Cloth Diapers: The good, the bad, and the stinky

Okay, so I know very few people care about cloth diapering, but for anyone who's curious about what it's like, I'm here to tell you.

The Good:

I won't lie: I LOVE cloth diapering. Who would have thought it possible to like anything having to do with taking care of baby bum messes? Well, let me tell you, it's way better than disposables, and here are some reasons why:

1. Cloth diapers save a TON of money. I use one-size pocket diapers, which means that each diaper should fit my baby from 8-35 lbs (in other words from about 6 weeks old to potty training). I have 20 diapers at approximately $19 each, so an investment of $380 will cover diapering for up to 3 years (as opposed to about $1000 each year with disposables). Even the added laundry doesn't negate the savings. Not to mention that I didn't pay for all of my diapers since some of them were given as gifts.

2. Cloth diapers leak less. I've tried them both, and it seems like our cloth diapers hold more liquid. Yes, there are some leaks, but only when we don't change her often enough. And you get that with disposables too.

3. Cloth diapers are soooo soft! They have a fleece lining inside which is all that touches our baby's bottom. I like handling them much better than the papery disposables.

4. I like the laundry. :) Sometimes it's a pain to have to wash a load of diapers because there are only 2 or 3 left, but generally it's nice to pull clean-smelling diapers out of the dryer and stuff the inserts back in to replenish our stash.

5. Cloth diapers are cute!

6. Some babies have a really rough time with diaper rash, but not with cloth diapers. Disposables have all sorts of chemicals that help them absorb the liquids, and those can cause problems. Eleanor didn't have a problem with diaper rash in the first few weeks while we used disposables, but it's nice to know she probably won't have any trouble in the future, either. Cloth diapers are much more natural.

7. I'm reducing our trash output. It was amazing how quickly our trash filled up with diapers, even the tiny newborn ones she started out wearing! Thinking about all of that waste hitting the landfills was not a great thought, and I'm really not that much of a "green" freak. Plus, I don't really like dealing with trash.

The Bad:

Some of the positives above can be a negative, in a way. For instance, #4, the Laundry. This is also a downside. Here are some drawbacks to cloth diapering, which I feel are far outweighed by the positives:

1. The Laundry. I have to wash diapers every other day. Of course, all this involves is dumping my wet bag upside down in my washing machine and pushing one button, then "start." Easy as pie, but it has to be done. When they're clean, I pull them all out and put them in the dryer. When they're dry, I have to stuff the inserts back inside the pockets. This is also not a big deal as I can easily do it while watching TV.

2. Cloth diapers make my baby's butt look big. They're puffy. Because they're not full of chemicals to help them absorb liquids, they have to have extra fabric inside to soak it all up. This bothered me at first, but I'm used to it now, and Eleanor is still cute as a button! In fact, the cloth diapers are cuter than disposables when she's not wearing anything else, and they work great under dresses or rompers.

3. Cloth diapers take up more room in my diaper bag. My hubby and I are sometimes out and about all day with our little one, so we need to pack quite a few diapers (6 usually works for all day). I could probably carry 5 or 6 disposables in the amount of space one cloth diaper takes up. This makes our diaper bag heavier and bulkier, but we're pretty used to it now.

4. We have to take home dirty diapers. We carry a wet bag around in our diaper bag for the dirty diapers and bring them home at night to wash them. Again, this is something we're used to. The benefit to this is that when we're at other people's houses we don't have to worry about stinking up their trash can with our baby's diapers. I also know that some people take home dirty disposables, anyway; they just store them in a plastic bag and throw them in their trash at home. This sort of negates the negative of carting home our cloth diapers.

The Stinky:


All diapers stink, whether disposable or cloth, so don't use this as a determining factor. It's just a matter of whether your trash stinks or your wet bag (which seals in the smells quite well and gets washed with the diapers). Some people also have some problems with "clean" diapers stinking, but we haven't yet, and there are solutions to those problems, as well.

Conclusion:


All in all, cloth diapering takes time and research, but is so worth it! For us the main reason was cost savings. For friends of mine, the main reason was their son's skin sensitivity. For you, it may be saving the environment one diaper at a time. Either way, it's a rewarding experience. More about our cloth diapering experience later!