I created this blog when I was a little more than halfway through my pregnancy, with the goal of sharing news of my life with friends and family all over Canada and the world. Now that Lil’ Ziggy is here, I’m hoping to start writing not only updates on his growth, but other posts about my home and lifestyle.
My first step in that direction is this series on cloth diapers! Much like my birth plan, I researched cloth diapering long before I even got pregnant. I first learned about cloth diapering from other parenting blogs, and it really appealed to me.
Here are the top 4 reason I decided to use cloth diapers on my baby:
Health
Studies have shown that disposable diapers contain extremely toxic chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic or can cause hormonal problems. In fact, the chemical Dioxin is present in disposable diapers, even though it is known to be toxic and is banned in many countries outside of North America. But we do love our convenience, don’t we? Just smelling a ‘sposie in comparison to a (washed) cloth diaper is enough to convince me that I don’t want it on Ziggy’s bum.
Also, we had a diaper rash problem pretty much instantly when we used disposables. The rash has since gone away with cloth diapers and it hasn’t come back, but it took using flushable liners and zinc cream to get rid of. I’ve still been using it for overnight, just to make sure it doesn’t come back.
Performance
Ever had a diaper blowout? When Ziggy was in a disposables, he almost always leaked in the worst way. Sometimes he may as well not have been in a diaper at all! While cloth diapers haven’t eliminated leaks for us, they certainly haven’t been as catastrophic as when he was in ‘sposies. The ones that have leaked, I find were the ones that didn’t have elastic around the back, or the fit wasn’t as good around his legs (I’ll explain which ones in later posts). I’ve been amazed at the messes that most of them have held in!
Cost
I have more cloth diapers than I need (though some days I appreciate having a few extra). I have several different brands, some are low-cost, and some are more high-end. I also bought them all brand-new. You can lower your up-front cost of cloth diapers by buying seconds (factory defects) or even used diapers (not as gross as you might think!). Even though I bought new, and many of my diapers are high-end brands, I will still be coming out ahead by the time all my children are potty-trained.
I wrote down a cost breakdown of my cloth diapers somewhere, but I can’t find it now. I estimate I’ve spent about $800ish on diapers and accessories, before I even had Lil’ Ziggy! Some people may think that’s absolutely crazy to spend that much upfront. Then, we decided to pick up some newborn Pampers disposables for the first week or so of Lil’ Ziggy’s life, until the yucky meconium was passed from his system. They were about $12 a package, with 27 diapers in a package. We ended up buying I think four or five of those packages as 27 diapers really don’t last very long. Just on newborn diapers, we spent around $60 in two weeks.
We spent a similar amount on the next size up a few weeks later, when Ziggy had a minor operation. So imagine spending about $30 a week on disposable diapers. That’s over $1500 a year. By the time they are potty trained…. well you get the idea. Even when you factor in extra loads of laundry (really not much of an issue once you start having kids anyway), and disposable wipes and liners which we sometimes use, we are still saving so much on diapering.
Environment
I don’t really need to pull out stats to explain to you that using disposable diapers leads to an enormous amount of waste in our landfills. Waste that takes forever to decompose. Waste that used more water to manufacture than I use to wash my cloth diapers. Waste containing human excrement, which should NOT be put in landfills at all.
Listen, I’m no tree-hugger. I’ll be using disposables when I travel to Ontario for a month, out of sheer convenience (that’s a lot of cloth to cram in a suitcase!). And I still use biodegradable liners at night. I’ll sometimes use disposable wipes to clean him up if he’s had a particularly messy diaper. Even so, I just plain feel better using cloth and reusable wipes and liners.
So over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting about the diapers I’m using, how they’re working for me and Lil’ Ziggy, my wash routine, and anything else cloth-diapery that catches my fancy. Even though one kind of diaper may work for Zig, it’s important to note that it may not work for every baby. They’re all shaped so differently!
Hope you follow along! Question for you:
Do you cloth diaper your child or children? Why or why not? (no judgement from me, I promise!)
I’ve shared my post at the following linkup parties:
Tuesday Talk via Sweet Little Ones
Mom Blog Party via MomResource
I am still trying to figure out cloth diapers, but the health and cost have been 2 motivating factors for me. Plus they are just so much cuter than disposables (vain, I know!). I got a couple but have been having problems with leaking…I think I haven’t washed or rinsed them enough???
Cloth diapers can be a bit of a trial and error thing. The washing system I do is a “Prewash” on hot, then a hot cycle with a cold rinse, then an extra rinse. I use the recommended amount of detergent on the detergent box, and I haven’t had significant leakage issues. There are some diapers that just seem to leak more for me, but since it’s not across the board I think it’s more of a fit or style thing.
If you’re using natural fibers like cloth, hemp or bamboo, you’ll need to wash them several times before their first use to remove natural oils, and they’ll get more absorbent with each wash. Hope that helps!
Great article! Although i have not tried cloth diapering, i am happy you were able to do it. I wanted to try when i was potty training but got to scared of the load of laundry that would need to be done but I think it is probably just hard to make changes… Getting there..
