"No disposable diapers for me...my body is Dioxin free!" -Saying From an Infant T-Shirt
A lot of people ask me about cloth diapering - why we are doing it, how it is going, etc. So I decided, why not write a blog post about it? (By the way, there is another more fun post coming soon on the Christmas activities that we have been up to, hopefully in the next few days). Most of you know, David and I decided very early in pregnancy to use cloth. Well, scratch that. I thought it was a good idea, and my loving and supportive husband went with it, especially after he heard my reasoning. Since Joseph was born a bit sooner than we expected and was less than 6 pounds, I couldn't cloth diaper him the first month because all of our cloth diapers were just too big for him. I had resisted buying newborn cloth diapers like I could have (which WOULD have fit him) in anticipation of him being on time and potentially being a huge baby (since I measured ahead for so long). So the first month, he wore a particular chlorine free brand of disposables (I am a HUGE OPPONENT of 99% of the disposable brands, and you'll see why as you read on). But once he hit the 7 pound mark, we hit the ground running with cloth right away (both cloth diapers and cloth wipes), and we have officially been doing it for a month now.
Why cloth? I get this question from LOTS of people. Let's face it, disposables are, well, easier, and honestly more "mainstream," so why not just go along with the norm? Well, I used to think the same thing, until I read some alarming facts. Yes, part of our reason is for financial savings and environmental benefits, but I'll get into that below. My main reason was the very scary facts I learned about traditional disposable diapers. A lot of you know that I'm not a big fan of funky chemicals anyway. I refuse to use artificial sweeteners in my coffee and I refuse to use margarine. I'd much rather use the real stuff - sugar and butter - in limited amounts. I just can't stand the disgusting junk in the other stuff. So when it comes to chemicals that may be up against my baby's skin? Well, I am SUPER picky about that. And if most parents were educated in the composition of traditional disposable diapers, I think they would be alarmed as well. One of the reasons I wanted to write this blog post was to educate parents on this information. If I can help one parent make a healthier decision for their child, then I'm happy! You see, most disposable diapers contain 3 chemicals that aren't so lovely - Dioxin, Tributyl-tin, and sodium polyacrylate. Dioxin is a toxic byproduct that results from the bleaching of the paper used to make cloth diapers. The EPA lists it as the MOST TOXIC of all cancer-related materials. MOST TOXIC. Let that sink in! It is so toxic, in fact, that MOST other countries have banned its use. And in most common disposable diapers, this chemical is right up against your baby, all day, every day. Tributyl-tin is another toxin linked to hormonal problems. And sodium polyacrylate, the gel like absorbent substance that produces those little gel-like beads seen in a lot of wet disposable diapers, has been shown to foster an environment for the growth of toxic bacteria. I believe a lot of parents choose disposables because they aren't aware of these concerns, but really, do you want these things up against your baby's delicate skin? I sure don't. Also, disposables don't "breathe" like cloth, and have been shown to increase scrotal temperatures in baby boys, leading to potential long-term damage to sperm production. We also use cloth wipes at our house, which we wash right along with the diapers. They are so amazingly soft and clean Joseph up so much better than wimpy disposable wipes. And on that topic, disposable wipes aren't full of a lot of sweetness, either. They also have dioxins, but they also include two other yucky substances - Methylisothiazolinone and Iodopropynyl butylcarbamate. The first is a preservative shown to cause chemical burns, skin irritation, and dermatitis. The second is a neurotoxin and contact irritant that was once used in, of all things, PAINT! For me, these just are not risks worth taking. These facts are what sold David on cloth as well, and for us I would say this is our primary reason for choosing cloth.
There are also tons of financial and environmental considerations. I could give you all the numbers, and I have verified them to be true in our own usage, but to avoid boring you, I'll stick with the basic underlying fact - for an average family, cloth diapering cost 1/10th of the cost of using disposables. This includes the investment in the cloth diapers, and the water/energy used to wash and dry them. Cloth diapered babies have also been shown to, on average, potty train much earlier (the feeling of wetness they feel encourages them to want to learn to use the potty to avoid that feeling), so you don't typically have to wash cloth diapers for as long as you would expect! As a stay-at-home mom, I'll do anything I can to make living under one income easier, and so for us this was a fabulous benefit. The least of my reasons for choosing cloth, but still important, is the environment. Most of you know that I tend to be pretty "green" for a "traditional conservative." David calls me his little "Republican hippy" in this respect. But seriously, disposables are CLOGGING our landfills. America goes through over 27 BILLION disposable diapers a year and, guess what, they take an average of 250-500 years to decompose. Whoa. Not cool. The manufacturing of disposables uses far more resources than the manufacturing of cloth, too. And guess what? David and I plan to have more kids, and when we do, we can use the same cloth diapers we've used on Joseph on them. And when we are done having kids? We can either turn our cloth diapers into very effective dust rags (mainly the flats and prefolds), or we can re-sell them (mainly the fitteds, pockets, all-in-twos, and all-in-ones). Cloth diapers have an excellent re-sell value! So of the SMALL amount that we did spend on them, we'll get some of that back, too!
