Cloth Diapering
For the Frugal, the Trendy, and the Earth-Friendly
Believe it or not, diapering your baby has evolved hugely over the years. At one point, cloth diapering was the main choice mothers had for their babies, but then came the invention of disposable diapers. Of course, like so many things in today’s culture, styles come back to make updated appearances. Cloth diapers never truly disappeared from the scene but became a choice that was more uncommon. Many people encounter shock and surprise when it is revealed that they use cloth diapers. Some don’t even realize they are still used.
This inevitably leads to many questions regarding cloth diapering: Why would you cloth diaper? Who is cloth diapering? How hard is it? What should I buy? How many do I need?
The answers to these questions lie in what type of cloth diaperer you are. Cloth diapering has evolved many times over the years, which means there is now something for everyone. Most people fall into one of several categories when it comes to diapering.
The Frugal
These are the families that are just trying to make ends meet, need a less expensive diapering method, or are just trying to make their money stretch. They tend to have fewer diapers and less fancy diapers. For these families, 12-36 prefolds, a few doublers, and covers are all they need to diaper their children. Prefolds are easy, carry well, fit a range of sizes, and are easy to launder.
The average estimate to use disposable diapers is $80-$150 per month. This adds up to approximately $1000-$1800 per year to diaper your baby. In comparison, if a family were to purchase 36 prefolds, 12 doublers, and 6 covers, your total cost for diapering would run approximately $200. The cost to wash your cloth diapers once would run you approximately $1.50 to $2.00 per load. Washing twice a week that is only $3.00-$4.00 per week. This doesn’t even take into consideration cloth diapers can be size variable, making it possible for you to use them for multiple children at once. You can also pass them down from one child to another since most cloth diapers will hold up to more than one child. This is an excellent alternative to families with multiple children in diapers at one time.
Earth Friendly
Then there are the families that choose reusable diapers to help the environment. Obviously, if you are reusing your diapers, you are not filling up a landfill with disposables that take years to decompose. We also must consider the amount of human waste that is collecting in our landfills and that does stand a chance to leach out into the soil. Since most people do not read the disposable box that says solid should be dumped into the toilet before disposing of the diaper, much of this ends up in the landfill. While these are not exact, the best estimates for the time needed to decompose a diaper are 200-500 years. Over that time all the chemicals, plastic and waste are being released into our environment. We can’t even say yet what the repercussions of this are going to be.
Even after all this, we still have the water debate. It is often asked; doesn’t it take more water to wash all those diapers? The answer is simple. Yes it does, but to truly understand if you are using more or less water you must understand the process used to make disposable diapers. Disposable diapers are made from plastic, wood pulp and a synthetic polyacrylate (those little crystals filling the diaper). According to the CDC (Cotton Diaper Coalition), “it takes massive amounts of water.” The extra loads of laundry you will generate to wash your diapers really cannot compare. Overall, cloth diapers use fewer resources than disposables.
The earth-friendly families are looking to make a difference in the world. You will find them using more All in One and Pocket type diapers. These types of diapers work much like disposables, they are easy to put on and take off, but you can wash and reuse them.
The Trendy
It would be amiss to ignore the group of people that use cloth diapers because it’s in style, it’s cool, and it’s so adorable. There really is nothing cuter than a baby in their fat little, fluffy butt. Cloth diapers these days come in all sorts of super cute prints. People purchase babies all kinds of cute outfits for every occasion. The trendy diapering parent also purchases a diaper to go along with that outfit.
You can purchase diapers for every occasion, as there are all kinds of cute prints, designs, and fabrics. Stores often have a diaper for every occasion and to match every outfit. For these trendy parents, it’s really not about the cost and it’s really not about the environment, (even though it’s hip to save the environment), it’s about the fun of cloth diapering. Do not let anyone fool you; there is fun in diapering.
Even though there are these separate categories, many families cloth diaper for a combination of the above reasons. Their diapering “stash”, as it is referred to, is made up of all kinds of diapers. Often there are families that want to save some money while helping to save the earth. Even in the most frugal of homes a few trendy diapers can be found. For many diapering families, especially mothers, it’s not just about the diaper, but an entire new community that opens. You find new friends to talk to, and moms that cloth diaper LOVE to talk about cloth diapering. Cloth diapering takes diapering your baby to a whole new level. There is so much to learn and enjoy about it. Who knew diapering could be fun?