Diving into Cloth Diapering

The last few months have been a whirlwind of preparing for the Bean. Aside from the obvious mental preparation, we've painted and set up the nursery, gathered some of the essential baby supplies, read every pregnancy and child rearing book we can get our hands on, and have been stocking up on a variety of fuzzy, snugly, and sometimes expensive cloth diapers.

The decision to cloth diaper the Bean was made early. One day at work, my coworker Penny (who is also expecting) asked me what I thought about cloth diapers. I wasn't sure what to say. To be honest, I had never even thought much about diapers, much less the cloth variety. After becoming pregnant, I had stumbled across a few newspaper articles on the renewed phenomenon but never thought twice about it. So, I did my research, asked a few friends about their experience with cloth diapers, and was quickly convinced it was something I would like to do. It didn't take too much to influence Kris to climb on board.



So, here are the top 5 reasons we plan to cloth diaper the Bean.

1. It better for the pocketbook. Face it people, Kris and I are cheap... and it's much less expensive to reuse a diaper than to buy new diapers weekly. Sure, they cost more money to begin with, but I've been assured, and reassured, that it's the frugal way to go. Plus, we can reuse the diapers with the next baby or resell them for a good price.

2. It's better for the environment. Every time I imagine how many disposable diapers we would use and that would later sit in a landfill I get sick to my stomach. We've weighed the impact of the amount of water we would use laundering diapers and the environmental impact, at least for us, is far less than the garbage route.

3. It's better for the Bean's bottom. Who knew there were all sorts of chemicals in diapers? I guess it makes sense... I mean, they are made of plastic and they do soak up crazy amounts of liquid. Frankly, I'm not interested in putting that close to the Bean's little tush. As an adult, would you want to wear plastic underwear? Cloth diapers are made are generally made of cotton or hemp, sometimes wool or microfiber, which soak of liquid just fine and dandy. Sure, you have to change the diaper more often (like, after every time they pee or poop), but shouldn't you be doing that anyway? Moreover, if using the right detergent, cloth diapers cause diaper rash way less frequently than disposables. That's pretty cool.

4. It's better for toilet training. Apparently, disposable diapers work so well soaking up pee that the baby doesn't even know it has wet it's diaper. Because cloth diapers are usually made from natural materials, the baby knows when it has gone to the bathroom and thus, at least from what I've been told, will lead a toddler to learn to use the can a lot sooner.

5. It's better aesthetically. Have you seen these things? They are absolutely adorable. The days of diaper pins and plastic pants are over. Cloth diapers come in a wide variety of super easy options... and boy are they cute.



Sure, there is definitely some drawbacks to cloth diapering. For one, you have to actually wash the diapers instead of simply tossing them in the trash. It's also difficult to convince others, including daycare providers, that cloth diapering is super easy. But, with all the cloth diapering options these days, including some diapers that you treat similar to a disposable (except the whole trash thing), I think convincing friends and family that it's a good thing won't be too hard.

We are super excited for the Bean's arrival... and, to cover it's bottom with soft, reusable cloth.



For those interested in our cloth diapering stash so far, here you go....

36 Newborn Prefolds
12 Infant Prefolds
3 xs Thirsies Covers
1 newborn Bummies cover
2 snappis

2 xs Thirsties fitted diapers
3 s Thristies fitted diapers
(will use covers with these)

2 Grobaby diapers (One size) with 2 inserts each (also will work as a cover)
2 small Fuzzibunz pocket diapers with 2 inserts each
2 One Size BumJoy pocket diapers with 1 insert each (found on etsy.com)
1 All-in-One Thirsties diaper

So, there you go. There are plenty of diapers in our future. We plan to start out with prefolds and covers for the Bean's newborn weeks/months than hopefully move on to pocket diapers. But, we have or toe in a few other options as well.