I don’t.
I am an all-disposable diaperer. 
I am about to take on a Huge— (breathe, Amy..) Adventure.
I seriously get a little bit winded just thinking about what I am setting myself up for. My heart starts racing, and my vision gets a little blurry, and I start thinking of all the fun – but all the… not-so-fun… that I’ll have.
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I. am. SWTICHING…. to Cloth.
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There. I said it.
My husband is freaking out. I think he is getting more panicked than I am.
For 2 1/2 years we have used disposable diapers.
But. I think about it every time I have to buy diapers again. (which, I always do with coupons and even the majority of the time on Amazon.com where I get 30% off disposable diapers.) For my two boys I spend approximately $58.00 per month on diapers, or $1.92 per day if you base it on a per diaper cost.
I used to use the excuse that we didn’t have our own washer and dryer.. but now we do. and it’s beautiful. 
I am (of course) going to make an entire event out of it, and blog through the trials and frustrations, or happiness and excitement of it all. Because, half of me is REALLY excited.
SO. I am in the works of getting together several companies to join forces with me on this journey as I learn – and teach – the in’s and outs of cloth diapers.
Just a quick “before” photo of our diaper changing area:
Some of our main concerns right up front:
- Is it REALLY cheaper? Even switching at this stage of the game? My boys are 2 1/2 and 8 mos old, and we’re not sure if we’re going to have any more
- How messy is this going to get?
- What if my kid gets Diarrhea? EW!
- How often am I going to have to do laundry?
- How much more often will their diapers need to be changed?
- Will we have to carry extra clothes with us in case if WE get wet from a wet diaper on our lap??
- What about Granparents? or Church? Will they know what to do? or are we still going to buy disposables so the boys ‘fit in’ in social places.
- Will our 2 1/2 year old even consider wearing a soft cloth diaper??
- What if he retaliates?
- Will they feel different to my kids??
- Am I going to have to buy special detergents and particular laundry bags?
- What about when we’re out of town? Where will the ‘dirties’ go?
- Will our water bill go up from all the extra laundry?
- What about our detergent bill?
- Are we just spreading the cost of diapers somewhere else?
- Will my husband tell me to change all the diapers because he doesn’t want to ‘deal’ with the poop?
- Will my husbands big hands be able to snap those snaps??
- How will my kids’ clothes fit around a cloth diaper??
- Will they look funny?
I think #1 is dealing with the mess of poop, and a close #2 would be laundry.
I’m looking for experience, and wisdom. I know NOTHING about the cloth diapering world I am entering into – and to be honest, I’m afraid to look and get turned off. From what I’ve seen so far – there are just SOOO many options! I just have to Jump!
Follow my Cloth Diaper Journey and Event !!
I think you will love switching! I use cloth for my babies and I love it!
Excited for the event!
I can’t wait for the event. This will be fun! I love cloth, and it’s so much easier than I thought it would be. Diaper laundry is the easiest laundry I do, and I love buying new diapers! I’ve also traveled a lot with cloth and it’s not bad. They don’t look funny, snaps are not hard (even for big daddy hands), and I think cloth leaks LESS than disposable. I carry several changes of clothes with me, but it’s not because of the diapers. It’s because my baby spits up often. We noticed no change in our water bill, and while I can tell that my baby is wearing cloth under his clothes, no one else ever seems to notice. And there are tons of sites and blogs out there that can answer your questions.
Thanks for the reassurance! I am starting to get a little more calm already, just as I do more and more research. Although for some reason while I’m looking at cute diapers my heart still is racing… Maybe that’s a bad sign?? 😉
So i totally couldnt do this. LOL! I cant even imagine the extra effort in scooping poop into the toilet or trash or wherever, the water that it would waste in doing so is like a counter balance in the trash that I am throwing away I would imagine.
Then i have to wash them, and put feces in my washer every day and you would have to wash EVERY DAY cause of the smell.
I dont know, i think it would take a ton to convince me.
Exactly. This is what is outlining my concerns – HOWEVER… I think I’m turning a little, and realizing that it might not be that bad..
But. We shall see.. I am hoping to be as candid as possible during the reviews with all of my concerns and gross stories. No sugar coating stuff here!
I completely understand but I also have to smile and even laugh at some of your concerns. Oh I can’t wait until you try it out! You’ll be a believer really fast. If your son gets diarrhea it will be the easiest diaper laundry you’ve done and you’ll have the added bonus of not having poop-covered clothes to wash — because while diarrhea often leaks out of disposables you’ll find that cloth diapers (with their snug elastic) will keep it in just fine. I got your email requesting a diaper to review and clicked your link to quickly browse your blog and I was sucked in. Good job! I can’t wait to hear how much you LOVE your cloth diapers! Make a believer out of the skeptics! I’ll be thrilled to hear you answer to every single one of your concerns. I’m sure you will have a whole lot of positive answers to each of those concerns after you take the leap and get a little experience under your belt. I love it! Did I tell you I’m sending you an Oh Katy diaper to review? 🙂
Katie, I’m so glad that you commented here 🙂 Does the diarrhea really not go up the back?? I have so many poop stained ‘favorite’ outfits (obviously all of which are not my favorite anymore…) due to poop up the back.
I am really hoping to show the true ins-and-outs of cloth diapering. I can’t even begin to imagine all the things that I am fully unaware of in regards to cloth diapers!
Glad to hear you’re sending a diaper!! I’m looking forward to it! 🙂
Yes, the diarrhea really does stay in the diaper. The only time I’ve gotten it (and newborn baby breastfeeding poo) on clothes is when I’m clumsy while changing or if they get their foot in it and then it’s a chain reaction from there. 😉 I literally have zero outfits ruined by poop with my last baby who I’ve fully CD’d from day one. Good luck on your adventure! I really can’t wait to read your posts.
