just felt oddly satisfying, and gave me a huge confidence boost.
Friends and family
Another thing to keep in mind when you decide to cloth diaper... Your friends and family might have quite strong opinions on this. Personally, I was told... "You will regret it." "You seriously want to deal with all the poopy diapers every day?" "Taking care of a baby is hard enough, don't make it any more difficult." I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated by these comments, but I decided to stick to my guns, and it's been the best decision ever. Now, let's try to remember that most people who are trying to "help" you, have never actually tried cloth diapering themselves. Likewise, the older generations may not realize how cloth diapers have changed (for the better!) over the years. My favorite response to these is "I'll give it a try first and see how it goes!" It is natural to be afraid of something unknown, but your decision does not have to be made based on their fear.
Seek support
I'm a huge advocate of doing what works. When you feel overwhelmed, please do not hesitate to contact us. Also, seek help from the real-world experts. There are so many amazing cloth diaper support communities online (e.g. Facebook). Cloth diapers don't have to be all or nothing. Let us help you figure out the way that works for you.