I only do one load of cloth diaper laundry every second day, so it hasn’t impacted my (nonexistent) routine that much. It is one more thing to stay on top of, though. I’m sure it’ll be even more fun if and when we have a second child in diapers! Thanks for reading!
I have to say I have never tried them but I always said if I had a third I might give it a go. Great review hun. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme
Thanks Jenny! I really like using cloth diapers, I don’t even mind the extra “labour” involved with washing them. If you have a third, you could always see if a service in your area does trial packages!
Hi Monica!
Great post! I like using the cloth diapers but with the drought we are having out here in CA, I feel like a giant water consumer with all the laundry i’m doing 🙂 I do love all the cute diaper covers around. Its like a whole other cute accessory to have!
We use a combination of cloth diapers (we got the Flip system and bought charcoal/bamboo inserts on Amazon) and disposables when we are out of the house. Do you have a fix for getting the smell out of the diapers? Our LO had diaper rash early on in using the diapers and we used Boudreaux’s paste and now they have a smell to them and I have no idea how to get it out. We’ve since switched diaper rash creams since I’ve read that the amount of zinc (and they use fish oil as well) can cause a smell but am wondering if they’re a lost cause and I should replace the ones that are fairly bad or if there is a different detergent I should be using. We’ve stripped them but they still smell 🙁
Any info is appreciated!
Cheers-
Melissa
LittleMissOrangeblossom.blogspot.com
Hi Melissa,
Wow, great question about the stink. What method did you use to strip your diapers? There are a few ways to do it. Some companies have stripping detergents, you could go with good ol’ fashioned boiling (for inserts, not covers with elastic), and a few other ways too. I haven’t had to strip my diapers yet so I’m not sure which method I would use. Have you tried Funk Rock from Rockin’ Green? I think Laundry Tarts has a stripping agent as well. It might take a few strips to get rid of the stink.
Also, when I had to use a zinc cream on Lil’ Ziggy, I used Bummis Biodegradable Liners to keep the cream from going onto the diaper as well. I haven’t had a smell problem yet, but I’m glad his rash is gone and I am back to the diaper-safe creams. I hope that this helps!
Thanks for commenting :D. I love all the cute patterns for cloth diapers too. It takes all my strength not to buy more every time they come out with new ones!
Good for you for going the cloth route! I thought about cloth diapering, I even bought some, but haven’t used them. The idea of all that laundry really turned me off. Also, washing poop out of baby clothes is gross, so just being able to throw away a really nasty diaper won out. We may still switch later, I hear they’re great for potty training, but so far I’ve picked the easy route on that since there are enough other struggles.
Hey, you gotta do what’s right for you and your family! Cloth diapers definitely add one more thing to stay on top of. And it’s not worth it if it just stresses you out! I’m not really minding the laundry or even the poop (breastfeed poop is water soluble, so I just toss the nasty diaper in the laundry bag like I’m tossing out a disposable). Even if you just give them a try in the potty training stage, you’ll still be saving a bit of money. I call that a win win!
Love your cloth diaper series (and the no-judgment aspect! #momshelpingmoms). We do a combination of both. LO wears cloth (bum genius) at home during the day & disposables when were out of the house & at night. Works perfectly for us. So glad to see you back again at the Mom Blog Party. We missed you! 🙂 http://www.momresource.com/mom-blogs-party-week-11
Thanks Saira! I’m glad to be back posting (semi) regularly again too. Glad to hear that you have a diapering system that works well for you! I’ll be switching back to disposables when I go to visit family for a month, but we had a bad diaper rash with ‘sposies a few weeks ago that I’d rather not deal with again. I’m thinking of sneaking some cloth into my suitcase, just in case :P.
I love cloth diapers! We settled on a cloth by day/dispoables by night combo with our 3rd child and it worked great for us. I have reviewed every cloth dipaer we have tried over the last 7 years and 4 kids on my blog. (http://fromonemommatoanother2.blogspot.ca/2015/03/how-to-save-when-buying-cloth-diapers.html)
After trying many, many types my favourite is Sandys fitteds with Thirsties covers. Skinny legs, big legs, etc they all fit great. Another great thing about cloth is that if you have more than one child is really lowers the cost since you already have a stash. You can also make money back when you are ready to sell them too.
I am looking forward to reading your reviews.
Totally agreed about using cloth on more than one kid. I love the cost savings there! I’m sure I’ll need to replace some by the time our second comes along but it still beats shelling out thousands for disposables. Thanks for sharing your reviews too!
I love our cloth diapers! We use prefolds and thirsties covers and have never had any issues! Really enjoyed reading your post!
Thanks for reading and commenting! I have prefolds too, but I don’t use them as much for actual diapers lately. I tend to go for pockets but there is no doubt that prefolds perform very well.
We love our cloth diapers! We are lucky enough to have a daycare provider who doesn’t mind them, which makes all of the difference. I can’t even imagine how much money we have saved, not to mention the bags of trash!
It’s great that daycares are starting to get on the cloth diaper train! I think the invention of AIOs and Pockets help, because they go on and off like ‘sposies.