Why Cloth Diapers Are Better!

Cloth diapering is definitely making a come back.  When my first baby was born, I vowed to use cloth diapers and nothing else, it lasted only a few months, that was before I found out about the new cloth diapering methods!  I was trying to use store bought (cheap) prefolds and diaper pins with rubber pants, yes I said rubber pants!  I wish I would have known then what I know now!  The world of cloth diapering has come along ways since I was a baby, even in just the last 5 years, things have really changed.  There are many different brands and many different styles, not to mention outer fabrics, linings, inserts and doublers!  It can be very overwhelming to a new mom or even an experienced mom that hasn't been down the cloth diaper path in recent years. 

When my second baby was born she had a constant rash that was so bad it would break open and bleed.  I took her to doctor after doctor, I was told it was ringworm, eczema, dry skin, an allergy to a soap, allergy to a food, and everything else you can think of.  I was out of choices, I had tried every brand of disposable diaper, diaper cream, rash ointment, prescription lotions, hyrocodizone cream and numerous other fixes.  I guessed I would give the new way of cloth diapering a try.  I bought my first "real" cloth diapers and within 3 days her bottom was clear, soft and not sore anymore!  I couldn't believe it, here I had tried all of this other stuff on her poor baby skin and it was the disposable diapers that

There are definitely other reasons for cloth diapering even if your little one doesn't have a bleeding rash!  Do you want to guess how much disposable diapers cost for 1 baby till they are potty trained?  *$2803.20 for 1 child, for just their disposable diapers.  Cloth diapers range in price, a family can spend between $320-$500 for cloth diapers for that same child.  Saving an average of $2393 by just using cloth diapers.  And the bonus is quality made cloth diapers can be used time after time, saving even more for diapering siblings! Plus the comfort of knowing your baby isn't constantly having chemicals on them!

Another great reason for using cloth diapers is you are not filling the landfill with disposables.  **Researchers figure there are 18 billion disposable diapers that enter the land fill every year!  And it takes 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose.  The amount of plastic and wood pulp for disposables is just as appalling.  To think what we are making our environment for our children and grandchildren. 

Make the right choice, for your baby's bottom and the environment!

*Based on 8 changes per day for 3 years at $.32 a diaper.

**Taken from McConnell Jane. "The Joy of Cloth." The Mothering Magazine.  May/June 1998.