We use cloth diapers with Dane. Ella was in them from about a year until early last fall. We had to change out of necessity for her because she developed a terrible allergic skin reaction to the toxic chemicals found in disposable diapers. When her pediatrician suggested I make the switch to cloth, I was horrified! I had more than enough laundry to do as it was!

I then researched & decided to try all-in-one diapers (AIOs), which also didn’t work well with Ella’s uber-sensitive skin because the PUL (Polyurethane Laminate) in them didn’t allow her skin to breathe. Once we switched to fitted & prefold diapers with wool covers she cleared right up! Dane has mostly the same type of stash I had for Ella (he inherited hers, too) with a few AIOs since PUL doesn’t seem to effect him like it did his sister.

The washing really isn’t bad, even for the short time I had both Ella & Dane in cloth. I made sure I had enough diapers to allow for washing every 3-4 days. My wash routine has gone from all wrong when we started, to becoming overly complex, & when I found the complexity unnecessary went to a cold/cold 30 minute soak, then I let the cycle complete. I add a couple teaspoons of dish detergent to that wash. If we have any issues with a yeast rash, I then add a teaspoon of grapefruit seed extract. Not grape.. grapefruit
When the cold wash cycle completes, I run a HOT (it has to be over 212° to kill any bacteria)/cold cycle with about 1/2 to 1 cup of baking soda added at the beginning of the wash. To dry, I prefer to hang the diapers outside on the clothesline, as the sun does wonderful things to stained diapers. Sun is also a bacteria killer, which may be overkill but I do it anyway.

Once I started researching, I realized what an impact on the environment the use of disposable diapers have. A baby can use more than 5,000 disposables from birth to potty learning. It is the third largest product in the waste stream after newspapers & beverage containers. That’s a lot of toxins flooding into our dear planet’s soil- not to mention disposable diapers do NOT break down at all. Take the Earth Day Footprint Quiz to see your impact on our planet, that will give you a good idea how many biological acres your family uses. Mine uses 11 acres compared to the average American who uses 24 acres & still it told me “IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.4 PLANETS”. Now imagine figuring disposable diapers into that equation! Also think about this: poop on ’sposies is supposed to be flushed down the toilet according to the diaper manufacturers. I never did so when I used them back when, nor have I known a ’sposie user to flush poo, either. Raw sewage doesn’t belong in our landfills. Period.

The cost of cloth really is an investment. To start out, depending on what type of system you are wanting to try (may I suggest you try a bit of everything until you know what works best for your baby & family) it could cost anywhere from around $120-$300+ to get started. Prefolds &/or flats with PUL covers are the cheapest route. There is a good page on clothdiapering frugally found on The Diaper Hyena, as well as a few Diaper Pin resources such as the cost calculator & a utility bill sample- all of which give a fantastic estimate for how much using cloth will cost.

Although I realize this article isn’t going to convert every ’sposie user to cloth, it certainly provides much food for thought.

Posted in activism, clothdiapering, parenting & written by Niki —