During a weekly visit, my sister came over with my nephew and she brought her new to her pocket cloth diapers. Up until that moment it time cloth diapers wasn't something I had really thought about. The cloth diaper presences in the baby stores back then were limited and I didn't really know it was an option. My sister showed me how they worked and explained how to wash them; with that I was intrigued. Even though I was a bit skeptical about how convenient they would I totally wanted to try them!
What began as just a handful of preloved pockets grew into a full diaper stash overtime. The reason why a family chooses to cloth diaper will vary. For us it was a mixture of a few things that we are going to get into below but before we start here is my daughter Maeve in 2009 in one of her first cloth diapers given to us from her aunty Hayley.
- Cloth diapering creates less garbage. I have to say I got immense gratification from the reduction in diaper trash I was creating. A baby will go through thousands of disposable diapers from birth to potty learning. Not only is this a lot of garbage in our landfills but it's also a lot of garbage that's going to take forever to breakdown. You can deep dive into the landfill disposable diaper decomposition rate on the internet, but the short version is your baby will be long grown and that garbage will still be taking up space on this planet.
- Cloth diapers can save you money... especially if you have multiple children. The investment upfront is going to be there but if you plan to have multiple children investing in a high-quality cloth diaper can save you thousands. Want to save even more, shop the pre-loved market ! I built my entire diaper stash with second-hand/preloved diapers. The preloved market offers tons of options and was a great way to try out a few different styles at a discounted price. You can also make a cloth diaper yourself! You can up-cycle old clothes and towels into an absorbent layer, pair that with a preloved PUL cover for a very inexpensive cloth diaper option.
- Cloth diapers are just cloth. The ingredients used in disposable diapers can cause rashes and irritation on some baby’s skin. While this might not be the case for every baby some children simply can't tolerate disposables diapers. Cloth diapers whether they are an all in one, all in two, fitted or flat are composed of some sort of fabric as the absorbent layer and then a waterproofing layer, that's it. I loved having this more natural diaper option for my baby.
- Cloth diapers are pretty easy to use. There will be a learning curve as there is with anything new but in general the transition to cloth diapers is easy. Cloth diapers have come a long way since a folded flats, pins, and rubber pants. Don't get me wrong, that system is still widely popular today, it just looks a little different. Flats now have new easy to fold designs and luxurious materials and prints. And instead of rubber pants you have the option of a snappi and cute print PUL covers or soft wool diaper covers. Many of the cloth diapers on the market now have simple snap closures, removable inserts for ease of washing and adjustable grow with your baby features. They have even thought of how to make the clean-up easy with diaper sprayers that can be installed in your bathroom and wet bags to carry dirty how when on the go. The innovation that has gone into creating a great cloth diapering experience is truly exciting.
- You get to choose what works best for your family. I did not jump into cloth full time. Over the course of the next 6 years my cloth diapering journey ebb and flowed between part time and full time. Cloth diapering doesn't have to be all or nothing; part-time, full time, only at home, only during the day, etc. You can custom build cloth diapering to look like whatever you want.
- Cloth diapers are REALLY cute... and they do a great job at keeping the poop where it belongs. Cloth diapers have come a long way regarding design and fit and I have to say we had way less blowouts in cloth than disposables. The aesthetic and function of todays modern cloth diapers contributed greatly to the cloth diapering experience for us.
My 3rd child Autumn in a fitted diaper in 2013.
By the time our third baby arrived I brought my newborn fitted cloth diapers to the hospital with me so I could cloth diaper her from day one. At his point in our lives we were cloth diapering full time with fitted diapers and wool and loving it. I have so many fond memories of my babies with their cloth diapers, it was something I truly hold dear to my heart of the days when they were small. For us it was a journey we fully enjoyed taking and for this reason if I had the chance to do it again I would.