Today I am excited to welcome Brittany from Equipping Godly Women as my first guest poster. I personally have never tried using cloth diapers, but I know Brittany uses them. In fact, she jumped at the idea of writing a post about cloth diapering for this site to share this information with all of us. Thank you, Brittany!
When I decided to cloth diaper, I didn’t know anyone else who cloth diapered as well. Reactions ranged from: “Well, I would never do it, but if you want to, more power to you” to “That’s disgusting.” In other words, I didn’t have a whole lot of support. But the more I researched cloth diapers, the more I knew that they were the right choice, even if they aren’t the norm. You’ll have to decide for yourself what is best for your family, but here are my reasons why I chose to cloth diaper.
1. Cloth diapers are healthier for baby.
Disposable diapers are FULL of dangerous chemicals that I don’t want next to my baby’s skin. They contain Dioxin, a carcinogenic chemical that the FDA lists as “the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals.” Dioxin is banned in other countries, but not the U.S. They also contain Tributyl-tin (known to cause hormonal problems) and sodium polyacrylate (a substance banned from tampons because it was linked to TSS). Cloth diapers contain: cloth.
2. Cloth diapers are cheaper.
The total cost of Pampers from birth to potty training is over $2,000. The total cost of Walmart brand diapers is just over $1,300. You can easily cloth diaper a baby for $200-$500. Factor in resale value, and it’s even less. (Yes, people really do that. Most cloth diaper moms take realllly good care of their stash, so they are clean.) Plus, you can use them for multiple children as well.
3. Cloth diapers are better for the planet.
Now, I’m not a super crunchy momma by any means. I still shop at Walmart, use plastic bags, and eat junk food, etc. But I do appreciate the fact that when I use cloth, I am not putting so much waste in the landfills, so much poop in the groundwater, or so many factory chemicals in the air.
4. Cloth diapers are more comfortable for baby.
Guys may not understand this one, but ladies—do you remember that paper underwear you had to wear at the hospital? Or the feeling of ginormous pads? They are so uncomfortable! Cloth diapers, on the other hand, are super soft and fluffy.
5. Cloth diapers are cute!
Today’s cloth diapers look nothing like the old cloth squares and plastic pants your grandma used to use decades ago. (Well, some do, but most don’t.) Now, they come in all sorts of soft and adorable colors, prints and designs. For example, I have a tie-die one, a dinosaur one, an elephant one, a superhero one… This reason alone wouldn’t be enough for me, but it is certainly a bonus.
6. Cloth diapering helps support work-at-home moms.
I wish I had the time and money to buy everything from small, local businesses, but I don’t. And honestly, some of my cloth diapers do come from China. But I love it when I can support work-at-home moms I know by buying their diapers. Not sure where to find them? Look on Etsy or Hyenacart.
7. Cloth diapers are just as easy to use as disposables.
I think this is easiest to see when the two are compared side-by-side in a chart.
Some questions you might be asking yourself
Isn’t it gross to use something that your baby has pooped on again?
Not if you clean it well. If you wash your baby’s clothes and blankets after they have a blow-out instead of throwing them out, it’s the same thing. Plus, lots of moms find they have FEWER blow-outs with cloth.
Aren’t diaper pins dangerous?
Probably, if you don’t know what you are doing. But I’ve never used diaper pins, and there is no need to. Diapers come with Velcro, snaps and cool little things called Snappis.
What about poop? You don’t just throw it in the wash, do you?
Newborn poop is completely water-soluable. It washes right out. Once baby starts solids, their poop forms turds that you can plop in the toilet and flush away. That’s a LOT less gross than letting baby poop sit in a diaper pail in baby’s room all day or even multiple days.
Aren’t cloth diapers really expensive?
Some of them, but not really once you factor in the reusable/resale factor. Plus, you can get brand new, perfectly functional diapers starting at around $4. I personally shoot for between $13-18. The absolute best work-at-home mom ones cost between $18-$30.
You can also find cloth diapers on Amazon.
Have you ever thought about trying cloth diapers? Would you consider it? What questions do you have about cloth diapers?
Brittany is a stay-at-home wife and mother who spends her days picking up toys, changing dirty diapers and blogging about finding God in the midst of it all at Equipping Godly Women. You can also find Brittany on Facebook, Twitter and Bloglovin’.
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