Let’s talk about diapers.
More specifically, cloth diapers. You know, the things our grandmothers used on our parents. In case you thought everyone nowadays just bought Pampers at the store, let me tell you, not all of us do! And while the cloth diapers of this generation are very different from the flannels with diaper pins that our grandmothers used, cloth diapers seem to be making a comeback of sorts.
Let’s be honest, there are a ton of diaper options out there now. There are so many brand names promising more absorbency, cleaner ingredients, better fit, etc for your baby. Whether you choose “regular” diapers found at Walmart or “clean” diapers found online, one thing is true for all of them: they’re costly.
When we had Samuel 4.5 years ago, I had thought about cloth diapering him for a number of reasons. Cost, environmental impact, etc. That being said, I also worked full-time and didn’t want to ask a babysitter to have to navigate cloth diapering. The idea got thrown to the side, but once I came home full-time and then became pregnant, I knew I wanted to cloth diaper this time around. That decision became even more firmly planted when I was nesting and preparing items for Jenny before she was born and realized that diapers had gone up a huge amount in price since we had last bought them.
It was a big choice, but something I really wanted to do for the sake of our family’s finances and the amount of waste going to the landfill. Any time I’m nervous about trying something new, I usually agonize over it for days and then simply do it. Once I step both feet into something, I typically realize it wasn’t as bad as I had made it out to be.
That was so true for cloth diapering.
I had made my decision to do this, but felt in some way that I would struggle through it, simply sticking with it because I had to. This has not been the case at all, and I’m so glad to say it! In every way, I’ve been so glad to be cloth diapering.
We had originally planned to cloth diaper part-time. We planned to use them at home only, but any time we were out somewhere or at night, we would use disposable. It would still reduce our waste and save money. Once we started cloth diapering, though, we didn’t buy diapers at all. It was just as easy to pop a wet bag in my backpack and go somewhere. Never once did I wonder how I was going to navigate cloth diapering while I was out somewhere. We’ve gone out for full days and have only used cloth diapers. It’s been a breeze (and so much easier than I had anticipated!), so I want to share my thoughts about this choice.
Why we chose cloth:
They save money. On average, babies go through approximately 8-12 diapers per day in their first year. In my area, a box of regular diapers runs around $40 and contains approximately 130 diapers. This is NOT a clean brand. These are some of the cheapest diapers on the market. That’s .31 cents per diaper, and that’s for the newborn size only. The larger the size, the fewer diapers per box. That makes the larger diapers even more costly. So taking newborn size alone (even though they will become increasingly more expensive as your baby grows) and if baby uses just 10 diapers per day (though you may need more), you’re looking at over $1000 each year in diapers alone. With cloth diapers, if you expand your family in the future, there are no extra diapers to buy. They last for years and many cloth diaper styles can be used for babies from 8-35 pounds. That’s newborn to toddlerhood! Buy once and you’re done. I love that!
They’re gentle. When Samuel was around one year old, we tried a different diaper from the same company as our regular ones. They were a bit cheaper and contained more in the box, so we thought it might be a good option if they performed the same way. I mean, they’re all going to end up in the trash anyway, right? Well, that was a big mistake. After wearing just one of these diapers, our little baby had a horrible reaction. His skin was bright red and hot. He looked as though he had been scalded. I used some home remedies and thankfully within a couple of hours, the redness went down and by the next day, he had improved. After that experience, I never used those diapers again. I love that cloth diapers are gentle. We’ve had no issues of diaper rash at all and I know that there aren’t any harsh chemicals close to our baby’s skin.
They’re more environmentally friendly. Cloth diapers are a more sustainable option than disposable diapers. Did you know it takes approximately 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose? And though biodegradable diapers do decompose 10 times faster, that’s still around 50 years for them to break down! This honestly blows my mind. Scientists estimate that diapers alone contribute 3.6 million tons of landfill waste every year. While cloth diapers do require water and electricity to wash, I personally feel like they’re a better choice from an environmental standpoint.
