5 MORE Reasons We Cloth Diaper

I posted that last post and immediately thought of several more reasons why we do it.

6. The eco-friendliness of it all. I'm definitely not a tree-hugging hippie or something like that, even though my BS is in environmental science, but I do believe in being a good steward of the earth. When we transitioned to cloth diapers, all of a sudden the only thing we were throwing away per change was a wipe or two (and I'm thinking about moving to cloth wipes, too). It makes a big difference in trash generation. Again: I'm not a hippie. But I do like being wise with our resources.

7. I read that diapers contain the same stuff in them as tampons did that cause Toxic Shock Syndrome. True, diapers don't go up inside a person, but it's still gross. This is what one source states:

With the exception of the pricy natural disposables with extremely limited availability (we only know of the Tushies brand at this time), disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate which absorbs liquid and turns it into gel. Many parents who use disposable diapers will recognize the polymer as the shiny gel-like crystals that often make their way onto your baby’s bum. It was banned from use in tampons in 1985 after it was linked to toxic shock syndrome*. Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.**

So basically when you diaper with disposables, you're putting toxic pollutants right on your baby's skin. Which, eh. We disposable diapered our baby for a month and a half before switching. And everyone I know, including myself, pretty much wore disposables as babies. We all turned out awesome. So there you go.

8. To go along with #7, disposable diapers are bleached white with dioxin, which is apparently really gross and bad for people. Here, just read this blog post about the random stuff they use to make disposable diapers. Gross.

9. To go back to #1--what I forgot to mention is that not only will the diapers eventually be basically free after we use them to diaper our future children, BUT THEN we will be able to resell any diapers still in good condition, for almost as much as we bought them for. Even used cloth diapers can command a good price.

10. They're easy. At least the brand that we use is easy. If they were harder to use than disposables, I might let my inner laziness take over, but actually these Best Bottom diapers are super simple, and easy to use. They maybe add an extra 5 minutes/day of diaper change time, just from me rinsing pooey diapers. But over time, that will save me thousands of dollars, so it's like getting paid thousands of dollars to spend 5 minutes a day rinsing diapers. I'm willing to do that.

5 Reasons We Cloth Diaper

1. The math dictates it: cloth diapers are FAR cheaper than disposables. We use Best Bottom Diapers. By my calculations, we will end up paying only $0.05 per diaper change with our first baby alone. When we have more kids, that number will go down. Disposable diapers cost an average of $0.36/change, to compare.

2. They are so CUTE! Just look at this Blue Giraffe diaper:



3. My baby likes them.

4. I love not ever having to worry about diapering. If we run low on clean diapers, I just toss the dirty ones into the wash and I have a fresh supply two hours later. If I'm super desperate, I can use the small inserts I have left over from when he was smaller, or I can try and use the large inserts he'll need when he gets a little bigger. Either way, no worries.

5. This kind of goes along with #4, but they are a great emergency resource. If, say, a blizzard came through this winter and we weren't able to get to a store to get new diapers, that would be okay. It's nice to know that bad things can happen but my baby will still be able to have fresh diapers.

best bottom diaper giveaway!

As some of you know, my baby LOVES his Best Bottom diapers from Nicki's Diapers. This week they're giving away a free diaper in a cute owl print. What I haven't blogged about on here is my adoration of owls and all things owly. I've still been unpacking all my owl paraphernalia, but once it's all out, my house will be owlicious indeed.

So, even though I've blogged a million times today, here's one more time. Nicki's Diapers is having a giveaway and I want that owl print! :o)

laundry thoughts

Back when I lived in Springville, UT, my ward at church was heavy-duty into emergency preparedness. I loved it because I, too, am heavy-duty into that sort of thing. Anyway, one week, a friend there found a deal where we could order these guys for cheap. Cheaper than they already are.

Here, a picture from that website:



I ordered one way back then. For the past almost three years, it's been chillin in storage. But when we moved, I decided I would keep it in our laundry room just in case. I made it a goal to try it out.

It basically works like a plunger. You put the things you need to wash in a 5-gallon bucket, add your detergent, and plunge away.

Since we started cloth diapering,--which I still need to write about--I decided I would try using this washer on the dirty diapers.

So far I've used the mobile washer twice. It's worked pretty well--no worse than the washing machine. Even the dirtiest diapers have turned out as white as the ones I put in the machine. Actually, the biggest problem has been drying the things: when I hang the diapers to dry, they end up drying stiff and, well, crunchy. I searched online and found that the problem can be mitigated by the addition of vinegar to the washing water, so I tried that last night and we'll see if it worked.

The other problem has been rinsing. I put the diapers in the bucket, fill the water up to cover them, add my detergent (and now vinegar), and then plunge for a few minutes. Occasionally I reach down and rearrange the diapers, just to get them in a different position for cleaning. They turn out looking clean and smelling clean, but then I have to rinse them out. Or, at least I feel like I have to rinse them out. That makes sense, right? Neither the reviews nor the instruction manual mentions rinsing, but I feel like it's still a good idea. So I rinse each one out in the laundry sink again, squish out as much water as I can, and then hang them to dry.

