Cloth Diapering - One year in

rockin' the cloth

We decided about mid through my wife's pregnancy (I'll never say OUR pregnancy, I didn't have to push the kid out) that we were going to cloth diaper. You tell someone who had to cloth diaper back in the day that you're thinking about doing it and they'll probably look at you like you're a complete idiot from then on. 






These things have changed Whatever sweatshop is pumping out these contoured, snap riddled bits of felt and high tech waterproof fabric really knows what they're doing. We use what's called a one size pocket diaper, an absorbent insert gets sandwiched between the aforementioned felt and outer fabric. Others are just a waterproof layer of fabric that wraps around a full inner diaper. Didn't go with those because you still have to do some folding, and while I can fold I don't if at all possible. There's this new system I know Aaron and crew are using, hopefully he'll give us a rundown after getting a few blowouts under his belt.


What works Just about everything surrounding the cleaning / washing / drying is really no big deal. I'd much rather throw a load of diapers in the washer than deal with a few days worth of soiled paper diapers in the bin, that is a stink I wouldn't have previously thought possible.


The One Size models we bought may actually fit him from the meconium to his first big-boy dump in the toilet. They are certainly going to last for kid round 2, they are holding up well.


We had one diaper de-laminate the outer layer of fabric after the first wash. Warranty came through without an issue and they even through in some cloth wipes to boot, great service.


What doesn't I'm a stay-at-home that works when the chance arises. If this wasn't the case I'm not sure cloth would have been a good choice for us. Sitters have been hesitant to use the diapers, and his current 2 day a week sitter I don't think even knows we use them at home. It's just easier to use what others are comfortable with. The other issues for sitters is the frequency of changing, yes I change a diaper many more times with cloth than I would with paper because the kids' comfort level when wet is markedly different. At the same time, I don't really like the idea of him with urine hanging around for hours, even if it doesn't bother him.


Occasionally, you're going to get a little poo on you. Congratulations you're a father! (note: this happens with paper diapers too)


We tried a few different configurations to work at night, but bottom line was that he wasn't going to make it through the night with a cloth diaper. Maybe eventually he would've gotten used to it but our sanity told us to cave and start using paper diapers at night.


For the first several weeks we used the special infant diapers with a little notch in them for his umbilical stub before it fell off. I'm not sure this was necessary but it sure felt like it at the time. This might be an issue also for boys that got snipped at the hospital, ours didn't so can't comment.


Why cloth From a financial perspective cloth diapers can really pay off, with the first child and the high initial investment you will probably break even. If you're planning on having more than one it's a no brainer for saving money.


The second reason, and more important to us is the waste impact from paper diapers. It feels that we've doubled our trash output in the last year, we don't live somewhere that this actually matters from a day to day perspective. But it matters.


In the end you can weigh it out a number of ways, just don't call it going green, that's just asking for a big pile of mess running up the kids' back.