Updated on November 19, 2016
Five Reasons to Consider Cloth Diapers
When you think of cloth diapers, what comes to mind? Do you think diaper pins, plastic pants, and spending hours scrubbing huge pieces of cotton every day? A lot has changed about cloth diapers over the last sixty years, and the way your grandmother used cloth diapers is a thing of the past. When I think of cloth diapers, I think of money saved, a smaller environmental impact, no poopsplosions, a cute fluffy bum, and convenience. Yes, I used the word convenience in reference to cloth diapers. If you’re just starting to look into diapering options for your soon to arrive baby, or if you didn’t realize there were options outside of disposable diapers, this post is for you. I’m going to cover the top five reasons you should consider cloth diapers!
1. Cost savings. Having a baby is expensive. Not only will you need a place for baby to sleep, clothes for baby to wear, and a way to transport baby around, you also need diapers. Lots and lots of diapers. Although the cost of a pack of disposables may not seem like a lot of money, when you tally up the cost of using disposable diapers from birth to potty training you might be shocked at the cost. If you potty train you child at age two and a half, and never put them in another diaper, that child will have had, on average, just over 6740 diaper changes. Even if you’re buying diapers on sale, you’re still paying $0.18/diaper (for a brand like Pampers or Huggies, significantly more if you’re going with a “green” disposable diaper brand). That’s over $1200 to diaper one child from birth to 2.5 years old, and that doesn’t even count the cost of wipes or a diaper disposal system. What does it cost to cloth diaper a baby from birth to 2.5 years old? You can buy a stash of 24 cloth diapers for around $500 for a premium brand like Funky Fluff. Enough cloth wipes to last you through potty training will cost less than $40. So that’s $540 to cloth diaper one child from birth to potty training vs. $1200+ to use disposable diapers for that same period of time. If you plan to have more than one child, you’ll pay another $1200+ on disposable diapers. With cloth diapers, you can use the same diapers on subsequent children, so it costs NOTHING to cloth diaper a second child. Not to mention that you can sell your cloth diapers when you’re finished using them and recoup at least 25-50% of your investment (or more). Have you ever tried to sell a used disposable diaper? I hear there’s not much of a market for that.
2. Less Impact on the Environment. We’ve all heard that disposable diapers can take anywhere from 250 to 500 YEARS to decompose in a landfill. Did you know that it’s estimated that in the USA alone, 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used every single year? There’s no denying that using a diaper that doesn’t get thrown in the garbage is better for the environment. If you’d like to reduce your carbon footprint and reduce the amount of waste your household produces, cloth diapers are a great way to do that!
3. No Poopsplosions. What’s a poopsplosion? This is when baby’s poop explodes up and out the back of a diaper, and if you’re really lucky, it also explodes down and out the legs of the diaper. This is something that happens fairly often with disposable diapers. It’s such a common occurrence that there are actually products on the market designed to keep exploded poop off baby’s clothing… Guess what! Poopsplosions don’t happen in cloth diapers. When a cloth diaper is put on correctly, poop just doesn’t explode up and out of the back of the diaper. Sweet!
4. The Cute Factor. I know cuteness shouldn’t really be a factor, but come on! Have you seen some of the cloth diapers on the market these days? They’re adorable.
5. Convenience. Yes, I said convenience. Guess how often I’ve run out of diapers? Never. Guess how many times I’ve noticed we were down to our last two diapers and needed to run out to the store to buy more? Not once. How about time spent checking out flyers for sale prices on diapers? None. And rushing off to the store with both kids in tow to stock up on diapers? It just doesn’t happen. When we are running low on cloth diapers, I just throw them in the washing machine and get back to spending time with The Heir and Petit Prince. Maybe you don’t like doing laundry, but having a baby in the house means you’re doing more laundry anyways. Let’s be honest here, you’re not piling up all your dirty clothes, carting them off to the local river, and pounding them again the rocks for hours on end. It’s laundry. You dump it in the machine, add your detergent, turn it on, and WALK AWAY! It’s brilliant. I spend less time “hands on” with diaper laundry than I do just driving to the grocery store and walking in. So yes, cloth diapers are convenient!
Interested in trying cloth diapers on your baby? I’ve got a post all about the stuff you need to get started with cloth diapers! You can check it out RIGHT HERE.
As one of the sponsors for the Baby Bundle Giveaway, Funky Fluff is giving away one Funky Fluff LUX Stay Dry system in Maritime print to the lucky winner! Don’t miss out on your chance to get this super cute cloth diaper in your hands!
BABY BUNDLE GIVEAWAY
I’ve teamed up with some of my favorite parenting bloggers and baby brands to give you a chance to win a prize bundle worth over $350! Prizes include a range of products from baby’s first shoes and cloth diaper to bottle sets and tons of feeding accessories.
To enter, simply follow instruction on the form below!
Thanks to our sponsors below:
b.box baby – Baby Blanket Music – Covered Goods – funky fluff – MAM Baby – NurturMe – pediped footwear – Silikids – Swaddle Designs
(Click the links to learn more about each brand and their array of products.)
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Read more parenting-related posts to navigate this motherhood journey from our co-hosts:
mommysbundle.com – – nourshinglittlesouls.com – simplelivingmama.com – playdoughandpopsicles.com
*Giveaway ends 3/28; Open to US/Canada.
