Cloth Diapers: not just for hippies anymore

Admit it, you are curious. You meet a mom at the park who seems normal, but then you catch a bit of bright yellow fabric sticking out as her baby crawls away. Cloth diapers!? What is she, some kind of goddamned hippie supermom-wannabe with nothing better to do than laundry?

It's never too early to start complaining to your baby about your parents' diapering choices

Actually, chances are that while she does care about the environmental impact of diapering, she is also really looking to save money & make her baby's bum as cute as possible. In other words, she's not as weird as you think.

Defensive? No way.

Ok, maybe a little.

It's just that I feel like most parents dismiss cloth diapering without giving it a fair shot. Here are my top 6 cloth diapering myths - do any seem familiar to you?

(also, I know no one ever posts a "top 6" anything. I was shooting for five and miscounted. Don't tell my preschooler.)

6. Cloth diapers are expensive

Diaper for diaper, cloth diapers are more expensive than disposables. If you want your kid exclusively in cloth, you will probably spend a few hundred bucks on your diaper stash (though you can cut this way down if you buy smart and/or used). But here's the kicker: once you buy them you don't have to buy any more. With disposables you should expect to spend around a few THOUSAND dollars from birth to potty training. And there is no discount for a second kid. With cloth you can use the same diapers for a second (or third! or forth! woah there) kid with almost no additional cost.

Another way to do the calculation is to say that with disposables, you'll pay about $70/month (this is what babycenter says to estimate, your milage may vary). So if you spend $200 on your cloth diaper stash, you only have to use them for 3 months to recoup what you were going to spend anyway. If your kid isn't potty trained at 3 months and you use them longer, you are basically getting free money. If you use them for a whole different kid (or sell them to a different parent), you are a bona fide financial genius.

5. Cloth diapering requires joining some kind of cult

False. You joined the cult when you decided to become a parent and read blog posts about diapers. Cloth diapering just makes sense. Except when it doesn't. Like when you are traveling, or live in an apartment with no washer, or work 60 hours a week, or just didn't get the diapers washed because you were busy managing the rest of your life. Our baby is in cloth about 75% of the time. Our older kid was in cloth 95% of the time until 7mo, disposables from 7mo - 15mo, then in cloth probably 70% of the time until potty training. Look at the calculation in myth #6 - you don't have to commit to never buying a disposable diaper again to make it worth it to try cloth.

4. Cloth diapers are prone to leaks.

Seriously? Have you seen a cloth diaper in the last 10 years? The days of plastic pants and assumed leaks are over, there are a wide variety of super adorable waterproof covers and diapers to chose from. There are really only two reasons cloth diapers should leak: your child has outgrown the absorbency of their diaper (same thing happens with disposables) or you washed them incorrectly (so gunk builds up on the diapers and they don't adsorb as well).

Cloth diapers really shine in terms of leaks with little babies who are very susceptible to blowout poops. Ask any cloth diaper user - cloth is WAY WAY WAY better for preventing the up-the-back blowout. Astonishingly better. Better enough to turn you into some kind of cloth diaper evangelist that writes blog posts about how awesome her diapers are.

Ahem. Moving on.

3. Cloth diapers are a lot of work

Cloth diapers are slightly more work than disposables, but really not as much as you think. About 3 loads of laundry/week more work. Once you figure out your washing routine you will find the diapers just flow into the laundry cycles you are doing anyway.

If your baby is exclusively breastfed, cloth diapering is SO EASY and SO AWESOME (see #3 above). Just throw the dirty diapers in the wash with no extra treatment and the breastmilk poop totally dissolves. After your kid starts formula or solids, you will have to spend a few minutes dealing with poop before you throw the diaper into the pail. Honestly, it's less work than the diaper change itself.

In my opinion, this extra work is really the only reason to use disposable diapers. If you take a look at your crazy life and decide the extra work for cloth won't fit, then it won't fit, and you should not feel guilty for one additional minute.

But just do me a favor and own up to that choice instead of spewing the following...

2. Cloth diapers aren't actually any better for the environment.

This one really burns me up. I think this myth comes from a UK Environment Agency report where they estimated the carbon footprint of manufacturing and washing cloth diapers could be higher or lower than disposables, depending on how you wash them. If you make good washing choices you can bring the carbon footprint down by 40% compared to disposables. But in my opinion, this calculation misses the point. An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used each year in the US. That's 3.4 million tons. Those diapers are sent to landfills, where it will take 200-500 years for them to degrade. That is millions of tons of feedstocks (trees, water, petrochemicals) used to make the diapers that get used only once, then sit in the landfill. There is no way you can make me believe this doesn't matter. Those disposable diapers are also filled with human waste (which is actually illegal to send to a landfill, but no one enforces this for diapers). With cloth, the waste goes into the sewer system, where it can be properly treated.

I guess it boils down to this: using disposable diapers instead of cloth is a totally reasonable choice. But let's not insult anyone's intelligence by pretending it's a green one.

