I absolutely love cloth diapering! As soon as I learned more about it, I never questioned if I would use cloth diapers or not. My husband was on board early on because all of the fantastic benefits. Below you will find my top reasons for choosing cloth diapers.
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The Environment
Babies on average go through 2500 diapers in their first year and each diaper can take hundreds of years to decompose in a land fill. I did not want to add to that, so I started looking for alternatives. Enter the cloth diaper. They are more modern now with all in ones, flip, and pocket diapers. It makes it much easier, although the old version of flats are pretty user friendly, too.
While it does take more water to wash cloth diapers it doesn’t create anywhere near the amount of waste. The conscientious user can offset this added water usage with modifications to other water-using habits, like showers and washing dishes.
The Money
Depending on what cloth diapers you use this can be very inexpensive. I personally like Alvababy and Anmababy but I have a few others I use for specific purposes, like Mama Koala. On average, they cost $5 per diaper (some of the high end ones can be $20-30 per diaper). I would recommend 28-32 diapers, bringing it to a total of only $160 for all of the diapers! These diapers can last years, all the way through potty training years and on to multiple kiddos. Here’s the rough math: 1 year of disposable diapers can cost $850, and after 3 years of diapering it would cost $ 2550 for each kid!
We actually didn’t end up paying anything for our cloth diapers. I added them to my Amazon registry, and had loving friends and family members purchase them for Little One. I ended up receiving all that I needed through baby showers, so my diapering costs went down to $0!
We did end up purchasing more bamboo and charcoal inserts, which I would highly recommend over the micro fiber inserts. Not only are bamboo and charcoal natural products, they are able to absorb a little more pee than the micro fiber.
The Bum
Cloth diapers are so much better for Little One’s bum. They drastically reduce the risk of diaper rash. Many disposable diapers have chemicals in them that are bad for babies’ bums, though there are some brands that are addressing the issue. They also dramatically reduce the risk of blow outs (meaning poop goes all over the place if you aren’t familiar with the term). We have been cloth diapering for over a year and have only had 3, and really they weren’t too bad. I remember my sister-in-law, who used disposables, sending me a pic of my nephew and it was all the way up to his neck!
The Cuteness
Cloth diapers are so cute! I don’t really need to elaborate…check them out for yourself.
Have you thought about trying out cloth diapers, but not quite convinced? I hope this post on the reasons to try cloth diapering helped. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments blow!
Next, check out my Harry Potter Nursery post.
These are compelling reasons to try cloth diapers. My mom tried to convince me when my first was born but I didn’t really see the value of it… then with #2 I can see that it’s worth a try.
Cloth diapering isn’t for everyone and it is a personal choice. I have friends and family who cloth and some who use disposables. What ever works!
Cloth diapers weren’t really a thing when my boys were born. It’s kind of neat seeing how things have changed and how many options there are now.
The new styles make cloth diapering so easy now!
The environment alone is a huge reason to choose cloth diapers. And, the fact that it’s more comfortable for the baby is another wonderful reason to make the switch. Thanks for sharing. Melissa Damiani | Gratitude Grace Glamour
I’ve tried SO hard to love cloth diapering — for MOST of the reasons above. I just didn’t like it. But I TOTALLY think that more people should consider it!
We cloth diapered our first and most of our seconds first year. It was such a great money savings and I loved that it was so much more earth friendly.