Monday, February 11, 2013

Cloth Diapers-Ewwww!!!

     "Cloth Diapers?! That can't be sanitary, not to mention, it's gross!" When I was pregnant with King Squishy, there were a few things I didn't even need to consider. I was just going to do them. Cloth diapering was one of those. It was the practical thing to do and my mother did it, so certainly I could. But many of my friends weren't so sure it was a good idea, nor confident that I would be able to continue on the nasty cloth diapering path for very long.
     Well, you nay sayers, 15 months later and I am still cloth diapering, haven't used a disposable since King Squishy was 3 months old. But I'm not hear to gloat, or at least not much. Instead, I am here to give you an intro on cloth diapering. Today's post will be a brief overview of why I cloth diaper. Tomorrow, we will discuss why it's not as gross as you think, and throughout the next few posts, we will review basics of cloth diapers today, why I chose the cloth diapers I did, and any other cloth diapering topics that are brought up through comments and questions.
     So, why do I cloth diaper? And perhaps, why should you? Money was the first reason that drew me to cloth diapering. Depending on what sales and coupons a person utilizes, they can easily spend over $1000 in the first year of their child's life on disposable diapers. And that's only the first year. Yes, you can invest that amount into a cloth diaper collection, but if you take a practical approach to your cloth diaper stash, you can manage to spend $400 to get all the cloth diapers your child will need for diapering until potty training. And there are ways to do that cheaper!
     After being convinced that cloth diapering was for my family just based on the cost efficiency, I also discovered a number of reasons that just confirmed our decision. Have you seen this picture before?



It's been floating around facebook lately and depicts the number of disposable diapers a child will use on average in their lifetime. A diaper that does not degrade quickly. Can you imagine how many landfills all those disposable diapers fill? So, while diapering saves me money, it also saves the earth. And while this doesn't always seems like a great reason to have to wash poop of cloth, start to think about what kind of world we are creating for the very children we are diapering. The earth is a finite amount of space and we are the only ones who can take care of it and protect it, both for the sake of our childrens' future and for the respect of this beautiful planet we have been entrusted with.
     And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there is some pretty disgusting chemicals in diapers, some of which are known carcinogens as well as harmful to reproductive organs. And unfortunately even the "natural" disposable diapers contain the same chemicals. And we are not just talking about bleach. A simple google search will start you on a path of this discovery, but I would be glad to provide more details on this subject if it is of interest...so comment and let me know!

Did you consider cloth diapering or did the idea seem to overwhelming to try? For you cloth diapering mamas, what was the most important reason you chose to cloth diaper? Share any other questions or concerns you have with cloth diapering, and I will make sure to address those issues in this cloth diapering series.
   





1 comment:

  1. Mommy Sarah's husband here! A lot of husbands out there are quite skeptical about cloth diapers, so I just wanted to publicly announce my complete support of cloth diapering! It is the best option for my son's health, my wallet, and they look a lot cuter than disposal diaper babies. I was skeptical at first, but I am a huge advocate for the environment and love that we are doing our part by using a renewable resource. Mommy Sarah did not mention this perk yet, but we also never have blowouts when we are using cloth diapers. The few times we used disposables, there was a blow out every time. EVERY TIME! Nothing sucks worse than that. I love King Squishy, and I love that he gets the luxury of wearing cloth diapers!

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