Reasons to Consider Using Cloth Diapers

Reason #1-No harsh chemicals on baby’s sensitive skin

Reason #2-You can save $1,200 by using cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers

Reason #3-You have to take out the garbage way less!! Cloth diapers prevent up to one ton of landfill garbage waste

Reason #4-Cloth diapers come in lots of fun colors and patterns (the newest ones I bought have math symbols on them!)

Reason #5-You can reuse them with multiple kids

Avoid Chemicals and Excess Landfill Waste

When I first found I was pregnant, my husband, Matt, and I took a class offered by a nurse at my OBGYN clinic about preparing to have a baby. One of the first things that we learned at the class is that the most popular brand of diapers—the type of diapers that are given to new mothers at the hospital—are actually the most chemically saturated diapers on the market.  This particular diaper company has actually had issues with the chemicals in their diapers causing rashes and chemical burns on the delicate, sensitive skin of babies.

At the time of my pregnancy, I was working for an environmental advocacy organization in Minnesota. As a result of my work, I was naturally concerned about my environmental impact. I originally became interested in cloth diapering because I did not want to contribute to landfill garbage that my child would have to deal with as she grows up. I did not immediately consider the toxic chemicals that were in the disposable diapers that are so commonly used by the majority of mothers. 

My own mother was also very concerned about the chemicals in most disposable diapers. She was so concerned about those chemicals coming into contact with her only grandchild’s delicate, sensitive skin, that my mom bought my baby her first set of newborn cloth diapers, and even agreed to do the diaper laundry for the first month of Addison’s life (fortunately for her, we had to move when Addison was two weeks old, so my mom was relieved of diaper laundry duty early ;-)

Explore Different Cloth Diapering Options

From looking at various cloth diapering options online, I felt totally overwhelmed and needed to see the different diaper options in person before I could settle on what I thought I would be most comfortable with, and what seemed easy to manage in the chaos that comes with having a newborn.

To learn about the different cloth diaper options, my mom and I ventured to a natural baby products store in St. Paul, MN where they have a variety of styles and brands of cloth diapers. One of the sales associates at the store was very helpful in explaining the different types of cloth diapers, including information about proper washing and care for the diapers.

I also learned about diaper laundering services (most diaper laundering services charge a monthly fee, and they provide you with unlimited diapers—commonly basic pre-folds diapers—and then the service picks the diapers up at your house to wash them once a week). After consideration of using a diaper service, I decided I would rather wash our own diapers 2-3 times per week rather than having dirty diapers sitting in a diaper pail in our house for a week—just personal preference. Also, I wanted to be able to choose the style and brand of cloth diapers we would use, and not be limited to using pre-folds.

Grovia All-In-One Newborn Diapers

Before Addison was born, we bought two-dozen Grovia All-in-One cloth diapers for newborns (https://www.gro-via.com/cloth/grovia-newborn-aio.html).  These diapers are made of cotton with an organic cotton liner that is sewn into the inside of the diaper to provide an extra layer of absorption.  You wash the dirty diapers in your washing machine once with cold water, once with warm or hot water, and then either hang to dry or put in a dryer for two cycles. Since the insert in the diaper is sewn in, the fabric is very thick and takes a long time to line dry. This is also why if you dry the diapers in a dryer, you must go through two dryer cycles.  Obviously, two wash cycles and two dry cycles uses a lot of water and energy, so these are factors to consider when buying these diapers. If you live in a warm climate, or have a baby during the warmer months, I highly recommend line-drying the diapers outside. First of all, you will save on energy costs, and secondly, the sun actually naturally bleaches stains out of the diapers.  Since Grovia’s newborn diapers only fit Addison until she was 12 pounds, she wore them for her first three months (7-12 pounds), and then we had to buy a larger size of cloth diapers.

Bum Genius One-Size Pocket Diapers

For our next set of cloth diapers, we bought Bum Genius one-size pocket diapers (http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php).  One great thing about these diapers is that they are adjustable in size so that they can grow with your baby between 10-35 pounds (they are advertised to fit babies at 7 pounds, but I think Addison would have been swimming in these diapers when she weighed 7 pounds). Another great thing about these diapers is that while you still have to wash them twice to get them clean, since the cloth inserts come out of the diapers, the inserts will dry after one cycle in your dryer. The outer shell of the diaper is not even supposed to go in the dryer, so I line dry mine, and they dry after a few hours, even in my basement in the middle of the winter.  One down side to these diapers is that unlike the All-in-One diapers that do not have multiple components to handle, when you are done washing and drying the diapers, you have to slide the cotton inserts into the diaper pockets. It’s not difficult, but it is an extra step in-between when the diapers come out of the wash to when they are ready for use on your baby.

Pre-folds (written by guest blogger Michelle Bonar Schiro, mother of Lucia-7 months)

I think one of the easiest and most affordable ways to cloth diaper is to use prefold diapers with a cover. I have a lot of success with this diapering system. You can simply fold your prefold diaper in thirds and lay into your favorite cover (mine are the Thirsties duo-fit). For a trimmer fit, try putting the prefold on your baby and "pinning" with a snappie (the modern diaper pin) followed by the waterproof cover. Prefolds are a great addition to your diaper collection, they wash up nicely and they dry quickly. Another great feature of this cloth diaper method is that your cover can be re-used multiple times in a day before being washed (so long as your baby has not pooped on it). This cuts down on the number of covers you have to buy. I love using cloth on my baby girl! Happy cloth diapering!

A Few Things to Keep in Mind with Cloth Diapers

You have to use special laundry detergent that is specific to the type of diaper you have. For our Grovia diapers, we used Tide Free (available at most major grocery stores and Target stores).  For our Bum Genius diapers, we were told not to use Tide Free, and instead use a detergent called Planet that is harder to find. There are other detergents that can be used, but you cannot use regular detergent, particularly detergent with any bleach or perfumes, as they degrade the fabric of the diapers and compromise absorbency and lifespan.  I recommend buying cloth diapers that have snaps instead of Velcro fasteners, because I have heard from many people that the Velcro fasteners irritate baby’s skin and doesn’t hold up well after lots of washing.

If you are considering using cloth diapers for your newborn, and your newborn weighs 9 pounds or less, keep in mind that you will have to buy a set of cloth diapers to fit your newborn, and they will quickly grow out of them.  Then you will have to buy a bigger size once they reach 11-12 pounds. You cannot use cloth diapers that are too big for your baby because they will not fit properly, and they will leak.

Finally, you have to change cloth diapers more frequently than disposable diapers, because they do not have the absorption chemicals that pull moisture away from your baby’s skin.  If cloth diapers do not get changed often enough, they will cause diaper rash due to moisture accumulation.  Once Addison started sleeping longer periods during the night, we began using disposable diapers at night so that any moisture was pulled away from her delicate skin for the hours she would have the diaper on. Believe it or not, there are disposable diapers that do not have the bleach, chlorine and other chemicals that are harmful to baby’s skin. We use (and love) Earth’s Best disposable diapers (http://www.earthsbest.com/node/59 ) at nighttime. Earth’s Best makes their products (diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, etc) using environmentally friendly practices, and uses renewable energy resources.  We have found that you can buy Earth’s Best products for a very competitive price when you order from www.Amazon.com or www.diapers.com .  We have also tried Seventh Generation diapers, which also do not have many of the harsh chemicals that leading diaper brands contain, but we have found Earth’s Best to have better absorption.  

Whatever you decide, I just had to let you know---we have fallen in love with our cloth diapers, and they are definitely worth the extra laundry!!