In Which I Annoy You By Going On and On About the Wonders of Cloth Diapering

There are a few mommy-blog-type posts I've been meaning to do, and this is one of them. I really don't want this place to turn into a mommy blog, but we've gotten so many comments regarding cloth diapering that I feel compelled to do a post about it.

Honestly, most of the comments we've gotten have ranged from nasty to negative. People love to say things like, "Oh, we'll see how long that lasts!" I don't know why, but most parents seem to feel like they are in the middle of some kind of parental pissing contest, and mentioning cloth diapers sets off people's sense of competition. I once used the phrase "doing cloth diapers" to my husband in the presence of another mother, and she interrupted our conversation to say in her most cynical tone that we're "brave" and then went on to tell us that she's going to make all of her son's baby food from scratch. As though by mentioning cloth diapers in her presence we were challenging her to a duel of parental love. Because we think, you know, if you really love your children you will catch all of their by-products gently in the palm of your hand and comment on their beauty before having a ceremonial burial in the backyard. (And by no means should you ever allow a drop of processed food to pass through your baby's lips!) I never care whether or not whomever I'm talking to is cloth diapering or anything else until they get rude about my choices. When people do get snarky about it, I'm suddenly compelled to point out what lazy assholes they are.

It's no big secret that we care about the environment. We know that by living in America we are going to have an impact on it. We buy stuff. We use stuff. We throw stuff away. But there are certain things we are willing to do to lessen that impact. It's why we try to buy local food from small farms and bakeries and dairies. Why we do try to limit the amount of processed food we buy. Why we don't own a car even though everyone thinks we're crazy. Why we recycle everything we possibly can. Why we're switching to biodegradable cat litter and composting. Why we shop at thrift stores and buy used books (most of the time). And it's why we were appalled when we realized just how many diapers we were going to be throwing away in the course of a year if we didn't cloth diaper. Because no matter what those studies say--you know, the ones funded by companies that make disposable diapers--in most areas cloth diapering is easier on the environment. Since we live in an area that currently has an adequate water supply, cloth diapering seemed like the most ethical option.

But the real reason we chose cloth is cost. For the first month, while we were traveling in Ethiopia and moving, we used disposable. In that amount of time, we spent the same amount of money on disposables that we spent on ALL of our cloth diapering supplies. We're saving enough by cloth diapering to pay for a vacation or two, at least. To me, that's worth a little inconvenience.

I thought cloth diapering would feel like a sacrifice we were making for our budget and the environment. Actually, it turns out we really like it. For one thing, they don't smell completely foul like disposables do when they are soiled. Most of the time you can't even tell it's time for a new diaper without looking. For another, we aren't having nearly the leak problems we had with disposables. Before we started cloth, we were losing an outfit or two a day. Not any more. And we like the fact that our kids' skin isn't constantly in contact with that freaky chemical gel stuff they put in diapers. Does anyone really even know what that stuff is? I'm told it's so completely inorganic that it won't even burn in a fire.

We bought enough diapers that we only have to wash them twice a week, and since we have a washing machine in our house that's no big deal. I spend about five or ten minutes each night preparing the diapers for the next day--about 6 per child--and that's it. It's totally not the chore I thought it would be. So I'm posting some notes about how we do it in case anyone reading this is interested in trying it. Cloth diapering has come a long way in the past several years. Really, it's not crazy. It's not even that hard. You can do it.

- There are about a million different covers and "diapering systems" out there. My suggestion would be to try a few different covers before you buy a whole bunch. We ended up with three different kinds and bought more of the ones we liked best. Different diapers fit different babies in different ways, so what worked for one person may not work as well for you. You can read reviews at Diaper Pin, but so far the ones people seem to like most for fit and price seem to be BumGenius and Thirsties.

