Cloth Diapering 101

When I first told my husband I wanted to use cloth diapers after our daughter was born, he told me that was fine, but he would not be changing any diapers, thank you very much.

Now, he's a diaper champ!! He even swishes the poop out into the toilet! (OK, so not to be gross during this post, but it's about diapers so what do you expect?)

Some people think we're crazy to use cloth diapers.

Some people think it's really cool.

I'm amazed by how many people comment about our diapers. Most people have not seen the new and improved versions. When I first started doing research on cloth diapers, I went to ebay because I didn't really think many people used them. I was amazed by how much used cloth diapers were going for. So I wrote down the names of different ones and started to google them to do some research. I thought I was going to have to use a diaper service like my mom did, you know, with the pins and plastic pants. But let me tell you, cloth diapers have been revamped and are so easy to use!

There are lots of cloth diapers out there that I haven't tried and I know many people love but I'll share what kind we use and why we like them so much. We have used Fuzzi Bunz on both our children and LOVE them. So everything I write here is based on our experience with those diapers.

While I'm not a tree-hugger or anything, I do think it's insane how many disposable diapers go to landfills, approximately 27 BILLION diapers a year in the U.S. alone. And they sit for up to 500 years before decomposing...yikes! Even though the instructions on diapers say to dump the waste into the toilet, statistics say that 1/2 of 1% actually do. Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR. Disposable diapers contain traces of toxins and pollutants that can have harmful effects on the body.

The average baby uses 6000 diapers in 2 years which makes an average cost of 1600 dollars. Cloth diapers do vary in cost so figuring out the saving depends on how many you buy and what kind you buy. The average cost of a cloth diaper is about 17 dollars. That sounds like a lot of money and it is a lot up front but over time, the savings do really add up. For my family, we have 3 dozen cloth diapers in 2 different sizes. My daughter is potty-trained and my son can still wear both sizes. We spent a total of about 700 dollars on cloth diapers, cloth wipes, detergent, and a few other supplies. If we went with the average listed above, cloth has saved us a ton of money. Plus, when you reuse them for different children, you really save money because you're getting so much more wear out of them. Wipes add to that cost and if you use washable wipes, you save more money.

For more statistics and break-down of costs, check out http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php. There are some stunning stats on that site with all their sources listed.

There are also diapers called gdiapers which are a compromise between cloth and disposable. They sound interesting but Fuzzi Bunz worked so well for us it didn't seem worth the investment because they are bit more expensive in the long run. I don't know anyone personally who has tried them but I'd love to know if you have.

Cloth diapers are soft against the baby's skin. They are made with fleece that keeps your baby's skin dry. Fuzzi Bunz, like many other cloth diapers, are pocket diapers so basically you put an cotton insert into the pocket of the cloth diaper to catch the pee and the outer part is waterproof so you don't need to put plastic pants on top. The outer part has snaps to fit different sizes of a child so you can use them as they grow. Some other brands of diapers use Velcro. They come in so many adorable colors.

Just look how cute they are hanging out on the line.

A lot of people ask about the smell and do they leak and is it gross to clean them? Most of the time, I don't notice a different smell with cloth unless I leave the diaper on too long. And disposables don't cover up a poopy smell any more than cloth. We store them in a special cloth bag after we use them and for the most part, the bag doesn't smell. In the summer when it's warmer there is more of an odor but we keep the bag in the bathroom and really, it's not that bad.

As for leaks, there is an occasional leak, but nothing out of the ordinary. Usually it will happen if the diaper is not snapped on properly or if it's too big. While I've read that people don't have problems at night, both of our kids got rashes when we used them at night so we do use a disposable overnight. We like the Seventh Generation brand because they are made without chemicals.

Getting rid of poop isn't really a big deal, most of the time you can dump it in the toilet. Yes, sometimes you have to swish it out in the toilet but that kind of stuff doesn't really bother me. When it's your own kids poop, it really isn't so bad. I've told anyone who has ever watched our kids that they can just roll up the diaper with the poop inside and we'll take care of it at home. Some have done that, others clean them out. I guess it's just personal preference. And even though you can't swish out disposables, you should dump the poop in the toilet!

With just one in diapers now and with the amount we have we only do a load or two extra every week. You use a tiny bit of detergent (we bought a special kind) and no fabric softener. You can't wash the diapers with anything else or it will cause pilling. You can line dry them or put them in the dryer. We have very few with staining on them and usually the sun will bleach it out if any is left. It's nice to air them out when the weather is good. We then spend 5-10 minutes putting the inserts in so it really is very minimal extra time to take care of them.

If we go on vacation or go to an amusement park or some place where cloth would not be convenient we do use disposables out of convenience. I totally understand why people choose not to use cloth, but it's worth exploring if you are remotely interested. I really do LOVE using them and would encourage you to do some research if you are curious about it. Or if you currently use them, let us know what you think about it.

Oh, and if you think they look cute hanging on the wash line, just think how cute they'll look on your baby's bottom!