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Along Abbey Road | A Lifestyle And Family Blog : Cloth Diapering: To Do Or Not To Do?

6.27.2013

Cloth Diapering: To Do Or Not To Do?


Isn't that a lovely photo chronology of Luke's life from birth to present all in diapers? Clearly the child spends the better part of his life in his skivvies, but hey, no qualms about that here. I fully support the (almost) nudist movement.

But, this post is more than just about pictures of diapers. I am here to talk about the poopy business of diapering. Cloth diapering! Dun, dun, dunnnn!

So, cloth diapering: to do or not to do with baby number two?

I've been thinking good and long about it, and I think I am going to give it shot, but before I dive head in to the pooperful world of extra laundry, of course I had to write a blog post about it. Where else am I going to get honest, tried and true feedback? 

Here are my reasons for giving cloth diapering a go:

1) Cost. We spent roughly $1,000 on disposable diapers the first year of Luke's life. I am not sure if that is an average or high cost for disposables (I can't tell you how many clean diapers were wasted from Luke straight up peeing on them and me freaking out, not knowing what to do or thinking to cover the line of fire... I mean, newborns are gifted projectile poopers and pee-ers). According to my research so far, we will spend roughly $500 on cloth diapering for the first year (or less depending if we don't cloth diaper a full year).

2) Diaper rash. Luke had awful diaper rash quite frequently for the first few months of his life. And oh how I hated it! I felt like a terrible mother that was subjecting my child to unnecessary pain and discomfort. His skin was and still is incredibly sensitive (like mine), so I am going to jump the gun on this one and assume the same issues might arise for this next little guy. From what I gather, cloth diapering eliminates diaper rash.

3) Experience. Now that we've jumped through the first-time parent hoops, I kinda sorta know what to expect with a new baby. It's not going to be a foreign, shocking, life-teetering experience like it was the first time around. Sure, it will be new to trod the unbeaten path of life with two kiddos, but I finally (after 18 months) am comfortable with changing diapers at least. I feel prepared and in control of what cloth diapering has to offer (lots and lots of poop handling) and I'm alright with it. Plus, I've always been curious what this whole cloth diapering hullabaloo is all about. And there's only one way to figure that out... just do it! Or in my case... just poo it!

4) This just in! I would like to update that after I spent all night researching more about cloth diapering, I totally failed to recognize how huge the environmentally-friendly aspect of cloth diapering. Obviously it helps, but I didn't connect how much impact just one child in disposable diapers has, let alone two! I found the Cotton Babies site, which is kinda like the cloth diapering holy grail to me now, and it mentioned that one child's soiled disposable diapers will reach the amount of one ton in a landfill. That's just gross. I have decided to try making the switch with Luke. Am I crazy? We'll see how he responds to it! There is no hurt in trying, especially since I will use whatever I buy for him with baby numero dos (and maybe it will make the transition to potty training occur sooner?).

After scouring the baby store selections and searching Amazon high and low, and I think I am going to go for pocket diapering. I could take it completely retro and go the old school cloth diapering route with prefolds and pins like my mom did with eight kids. EIGHT KIDS. Can you believe it? Now that's a lot of poo. But, yeah, I ain't touching that. But, bless your heart, mother. You are tough as nails! Anyway, I have decided on bumGenius pocket diapers. They are simple, cute, and a good price for what seems the most convenient way to cloth diaper (thanks, Amazon!).

Now that you've listened to me blab on and on about this topic, I am turning the mic over to you folks! What say ye about cloth diapering? Yay? Nay? What products do you love or despise? Any tips and tricks I am missing? Spill your poo stories! And I am now officially done saying poop for the 50th time (although it looks like I better get used to it...)

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13 Comments:

At June 27, 2013 at 5:52 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

you go girl! here's my take:

i love cloth diapering. i just feel like a better person. we use gdiapers cloth. it's a pocket style but has so many other add-ons to think about. when traveling, we use the disposable/biodegradable and... wait for it... flushable(!) inserts. so we still use the pouch, but just toss/flush the insert. at home we're all cloth but still use pampers super dry stuff at night because it's just not practical to use cloth for 12+ hours.

the most important thing i can tell you to get is liners. little paper liners (gdiapers makes them flushable too) that you stick over the cloth insert to catch the poo. it makes clean-up so so so much easier, i can't even begin to tall ya!

i did a blog post about how we use cloth diapers if you wanna check it out: http://www.mamages.com/blog/2013/02/the-diaper-dilemma.html

good luck!! it's not as gross and scary as it sounds ;)

 
At June 27, 2013 at 7:22 PM , Blogger Anna Demko said...

I don't know about this whole going-back-to-the-way-our-parents-did-things. Honestly, I feel like for a first time mama like me, cloth diapers would be so much work. It's hard enough to try to figure everything out as you go, then added the amount of laundry you have to do and poop scraping lol
Also maybe for some people $500 a year is a lot of money but no amount of money will substitute the want for handling the poop. Plus we found a great generic brand that's twice(!) cheaper then Pampers/Huggies
Good for you though! You will probably be a pro at this

happymedley.blogspot.com

 
At June 27, 2013 at 7:36 PM , Blogger AmiCheri said...

