Monday, May 10, 2010

why we're choosing cloth:

I'm slowly turning into some kind of crunchy mama over here and have fully jumped on the cloth diapering wagon. I personally only know a couple families that actually cloth diaper. It isn't very popular among crowds. And folks still have the idea of "folding and using diaper pins" stuck in their minds.

Ew.

So why are we cloth diapering? Well, it's easy: It's what's best for our daughter!

With all the researching that I've done, I surely have not missed out on CDing (cloth diapering). Mark has never questioned CDing once -- he pretty much just trusts me to make big decisions on this since kids are my thing. And he's excited too! ... I promise.

Let me first come out and say: Cloth diapering is cheaper. A lot cheaper. On average, a child will need 6,000 diaper changes before their second birthday. Based on the average cost of 25.5 cents/diaper, diapering with disposables will cost about $1600 ($66.00 per month) to diaper for 2 years, excluding the cost of disposable wipes (Earth Angels Diaper Co). That's a lot of money to poop on something and throw it away.

An entire set of cloth diapers costs about $400. And you're set. Forever. And if you can take care of them well, you can use them for your next child and really save. That alone is enough reason for us to switch to cloth. Why wouldn't we save money where we can? Really. We'd rather use that extra money for trips back to Kentucky. Just sayin.


Point 2: I've changed my share of dirty diapers in my lifetime. It isn't fun, it really stinks, and poop is gross. But I am here to announce: changing disposable diapers is gross too. Just because you use disposables doesn't mean that you escape the "gross factor." I've never changed a CD, I'll admit, but I will say that it looks just as easy and you actually touch the diaper the exact same amount of time. I think people dwell a tad too much on the ick-ness and forget that, GASP, our ancestors ONLY had cloth diapers!!! Yes, our buff great-grandmothers (and hundreds of grandmas back) had to deal with poop. And lots of it. They survived. It isn't a new concept!! :)


Cloth-diapered babies potty train faster. They are more apt to feel wetness than a child in disposables. "Studies" show that CD kids potty train about 6 months earlier. This is good news to me!

It's rare to obtain diaper rash while in a cloth diaper. There are no chemicals, and you're using all-natural soap. So you can nix out all the Butt Paste since you won't need it. If you need to apply a little cream every time you change your baby's diaper, isn't that kind of a red flag? Maybe all those chemicals in disposables aren't very healthy. (I seriously urge you to click that link and read what EXACTLY is found in disposable diapers. Um, SCARY!)

It's actually illegal to throw poop away. Did you know? Yes, it's against the law. You're actually SUPPOSED to flush the poop down the toilet and then throw the diaper away. I know of no one who actually does this. I promise. You can even Google it.

It only adds up to 2 or 3 extra loads of laundry a week. And you use a fraction of the amount of soap for regular clothes. Not a big deal at all. No one likes to do laundry, but it isn't a huge deal.

Last of all, they're cute!! Yes, what a vain reason, but it's a reason nonetheless! Cloth diapers are extremely adorable. I'm torn between bumGenius & gDiapers. I don't know how I'll ever choose.

G's:



orrr bumGenius:



baby legs!


So there you have it. If you still think we're nutty, at least you have to admit that cloth diapers are insanely adorable. I can't wait to begin our stash!!! Soon, I'll be doing a post on why we will be toting our baby in a sling. Babywearing is an aspect of attachment parenting, which I mentioned we are "fans" of. I know, I know, you CANNOT wait! :)


22 comments:

  1. I had not thought of all the benefits of CD. Thanks for this Shannon. Very insightful!

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  2. I was cloth diapered but Mom didn't clean the diapers herself. There was a service that picked up poopy diapers, cleaned them, and brought them back to the house! Cool!
    I'd love to know how the new kind of CD work, considering the ones I were in had to be safety pinned.
    I've always told Jarred that when we someday have kids, I only want to cloth diaper because it is so. much. cheaper. I'm all for that!

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  3. cute, Meaghan!!! :D Different diapers work differently. bumGenius is JUST like a disposable. It's just the diaper and once your baby wets/poops in it, you wash it. And then you hang it out to dry (or dry it if you want) and velcro it back on your baby. At least I'm pretty sure. gDiapers work differently.. they have cloth inserts that you stuff in the diaper. With G's, you do NOT wash the outer part (unless you have a big poopy blow out!) and you ONLY wash the inside part. I don't know if that makes sense :\ but different brands do it differently.. but they're all REALLY easy now!! Most of them are velcro too! :) Either that or snaps!

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  4. Oh, wow! I know several families that do clothe diapers at home then use disposable when babysitters come over or when they do daycare. It's amazing how much money that saves people!!!!

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  5. I wish someone had told me about these when I was preggo with my boys ;) I really considered CD both times, but I know NO ONE that does it and I had NO idea how to do it! I had only seen the CD in stores and you had to fold and pin those...I was so confused, so I tucked that idea back inside and used disposables since I already knew how those worked :) But now that CD is becoming more popular (slightly) and I know where to look for info, I know I will do it next time around:)!

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  6. Those diapers are sure cute on the babies. Look comfortable too. Love, mom.

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  7. I love cloth diapers (big surprise there, huh?)! :) One day, whenever I have kids, I will definitely use cloth diapers. They just make sense to me. Did you know that the number one item filling up landfills is diapers? They don't EVER biodegrade. Ever. Yuck.

