In the beginning my knowledge on the subject was pretty limited and I didn't have a preference either way. I didn't love the pins, plastic pants and stinky wet diaper pails in nurseries (or dunking the poopy diapers in the toilet to get the mess off) - that had been my experience with cloth diapering (now I am showing my true age ;-p) - but I liked the fact there was little to no garbage and they could be reused, passed on or re-purposed as something else later on.
Years ago - close to 8 of them, I believe - I worked for an independent local baby store that sold cloth diapers (among other things) and it was through that job that my love for them began. The modern cloth diapers aren't necessarily the cotton squares of the past. There are so many options for different, and easy, ways to cloth diaper that it was so easy to get excited about them.
So when my husband and I got pregnant and were starting the purchases for Wee Man I started more research on the topic. While shopping for all of the baby things we needed we had some rules: we wanted to keep our long-term expenses down to a minimum; we knew it was likely our family would grow in the future so the purchases we did make we wanted to be ones that would last; everything had to be gender neutral (because we didn't know what we were having, or what subsequent children may be); and we didn't want oodles of things in our small home - our square footage is limited! Cloth diapers fit right into most of these "rules".
Thankfully my husband didn't have a preference for anything we bought. He was happy to let me research (I'd usually bring him 2 or 3 options of what I liked in each category to look over and his answer every time was "I don't care - I trust you - just show me how it works when you decide") and then come with me to the store to buy/pick things out. Since I used to sell it all, he knew that I would be making informed decisions about strollers, car seats, cribs, diapers and the like.
Diaper research turned out to be probably the most confusing and stressful thing out of the bunch. Pockets, All-In-Ones, Pre-folds, combinations of all the above, Snappis, Pins, etc....the list went on and on. I had a couple of cloth-diapering friends so I chatted to them. The consensus out in my group of friends were All-In-Ones and Pockets were the way to go. I wasn't so sure. I thought $18-24 a diaper was insane and didn't really want to buy used from strangers, and also wanted to cloth diaper from birth to potty training, so I wasn't sold on the one-size-fits-all models. So I started looking into the pre-fold route. Bummis seemed to be the best option and so hubby and I went to my old store to explore our options.
I have to say my husband was super nervous about the pre-folds at first - they seemed to him to be really complicated to fold - and as someone who'd never changed a diaper before our son was born, he didn't know if he'd be able to do it with a wriggly newborn. I was proud of him for still going through with his commitment to cloth diapering, and for the first couple of months (in my determination to make it easy for him so he'd continue to believe it was a good choice!) I'd pre-fold them in the drawer so all he had to do was pull them out and Velcro the cover around them on the Wee Man! After the first month we could both pretty much do it with our eyes closed - something all new parents know is a reality at those 3am diaper changes!
Initially I bought the Bummis (size small) starter kit. It had 24 cotton pre-fold diapers, about 5 or 6 waterproof covers, some disposable liners, a set (5) of micro-fleece reusable liners, a large-sized wet bag, and a sample of cloth-diaper safe (ie: no zinc) bum balm. After about a month I ended up adding about 12 more pre-folds to our mix and a couple covers. The small sized pre-folds & covers lasted for us (in size) until Wee Man was about 10 months old. At that time we went and purchased about 30 more large sized pre-folds and 8 waterproof covers (caving at this point and getting a couple of "boy" prints in addition to 6 gender-neutral ones....I couldn't resist the rocket ship and car patterns....they were so cute!).
We did buy some All-In-One/Pocket diapers as well. We call these our "travel diapers" as they are the ones we use when we go out of the house....shopping, friends/family's houses, etc. I found while pre-folds are pretty easy at home, they are a little more tricky when we're out and about - more just because there are more pieces to carry around in the diaper bag and are another step or two when diaper changing. In public Wee Man turns into a squirmy distracted little guy and it was much easier to slap on a quick one-piece diaper and move along than dealing with the folding while trying to balance him up on one of those narrow changing tables that flip down from a wall! We opted for Bummis-distributed Easy Fit all-in-one pockets and bought about 10 of them.
I get all sorts of questions and objections about cloth diapering when people see/hear I do it. Here are a few of them, and my responses:
- Cloth diapers are so expensive. There's no way we could afford to do it. - While initially I agree that the costs are higher, averaging it out over the entire time your child will be in diapers you are saving hundreds of dollars. Couple that with the fact that cloth diapers can be used over and over for more children, you're saving even more. Our costs were around $700 in total (I rounded to the nearest dollar): Bummi's Infant Starter Kit $180; 24 additional small sized pre-folds $60; additional fleece liners $7; 30 Bummis Large pre-folds $80; 6 medium sized covers $75; 10 all-in-one diapers $300. We do choose to use disposable inserts when we're out ($6.99 for a roll of 100) as this helps prevent us from having to carry poop around in our wet bag because you can pick up the liner and flush it, so we buy one roll every 3-4 months or so adding slightly to our expenses. At home we don't use this. When you consider how much disposable diapers cost all of this is a drop in the bucket in terms of expenses!
- I hate doing laundry - you must be doing it all the time with cloth diapers!? - With the current stash that we have (about 30 pre-folds and 10 all-in-ones) I do a load of diapers about every other day. That's about 3 extra loads of laundry a week. The more diapers you have, the less laundry you would do. With electric washers and dryers (I don't know anyone with a washboard that has to sit and scrub their laundry over a tub of water!) this isn't a big task. I throw my soiled diapers into the wash, set it on rinse/spin to get rid of the initial soiled messes (all solids are put into the toilet, so this is more just residue) and then put it on a hot water wash. When the washer is done it's magic they go into the dryer. If I didn't have a washer/dryer in my home this would be more of a concern. Since I'm fortunate enough that I do....not a big deal. We typically do 7-8 loads a laundry a week - this includes bedding, towels, clothes and diapers for a family of 3. I don't think that's excessive.
