Fluff, pt. 1

For a while now, I've been pretty interested in going cloth instead of the socially-accepted disposable route. Never in a million years did I think I would actually have to start researching brands, building a stash AND get my husband on board for it. It was just one of those "I'll think about it when it happens" things, and I didn't expect it to happen, to be honest.

Well, it happened. But imagine my surprise when DH asked me what we were going to do in terms of diapering. I thought I was going to have to bring it up and then have to talk him into it, providing cost analysis spreadsheets and everything. I said cloth with no hesitation, and though he didn't say no, he did ask why.

For starters, it'll most likely be cheaper than disposables. I've read many pro vs con blogs about it, and the general agreement is that it'll save anywhere from $200 to $1,000 for the first baby (depending on which brands you choose for both), and even more for other babies that will follow, since most will be reused. That's a lot of $$. Sure, the investment up front is hefty, but there will be fewer purchases after, so it'll equal out.

Second, I like the fact that cloth diapers aren't filled with the chemicals disposables have. We are already a semi-"crunchy" family, so the less chemicals that get involved, the better.

Third, I feel better knowing that the roughly 8,800* diaper changes this baby will have over a 3 year period at an average of 8 changes a day, almost none of it will end up in a landfill. Definitely can't say that about disposables. (*of course this all depends on the baby and when it's potty trained)

Fourth, when we're done with kids and diapers all-together, we can resell the gently used ones. No, we won't get all our money back, but it ensures that they are still being useful and it'll help cut the costs of diapers for whomever buys them. What we can't sell, we can recycle.

Fifth, there are studies out there that babies who wear disposable diapers are a lot more likely to develop consistent diaper rash over those who are diapered in cloth. Now that might be because babies in cloth get changed a lot more, but it could also be that the materials & chemicals in disposables wick necessary moisture & oils away from the baby's skin, leaving it dry and irritable. As a side note, I heard on NPR a few months ago that due to the bad economy, disposable diaper sales are down. They also noted that diaper rash cream sales are sky-rocketing. There aren't fewer babies, so that means that parents are trying to save money on diapers by leaving their babies in dirty diapers longer than they should be. And it results in their babies getting diaper rashes. That saddened me.

Sixth, while it still happens in cloth, the number of "poo-splosions" are pretty low due to the fact that most cloth diapers have elastic in the back to help keep the poop in. And if the diaper fits correctly, it shouldn't come out the leg holes either. Going along with poop, skeptics always say "but you'll get poop on your hands." Unless you're the bestest diaper changer in the entire history of the planet, yes, you will get poop on your hands at some point, whether the baby is wearing cloth diapers or not.

Seventh, it is unlikely we will ever run out of diapers, so making emergency runs to the store won't be necessary. This is a big one, because I live in an area of the country that gets blizzards more than I'd care to admit. Being snowed-in with no diapers does not sound fun at all.

Eighth, cloth diapered toddlers tend to potty train sooner on average, because they don't like to feel wetness, and cloth diapers don't have the stay-dry advantage disposables have. Sure, there are kids who take their time potty training in cloth, but on the whole, it's faster by at least a few months.

So far, there are only 2 downsides to using cloth that I can think of. One is the fact that I actually have to wash them and we got a new front-loading washing machine literally a week before I found out I was pregnant. When washing diapers, the more water the better, so a front loader isn't ideal. But there are plenty of moms out there who successfully wash in a FL, so I'll just cross my fingers and hope for the best. The second one is that cloth diapers are a lot bulkier than disposables, so pants will need to be sized up to accommodate the big butt! But it'll be worth it when one considers all the pros I listed above.

Now as I tout my decision of cloth, I realize that while the baby is in the hospital, it will be wearing disposables. That's fine, as I don't want to bring home dirty diapers and have to start laundry right away (this is something I don't want to leave for DH... don't wanna ruin the diapers straight off since they have a super special wash routine). In fact, when we start traveling around, we might use disposables, depending on where we go and for how long. So I'm not totally adverse to using them. I would just like to keep the usage to a minimum.

And unrelated to the topic, yes, I did change the look of my blog again. The last one looked cool, but it had a weird formatting issue that I couldn't fix, and it bothered the heck out of me. I can't guarantee this one will be a long-term solution either, but for now, I'll see how it goes.