I switched to cloth with my last baby…and loved them. I think you will, too! Love your sweet blog and design!
Thanks so much! I hope I’ll love them!! But I’m sure it will be quite the switch! 🙂 Glad to hear that you loved switching, it is very reassuring!
Amy,
If you get a little overwhelmed with all of the information you can check out this post from the Eco Friendly Family blog. http://www.theecofriendlyfamily.com/2009/08/mother-load-everything-you-need-to-know.html
It tells you everything you need to know about CDs. There’s even a recipe to make your own (fantastic) diaper detergent on that site if you want to save even more money!
I recommend it. It is much cheaper in the long run, but the trick is buying enough cloth diapers to help get you to laundry day, and that gave leave a whole in your pocket. I recommend buying cloth diapers thru your pregnancy and spreading it out so its not huge huge purchases at one time. I plan on using my sponsored posts to buy cloth diapers for this baby coming in December.
Heather From and Mommy Only Has 2 Hands!
I have had six children. In the beginning, with the very first one, we had to have cloth diapers. I hated it, every minute of it. I had my first already toilet trained when the second came along. We started using our old cloth diapers again, but just realized that enough was enough. We sacrificed so much to keep buying disposables, but it made life so much better. I used the cloth diapers as spit up towels, and eventually threw them all out. Oh, I may have one or two put away somewhere, but if I ever have grandchildren, I will be helping out by buying disposables for them. God blessed us mothers when He inspired someone to invent disposable diapers.
Oh, I want to mention that with getting disposables, I didn’t have to buy diaper rash cream anymore. They keep baby dryer, and thus, less diaper rash occurrences.
It sounds like you were using the old style of cloth diapers. I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you find out what new inventions have come about since you used cloth. For example, the Oh Katy diapers have a built in cover (and it’s not crunchy plastic) and a super soft microfiber fleece on the inside that acts as a screen, allowing liquid to pass through into the absorbent inserts insides and keeping the baby feeling dry! This would have solved your diaper rash problems way back then. Too bad my diapers weren’t around when you needed them!
Even with the advancement of newer diaper, I would never, ever, want to go through washing diapers ever again. I always hated the smelly things. I could never get them clean–not enough bleach, stained–too much bleach, smell like bleach. Yes, I had the old style of diaper. My eldest is now 27 year old. I went through heck washing diapers. I don’t care if there is some extra trash in some landfill because of diapers. I will get them for any grandchildren I have.
I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be offensive.
No offense taken, Katie, It’s just that after all that washing I did, all those sticky smelly diapers. It was such a joy to have something that I could just toss away. I think it is medieval to go back to the days of washing diapers, as I do the idea of washing sanitary napkins.
Amy –
You’ve gotten some great advice and honest feedback on cloth. I can tell you that my business started as a result of my son having skin troubles with disposables. We were at our wits end with with trying to clear up his constant rashes and out of desperation went to cloth.
Within a couple of days his cheeks were happy.
For infants starting in cloth, you can expect to pay about 2-3x more for disposables depending on how fast they potty train. This factors in the cost of energy and detergent. Where your little ones are a little older I don’t think you’ll have a huge savings but you should have some. Not to mention the fact that you’re not throwing about 2,100 disposables in the trash per year per child.
Technology has changed dramatically in cloth. Absorbency, leak containment, and style (you should see the colors and prints) have gone way up. The detergents have also taken a huge leap forward and with proper care and washing you shouldn’t run into too many problems keeping them clean and fresh.
Clothes fit can be challenging depending on how big your little ones are, the style of clothes, and how many liners are in the diaper. There’s no denying that cloth is bulkier but not so much that you have to re-outfit the kids. My son is a big boy and there are only a couple of pairs of jeans that he pops the snaps on.
Disposables do have that throw away convenience and a lot of folks can’t/won’t give that up. A lot of daycares don’t accept cloth and you do face the issue of what to do when you’re on.vacation or away from home. All valid issues to be sure. Having used both (and having to convince my husband as well) I can only say that given the cost, comfort, and performance of cloth we’re happy with our decision.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for your comment Karen!
As I start seeing the cloth diapers and learning more about how they work – I am getting more excited about using cloth! It’s a big change to make, but I think it will be a wonderful change!
It seems as if every time my 8 mo old poops (lately) he needs an outfit change. We’ve changed sizes and tried different brands. I’m tired of the beading of the gel from one brand, but that’s the only one that seems to keep the poop in the diaper. I’m ready for a new era!
Plus, being that we’ll be using the diapers much less time – I imagine they will be valuable to our close family members who will have babies sooner than later! So, overall – I think the cost savings will be at least even, but then if we have more kids or can pass them along to other family – How much better can you get than that?
I completely understand your concerns. We did disposable until my second was about 6 months old. We made the switch & it was an adjustment at first. But really- after you have had every bodily fluid land on you during the infant stage- you get over the whole diaper thing pretty quickly. What worked for me- I would clean out the diapers in the toilet- then use the spray nozzle on the faucet in the utility sink in the laundry room to really get any color out. I was a real stickler for stains. Utilizing the liners was a huge help- really made clean up easier. We have been out of diapers for a good 6 years now- but if the Lord blessed us with another baby- I would definitely do cloth all over again. Between that & pumping my milk- I know we saved thousands of dollars over all the years between our 3 kids.
Kudos to you for going cloth! I’m expecting baby # 3 in a few weeks and have been thinking about cloth diapers too. I can’t wait to read about your adventures. I’m promoting it on my blog and Facebook page. Good luck!
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