Am I crazy? Quite possibly. But, I feel confident in my decision to cloth diaper. I did a lot of research pre-baby on the pros and cons of disposable vs. cloth diapering and ultimately decided to cloth. Here are several reasons why:
- Disposables contain harmful ingredients and chemicals. Petroleum. Plastics. Bleaches. Dioxins. Artificial fragrances. Dyes. Gels. Yuck. Definitely don't want any of that touching sweet JB's tiny bum bum around the clock.
- It is estimated that each baby will need about 6,000 diapers during the first two years of life, costing around $1,600.00. Add another child to the mix and that is a lot of dough.
- Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill and takes about 250-500 years to decompose. Let's just say cloth are sooooo much better for the environment.
- Hybrid cloth diapers pretty much fit any and every lifestyle—whether you intend to keep your babe at home or go the daycare route.
- Let's face it...you are already doing at least one load of laundry a day. One more won't hurt, I promise.
- They're cute and make that bottom even more irresistible!
I chose to go with the GroVia brand because they offered a hybrid diaper and got great reviews. *Hybrid basically means that you have both cloth and a disposable option. I wanted a diaper that we would be able to travel well with since we will be taking several trips over the next couple of years to see grandparents and great-grandparents, etc. If you don't have a good washing machine available, clothing 24-7 isn't an option. Trust me. Nobody wants to travel with a smelly wet bag full of accumulated diapers shoved in the back of the car.
The GroVia shells come in vibrant colors and designs. You have a snap and velcro option. I prefer snaps. They are durable and allow for growth over time, delivering the perfect fit. With two integrated snaps inside the shell, changing out the inserts is as easy as 1-2-3--snap in the cloth insert or use the adhesive on the disposable option to keep the layers from shifting and you're good to go until the next change. And speaking of change, I never go longer than 2 hours in between diaper changes. Yes, you can go hours without a change with a disposable, but in my opinion, that is just plain cruel. Do you want to sit in your own pee or poo for that long? Didn't think so...
I go through about 2-3 shells (alternating with each diaper change) and around 9-12 cloth inserts per day. Therefore, I wash a load every day or every other day—I never go longer than two days. And don't freak out or say "eeeeeew, you stick dirty diapers in your washing machine?!" It is WAY easier than you think and your hands stay stink free. To be honest, I rarely use a diaper sprayer because Brooks' poops aren't that bad...yet. (And when they do get more massive and/or solid, I will use GroVia's BioLiners for easy cleanup—yet another reason why I love GroVia). All that you have to do is empty the wet bag and throw it in the washing machine, rinse, wash, and rinse again and you're good to go. To dry, just hang the shells to air dry and toss the inserts into the dryer. Boom. Done.
Also, an added bonus to cloth diapering is the fact that the shells can double as swim diapers! Boom again.
And one more thing (I promise, as I know this post is probably a bore), another reason why I chose to go with the GroVia brand is that they have an amazing trainer option for your toddler for when you're ready to potty train. I thought that this was really neat. I can't wait to give them a try. Umm, I take that back. I can wait.
If you are interested in cloth diapering, I have compiled a list of my favorite/must-have items to get you started:
I go through about 2-3 shells (alternating with each diaper change) and around 9-12 cloth inserts per day. Therefore, I wash a load every day or every other day—I never go longer than two days. And don't freak out or say "eeeeeew, you stick dirty diapers in your washing machine?!" It is WAY easier than you think and your hands stay stink free. To be honest, I rarely use a diaper sprayer because Brooks' poops aren't that bad...yet. (And when they do get more massive and/or solid, I will use GroVia's BioLiners for easy cleanup—yet another reason why I love GroVia). All that you have to do is empty the wet bag and throw it in the washing machine, rinse, wash, and rinse again and you're good to go. To dry, just hang the shells to air dry and toss the inserts into the dryer. Boom. Done.
Also, an added bonus to cloth diapering is the fact that the shells can double as swim diapers! Boom again.
And one more thing (I promise, as I know this post is probably a bore), another reason why I chose to go with the GroVia brand is that they have an amazing trainer option for your toddler for when you're ready to potty train. I thought that this was really neat. I can't wait to give them a try. Umm, I take that back. I can wait.
If you are interested in cloth diapering, I have compiled a list of my favorite/must-have items to get you started:
...I want to add, me and the cloths are not exclusive. Unfortunately. When Brooks was a bitty baby we were able to get through the night with an insert and booster. Not anymore! We now use disposables at night because Brooks is a heavy wetter. Actually, heavy wetter is an understatement--he sometimes leaks through Pampers Extra Protection diapers. Yowzers. We are all good under the hood unless B goes numero dos during the night. If he sits in his mess for a long time in disposables he develops an awfully painful rash. Luckily, for his hiney, those nights are far and few between.
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