Cloth diapers and wipes are the best. The cute factor way outweighs any gross factor. Anyone considering should give it a try.
I love this post! Cloth diapering is awesome! It has definitely coma long way since we were kids and our pare were wrapping us in cloth and securing it with pins! 😉 It can be a little overwhelming at first (there are SO many brands, styles, inserts, etc.) but it is SO worth it!
People always mention about their kids poopexplosions and so many people forget to mention that as a benefit to using cloth! Not only do you save on oxiclean cloths but your infant clothes resale at a higher price because they end up in a better condition. Win win!
I wish I used cloth diapers with my kids. The day care they went to didn’t allow it. My last little I looked into it but I haven’t been able to spend so much at once. I know it will pay off in the long run though. Hopefully soon!
We considered cloth diapers, and hope to try it out next time. We are getting ready to potty train this LO. I love the designs.
I’m on to baby #3 with my original stash from #1 & #2…. and the cost savings are now insane.
We starting cloth diapering to save money but now I love it also for the fact that the prints are so cute and we never run out of diapers!
I have been CDing with my second child and can’t wait to continue with my 3rd now that #2 is of potty training age. Just have to build up my fluff stash a bit more. So happy hubby though hesitant decided to let me go with it and now supports my decision!
I love cloth and am excited about your giveaway 🙂
I’m a big fan of CD! Great post to get others on board!
I wish I’d given cloth diapering a try! I thought it would be so difficult and didn’t give it a shot-we use reusable/cloth swim diapers during summers at the beach with the girls now and I see how easy it really is!
I fully agree. I cloth diaper for all of those reasons. I just love my lo’s cloth diaper booty!
Omg gurlie! You and your cloth diapers post! If I ever decide to have another one I think you have convinced me to go cloth!
Just wait until I convince you to have another one just so you can use cloth diapers! Ha! 😉
The savings are even more if you don’t mind using cheaper brands–and we usually reach for those over the BGs that cost 5 times as much! Even after I invested in some hemp and some fittededs for overnight I’ve still only spent about $110 (and were gifted another $120 worth at our shower). I’ve also used baby washclothes for wipes since they’re pretty useless as washclothes, which were again all gifts or hand-me-downs.
I’m on baby #2 with my cloth diaper stash. I feel I’ve saved so much money not using disposables that I treated myself…I mean the baby…with a few new diapers for his cutie tushie! In the end we’re saving hundreds and also saving his skin from nasty diaper rashes.
Wasn’t planning on cloth diapering my LO but Due to awful rashes I had to take the leap. BEST THING I COULD HAVE DONE or my daughter. No more rashes and the cute factor is immense! Great post!!
I always wanted to cloth diaper but then I got pregnant with triplets. I know that it’s still possible but then I chose to breast feed and then I lost my son. It was all too much and something had to give. I still have dreams though, some day.
Besos, Sarah
Journeys of The Zoo
Great list! I hadn’t thought of the convenience factor that way either. This blog post is a great resource to share with friends considering cloth diapering.
I am about to have my first baby and I am really considering cloth diapering. Thanks so much for this post. It makes me feel great about my decision to cloth diaper my first child =]]
Using cloth with my second and third, can’t imagine ever going back to disposable again.
I most definitely want to cloth diaper my second child if I have one, no question about it!
I think my kiddo never liked the feel of diapers. He probably would’ve appreciated the cloth ones! And the cuteness factor- you can’t beat that!
I really wanted to use cloth, and I bought a bunch and tried. We were living in a place with shared laundry, and I think the detergent residue from other people’s laundry was keeping them from being as absorbent as they should have been. That being said, this is a GREAT post on the reasons to choose cloth diapers and I’ll be sharing this for sure <3
They are so cute, it’s so true! I am always jealous of my friends who cloth diaper, their babies are so adorable running around in their diapers plus the kids seem more comfortable.
The designs are so cute! I have a few friends who cloth diaper. I really should do it myself, but I feel like I’m too lazy. Ugh. We did just potty train my son, so maybe I’ll try to make the switch to our daughter.
These are all great reasons! It’s why we cloth diapered until just over 2. Totally made sense for our family and it was a really easy transition!
I did some disposable, some cloth. I was better about using cloth with my oldest!
i so have to agree with all five of your reasons. though i didnt do cloth with my first three children, it wasnt from not wanting to it was because no one had told me about them.. with my youngest it was with a different baby daddy (him and i are still together) well his cousin uses cloth and she turned me onto it.. now that ive done it il nvr go back .. (currently ttc #5)
it would make life more easier for the mom she would have time to do something else
Love cloth! Wish I could figure it out
I should carry this post around with me. So many people say to me, “don’t all your clothes smell like poo?”. Well I do not smell like poo now, so no no not all my clothes smell like poo 😉
Another advantage is no stinky trash cans sitting around until trash day & no chemicals against baby’s skin 24/7/367!
Reason #6 no harmful chemicals on little ones bum.
I started cloth diapering after my son got diaper burn from disposables. Wish I had cloth diapered sooner. Baby #2 on the way and can’t wait to start the fluffy butt again! I love the fluff butt waddle!