We have enough diapers to last between two and four days without washing, but I like staying on top of things. There are so many things in this world to worry about, clean diapers does not have to be one of them. So if I can make this work as part of a daily routine, that would be awesome.

Although--

To go back to the rinsing thing. I rinse each dirty diaper in the sink, and I always squish some soap on it and agitate it a little with my hands just to get out anything super gross. I imagine that once the diaper actually hits the pail, it's already relatively clean. I probably use two or three times too much soap with the mobile washer, now that I think of it. That's why the rinsing thing has been so disheartening: I've been using almost the same amount of detergent as I would for a full load in the washing machine. That's silly.

I guess I'll try it again next time with less detergent and more vinegar and no rinsing. I'll let you know how it goes.

Even with the extra rinsing, this mobile washer is pretty darn portable and handy. It's also a good way to squeeze an upper-body workout into a daily routine. And at under $15, it may not be a bad investment for those a) living in a place with no washing machine, b) cloth diapering, c) wanting to save money on water and detergent and electricity, or d) all of the above.

i guess baby d likes cloth diapers

Baby D HATES hates hates to be wet. The minute he pees, we all know it because he screams like the world has ended.

Strangely enough, he enjoys hot showers, warm baths, and cold rain.

Anyway, we've been out and about all day, and I packed 3 diaper shells and maybe 7 inserts. We use Best Bottom diapers and I for one really love them. They are so easy and so cute.

I have been a little bit worried, though, because I've read accounts of babies not liking cloth diapers because they are too thick.

Well, today the baby and I were out and about. We visited my mom at her work to help her set up a facebook page for her business, and then came home to take care of my handicapped older brother. We went through just about all the diapers, and I decided, what the heck, I'll use a disposable diaper, rather than go home to pick up another insert.

I diapered up my little boy in his Size 1 disposable, and that lasted, oh, maybe 3 minutes. I had just enough time to feed one cat, and on my way down to feed my parents' other cat who lives in the basement, the screams began.

At first I assumed he was hungry, because that kid decides he's starving to death and all hell breaks loose. But he wouldn't nurse.

So in a moment of inspiration and happy fortuitousness, I dug around in my diaper bag and found a final shell and insert to use. I stuck them together as quick as I could and got to changing this kid.

The second the 'sposie was off, he calmed.

When I snapped the final snap on his Double Chocolate diaper shell, he stopped crying altogether.

All was well in the world once again.

So, I guess that's the end of sposies for him. I'll admit I'm pretty relieved. Cloth diapers were a bit of an investment but if he genuinely prefers them AND they save us money in the long term, I'm happy with it.

cloth vs. disposable diapers

So! We just ran out of diapers in Nathaniel's size. Not really; last night I ordered some on Amazon and they just got here. But we're getting to the point where I feel like if we're going to cloth diaper, we should really just buy the diapers, and get it over with so we have enough to make it worthwhile. Right now, we just have enough cloth diapers to get us through about a day.

Here are the pros and cons of disposables:

PROS
- less bulky than cloth
- you can just throw them away

CONS
- expensive (~30 - 45 cents per diaper change)
- have weird chemicals in them
- not environmentally friendly


Pros and cons of cloth:

PROS
- around 8 times less expensive per diaper change--and that's just counting one kid. But we could use them for all future kids as well.
- not filling up landfills
- no weird chemicals

CONS
- lots of laundry
- have to rinse out yucky stuff
- bulkier than disposables--although not THAT much, depending on the brand

Now, I was concerned about moving to cloth because one thing I've noticed about Nathaniel in cloth diapers is that whenever he gets wet, he freaks out. It makes him a very sad boy.

BUT, what I realized just yesterday, is that he freaks out about wetness in disposables, too. He just hates to be wet. Even if the disposable FEELS dry, because disposables are so absorbent, he seems to know when he's gone, and since the yellow stripe on his Pampers turn blue when he has, I know when he's gone even if the diaper feels dry. It seems that he is just the kind of kid who understands when it is that he should be changed. In the past, I've assumed that most of his crying came from being hungry, and he never turns down a nursing. But now I'm realizing that most of them time when he cries, it's actually because he needs a diaper change--as long I keep on top of monitoring when he sucks on his hands (a subtle cue to me that he is STARVING! At least in his own mind).

So it appears as though he will cry just as much either way. So the real issue is if we're willing to do extra laundry to save money over the long run. I think I'm into that, although I do think we should still have some extra disposables on hand just in case, or for traveling and so on. But I don't think Carl is convinced.

Any thoughts? Any cloth diaperers out there? Did you love it or hate it? Comment, please!