What I’ve discovered using cloth diapers:
The wash routine was exaggerated. Something I’ve discovered with cloth diapering so far is how similar it is to sourdough. Stay with me here. When I wanted to try my hand at making our own bread, I read so many blog posts, articles, and online forums dedicated to making sourdough. For the most part, they were helpful. And then I found the “sourdough purists”. The ones who needed a scale to measure flour to the exact gram. The ones who said never to place your starter in the fridge—it’ll kill it. The ones who only recommended King Arthur flour and said Canadian flours weren’t strong enough for sourdough boules. Oh my goodness, the list goes on. So I did as I always do and agonized over if I was doing sourdough the “proper” way. And then I had a revelation of sorts: our grandmothers didn’t use scales to measure flour. They went according to look and feel when they baked and cooked. They worked based on trial and error in the kitchen. Once I threw out the modern rules of baking sourdough, I found myself enjoying it so much and becoming a better, more confident baker.
Back to the cloth diapers—Google can be both your best resource and also your worst nightmare. I was so intimidated when I began reading about cloth diaper wash routines. I read so many articles that talked about detergents and the necessity of having particular soak/wash/rinse cycles. I had no sweet clue what I was doing and when I asked someone online about possibly using my homemade laundry detergent for diapers, she said it absolutely would not work and Tide powder was my only budget-friendly choice. So, I took the lesson I learned from sourdough, forgot everything Google told me, and set out to find what worked for me.
What I found was that many people really made a simple process seem complicated. Years ago, our grandmothers didn’t have 20+ settings on their washers (if they even had a washer). They used water and soap of some sort. They scrubbed and used sunlight as natural bleach. I figure, if it was good enough for my grandmother, it’s good enough for me. Let’s keep things simple. So, I’ve been soaking the diapers for a bit, using my homemade detergent (sorry people, it does work) in the wash cycle, and rinsing well. We haven’t had any lingering smells and they wash so well. Lisa from Farmhouse on Boone was a great resource for me in starting to cloth diaper. She’s a pro at it after having cloth diapered all of her eight kids, and she uses homemade detergent and a simple wash routine. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
I’ve also discovered that cloth diapers work so well! Since they’re adjustable for babies of all sizes, it’s easy to get a good fit. There’s no concern about it fitting too snug or too tightly and causing a blow out. They are absorbent and with pocket diapers (like we use and love), you can add an extra liner to the pocket if you want some extra protection from leaks (like at nighttime).
Speaking of pocket diapers, they’re our favourite style. Like I mentioned before, many of them can be adjusted for babies from 8-35 pounds which means you’ll never have to size up. Our stash of diapers are from a variety of companies. Some were gifted to us, others we scored at the thrift store, and some we bought new. That being said, there’s one brand I prefer above the rest and those are the Nora’s Nursery diapers. They fit so well! They’re a bit higher rise than the other diapers we have and they do NOT leak. I honestly don’t know how. They’re soft inside and out, and the liners are super absorbent and easy to tuck into the pocket of the diaper. They have cute colours and patterns which isn’t the absolute most important, but it’s nice and adds a bit of fun to an otherwise simple task.
This post isn’t sponsored, but I did want to share my affiliate link since this is our favourite cloth diaper option! If you shop via my link, I do receive a small commission but at no additional cost to you. I genuinely love Nora’s Nursery diapers and am pleased to share about them.
My biggest advice to anyone looking to cloth diaper is not to overcomplicate it. At the end of the day, it’s just laundry that needs to be washed. So wash it. Don’t worry about the online forums and the cloth diaper purists. Just find what works for you. If you run into an issue, find a solution online and try it out. It might work, it might not. Trial and error, friend. That’s how we learn and become confident.
After doing cloth diapering for a couple of months, I can honestly say I feel such a sense of accomplishment in doing this. Maybe that’s silly, but it brings me joy to know that I’m helping reduce waste in our environment, reducing costs in our household, and keeping my baby’s skin safe from unnecessary chemicals in many diapers on the market.
I hope this post has been helpful to you! If you have any questions about cloth diapering, I’d be happy to answer what I’ve discovered and what works for our family—just leave your questions in the comments below!
