Thursday, March 11, 2010

"you have twins and you use cloth diapers...what??"


Okay, so I hear this A LOT. and i'd like to say upfront this has nothing to do with me trying to be some kind of super mom --i just have a genuine interest in cloth diapers and i really support what they are all about.

Do i judge all disposable ("sposies") diaper using families out there?? heck no. But do i think more families should at least consider alternatives to sposies? Definitely. But really, each family has to do what is right for them--that's what is most important. Raising a baby is difficult enough and there is no need to put added stress on yourself. I am here to say though that using cloth may not be as complicated or "gross" as you may think...they have come a LONG way since the cloth diapers our mothers and grandmothers were using on us!


When i first was researching cloth i began to weigh the benefits of them vs. sposies.

1. There is a definite cost savings. Depending on the type of diaper you use, a family can spend on average $1600-$2000 on sposies per child...times two or three kids...that's a lot of money! Especially when you can reuse your cloth diapers for each child. The more kids you have the more savings you will have. The cost of cloth varies greatly and it all depends on the type of diapers you decide to use. So far on both babies i have spent close to $650 and i have a variety of different kinds. Most of my diapers are one size and will fit up until they are potty trained.


2. Cloth is an environmentally friendly choice! In almost every other aspect of our lives there is so much emphasis on *Recycle , Reuse, and Reduce*--why not put this into practice with your diapers? I could include a very long list of reasons why cloth is better for the environment, but i won't. I will however lead you to this website so you can check out the statistics yourself.
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php I would like to leave you with one stat--The average child will use over 7000 diapers -- each diaper takes an estimated 300-500 years to decompose. That's a LOT of waste. It's something to think about.


I would also like to acknowledge the argument that the use of water and energy to clean cloth is equal to the negative impact that disposables create. I'm not discounting the facts, but I found this article interesting http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/49/1/Reusable-cloth-vs-disposable-diapers.html and i like this quote "Disposable diapers will most always likely be very unfriendly to the planet, but there are opportunities for minimizing the impact of reusable cloth diaper usage."


3. they are BETTER for you babies SKIN! --Between all the materials and chemicals used to make a disposable diaper there are studies that show babies are more likely to get diaper rash, have other skin irritations, have asthma-like symptoms and have infertility issues when they are grown. Also---cloth is 100% more comfortable and soft on your babies bum. Any woman out there would have to admit that wearing a maxi pad is terribly uncomfortable...well its really no different for your baby, except they have to wear one 24-7 for 2 years straight..at least!

and here are some --not exactly scientific reasons--but still good reasons for cloth!
4. no late night runs for diapers...just throw them in the wash..you'll never run out!

5. they will facilitate in faster potty training because a cloth diapered baby can tell when they are wet, unlike disposables.

6. Modern cloth diapers can be so easy to use that diaper changes aren't any more complicated once you get the hang of it.

7. I personally think sposies STINK...i can smell that a baby in disppsables has urinated the minute i get near them...and its even worse with poop. Cloth does NOT smell the same--i rarely smell anything at all!

8. AND....they are SO SUPER CUTE! I jut love seeing my babies colorful fluffy bottoms!

I have a friend who is now considering the use of cloth diapers and the first thing she said to me was how much information there is to sort through...and she is SO RIGHT. Admittedly though with my difficult pregnancy, i had plenty of time to sit on the couch to do a thorough research. I thought instead of just giving her all of my advice via the phone, i would post it on the blog so maybe others would also consider their options as well. So over the next few months i will be posting other cloth blogs with my opinions of diapers i have liked, ones i don't, and laundering tips--i am still learning new things every day, so why not share it with all of you?

4 comments:

Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down? said...

I'm so proud of you! I thought it was kinda nutsy when I heard it too. However after seeing it in action, you have made the best decision. And you know until I just read it I had not thought about the smell factor. But there wasn't any.

Dana said...

We are using cloth as well! We got the GRO baby diapers. We haven't started using them yet, we wanted to give ourselves a few weeks to get the hang of having a baby and not have to worry about laundry and what not. But we are planning to start as soon as she fits into them - which should be rather soon! Have you found them to be easy to use? What do you do with them in-between them dirtying them and washing them? Do you just through them all in the wash and then do a load at the end of the day? Sounds like things are going great!

Meg said...

we are using cloth as well...love it!

Anonymous said...

We also used cloth with Layne for months (after premies). We presoaked in Borax -- what do you use? Also before pretty coverups--we had nasty rubber pants--and there were smells. Once we switched to diapers we had to choose carefully because of his sensitive skin.Auntie Beh