- We started with BumGenius 3.0, Econobum, and Omaiki. We ended up liking all of them pretty well, but Econobum is our workhorse diaper. It's a very cheap, simple cover made of PUL fabric that you use with a cotton prefold diaper or microfiber insert. My favorite combination is actually the BumGenius insert with the Econobum cover, but we have mostly cotton prefolds because those are most affordable. We use them most of the time.

- We like the BumGenius and Omaiki pocket diapers for when we're out and don't want to mess with prefolds. The pocket diapers are also great for when people are babysitting and feel overwhelmed by prefolds. The pocket diapers have an interior pocket in which you put a fluffy insert. While it's easier to use when putting the diaper on and taking it off, I don't like the added work of stuffing and unstuffing the pocket. Prefolds are actually a little faster for this reason, especially since I (usually) fold them all when they come out of the wash so they're ready to go when we need them.

- I recommend diaper liners. We started off using proper diaper liners manufactured specifically for use with cloth diapers. We quickly learned that a high-quality paper towel is cheaper and does the job just as well. We use Viva paper towels as liners now. The liner saves a bunch of time because it catches solid waste, plus it means you can use diaper cream when needed without ruining your diapers. You can toss the liner into the garbage or into the toilet. It's still some waste, but much less than if you were using a whole disposable diaper.

- We make our own wipes, which saves us even more money. Besides, if we're already washing diapers, then why not wash wipes, too? We bought a giant pack of baby wash cloths at Target for about $5 and also cut up an old receiving blanket for the rest. (A friend made some really nice ones out of flannel fabric and some brightly colored thread, but I was too lazy for that.) We make solution for them by putting a squirt of shampoo or dish soap in a tub (an old plastic wipes box in this case), a drizzle of olive oil, and a few drops of tea tree oil, then we fill it about half way with water. This solution works great for us, but you can also use just plain water. Each day we drop a handful of wipes into the solution and use them throughout the day. I make new solution every second or third day. You can't let the solution sit too long because it will grow stuff eventually, but it's fine for a few days.

- You no longer soak cloth diapers. Ours go into a large "wet bag" that we put into a tall trash can with one of those lids that opens when you step on the pedal. Super easy. We have a large plastic bucket from the hardware store that we use if the wet bag gets full before we're ready to wash.

- We wash diapers about every three days. (The manufacturers say to wash every other day...but we don't.) We wash once on cold with detergent and once on hot with detergent, then we do an extra rinse in cold water. You do have to use a detergent without additives or enzymes. We use Claudia's Choices right now, but when that runs out (if ever--those tubs are HUGE), we'll switch to Planet.

- We've started using gDiaper refills for when we travel. (If we're just out for the day, we still use our pocket diapers and bring them home to wash.) The gDiaper refills are flushable and compostable. For flushing, you just soak them in the toilet for a few minutes, then flush. Or you can just toss them knowing that they'll at least biodegrade faster than other disposables. If you're really serious you can take them home and compost them, but I don't know anyone who actually does that.

- Even though I love cloth diapering, I'm not sure I would have started with it right away if I'd had our kids since birth, especially with twins. Newborns go through a ton of diapers, and I'm not sure it would have been worth it to me to cloth diaper newborn twins. Keep in mind that even if you didn't start off with cloth, you can still switch to cloth later and save tons of money.

- I think the one- and two-size covers make the most sense if your main motivation for cloth diapering is to save money. All of ours are one-size, and so far so good. The twins are now using the same setting, which makes everything a whole lot easier.

- You can find diaper covers and other diapering supplies used online (Ebay and Craigslist are good places to look) and save some cash that way. Or ask around to see if anyone is getting rid of covers or prefolds or whatever.

So that's it. That's my contribution on cloth diapering. If you've ever thought about trying it, even if you are currently using disposables, you should definitely give it a go. You'll save enough money in just a few months (or less) to justify the investment. I'm really glad we did, because it turns out most of my preconceptions about cloth diapering were utterly false. And I never would have known if I hadn't tried it.