I was around six months pregnant with my second child thinking of all the ways to save a few bucks. After having a less than satisfactory breastfeeding relationship with my daughter I was bound and determined to go the long haul with this kid. But surely there were more ways to save money. I was fairly new to this whole "do it the way we have been doing it for centuries" thing, and I didn't have a lot of natural mama friends yet. I started thinking about cloth diapers and then I was thinking about all of the horror stories of past generations of diaper pails, stabbing their babies with safety pins, and soaking through all of their clothes four times a day. UGH....that didn't sound fun!
Right about that time I came across a website for gdiapers and was floored. You mean there are alternatives to disposables and to cloth? That started me on the search through what seemed like one million cloth diapering websites. Information overload was an understatement! Never did I think I would ever have a dilemma in choosing which kind of diaper to use. Then, while checking the website of a local breastfeeding support store I saw they were offering a cloth diapering class. That's what I need!!!!
Next step...convincing the hubby to join me in what I am thinking is not his idea of a fun date night with his wife. "Nick, I think we should really think about cloth diapering." Nick stares back blankly "Nick, there is a class we can go to." Another confused look. Nick replies with "Um, ok."
So we went to the class and heard all the good reasons to be using cloth, the different kinds of cloth, and briefly about the care of the diapers. I think Nick was sold on the price alone. After getting our tax returns that year we purchased our first cloth diaper...something in my first parenting go around I never would have imagined.
We have been very happy with our decision to cloth diaper and here is a list of my personal top 10 reasons why I love to cloth diaper.
1. $$$$ We spent approx. $650 to cloth diaper our son from 1 month up to when he will potty train. When purchasing diapers for that time frame we probably would have spent somewhere near $2000 - 2500.
2. The environment. Every disposable diaper that you throw into the dump takes around 500 years to decompose. You are also throwing human waste wear it doesn't belong and it ends up in places it doesn't belong...like the ground water.
3. My baby's bum. Disposable diapers are made with chemicals to help absorb the urine, unfortunately it absorbs right into our baby's bodies right through their skin.
4. Helped him sit. Having that extra cushion really helped my little guy achieve all sorts of goals faster. He could sit up faster due to the extra cushion. I believe he walked faster due to not being hurt when he fell.
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| Liam rockin' his cow diaper and argyle baby legs...too cute! |
6. Cute and fun. I don't know how many times people stop me when I am at the store and ask about the cute patterns on his diapers. I mean who doesn't think a cow print on your baby's bum is probably one of the cutest things ever!
7.. Making all kinds of new mommy friends. I know it seems strange but just as some mommies bond over breastfeeding and birth stories, some of us also get to bond over cloth.
8. No need for box stores. Since I was breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and making the baby food, I believe I saved so much money on other items as well. This was because there was no late night trips to the big box stores for formula, diapers, or food. So there was no dazed shopping in the baby section which always leads to more uneducated decisions about what I would need to make my life with baby easier.
9. All the fun words. My friends and I get to use all kinds of words that are like our own language; fuzzibunz, bumgenius, happyheinys, rumparooz, and flips.
10. Love spreading the word. So many people are unaware of all the advances that cloth diapers have made. I love to show people how much better it has gotten. I know I would have loved someone to show me.
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