I originally assumed I would go the typical route and use disposable diapers for Baby Boy Nullmeyer. But I have started reading more and more baby/mommy blogs, and my eyes have been opened to the world of cloth diapering. There is a lot more to consider than I originally thought! I haven't made a decision yet (Adam also gets some input, as he WILL be changing diapers)
Here are some of my thoughts on the topic.
Disposable diapers are appealing to me as a first time mom. They are convenient because you can just take them off and throw them away once their job is done. With cloth diapers, you have to actually wash them. And without being too graphic, what is the baby has a particularly "messy" day? How do you wash the cloth diaper then?
Cloth diapers definitely have some advantages, though. They are known to help prevent diaper rash. My mom cloth-diapered all 3 of her children, and none of us ever got diaper rash. On the other hand, my sister has always used disposables, and none of her 5 kids ever really got diaper rash either. Hmmm
There is also the issue of cost. I recently read that while you can spend approximately $3,000 on disposables during the first 2 years of your child's life, you can expect to spend about half that amount on cloth diapers.
And cloth diapers are just so darn cute! See for yourself:
Honestly, you could stick a baby in a potato sack and it would still be cute.
I would like to try cloth diapers and see how I like them, but becaue they require so much money up-front, that just doesn't seem realistic. I don't want to spend a lot of money and then end up not liking them. What to do?
Any riveting thoughts on cloth diapering? Come on people, this is fascinating!
Those are totally adorable! SO...here's my thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. Before you wash cloth diapers you have to "pre-wash" them in the toilet...
2. How many dirty cloth diapers do you keep laying around before doing a load of laundry? It seems like one load would be quite a few...
3. Adam doesn't do laundry, or dishes for that matter...good luck getting him to swish poopy diapers in toilet water!
:o) April considered doing this for about a minute...although she was going to hire a diaper service...and the cost was pretty much the same as disposable.
If you can do it that's great! I don't know that I could even attempt it!
All right I have finally joined your blog. I couldn't resist this one. I think that if anybody could do cloth diapers it would be you. You will do awesome at mommying! That being said, you will already have a mountain of new laundry to do with baby clothes, blankets, socks, bedding, your own spit up clothes, and I can't imagine doing a mound of ca-ca diapers on top of that. I wouldn't stress about it, though. Your baby will be just fine, cloth or disposable.
ReplyDeleteI asked my mom about this because I know she used cloth diapers on my sister and I. She told me she used a service for my sister and me. (She only used them for the first couple months of my life because the price had gone up so much in 4 years. After that she just washed them on her own.) She said that they don't really smell, although you should keep a deodorizer on the lid of whatever container you use to keep them in between cleaning. The service picked up once a week and when she washed them on her own she did a load every 2-3 days.
ReplyDeleteShe also used disposable on us when we went for long car rides or to other people's houses because of the convenience.
If you really are interested in cloth diapers, look into a service. Most require a month commitment up front. There is one in the area that costs $88 for 4 weeks I think. That would give you a chance to see how you like them... without the added worry of laundering them yourself. Yes, you should wipe the "mess" off by dunking them in the toilet, but from what I read it pretty much comes off really easily. If you think about it, it's no grosser than having to use baby wipes to clean said "mess" off the baby itself.
Also, they sell liners that are flushable. You could put those in the diapers to catch the solids for easier clean-up.
This is a tough one. I personally never wrote off cloth diapers because of the environmental impact of disposable. It's something that I know I'll need serious thought about when I have a child. Good Luck.
Hey due date buddy! I just wanted to share with you some of the things I have learned through my research and my decision to cloth diaper. I was even able to get my husband on board with this.
ReplyDelete- you don't have to dunk dirty diapers in the toilet, once the baby has poo that is solid enough to be dumped in the toilet you can get a sprayer that attaches to the toilet to spray them off in to the bowl. I got one for Christmas and I can't wait for my hubby to install it.
- washing cloth diapers is not hard. There are tons of sites out there that will outline a good washing routine for you based on what kind of machine you have and what kind of water your area has. There is a detergent and washing routine out there for every possible combination and because you use very little detergent on the diapers, detergent is not a huge expense.
- many of the big baby stores (Babies R Us and even Target) offer cloth diapers on their websites so you can add them to your registry or purchase them with gift cards you receive as gifts to help offset your start up cost. I have a registry at www.nurturedfamily.com just for my cloth diapers. You can check it out if you want some ideas for your own registry.
Good luck in your decision, feel free to give me a call or email me if you have any questions about our plans or if you just want to chat.