5 Things To Know About Cloth Diapers

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Are you thinking about using cloth diapers?  Do you have a super naggy friend who keeps telling you about the financial and environmental benefits of using cloth diapers?  If so I might be that friend!  I mean, here are a few things you should know before you decide to jump right in.

cloth diapers

  1. Cloth diapers are not cheap.  Okay, some cloth diapers are really cheap, but then they’re also a lot more difficult to use.  I found that paying a little more for the diaper upfront saves money and frustration in the long run.  I personally used BumGenius diapers, but I’ve had friends that were successful with the Target brand as well.  Make sure to register for them and also any of the many accessories necessary for being successful.
  2. You will still need DISPOSABLE diapers.  I was pretty confident in my cloth diapering abilities.  In fact, I was so confident that I refused to buy disposable diapers at all.  That meant if we were out and about and my son had a massive blow out, I had to figure out a way to get that mess into a little plastic bag.  Then I would cart that little tiny bomb around until we finally got home.  Once home I acted like a neurosurgeon and carefully took the bomb out of the plastic bag, sprayed off the nasty contents into the toilet and dumped it into the wet diaper bag.  JUST BUY SOME DISPOSABLE DIAPERS!  Is what I wish I could have yelled at myself.  Also, overnight disposable diapers are much more convenient than cloth.  Cloth diapers let the child know they are wet immediately, this does not help him sleep better at night.  I learned the hard way.
  3. Your child may not potty train more quickly.  Of course, this was my plot.  I was positive that using these cloth diapers would mean a fully potty trained two-year-old.  I was wrong.  My son didn’t potty train until three years three months.
  4. Laundry.  I think this is self-explanatory.  There more laundry.  There is A LOT  more laundry that you HAVE to do.  You can’t put off doing this laundry because otherwise, your child will have no diaper.  And that is scary.  If you have a water-efficient washing machine you may not actually even be able to wash your cloth diapers yourself.  These washing machines are not recommended for cloth diapering.  I would consider using a laundry service.  Some laundry services are extremely reasonable in pricing.
  5. Accessories.  If you decide not to use a laundry service you will need to purchase a few accessories.  One is the toilet sprayer.  You and the toilet sprayer will spend a lot of time together.  The toilet sprayer will become a close and personal friend.  At first spraying, a little newborn diaper will seem easy.  And then when your child begins to eat more solids things will become more complicated, and by complicated I mean more disgusting.

Do not fear the cloth diaper.  It saves a lot of money and helps the environment.  Dedicating yourself to it may take a bit of upfront work, but in the end, I am totally happy I chose to use them.

5 Things To Know About Cloth Diapers

1 COMMENT

  1. Oh, the toilet sprayer. Or as we called it, the poop sprayer. Yup, I don’t miss that thing one bit

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