If you were considering cloth diapers, do yourself a favor... do it...and don't look back.
When we had Mariella, I was sure I was doing everything right. I was wrong. In the last four years, I have been educated on cleaner, better, safer, greener, and more cost effective ways to raise children. One major way is diapering.
Over the years that Mariella was in diapers, we spent probably thousands of dollars. Well, if you estimate it, a box of diapers cost about $27.00 and we probably went through one box about every two weeks. So for 52 weeks, we paid about $700.00. Multiply that by three years and you've got a whopping $2,100.00 just for diapers. This does not include wipes or any other diapering necessity.
Add to that the waste we created. During that same time period, we went through about 7,800 diapers. Now, because I was under the impression that she would be potty trained some time within her second year, you can imagine the frustration when she decided to stretch our budget and our trash can another whole year. Needless to say it was way more than we ever bargained for.
So, when I became pregnant with Max, I made a decision. I WILL NOT RAISE THIS BABY ON DISPOSABLE DIAPERS. Once I made that decision, I learned about cloth diapering.
Here's the exciting news: Cloth diapering is a whole new industry full of innovation. It is NOT your mother's cloth diapering nightmare. In fact, it is actually amazing, convenient, easy and I am totally obsessed with it.
I learned something very interesting about cloth versus disposable too: Children are much more likely to take as much as a WHOLE YEAR longer to potty train when on disposable diapers. So, in essence, the industry creates its own customer dependency. Once you're in, it's really tough to get out. Why is that? Well, quite frankly because they have gotten so good at absorbing the liquid, that your child never ever feels wet or uncomfortable and therefore has no motivation to change.
But what is the cost of that super-absorption? Well, disposable diapers use chemicals and synthetic materials to help them do their magic. Among these are dioxins and sodium polyacrylate. For one, sodium polyacrylate, which is the polymer gel that absorbs moisture, is considered a skin irritant, a respiratory irritant and an eye irritant by the companies that use it. It, as well as dioxins have been linked to cancer, reproductive & infertility problems, asthma & respiratory distress, hormonal problems, developmental & cognitive problems, suppressed immune system, diabetes, endometriosis, allergic reactions, chemical burns, Chloracne, and Toxic Shock Syndrome (in the use of tampons).
Dioxins are found in the diaper due to the bleaching process they use in production. In addition to these, the following may also occur in disposable diapers:
- Tributyltin
- Xylene
- Ethylbenzene
- Styrene
- Propylene
- Toluene
Now, while it may seem unlikely that wearing a diaper is going to directly and immediately cause any of these harmful diseases or disorders, what you can count on is that new baby skin is exposed to these chemicals all day, every day, for at least two to three years, possibly laying the foundation for cell interruptions and health problems later in life.
And consider the fact that while adult skin is only about 1/10 of an inch thick, a baby's skin is even about half as thick. It is very, very thin....very, very absorbent.... and very, very vulnerable. And baby skin exposed to harsh irritants will develop skin sensitivities and allergies that might never occur without that exposure.
So, now that we've gone over the main reasons why we got away from disposables, I am so excited to share how great cloth diapers are. Now, at first, I felt overwhelmed. I thought this is going to be inconvenient, complicated, maybe even messy.....it really has not been any of those things. In fact, quite the opposite. There is a learning curve, I will admit, but once you get it, you'll never look back.
There's a cute little shop I want to endorse in Berea called Snuggle Hugs. When I did my research to find a cloth diaper store in the area, this is the only one I found. I had many questions and they basically took me through a tutorial of A to Z cloth diapering. There are several different brands and types so you have to get acquainted with the process and then the options.
My favorite brand is Bum Genius. They are a one size fits all diaper, that grows with your baby up to 35lbs! It is a pocket diaper design, meaning the diaper shell has a pocket on the inside for cloth liners that you can slip in and out for re-use. They are super soft and easy to wash. Each one comes with two liners for a total price of about $18.95. That may seem like a lot for a diaper but I bought 14 diapers six months ago and haven't bought any more since. So, that's a grand total of about $266.00.
Other brands that we like allow you to just replace the liner and the shell can be reused over and over throughout the day. I bought extra liners so every time Max wets, I remove the liner, the cover stays dry, and I simply put in a new liner. If he poops, I replace the whole thing. When he poops, I rinse off the poop into the toilet with a handy little gadget I got from Snuggle Hugs. It's basically a sprayer you attach to the toilet tank. I simply spray it off into the toilet, then toss the dirty diaper into a cloth, aerated diaper bag. The bag is aerated so that the diapers will not accumulate mold and bacteria. But, it zips up and seals in any odor so you never have to smell them. By the way, this is a better, cheaper alternative to a Diaper Genie.
About every two to three days, I wash the diapers and liners. I put them in their own separate load with hot water and all natural detergent. I hang dry everything. The whole process takes only a few hours of my time each week.
When we're out and about, I have a travel version of my dirty diaper bag so if I have to change him, I have a clean safe place to throw the dirty one until I get home. I still use disposable wipes but there are reusable wipes available as well.
Some thing I will admit is troubling is traveling with a cloth system. They do take quite a bit of room in your luggage so you have to plan to take an extra bag dedicated to your cloths. And quite honestly, I do occasionally use disposables as a back up or when I know I need ultra convenience. And we do use them at night because they do absorb more. When we were putting him to bed in a cloth, he would wake up and need changed.
But over all, we have a super easy, super cheap, super safe, super green way of diapering our little guy and he loves it. In fact, he never gets diaper rash when we use cloth, but always gets it when we use disposables. However, if he did get diaper rash there are special cloth diaper safe butt creams you can get that won't affect the absorbency of the diaper. We like the Burt's Bees.
So, as I said, if you have ever considered cloth, do it. You will not be disappointed. And if you have questions, you can always ask me or the wonderful people at Snuggle Hugs.
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