Cloth Diapering

When we first found out that we were expecting, I wondered what options there were for trying to save money on disposable diapers.  I thought about cloth diapers, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to deal with the hassle.

This is what I remember from my mom using cloth diapers.

• large safety pins
• plastic covers
• pricking my fingers many times while trying to get it through the diaper
• cleaning the poop off in the toilet (or if you had a diaper service, sending large dirty bags away and getting a pile of clean diapers back)

Then I got to thinking....
What kind of cloth diapers are available today?  What are the benefits of going with cloth diapers?  Is is worth it?  Am I really saving money?  Is is going to be worth the 'hassle'?  These are all questions that I ended having to finding answers for.

So, what are the benefits?

1. Healthier for baby.  Cloth diapers are known for less diaper rashes.  You are not putting a chemical filled disposable on their bottom.  It also keeps the baby from becoming as sensitive to chemicals.

2. Cheaper than purchasing disposables! When I figured out the amount and it was amazing.  If you purchased disposables for 2.5-3years (depends on when your kid is potty trained), the amount that you would spend is about $2,000.00 per child!  Now double that with more than one child in diapers.  It adds up very quickly!  Initial investing in a good set of cloth diapers is only $200.00-$300.00 depending on the brand you get.   The cloth diapers can also be used for more than one child, making the savings last even longer.  That is a very large difference in cost between the two!


3. Potty training becomes easier with cloth (so I'm told).  The child can recognize sooner when they are wet verses a child in disposables.  Since my little one is still too young for this, I look forward to being able to train her quicker than it would have been with using disposables.

4. Helps the environment by not only keeping less disposables from going into the landfill, but also reducing the amount of environmental resources using in creating the disposable diapers to begin with.

Diapering nowadays is totally different than it used to be.  I found that out very quickly.  People don't use the large safety pins anymore and the diapers are just as easy to use as disposables.  They can either be velcro or snapped closed in the front.  Also, you can just have lots fun and be creative with all the designs that are available with the different brands out there.  As you can see, my little girl is sporting her little owl patterned diaper above.  At 2 months old, she still looks like she has a really big bum, but that will soon balance out as she gets older.

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