Updated on November 12, 2015
The Cloth Advantage According to King Dad #SchoolofCloth
I have a confession to make. When I was pregnant with The Heir, King Dad and I were discussing the possibility of cloth diapering the baby. I wasn’t 100% convinced, but King Dad? He was ALL IN. In a way, he actually convinced me to use cloth diapers. I often hear of moms-to-be or new moms asking how they can convince their partners that cloth diapering is the way to go. So I enlisted the help of King Dad and asked him what it is he likes about cloth diapering. Maybe his answers will help convince your partner if he’s not so sure that cloth is the way to go.
The biggest advantage to cloth diapers according to King Dad is the cost savings. Cloth diapers are an investment up front, but over the years of diapering even one child, cloth is definitely less expensive than disposables. When I calculate the savings from cloth diapering The Heir from birth to potty training, we saved around $700. That’s just for one child. Use the same diapers for a second child and the savings are over $2000! Not too shabby.
Another advantage of cloth diapers over disposables that my husband brought up was poopsplosions. Well, more like the lack of poopsplosions in cloth diapers. Anyone that’s ever used a disposable has more than likely experienced at least one poopsplosion, that is, poop up and OUT the back of a disposable diaper. If you’re really lucky, you’ve also experienced a poonami with the poop going up the back AND down the legs right to the feet. Fun times. This does not happen with cloth diapers. No really. It just doesn’t.
An advantage that King Dad really wanted me to share was the smell. We spent a couple of weeks in Italy when The Heir was 13 months old and used disposables during that time. The *moment* we walked through the door when we got home, King Dad put The Heir into a cloth diaper. He said he couldn’t stand the stink of disposable diapers. He considers that lack of stink/smell of cloth diapers to be a real advantage.
The last advantage that he brought up was the environmental impact. Sustainability is something that’s important to King Dad. Using cloth diapers is just one way that he feels we can make a more positive impact on our environment.
Probably one of the most daunting aspects of cloth diapering is the laundry. Knowing that I’m the one that does the laundry around here, I asked King Dad what he would say to someone who thought washing cloth diapers at home seems like too much hassle. He laughed. Yup, he laughed. Why? He said, “Really? You put it in the machine, turn it on, and walk away.” And you know what? He’s right.
There you have it! I hope King Dad’s thoughts on cloth diapering can help you to convince that someone in your life that needs a little push to take the plunge!
For REAL, the smell of disposables is unpleasant, Papa Wolf notices that, too!
the cost factor would be huge! i didn’t know blow outs wouldn’t happen with them…
some very real points.my husband only changes as needed. lol
The smell of disposable diapers is a disadvantage of disposables that most people don’t mention. The smell of the the chemicals both before and after use. Then you store it in a bullet proof diaper pail that stinks you open it. Then you keep it around for several days & have to haul the whole stinking mess to the curb. Cloth is SO much less stinky!
I used cloth diapers when my boys were little. I used them for all the above reasons. My children would also get rashes from disposable diapers and the cloth diapers took care of the problem. These new cloth diapers are awesome. Thank you so much for sharing
My husband is just floored with the cost savings. He is all for it especially because we have the laundry super accessible too.