Cloth Diaper Facts and Explanation

It's time to educate everyone on cloth diapering. We need to get rid of this stigma that you put a huge bulky cloth on your baby and safety pin it. Times have changed and they have made cloth diapering even easier than it once was. I'm bringing in my cloth diapering friends to help give different perspectives and experiences. Making the decision to cloth diaper is an easy one once you get all the facts. It can also be overwhelming. There are different styles, brands, accessories, and they're all thrown at you all at once. Hopefully I can break it down so it's a little easier to understand. I'll be making multiple posts about cloth diapering. From the different styles, to wash routines, to what kind of detergents to use. Keep in mind that I will be giving you the basic facts, and the rest will be opinions. 

Why should I cloth diaper?

Did you know that about 40 million diapers are used in the US every day? That translates into about 1,816 tons of diapers used each day in the US alone according to The Disposable Diaper Industry Source. Those diapers obviously go to landfills. We produce enough garbage as it is, why add diapers to that when we can use cloth?  

Disposable diapers contain chemicals and man made materials. A couple of those things being acrylic acid, and Sodium Polyacrylate These ingredients make disposable diapers absorbent. Sodium polyacrylate has been banned from tampons because it was causing toxic shock syndrome. (yikes!) These pull moisture away from the body, including the necessary moisture. You could probably conclude that this is a big reason why children that are in disposables get diaper rashes way more frequently then cloth diapered babies. I don't like the idea of putting this kind of stuff in the most delicate area of a baby. With cloth, you know exactly what is on your child's body for the first 2+ years of their life. Or even less time, because it's been shown that cloth diapered babies potty train sooner than disposable using children. 

The savings you get by cloth diapering is incredible. You can make cloth diapering as inexpensive, or expensive as you would like. Lets say you go the route I went and buy 24 diapers for $120. (I'll go into detail about this later on) Those 24 diapers should last until my son is potty trained. Unless he decides to be a giant child, in that case I would need to buy a larger size. Not only will it last through your child's diaper years, but it will last through multiple children's diaper years. There will be some that wear out and you have to replace, but for the most part you'll get years of use. That's about the same cost as 5 boxes of pampers swaddlers that contain 96 diapers. Cloth diapers actually hold some of their value too. Lets say you have a boy first and get all excited about the cute boy prints, and buy nothing gender neutral. The next child you have is a girl and you don't want her to be in boy themed diapers. If you take care of  your diapers you can sell them for about 50% less than what you paid for them new. You can't sell those used pampers. The same concept applies to the more expensive cloth diapers. 

How much time will it cost me to use cloth?

It's a lot less work than you think to use cloth diapers. Typically you wash every 2-3 days depending on how many diapers you have. I rinse the diaper out after I change him, whether it was pee or poop. That adds maybe one or two minutes more than throwing the disposable in the trash can. You don't even have to rinse out the pee diapers if you don't want to. Washing them is a matter of turning on your washing machine and throwing them in. You can chose to either hang dry, or dry them on low in your dryer. Most people will recommend using a drying rack because it will extend the life of your diaper. The most time consuming part is putting them away after they are dry. How much time this takes will depend on the type of diaper you have. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes of watching TV while stuffing diapers to finish and put them away. (I'll explain the different types later on, and "stuffing diapers" will make sense) So all in all you might be spending 30 minutes more a week then you would on disposables. 

What are the different types of cloth diapers?

Flat or Pre-fold Cloth diapers: These are the more traditional style of cloth. You take a square thin cloth, fold it, place around their bum and pin it. I guess you could use the old fashioned pins, but lucky for us they have a more modern invention called Snappi fasteners. On top of these you would put a waterproof cover. They can also be used inside pocket diapers as the insert. There are many different types of folds that you can adjust as your baby grows and diapering needs change. 

Contour Cloth Diaper: Contour diapers are similar to flat's in the sense that you have to use a snappi and cover. The difference is you don't have to fold contours. Instead of being a square piece of fabric it is pre-cut to fit your baby. You put this on like you would a regular diaper, close it with a snappi, and put your cover on. Some don't like these over the flats because you don't get as custom of a fit for your baby like you can with different folds. 

Fitted Cloth diapers: A fitted diaper has two separate parts you put on, one being a cover. The fitted diaper is a thick cloth that has elastic around the legs and top. You put this on first. It has snaps or velcro to keep it closed. It's not water proof so you will need a cover for this style as well. 

Pocket Cloth Diapers: Pocket diapers are made of two layers that are sewn together and an insert is added between them. The outer layer is waterproof, and the inner layer is a soft cloth that is moisture wicking, meaning it pulls the moisture away from your baby. In between those layers is where you add the insert, hence the name "pocket diaper". There are quite a few varieties of materials the inserts can be made from. Some of the more popular kinds are microfiber, bamboo, hemp, and cotton. 

All in Two Cloth Diapers (AI2): All in two diapers are basically how they sound. They have two pieces to them. They have the waterproof outer layer with a soft inner layer that are sewn together. These diapers you actually add the insert on the inner layer of the shell, and not in a pocket. Some you just lay in, and some have snaps. 

All in One Cloth Diapers (AIO): All in one diapers are the easiest cloth diaper out there. They have the waterproof outer layer, and the absorbent layers all in one diaper. You simply have to snap or Velcro on. Some people don't like them because they take longer to dry and find that you need to do extra washes and rinses to get them clean because the layers don't come apart.  

Hybrid Cloth Diaper: These diapers have 3 parts. It has an outer shell, insert holder, then the insert. You attach the insert holder to the outer shell, these are both washable. Then you have the decision to use a cloth insert, or disposable. Obviously the disposable is one extra cost that you have to keep up on. 

Don't get overwhelmed yet! Now that I have explained them, it might be hard to visualize. Check back, because my next post will be pictures of each kind with explanations! Once you see them, it will be much easier to see how they work.