Whenever I tell people that I cloth diaper, they usually have lots of questions.  I try to answer them the best that I can, but there’s usually something that I remember later that I wish I would have told them.  So I decided to write a series of posts on cloth-diapering so that I have all my thoughts and information in one place and it’s available to everyone.

Here’s a brief introduction…

I began my cloth-diapering journey about a year ago, right before Kelvin was born.  I knew several people who loved cloth diapering so I cautiously decided to give it a try.  I spent hours researching it and decided to buy just the newborn size to get him through his first few months.  That way, if I decided I didn’t like it, I could quit and start buying disposables.

I had no idea how much I would love cloth diapering.  Needless to say, I ended up purchasing quite a few more diapers and began cloth diapering Ava, too.  Now the only time we use disposables is when we’re on a trip.  It’s very apparent that the kids prefer cloth to disposables.

When most people think of cloth diapers, they think of basic flat diapers, diaper pins, plastic diaper covers, and dunking dirty diapers in the toilet.  But none of that needs to be part of the equation anymore.  Most people who think cloth diapering is “icky” or “too much work” are misinformed.  Here’s a basic overview of the myths people believe about cloth diapering:

1. Cloth diapers are hard to use.
   They make cloth diapers that are essentially like disposables.  They’re shaped exactly the same and you put them on the same way.  The only difference is you get to wash and reuse them!  Even if you decide to use flat diapers (prefolds), it just takes a little practice and you’ll be able to put them on just as quickly as a disposable!
2. I’m afraid of poking my baby with diaper pins.
   I don’t even think they make diaper pins anymore.  Most diapers fasten with velcro or snaps.  For prefolds, we have an awesome diaper fastener called a Snappi!  But more on that later…
3. Dunking diapers in toilet is really yucky.
   I don’t dunk my diapers.  I never have and I never will.  Diaper services don’t require their customers to dunk them, so you don’t have to either!  If it’s a very solid stool, I’ll dump it into the toilet, but that’s as far as I go.  And my diapers always come out of the wash perfectly clean and sweet-smelling!
4. I don’t think cloth diapers will keep my baby dry enough.
   According to the AAP, disposable-diapered babies are supposed to be changed as soon as they wet/dirty their diapers, just like cloth-diapered babies are.  Most parents don’t do that, though, because the diaper companies have told them that the baby still feels dry (thanks to their chemicals).  For the short amount of time between when my babies wet their diaper and when I change them, they don’t feel wet anyway because I made diaper liners out of microfleece, so they still feel dry!  I’ll be talking more about that later in the series, too.
5. Won’t I have problems with diaper rash?
   I’ve been cloth diapering for almost a year and haven’t had any problems with diaper rash.  Cloth-diapering is way better for their bottoms and results in far fewer rashes because they aren’t exposed to all those chemicals all the time!
6. I don’t have enough time to cloth diaper.
   It really doesn’t take that much time.  The washing machine and dryer do the hard work for me and it takes just a few minutes to fold the diapers when they’re done.  Plus, you never have to make a diaper run to the store at an inconvenient time!
7. Cloth diapering is too expensive.
   Cloth diapering isn’t even nearly as expensive as disposable diapering!  The initial investment into cloth diapering is bigger, but it’s far cheaper in the long run.  Disposable diapering a child costs around $1700.  The average cloth-diapering parent spends between $150-500 on cloth diapers…and can then reuse them on future children!  And as for the water bill, mine hasn’t changed since I started cloth diapering.

So you see…cloth diapering has come a long way.  People (including me) cloth diaper now because they LOVE it, not just to save money and the environment (although those are definite pluses!).

I’m really looking forward to sharing my knowledge of cloth diapering with you!  Of course, the information I share is just based on my experience in the cloth diapering world, so if you have anything to add, feel free to comment.  Also, at the end of this series, I plan to do a Q&A post, so if you have any questions, leave them in a comment!

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