Why, Yes, We Do Cloth Diaper
Ahhhh naptime. I should be digging a flower bed, cleaning my kitchen, and writing a grocery list. Instead I will blog.
Recently someone saw G's cloth diaper peaking out from his pants and skeptically asked if we cloth diaper. My response, with a smile, is of course yes. We've been cloth diapering Graham for more than a year now. When I was pregnant with him, I was brainstorming ways to save money and decided that if I was going to be home with him, I may as well take the plunge and cloth diaper.
When I first heard about the cloth diaper trend, I laughed. That was years ago, before I was pregnant or had kids. I just thought it was a hippy trend and lots of extra work. And here I am doing it!
Cloth diapering works for us. I know it's not for everyone, and I don't push it on my mom friends (very few of whom are CD'ing). When my friend asked me about it recently she immediately went into full-on defensive 'why we don't cloth diaper and I'm not convinced you'd save any money' mode. I just smiled and kept my answers simple; it's not worth debating because it's really a personal choice and we're happy with it.
I had a few really helpful friends point me in the right direction and answer lots of CD'ing questions early on, and now I'm helping friends consider the choice, when they ask for my advice. There are so many cloth diaper options, it can be overwhelming.
It IS more work. You have to change diapers more frequently. It's more laundry. I wash them every 3 days or so. It's a small load, but I double rinse so it may be extra water. Honestly, our water bill is the only thing we don't pay so I don't know how much extra that costs. But other than that, I think it is a cost-saver, especially in light of the fact we'll be re-using them again on the next kid(s). The initial investment (I probably spent $280 or so) will pay off for us, if it hasn't already. Plus, we're not filling landfills with tons of diapers. I like to be green!
We don't CD at night. We also don't CD when we take Graham to church or on a long trip. It's just easier on us, and anyone else who might happen to change him, if we use disposables. But other than that, we are really, truly enjoying them! Behn's been a great dad- totally on board and always changes Graham when needed.
So, that's our story and I'm sticking to it!
Recently someone saw G's cloth diaper peaking out from his pants and skeptically asked if we cloth diaper. My response, with a smile, is of course yes. We've been cloth diapering Graham for more than a year now. When I was pregnant with him, I was brainstorming ways to save money and decided that if I was going to be home with him, I may as well take the plunge and cloth diaper.
When I first heard about the cloth diaper trend, I laughed. That was years ago, before I was pregnant or had kids. I just thought it was a hippy trend and lots of extra work. And here I am doing it!
Cloth diapering works for us. I know it's not for everyone, and I don't push it on my mom friends (very few of whom are CD'ing). When my friend asked me about it recently she immediately went into full-on defensive 'why we don't cloth diaper and I'm not convinced you'd save any money' mode. I just smiled and kept my answers simple; it's not worth debating because it's really a personal choice and we're happy with it.
I had a few really helpful friends point me in the right direction and answer lots of CD'ing questions early on, and now I'm helping friends consider the choice, when they ask for my advice. There are so many cloth diaper options, it can be overwhelming.
It IS more work. You have to change diapers more frequently. It's more laundry. I wash them every 3 days or so. It's a small load, but I double rinse so it may be extra water. Honestly, our water bill is the only thing we don't pay so I don't know how much extra that costs. But other than that, I think it is a cost-saver, especially in light of the fact we'll be re-using them again on the next kid(s). The initial investment (I probably spent $280 or so) will pay off for us, if it hasn't already. Plus, we're not filling landfills with tons of diapers. I like to be green!
We don't CD at night. We also don't CD when we take Graham to church or on a long trip. It's just easier on us, and anyone else who might happen to change him, if we use disposables. But other than that, we are really, truly enjoying them! Behn's been a great dad- totally on board and always changes Graham when needed.
So, that's our story and I'm sticking to it!
Cloth diapers are awesome! We have that same cover.. lol. We spent about the same as you on our diapers and we calculated that it paid off in 3 months. I've spent some more since then on a really awesome diaper pail and some more covers, but still have spent WAY less then if we did disposables! And you have them for the next kid! :):):) Better for the environment and the wallet!
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that is tough with cloth diapers though is having to get bigger pants. Isaac is so huge with them on!
ReplyDeletehaha, yes Graham butt looks huge in cloth diapers! It's pretty funny!
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your help with my questions, Megan! And I enjoy hearing how positive it is! We are probably going to start our cloth diapering journey when we get our tax return!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to be of any help!
DeleteI have cloth diapered with Nate since he was a couple months old and really like it. We use flip covers and prefolds. I even kinda enjoy washing and folding the diapers....it's something that easy to check off of the days "to-do" list!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a fresh, folded pile of diapers...ahhh!
DeleteI was just thinking about doing a cloth diaper post on my blog, too! I think I'm going to wait until I can get some good "split pants" pictures of local babies. It seems to help that we cloth diaper here. Locals rarely use disposables so when they see that our diapers are cloth they're excited :-)
ReplyDeleteI want to see those split pants! Hilarious!
DeleteOh...my husband and I have been talking about this recently and are seriously considering cloth diapers. But I'm absolutely clueless. What brand are you using? Any resources you can point me to? Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteYes, there are sooo many resources! I mostly use Thirsties covers with Green Mountain Diapers pre-folds. The prefolds fit nicely into the covers and the covers snap over them so you don't have to use pins :) You can find them at greenmountaindiapers.com. Another awesome website to check out is Kellyscloset.com They carry about every variety you can think of!
DeleteOoooh, perfect! Thanks so much :)
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