Why Cloth ROCKS!

It really surprises me that we didn't cloth diaper Thatcher from the beginning. Before I had him I had always talked about cloth diapering and knew it was something I liked, but when you're at the hospital and they give you free diapers and you have people graciously buying you box after box of diapers (seriously, you all rock, we had free diapers for almost a year!) it is just kind of assumed you'll use disposables. 

We decided (okay, I decided) to start cloth diapering when Thatcher was younger, probably around 9 months or so. But then his perianal abcess came around and we didn't know how long he'd have it, how to deal with it and didn't want to change any of our routine in case it came back. Plus, there was the whole fact that I'd decided on pocket style diapers and they have a bigger start up cost, and you know the whole poop issue. 

Yes, the poop issue. The first thing most people think about when you tell them you cloth diaper. What about the poop? It scared me, and forking out a few hundred in diapers and supplies scared my hubby, even if we were saving money in the long run. 

So we waited. 

Until last week. I made an AMAZING discovery. The all-in-two system of cloth diapering. I could seriously hear a chorus of hallelujah angels in my mind as i gobbled up every bit of information I could online about these blessed diapers. And so, at three in the morning, I decided we were going to make the switch. 

Now, we're three days (and one explosive poop- ew!) in and I AM IN SO MUCH LOVE. It may be premature, but I thought I'd write a little about why I'm completely obsessed with cloth diapers now-a-days. 

The Cost

Obviously, cloth diapers are cheaper. Every month we had to buy a 20-30 dollar box of diapers on top of 10-15 dollar wipes, I cringed. Seriously shuddered. We hated the fact that we were spending hard earned money on something that was literally a portable toilet for our baby. Something we threw away to fill the landfill (more on that later). 

Like I said, we were very turned onto cloth diapering by the all in two system. Upon further research however I discovered an even cheaper option: prefolds and covers. This is the only style we've used, but it is so unbelievably cost-effective! Seriously, we bought 7 covers and 22 prefolds and we're set to cloth diaper full time doing laundry only every three or four days for SIXTY DOLLARS. That's it. We ordered a few more supplies (wetbags and detergent) that we could have easily done without and we're set. No more buying diapers every month, no more throwing money down the diaper genie. 

The Environment

I've always been cautious of my impact on the earth. I want to leave a beautiful place for my kids and their families, so it's important to me to make changes where I can to reduce my imprint. In the US on average per year 27.4 BILLION diapers are used and tossed into landfills. Our country spends 7 BILLION dollars a year on diapers that are thrown away and it takes 200 to 500 years for a diaper to decompose. That's a huge impact, and when I think about the vast number of diapers we used in the first 15 months on Thatcher it makes me ill. Our cloth diapers however can be washed, re-washed, sunned and stripped for years and last us a few kids since they're made to fit from 8-35 pounds. That's a lot of waste eliminated! 

The "Squee" Factor

Hello? Have you SEEN an adorable fluffy bum? The size alone is adorable but the prints they make now days are TO DIE FOR. Harry Potter, Star Wars, Cat in The Hat, Dragon Scales, the list goes on and on and on. Seriously, if you can imagine it there's probably a diaper cover for it. And I LOVE it. I have a list seriously 30 plus long of diapers I'm dying to buy. They're dang cute, and that's a factor for me! 

Comfort/Guilt

I never noticed how disposables feel like paper. And while maybe it isn't uncomfortable if that's all a bum knows, wouldn't it feel much better to be covered in natural materials like hemp, cotton or bamboo? I feel way better putting soft yummy smelling cotton against Thatcher's little bum than I did the disposable diapers. It just feels right! 

These are just a few things that I've noticed in the last few days we've done cloth. There's a big misconception out there that they're more difficult to use and harder to get clean, but that just isn't so. I spend maybe 5 seconds more per diaper change and washing is a breeze thanks to websites like fluff love university and local cloth groups. We've had numerous changes, poops (even explosions which are rare) and have done our first load of diaper laundry and I think it's very very safe to say that while it may not work for everyone, it's definitely the life for us! 

Now to wait "patiently" by the mailbox for our first fluff mail to arrive so I can squee over our cute new covers! :-)