So, have I built a compelling case yet? Well, maybe. But a lot of you want to know how cloth diapering plays out in real life. Isn't it a lot of trouble? Well, yes and no. Do you have to do some extra laundry? Yes. It is a life-ruining challenge where I sit at home all day, every day, and wash diapers non-stop? No. Honestly, once you get into a washing routine, there is nothing too it. Of course, you can only use certain detergents on cloth diapers (you can only use certain rash creams as well, so be sure to check out which ones are cloth-friendly). The wrong detergent will clog up their absorbency. I use Charlie's Soap or EcoNuts (depending on what is on sale at Whole Foods or Earth Fare - and Harris Teeter now carries Charlie's Soap, too!), and they come out so nice and clean. Sometimes there are issues of slight poop staining with cloth, but honestly, if you hang or lay them out in the sun, like our grandmothers did, the sun bleaches them right out and they look awesome. :-) The cloth wipes wash up wonderfully, too, and I've never had any staining happen on them. Basically, how often you wash depends on the size of your cloth diaper stash. I have a pretty big pile, so I really could only wash twice a week if needed. I tend to wash three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), just to keep staining at a minimum, but that's not a necessity. I use a standard diaper pail with a Planetwise wet bag in it. When a wet diaper comes off, it goes right in the pail. When a dirty diaper comes off, we take it to the toilet and spray out the poop with our diaper sprayer, then bring it back and put it in the pail. On laundry day, the Planetwise wet bag goes in the wash along with the diapers and wipes. Easy easy!
There's a lot of confusion among non-cloth diaperers or parents just getting into it about the types of cloth diapers. There are so many now, from primitive to advanced! When I built our stash, I made sure to get some of every single type, because different situations call for different diapers! Here is a breakdown from most "old school" the the most high tech. I have some of each and they all have merits!
1) Flats: These are as primitive and old school as it gets. These are what our grandmothers and generations before them used. Just a flat, thin square of cotton fabric. It must be folded (there are tons of types of folds) to fit and to place the thickest absorbency there you want it. I only have a few of these, but I got them because I heard they were good for day and short overnight trips (see my thoughts on traveling with cloth below). I'll confess, I just tried these earlier this week. I had been a bit intimidated. BUT, I finally dug in, learned the folds, and I am amazed at how well I like them! These require a Snappi/Pins and a cover. I'll talk more about those below. But basically, it folded up great, fit Joseph wonderfully (you can really tailor these to your baby's body), and fit under the cover beautifully. I felt so brave, because honestly, few moms I know even own a single flat because they are considered so primitive. But, so far, with my OsoCozy organic cotton flats, I'm in love!
2) Prefolds: This is the next step up. These diapers also require a Snappi/pins and cover, but they are already folded down smaller and thicker for you. So really, you just stick them on and Snappi or pin them, and place the cover over it. This is what I have the most of and, once I got the hang of it, I LOVE them!
3) Fitteds. These are like prefolds, except more tailored, with fitted legs, and Aplix (a lot like Velcro) up top instead of pins. They still require a cover. I only have a few of these, but I really like them.
4) Pockets: I did not understand the appeal of these at all before Joseph was born, but I had a few given to me by friends that I thought I would just use as a last-resort. But I have discovered why so many people like them! The diaper/cover is kind of a combo, but inside there is a pocket that you stuff with an absorbent insert. When you take it off the baby you have to reach in, grab the insert, take it out, wash insert and diaper in your next load, and then restuff. I couldn't figure out why one would go to all that extra trouble. But the beauty of these diapers is that they keep baby's bottom drier than an average cloth diaper due to moisture wicking layer. So now, I'm a fan! I use them when Joseph has bad diaper rash for a few days to help it clear up.
5) All-In-Twos: These are covers with absorbent inserts that you lay in them. So at each diaper change you can just change out the insert and use the same cover, unless the cover gets really soaked with urine, then of course you wash it, too.
