My Cloth Diaper Journey Part 1 ~ Why!!??

I'm probably not what you picture when you picture a cloth diaper mom. I'm not "green" or "crunchy." I don't save bottles and cans for recycling and my family vehicle is an 8 seat SUV. I'm not a stay - at - home mom and have no intention of homeschooling. My kids are fully vaccinated. I did want an unmediated birth, but was induced twice. I use a wrap for baby wearing, but it's mainly because I hate carrying the car seat around, not from any parenting philosophy. I make pretty good money and can "afford regular diapers." So, if I don't fall into the stereotypical categories of people who are likely to cloth diaper, how did I become such an advocate for cloth.

My first stash!

 My cloth diaper journey started like many others. I was pregnant with my first child and reading pregnancy message boards when someone said something about using cloth diapers. Cloth diapers? People still do that? Why? Why in the world would I make more work for myself, especially when that work includes a bunch of laundry. Then someone mentioned that it saves money. Hmmmmm, how much money are we talking? I mean, let's face it, no one gets excited about buying thousands of dollars worth of trash.

From there, I went into research mode and found out exactly why people choose cloth.

1) Cost - Yep, my reason is the #1 reason. You can spend as little as around $100 and cloth diaper multiple children. Disposables for one child can cost anywhere from $1500-$3000. Now, of course, most people spend more than $100 on cloth, but I think that setting a budget of $300-500 is easily achievable. Realistically, disposables cost $40/month and another $10 for wipes.

2) Health - Many moms find themselves switching to cloth because disposables contain chemicals that can cause severe irritation and even burns. As it turns out, diaper rash is not nearly as common with cloth diapers. Cloth is also breathable and cooler than disposables.

3) Environmental impact - Disposable diapers create tons of trash. Literally. Also, they can take hundreds of years to decompose. Cloth does use more water both in production and use, but the overall impact is significantly less.

4) Cuteness - Let's face it, cloth is MUCH cuter. Who can resist a fluffy butt with an awesome print? Cloth diaper companies are constantly coming out with cute new diapers that make all of us into addicts.

5) Effectiveness - Cloth diapers are much better at containing mess. "Blowouts" in which poop escapes the diaper through the legs, up the back and gets all over everything requiring both a bath and lots of laundry are apparently fairly common in disposable diapers. In cloth, they are virtually unheard of.

6) Less Smell - You'd think it would smell more, but no, cloth diapers are much less stinky than disposable. While you may still get stink in the diaper pail, it is nothing compared to opening a diaper genie. Why? Well, for one, you don't have festering poop sitting around. You rinse it off. Also, there aren't any chemicals to mix with the pee giving off that odor that is commonly associated with diapers. Let's face it, babies are kind of gross, and cloth won't get rid of all that, but I will take spraying poop off a diaper for 10 seconds over the foulness of disposable any day.

Ultimately, my decision came down to this: do you want to pay less for something that is better quality, works more efficiently and is more fun? Now I look at it and wonder how and why people would ever choose disposables!

Up Next . . . The Evolving Cloth Diaper Stash