We just started using cloth diapers a few months ago and I really like it for the most part. I got into it because I heard cloth diapers are also better for preventing blowouts. I still get the occasional blowout but for the most part the cloth diapers work so much better. The awesome part is that the stains come out! I just air dry the diapers in the sun and it bleaches them back to white. I also use flushable liners so I really don't do much in the way of scrubbing. I love that there are always diapers on hand and it definitely saves money.
Just one thing, you will probably want to research detergents. Some detergents have additives that decrease the diapers' absorbancy over time. I just googled it and got some great info, so yes, it's another cost, but it is still cheaper than disposables! Good luck!

 
At June 27, 2013 at 7:39 PM , Blogger Katie said...

I, of course, am not a mama yet and will not be for a long time. Good luck though with your cloth diapering adventures! If you want to talk to someone about cloth diapering, I believe Melissa of dearbabyblog.com used cloth diapers for her children :)

 
At June 27, 2013 at 7:50 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

He is the cutest! I love seeing pictures of little kids, they're so adorable!!
I really want to take a ton of pictures of my future sunshine!!

 
At June 27, 2013 at 9:31 PM , Blogger AmandaLynnEats said...

I love bum genius 4.0. Tries many brands, but that was the best by far. We did cloth for the first 18 months (till he started school). If you need any tips, I'm happy to share.

 
At June 27, 2013 at 10:00 PM , Blogger Lindsay said...

I'm not a mother yet, but the idea of cloth diapers really appeals to me from purely an environmental perspective (which probably sounds weird). I've seen some cloth diapers with a plasticy coating (almost like swim diapers) that look really easy to clean. Good luck!

 
At June 28, 2013 at 10:55 AM , Blogger kvangelder said...

I think bumgenius is a great choice! I've been using them with my 2 1/2 year old since he was about 6 months. Yes, you will have extra laundry, but after awhile it just becomes part of your routine. We did experience some diaper rash while using bumgenius. When that occurred we put him in disposables until it cleared up. We eventually also had to go to disposables at night because he was wetting through. Good luck with your cloth diapering adventure!

 
At June 28, 2013 at 12:26 PM , Blogger Jakeandjess said...

Great choice! A few tips....

- get two wet/dry bags. one you can take with you on short outings and the other one you can leave in his room and put soiled diapers. you can throw the whole bag in the washer when it's full.

-cloth wipes are a great option too if you are breastfeeding. cleanups are pretty easy before solids too.

-invest in a cloth diaper sprayer. they are kind of pricey but well worth it (we've just ordered one!) when solids are introduced and poopy diapers get a bit more tricky.

- don't bother with expensive detergents. we use arm n/ hammer and I bleach out stains in the sun. also, instead of a second rinse, do a second spin. saves on drying/energy costs.

- we started cloth at 6 weeks. don't know about you but I was not wanting to do laundry that first month. with our second on the way and a one and a half year old at home we'll be sticking to this plan again.

- lastly, get cloth diapers with snaps NOT velco. the Velcro wears out. and if you can find a "one size" type that allows them to grow with the diapers it saves you in the end.

we use fuzzibunz and have been happy with them. we use disposables when we travel on airplanes or long distances. although sometimes tempting when we do use disposables, i'd never do it another way!

 
At June 28, 2013 at 12:35 PM , Blogger Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl said...

I have a really good friend from our old ward that does the whole cloth diaper thing and LOVES it! She gave it a go once and has never gone back!

 
At June 29, 2013 at 7:13 PM , Blogger Olivia said...

Go for it! I decided to cloth diaper my second child and it's not hard at all. I use the FLIPS system, not exactly pockets and not exactly old school, and I love them. We do use disposables at night because he pees like crazy but all day he's in cloth. If you want to check out my blog I have all my cloth diapering posts together, and massive research went into it.

Ps. I am on the Tide bandwagon :) And buy the sprayer! It's worth it.

 
At June 30, 2013 at 10:20 PM , Blogger Tisse said...

Definitely give it a shot! We use SoftBums Omni diapers with the bamboo soakers and we LOVE THEM! I tried Bumgenius Elementals and Bumgenius 4.0s as well as Kawaii and Gdiaper brands and SoftBums are hands down my favorite. But its really all about what fits your baby the best and what you are most comfortable using!) The velcro on Softbums is great (I hated snaps!) and at 16 months old, is still just as strong as ever. Also, they are truly a one size diaper that will fit even the tiniest of newborns and the chunkiest of toddlers...and they are the least bulky of all cloth that I've tried.

The Bumgenius diaper sprayer is a must! And two wet bags (I like the ones from Planet Wise).

For diaper rash, I love Earth Mama Angel Baby bottom balm... literally zero issues once I used this stuff. I use it after every change and it is one of the few diaper balms that is safe to use with cloth diapers.

Good luck and happy diapering :)

 
At August 15, 2013 at 11:26 PM , Blogger KC said...

Thanks for this info!

 

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