6) All-In-Ones: The MOST high-tech. These are like disposables, but made out of cloth. They are the most expensive, too. Thankfully, I asked David's parents for 5 of these as baby gifts, so I love using those for busy days! They have the cover, liner, everything, all sewn together. So during changes, you put on and remove just like you would a disposable. The whole thing goes in the wash on wash day.
Like I said, the first 3 types require a cover. I have about 4 covers of each size that I rotate, and have found that to be plenty. This is what keeps the diaper from leaking through to clothes, and they come with either Aplix or snap fasteners. Also, the diaper underneath has to be fastened together if you are using flats or prefolds. For this, you can either use old fashioned diaper pins (I have some), but a cooler and safer solution is to use a Snappi. Google it, and it will make more sense. Basically, it is a t-shaped rubber device with "teeth" on each point of the T. The teeth grab the diaper fabric and hold the diaper together. I have 6 Snappis, which is way more than I will ever need, because they can go many uses before they have to be washed with warm soapy water.
I really like all of my cloth diapers so far! Different diapers come in handy for different situations. During the week, when I'm home a lot, I use flats, prefolds, and fitteds. On weekends, when we are on the go, I tend toward pockets, all-in-twos, and all-in-ones for convenience sake. I will caution those thinking about cloth - flats, prefolds, fitteds, pockets, and all-in-twos are not for those of you with a low gross-out threshold. They all require somehow touching urine and sometimes poop soaked fabric. There is no way around it. I handle, with my bare hands, urine soaked diapers all day (yes, there is some frequent hand washing that goes on here), and if this would bother you, you don't want to go with these options. Spend these extra and get the all-in-ones. But honestly, not many parents mine their own baby's urine.
Many people think cloth diapers are just for at-home, daytime use. Not so, my friend! I use cloth all day, all night, and when we go out and about. The only time Joseph gets a disposable pretty much is once a day when we go to weight him on our baby scales (it's too inconsistent to weigh him with the different weight of cloth diapers). Thus, he usually goes to bed in that disposable. But at the first nighttime diaper change, usually around 2am, I bring out the cloth again. I use them when we go out and about. I have several small wetbags (waterproof, zippable bags) that I keep in our diaper bag. For changes while we are on the go, the wet/dirty diapers go in there until we get home and can spray them out and put them in the pail.
Honestly, for Joseph, I brought chlorine-free disposables to the hospital when he was born to be used until we went home. No way was I going to let him wear the Pampers that Women's Hospital uses, which are full of the ingredients I listed at the beginning of this post (sorry, Pampers, but the truth hurts, and I don't like the junk in your diapers!). But I have known several moms that took cloth diapers and a large wet bag to the hospital so they could start cloth from day one. With our next baby, I think I will do that, too, particularly if he or she is bigger than Joseph at birth! Really, I have enough that I could easily make it the 2-3 days we would be there if I took my full stash, and I would just wash them with my first load of laundry when I got home. Actually, there is a small but growing movement out there to try to get hospitals to go back to using cloth diapers like they did in the days before disposables. I think it is a FANTASTIC idea, because then parents could get used to how cloth works before they even come home, and perhaps more would be encouraged to keep it up. Hospitals don't seem to sold on adding extra laundry staff to do the wash for these, though. Oh well, maybe one day!!! I'll keep hoping!
Also, a lot of people think you can't use cloth while travelling. Not true! A lot of my cloth mom friends use them for trips! If you have a large, zippable wet bag, and are only going to be gone a few days, then you can just store the wet/dirty diapers in there until you return home. OR, if you are going to a hotel with laundry facilities, you can wash them there! We have yet to take an overnight trip with Joseph, and I always thought that I would use my chlorine-free disposables on trips, but now I'm starting to think I'll take our cloth along. Most of the hotels we stay at in places like Myrtle Beach have laundry rooms, so why not? Worst case scenario, I'll just put them in the wet bag and wash them when we return home. Now if you are going on a long trip (more than several days) to a place with no laundry facilities, disposables may be your only option. But how often does that happen, really? I even know people who take their flats (very primitive) with them and cloth diaper when they are CAMPING, because flats can easily be hand-washed in a bucket with soapy water. If we go camping at the beach this summer, I'll let you know if I was indeed brave enough to try that. :-) I'm not counting it out as an option right now, no matter how crazy people think I am.
Anyway, this post has been far longer than I planned. To make a long story short, I'm so, so, so glad I chose cloth. I know I am doing a huge favor for Joseph's health, his future potty-training, our finances, and the environment. I hope that, by educating more parents on the use of cloth, others will make this decision, too!
