cloth diapers
As far as diapering goes, it used to be a no brainer. Disposables. Always disposables. I know our parents used to wrap our little bums in cloth nappies fastened with giant safety pins (I think I stabbed my baby sister with it once) and they swear by it. I have very vivid memories of folding a truckload of nappies as a child.
I’m not denying that cloth diapers have a ton of benefits, but screw idealism. No amount of goodness is going to make me scrub crap off pieces of cloth 4 times a day. And that’s not counting the leaks that happen every other day.
Then I came across the new generation of cloth diapers like Bumwear, Fuzzy Bunz, bumGenius and Happy Heinys. I have to admit, I’m a sucker for the cute designs and fancy prints. It’s practically a fashion statement all on its own. They look so cute and colorful I could just let Tru run around clad only in his diaper all day. He’d look so macho.
Photo courtesy of karencheng.com.au
But I’m still torn though. Ok, so the nappy liners are supposed to keep most of the poop away from the cloth, but looking at the amount of crap my son produces on a daily basis, I have my doubts that it will be contained. I had to google pictures of soiled cloth diapers just to get an idea of what I’m getting myself into, and I can assure you, you don’t want to see it.
So I’ve come up with a pro/con list to help me decide.
Cloth Diapers:
1. Affordability is the Key
I’ve spent almost $1ooo on Tru’s disposable diapers alone the past year. He likes to poop in fresh diapers so he’d decide to poop 5 minutes after I change his diaper, and there goes another one. I could easily think of a thousand other stuff I could get with that dough. Now with Kirsten on the way, it’s going to be twice as expensive. Suddenly cloth diapers seem like a very attractive option.
2. Fashion Comes First
The range of designs available are just too cute for words. It’s so pretty it almost makes you forget the stuff that’s nicely wrapped up inside the package. It’s the theory of the lousy birthday presents. When you’re on a tight budget, get a cheap-ass present and splurge on the wrapper. People are more forgiving when they see a nice wrapper.
3. Save the Earth
I really do like the earth and I’m happy to do my bit for the environment. From time to time, I bring my dog to pee on trees around the estate to help fertilize the soil, which leads to healthier trees and a greener earth. Yeah, I’m considerate like that.
Disposable Diapers:
hee, hee, it itches!
1. NO SCRUBBING CRAP
Nuff said.
So far, I’ve only used disposables for my kid, but I’m toying with the idea of making the big switch. I’ve managed to con the husband into doing the scrubbing so that makes my choice a lot easier. I know plenty of moms have gone the way of cloth, so if you found something that works for you, do drop me a mail. That would be a great help.
lilsnooze on Sick ‘N Slide
Ai Sakura on Sick ‘N Slide
mimi on Sick ‘N Slide
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
hi! i wouldnt go with it…its too hot coz it’s fleece! unless u live in a winter country i wouldnt recommend it… =)
I’m using the pre-folds at the moment from Bumwear. They are really easy to use (no more folding and no poking your baby with big safety pins!) When my daughter was born I’d use the prefolds (similar to the cloth diapers) in the day and switch to disposables at night.
The nappy liners r really great. Most of the time I don’t need to scrub them, just throw them into the washing machine. But then it’s because I breastfeed her and so her poo is very easy to rinse off. I wasn’t keen on doing laundry so often a week, so we bought like 3 dozens of those. I also found that my daughter didn’t get much nappy rash as compared to when i was using disposables on her. So that’s another point to consider! =)
Hi! I used cloth nappies (conventional white squarish ones) for my firstborn till he was 6 months old, and still using them for 2nd child, now 1 year old. The only reason why I stopped with my first kid was he struggled too much with nappy-changing, and being pregnant with the 2nd one, I just couldn’t go thru’ the nappy-changing struggle every 45mins or so.
I usually suggest to people who ask me, to go with cloth nappies only if you have a helper. But I didn’t have a helper for the 6 months I put nappies on my firstborn, and it wasn’t really too much work either. I used liners, and dumped everything into the washing machine at the end of the day. The hanging/drying and folding took a little bit of time, but the money I saved totally made it justifiable.
As the kids grow a bit older, they pee less often and poop once a day, so it does get easier. I
Good luck!
victoria: they are made of fleece?? I had no idea! looks like we do have to move to the States afterall for the cool climate. LOL
Chrystal: tru really craps a lot. kirsten is going to crap very often (at least for the first 2-3 months). shucks, i’m still pretty torn.
jayne: my helper is supposed to be superdad, who says he’s immune to crap due to a traumatic but yet undisclosed incident in his NS days. Yayyy…
@Daphne, yes i know what u mean. my daughter crapped and peeed so much we almost gave up on cloth nappies. We’d change a clean one for her and within 1 min she’d pee into it. can be quite frustrating. now u know why we bought THREE DOZENS.