That one is kind of a downer, huh. Let's move on to myth #1...

1. Cloth diapers are gross.

False. Babies are gross. The diapers are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So there you have it, my rant of the week about diapers. May the poop be with you.

p.s. There are lots of great resources online if you are interested in the practicalities of getting started in cloth - some of my favorites are Amalah's guide to cloth diapers and the Cotton Babies site. Also the diaperswappers community.

Are you an Amazon Mom?

It's not like Amazon needs any more promotion, but I'm loving their new Amazon Mom's Program. It offers free Amazon Prime membership (2-day shipping on most items) for 3 months (with ways to extend it for free if you spend $25 a month), which is perfect for holiday shopping. And even better, if you sign up for their Subscribe and Save program for diapers or wipes, which offers 15% off, you get an additional 15% off. The price cannot be beat and I love them arriving at my door on a regular basis. It's not like Amazon needs another cheerleader, but they have me for sure. They bought diapers.com this week too, so we'll see how things shape up, but in the meantime I'm enjoying not spending an arm and a leg on diapers, something so not interesting!

An ode to gDiapers

When I was pregnant with S, I was fortunate to get a baby crash-course experience through babysitting. Until I started sitting, my only diaper change experience had been my friend Johanna's son Cameron when he was a month old. I was 22 years old, it was 2 in the morning and completely unaware of the need to cover up little boys so as to avoid being sprayed. (needless to say, her husband Bryan jumped in to save the day).

Fast forward to this summer and I quickly learned the pros and cons of disposables vs cloth and everything in between.

Dave and I were hoping to minimize the trash/landfill ramifications of disposable diapers. My neighbor uses cloth with the "laundry sheets", so I got good practice using them, but I was never 100% comfortable I was doing it right.

After reading lots of different sites, blogs and posts on my local mom's list (Somerville Moms Yahoo Group ) I stumbled onto gDiapers. They're kind of a hybrid between disposable and cloth. They have a cute outer cover, a plastic liner that snaps in and then the diaper insert. If the insert gets dirty, you can dispose of it one of three ways: flush it down the toilet (which requires tearing the sides off - was slightly icky at first but I've totally gotten used to it - especially now that we're way past infant poop into solid poop), throw it in the garbage or compost it (wet ones only).

We started using them right when S got home from the hospital and they've worked great. The inserts are slightly more expensive than a traditional disposable, but in terms of absorption and control, they work great! We have had very few leakage incidents (even during the long overnights) and, S looks really cute to boot.

We recently rotated in the gCloth to our repertoire and I'm happy to report, after a few speed bumps (definitely can't make the 3+ hour mark with our heavy wetter in cloth) we've found success using them. We still stick with the flushies for overnight and long outings, but cloth cuts down on cost, waste and makes a nice happy baby.

Balmex Powder: Where have you gone?

At two weeks old, my son had a horrible, blistering diaper rash. NOTHING worked. I think I bought everything in the diaper rash aisle. I went to the health food store and bought Egyptian Magic, I sprinkled on some probiotics (in case it was yeast), and I raided the non-baby aisles for Maalox, Neosporin.... I could barely get his little bottom clean through all the layers of ointments. Until, I discovered the magical combination of All-Purpose Nipple Ointment and Balmex powder. This powder is a miracle. For little newborns that are always squirting something out, the powder absorbs all the moisture, yet also seems to neutralize the poop and soothes the skin. And it's cornstarch based, so it's safer to use. Within a few uses, the diaper rash was cleared up. I was ready to buy a case in case of future rash incidents, but after visiting what seemed like every Rite-Aid in a three state radius, as well as Babies R' Us, I can find none! Why is it that as soon as I find something I want to buy stock in, it disappears! And yes, I admit I'm writing this blog post so Balmex sends me a year's supply. If you find it, buy some for yourself and an extra bottle for me!

Diapers, etc.

Diapers - Pampers rule. They are what the hospital will give you, they are the softest, you can buy them in bulk at Costco…no brainer.

Diaper Cream – Triple Paste is the best!

Wipes – As far as what brand of wipes to buy, that will be up to your baby and you. Some of us like Huggies, others like Pampers. Some of us even buy generic brands, or whatever they have at Costco.

Wipes Warmers – This is an unnecessary registry item. Not only are they a fire hazard, they also dry out the wipes.

Diaper Disposal

The majority of us Mamas have a Diaper Genie. While you do need to buy special bags for this diaper-eating machine, you can easily find them at your local Target or Walmart. We find that this is the best brand for keeping the smell contained. Other brands we have tried are the Diaper Champ and the Diaper Décor, but we found them to be much smellier than the Diaper Genie.

Those Mama’s with little boys might want to get a pack of wash cloths to cover your little one’s unit while changing him, as they will be sure to pee on your almost every time they get changed – something about that fresh air on their junk that makes them go!

We also recommend picking up some Especially for Baby disposable bags. When you are on the go these are great to have (much like doggie poo bags) to put soiled diapers in to block the smells.