- Does your house smell like a diaper pail? I remember the smell of the diaper pail when we were young. - This one always makes me chuckle - I totally remember the smell of the blue water diapers used to soak in in diaper pails. No one uses a watery solution in their diaper pails anymore. I don't even know if they still sell it. We use a wet bag (the large sized one that came in our Bummis Starter Kit) in my son's room for wet diapers. It sits on the floor (zipped up) - not in a pail or closed container - and there is no smell. For the poopy diapers we use a diaper sprayer and remove the solid mess and then the diaper is placed in a dry diaper pail (it is essentially a plastic garbage can with a lid that sits on - no rubber edging to seal it) in the bathroom until laundry day. There is no smell in there either. In fact, I've had several people comment about the fact that Wee Man's room and the bathroom don't smell like diapers....
- It's too much cost up-front - I don't know what style would work best or if I'll like it. - This is one I agree with. Hence my own stress at first when researching. $24 for 1 diaper is pretty steep, especially if you don't know if you'll like the style or aren't sold on the whole cloth diaper commitment. That's why I LOVE Parenting By Nature (check my links at the right - I've linked to them). They have starter sets with 6 diapers or so of different brands where you can try out different styles - pockets, pre-folds, all-in-ones, etc. without committing to a large number of one in your stash. When you find a style/brand you love then you can go any buy more to complete your collection. I didn't choose this route but I know others who have and were really glad they did. There are also lots of local moms selling used cloth diapers on places like Kijiji, or Craig's List. I also have to put a shout-out for a friend that makes cloth diapers locally here in Calgary (check out my link to Gardenpetal Designs on the right) --- super cute customizable patterns, beautifully made and great pocket diapers. Had I known about her when I was buying them, I wouldn't have done my Easy Fits and would have bought them all from her instead. I prefer to support local and Canadian whenever possible. Both these links are Canadian! Parenting By Nature is a small mama-owned business out of the GTA. They ship quickly and for a decent price (free with $149 orders or more!).
- I want to start. What do I need? - First, find a brand/style you like and then this is my suggestion:
- A minimum of 24 diapers....this will mean laundry every 1-2 days. The more diapers, the less laundry.
- A wet bag and/or a diaper pail - somewhere to put the dirty ones in between washes. We use a large Bummis wet bag in Wee Man's room for wet diapers, and a small diaper pail in the bathroom for soiled diapers. I know people that use one large diaper pail or well-sealing garbage can.
- A wet bag for your diaper bag - you'll want to go out from time to time. A cloth diapering wet bag will keep smells and leaks out of your diaper bag - as opposed to using a large size Ziploc bag or something. Bummis make good small ones (you can use it for wet swim suits later on when your cloth diapering days are over!) but there are lots of other brands out there, too. We have a super cute one I picked up at a local sale when I was pregant - it's got guitars all over it in funky colours. Thought it would be something we could re-use for swimming lessons when he's older!
- Wipes - we use baby wash cloths (I bought a pack of 50) and then you can reuse them over and over. I wash them with my diapers and they go in their corresponding wet bags/diaper pail with the diapers. Some mamas prefer disposable ones....but then you need a garbage can close at hand, too, because they don't wash well! ;-) We use disposable when we're out. It's easier. One pack will last me months, because they're used so infrequently. I buy the more expensive no-chemical/alcohol/dyes/perfume ones because of this!
- Bum balm/cream - *Note* zinc ruins cloth diapers - prevents them from absorbing, since that's the purpose of the mineral - and makes them stink! Find a natural balm that helps to wick moisture away from the skin. Unlike disposables, your baby will have moisture against their skin all the time with cloth diapers. In 18 months we've only had 1 bad diaper rash, and a little redness from time to time. We use Bo Bebe brand rash rescue (it's a local Calgary company), but there are tons of others out there - Dimpleskins Bum Bum Balm is another great brand we've used. Since you change cloth diapers more frequently, there is less incidences of diaper rash. When you find redness, strip your diapers (rinse several times in hot hot water).
- Other things that aren't necessary but are nice to have:
- A diaper sprayer (Parenting by Nature sells them) - hooks up to your toilet so you can spray the solid mess off diapers and makes laundry and diaper changes much more pleasant! Best $55 I've ever spent!
- Disposable liners - makes clean up easier. Most of them are flushable so you can get rid of solid messes much easier - helps prevent major stains in your diapers, too.
- Reusable liners - there are tons of options. If you have a heavy wetter, and additional liner will help with absorbtion, micro-fibre ones help to wick some of the moisture away from baby's skin (we use these at night!). Also helps prevent major stains in your diapers!
- A wipes warmer - we have one and it was my one frivolous purchase when I was pregnant. Ours is the Prince Lionheart one, it has a nightlight on it - which is nice - and keeps wipes moist and warm (we don't use any solution in ours - just their little cushion that needs moistening every 3-4 days and replacing every 6 months or so). Our Wee Man's room isn't attached to a bathroom and we don't use disposable wipes on him, so it prevents running to a sink to moisten a wipe. When he was little it was also much easier to do nighttime diaper changes when we didn't have a freezing cold wipe on his bum! I love it. Another $50 I was happy to have spent!
18 months later I am still thrilled with our decision to cloth diaper and choosing the pre-fold route. We're currently potty training so in our house we're almost done our cloth diapering days. I think that cloth diapers have helped (in our house) with the early potty training, and I can happily say that our cost savings have been in the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. To diaper our child in his first 2 years of life (and any other kids we may decide to have!) we have spent less than $750. How many other parents can say that?! :-)
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