Today's cloth diapers are not your mom's cloth diapers. No folded gauze and hard plastic pants! No dipping your hands in the toilet! Today's cloth diapers are easy to use, economical, great for the environment and even better for your baby. There are MANY different kinds to choose from. CLICK HERE for a short article on the different types of cloth diapering!
We choose to cloth diaper our triplets for many reasons, but mostly because it saves us some money. We calculated that putting the babies in disposables would cost on average $250 a month (diapers only - not including wipes, creams, etc). With the cloth diapers we are currently using we only needed to invest about $750 and we are set until they are potty-trained. We didn't buy them all at once and we bought a bunch used. "Used diapers?" you might wonder... Yep! You can get great deals on almost new diapers on DiaperSwappers.
"Isn't cloth diapering a lot more work?" Not really. The ones we use are all-in-one diapers, meaning they are just like disposables except that you wash them instead of tossing them. We also use cloth wipes. We wet them with warm water and a little Johnsons baby soap and then fold them and place them in the electric wipe warmer. We do this only once a day.
"What about cleaning the poopies... isn't it messy?" Well it can be but it can be with disposables too. They rarely poop at night so at night we line the diapers with fleece liners. Fleece wicks the moisture away from baby's bum and keeps them feeling dryer longer so they are less likely to wake up at night. During the day, when poopies are inevitable, we use flushable liners on top of the diaper so if they poop you just lift the liner and throw it in the toilet. No stinky garbage to worry about!
"You must do a ton of laundry!" We keep the dirty diapers in a clothes hamper lined with a pail liner. It has a top so the smell stays in. Then we wash once a day. We put the dirties in the washer at night after the babies go to bed and we move them to the dryer first thing in the morning. We use a regular brand of detergent, only we use the free and clear version (perfumes and dyes can build up on a cloth diaper harming its effectiveness). Many cloth diapering mamas recommend air drying, sun drying or line drying cloth diapers. We don't have that option where we live so we just dry them regularly and we've never had an issue with it damaging diapers. They always come out looking and smelling clean and fresh!
"What about when you are out with the babies?" We choose to use disposables when we leave the house on most occasions. We buy one large box every 6 weeks or so. Though I like to do my part when I can, I'm not out to save the environment so I don't feel guilty using disposables when we need to. You can use cloth out though. You can purchase a wetbag and carry dirties in it. With three babies it adds up pretty quickly though so that's why we don't do it. Maybe if we only had one baby we would.
In addition to the obvious benefits to cloth diapering (saving money and better for the environment) there is the fact that my babies never get diaper rash. Once when they were just home from the hospital we had a bought of yeast infection but it was short lived and its been the only real rash issue we've had. We don't really have problems with leaks either. And cloth diapers are just plain cute! Just beware- it can become addicting! :)
We choose to cloth diaper our triplets for many reasons, but mostly because it saves us some money. We calculated that putting the babies in disposables would cost on average $250 a month (diapers only - not including wipes, creams, etc). With the cloth diapers we are currently using we only needed to invest about $750 and we are set until they are potty-trained. We didn't buy them all at once and we bought a bunch used. "Used diapers?" you might wonder... Yep! You can get great deals on almost new diapers on DiaperSwappers.
"Isn't cloth diapering a lot more work?" Not really. The ones we use are all-in-one diapers, meaning they are just like disposables except that you wash them instead of tossing them. We also use cloth wipes. We wet them with warm water and a little Johnsons baby soap and then fold them and place them in the electric wipe warmer. We do this only once a day.
"What about cleaning the poopies... isn't it messy?" Well it can be but it can be with disposables too. They rarely poop at night so at night we line the diapers with fleece liners. Fleece wicks the moisture away from baby's bum and keeps them feeling dryer longer so they are less likely to wake up at night. During the day, when poopies are inevitable, we use flushable liners on top of the diaper so if they poop you just lift the liner and throw it in the toilet. No stinky garbage to worry about!
"You must do a ton of laundry!" We keep the dirty diapers in a clothes hamper lined with a pail liner. It has a top so the smell stays in. Then we wash once a day. We put the dirties in the washer at night after the babies go to bed and we move them to the dryer first thing in the morning. We use a regular brand of detergent, only we use the free and clear version (perfumes and dyes can build up on a cloth diaper harming its effectiveness). Many cloth diapering mamas recommend air drying, sun drying or line drying cloth diapers. We don't have that option where we live so we just dry them regularly and we've never had an issue with it damaging diapers. They always come out looking and smelling clean and fresh!
"What about when you are out with the babies?" We choose to use disposables when we leave the house on most occasions. We buy one large box every 6 weeks or so. Though I like to do my part when I can, I'm not out to save the environment so I don't feel guilty using disposables when we need to. You can use cloth out though. You can purchase a wetbag and carry dirties in it. With three babies it adds up pretty quickly though so that's why we don't do it. Maybe if we only had one baby we would.
In addition to the obvious benefits to cloth diapering (saving money and better for the environment) there is the fact that my babies never get diaper rash. Once when they were just home from the hospital we had a bought of yeast infection but it was short lived and its been the only real rash issue we've had. We don't really have problems with leaks either. And cloth diapers are just plain cute! Just beware- it can become addicting! :)
Forums and Support Groups for Cloth Diapering and more
- Diaper Swappers - This forum is a fantastic place to start, full of moms with lots of knowledge and advice about cloth diapering and all sorts of topics regarding parenting and pregnancy!
- KellyMom - A forum dedicated to breast-feeding and attachment parenting, but they also cover topics such as cloth diapering.
- Diaper Pin - Another Cloth Diaper forum that's a great resource of information.
Cloth Diaper StoresThere are a LOT of online retailers for cloth diapers! This list is just a few. Some things to look for when considering where to purchase from:
Variety of Brand Selection Points or Rewards for purchases Gift Registry Educational Information Diaper Accessories (i.e. laundry detergent, wet bags, pail liners) Security of Payment and Shipping ***If you own a CD site you would like me to add to this list, please Contact Us with the link to your store!
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Cloth Diaper CompaniesMost cloth diaper companies don't sell directly to the public but their sites do offer a lot of good information about their specific brands.
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