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  8. Yeah, it's pretty insane :\ Just yesterday on the news, they were saying that children 2 & under create the most waste. Most people choose CDing for environmental reasons.. ours are mostly financial and it's just better for our baby's butt. Hehe. BUT it is a plus that we'll be helping the environment!!

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  9. I considered cloth diapering! And was leaning towards it for a bit ... but I know with my father-in-law and husband, when they were watching her, Id come home to dirty diapers just left all over the place! LOL I had to be practical for our family!

    Good for you, though!!!

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  10. I definitely plan on CDing my baby when we have one! I know a few people who use them and love them!
    The only thing I would be worried about is if you put them in the nursery at church or daycare (I'm not putting mine in daycare) or something. I mean I guess you could by disposables just for those reasons.

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  11. We go to a nearly & newlywed class at church.. Our teachers homeschool their children and are BIG fans of bringing children to our class! :) They've already talked to us about how we can bring a blanket for them to sit on and instruct them to play quietly while adults have their discussion time. HOWEVER - I will say this would be 10000x easier for a GIRL. My nephews would have been way too loud for that!! :) But everyone in our class plans on bringing our babies.. how cute!! But if we do bring her to Kidville (our church nursery), we'll just bring disposables. No big deal :D And since our family doesn't live here, we'll be her only care givers.

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  12. I think I have posted on this before awhile back, but I highly reccomend the G diapers. We bought a truckload of BG's and were very very dissapointed with them. They are so bulky and thick (with the inserts that you put in those as well) and my daughter could barely move when she was newborn. In fact, when she was newborn, we couldn't even use them on her because even the smallest snap setting they had was too big for her. (6lb 15oz baby) It was about two months later that we finally were able to get her into her first one. She was stiff as a board and couldn't bend around. Very uncomfortable. G diapers are much more realistic to use! Good luck in your search!!

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  13. ahhh :[ but then I have 2 friends in real life who LOVE bumGenius!! so I just don't know :[ What a tough decision. It's such a big investment -- I would hate to spend so much on one brand and then hate them.

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  14. Good luck with putting her on a blanket to quietly play :). Sounds like your nephews wouldn't have been able to do that, but it's the exact opposite with our kids. NO WAY Sydney would've done that past 3-4 months, but JJ (now 13 months) would still do that.

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  15. Welllllllll I take that back... Hudson would have done it, but Clayton would NOT have been able to do it!! I was a super laid-back kid and we don't really know how Mark was as a baby, but he's a *really* laid-back adult, so it'll be interesting to see our babe's personality :) Regardless, we'll at least attempt to bring them to our class ;] but that's only when she's a *baby* baby.. We'll put her in Kidville when she's a little older for sure!

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  16. I LOVE bG!!! Haha. It's funny talking to different moms you find out that, ultimately, not every brand is right for every baby. My advice: wait until little one gets here and see what her size and shape is like. bGs are good for long, skinny babies like Anne-Kelly, I hear. For chunky little thighs (as one of my friends found out), bGs aren't always the best choice. I've heard Happy Heinys and Gs are sometimes a better fit for little roly-poly legs :) I'm a bit jealous of the roly-polyness...to be honest!

    Also, check out the latest issue of Mothering magazine if you already haven't. This whole months issue is devoted to the wonders of cloth diapering. :)

    Oh, one more thing: I got my lillebaby carrier today and it is AMAZING! It beats any carrier I've used, I think. Well...maybe not my sleepy wrap, but I think it's equal and it looks a little manlier so Brent doesn't mind using it.

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  17. Hmm I wonder if baby size is hereditary? Mark and I were REALLLLLY skinny, long babies. So I wonder if our daughter will be smaller and skinnier? My nephews are *chunks*.. BUT my sister and BIL were huge babies too. I don't know if that's a coincidence or if it really is hereditary. Any thoughts, anyone?? I mean, I was super skinny, hehe!! We don't have many photos of Mark.. but the ones we do have show him being very small and thin!

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  18. I babysit for a couple who use bumGenius. They're extrememly bulky, but it works identically to a disposable diaper (until you wash them, of course, which I've never done. I have, however, taken them out of the dryer and put in the inserts which is just a little extra step.) Anyway, the baby girl's clothes fit awkwardly. The pants or bloomers feel too tight to go across the diaper, so you have to position them above, which is already halfway up her belly. I don't know the effect they have on crawling since she's nowhere near that, but they are really, really bulky (on her).

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  19. I like the idea, and they ARE really cute! :)

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  20. Everything else aside, I am DYING at the cuteness of those pink g diapers!!!

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  21. Sydney was (and still is) a VERY chunky little girl... when she was born, she was quite skinny, but entierly too small for the diapers. By the time she was big enough though- she was too chunky I guess =)
    However, what you could do, (and what I wish I would have done) is buy one diaper in each brand you are considering, and have the funds set aside for the diaper you end up liking the best for your princess. There are so many choices out there, that is so hard to choose! GOOD LUCK!!!

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  22. yay for being a crunchy mama! :) I never thought I'd be one but the idea of cloth diapering excites me so much!!! It's so funny watching peoples reaction when 1. you tell them why you're choosing CD's and 2. When you tell them the facts about disposables and that you aren't supposed to throw poop away!

    So glad you delurked because I'm loving your blog!!

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