Cloth diapers – am I crazy?
I’ve been thinking about using cloth diapers. Yeah Yeah I know – with advances in technology and ease of use of disposable diapers why would I even want to deal with something like cloth diapers. For once, I’m not trying to do what seems more natural due to environmental reasons, well not really. I’m not afraid of adding some more diapers to landfills – they aren’t as evil as some may think. Many are actually becoming rather green by turning the methane produced into electricity. My “environmental” concern is actually the powder, which turns into a gel when wet, used in disposable diapers to make them super absorbent.
The one of the cloth diapers I’m really considering is the Bumgenius 2.0. I know what you’re thinking – holy cow 17.95 per diaper! That’s expensive! But the one size fits from newborn to potty training age and no covers or extra liners needed. The one thing that I don’t like is the “hook and loop” fasteners AKA Velcro. I used to have Velcro shoes as a kid and I’m afraid that type of closure may not last long. I also read some reviews about the elastic not lasing very long on them. Those reviewers still gave these diapers four out of five stars though. On the upside as long as I do the washing there is nothing extra that Kurt would have to do as far as diaper changes go and he might actually be willing to use them. At this point I have agreed that he can use disposable diapers, I already know I’ll probably never find a daycare that will deal with cloth diapers, so really they’ll be getting the most use while I’m on maternity leave for the first six months – yep I know I’m very lucky I get six months, so I’m taking it! With the schedules Kurt and I are negotiating with our work places Sophia will only be in daycare a maximum of three days a week, so the cloth diapering can still be about 50/50 after my maternity leave.
Using a chart that I found I figured the number of one-size diapers that I would want is 36, so the cost of buying the Bumgenius 2.0 pocket diaper would be $646.20. I used the same chart on some fitted diapers I was looking at (Thirsties fitted diaper). For those I would need to buy three different sizes as Sophia grows along with covers which also come in three sizes. The fitted diapers I was looking at were only $7.75 each which seems a lot better but the total cost including covers would come out to $855.00. The covers were $10.50 each and I figured I would buy the maximum recommended for each size.
The overall cost is higher for the Thirsties and because they’re a fitted diaper and not a pocket diaper they might be harder to get clean.
Ecobaby one-size diapers are the third brand I shall use to torture you. These only cost $13.00 each. They come with snap-in doublers for more absorbency and the closure uses snaps, but they require covers. The total cost for these (using the same chart) comes to $625.50. That’s less than the Bumgenius, but not by much. In addition, according to the same site that sells them they don’t fit very well at birth so I might need to use something else for the first couple of months.
July 2nd, 2007 at 9:00 am
Doesn’t sound crazy at all! My daughter is 2 now but I wish that I would have investigated cloth diapers before she was born. They say hind sight is 20/20 and after all the terrible rashes and allergic reactions she’s had to disposable diapers, I wish I would have looked into it much much sooner. At this point though, it’d be a waste for us. We’re super close to potty training, why try to save now when the money is already gone?
Perhaps another will come along that I can try this out with. *Ü*
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I have lots of friends who swear by cloth diapers. They tell me that it really is easy, saves money, and of course is better for the environment.
My husband is dead-set against cloth diapers, what a sissy! So, were sticking to sposies.
July 5th, 2007 at 11:14 am
It is so helpful when your husband is pro-cloth diaper, it’s kind of hard to never have him change a diaper. But some of the diapers are so easy to use it’s like changing a disposable. Check out this cloth diaper review http://www.thewishingwellness......per-review
July 11th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I used them for the first couple of months on a gift certificate I wsa given. It was fine, especially since the poos that newborns make are so not a problem. It was through a diaper service, so really easy to clean! I asked my mom how she used to clean ours and she said that she would swish them in the toilet to get the solids off, then put them in a pail with some sort of solution (bleach?) until she had a full load. I think they would be esp helpful with potty training because they don’t keep the baby’s skin nice and dry like the disposables do. Gavin could pee in a diaper all day long and not complain, until the thing is so full it leaks out on to his pants. No, we don’t leave him in the same diaper all day!