Thursday, May 14, 2009 Why Cloth Diaper?

I never in a million years thought I would turn to cloth diapers for my kids. And honestly the reason why I even considered it with my 2nd son was because we were going through a tremendous financial crisis. So I figured I would help out our situation the best I could by attempting to cloth diaper our kids. I was soo lost and nervous to even try them but after doing a lot of research I came across these kind of diapers. It was love at first sight. They are truly super easy to use and I'm soo glad I found them. Even if we become millionaires tomorrow (yeah right huh!) I will never go back to disposables.

However even though I started cloth diapering for financial reasons there are a ton of reasons why I still do it now.

1. When my kids were still in the newborn stage they would pee constantly sometimes up to 12 times a day. I remember getting frustrated everytime I was changing their diaper and right as I was putting on the new one they would poop or pee. I hated to have to throw away a brand new diaper that he got to put on for only 2 seconds. But once I switched to cloth my frustrations went away. I no longer cared how many times I had to change his diaper because I knew it wasn't going to cost me anything to change it. Now that I cloth diaper I change my kids diapers more frequently instead of making them stay in a wet or poopy diaper longer to make sure I get my money's worth.

2. Health Reasons. Another reason is for my children's health. I didn't know that disposables had chemicals in their diapers to help hold in all that urine. I remember having a scary experience with my first son. When he was about 5 days old I freaked out when I saw what looked like blood spots in his diaper. I immediately ran to the emergency room and they said it was crystals that formed from the diaper that caused the discoloration. I switched to another brand and it did go away. I was loyal to that brand and used it with my 2nd son. Again I saw those light blood spots when he was a newborn. I didn't realize it until later that it was chemicals in the diaper. These chemicals can be harmful and are also known to cause rashes on many kids. Since I started cloth diapering I haven't had anymore rashes to deal with!

3. Comfort. I'm not really sure how comfortable kids are in disposables. I have never worn a paper or plastic underwear and I can't imagine that being comfortable. So why should our kids wear them. I love all the soft fabrics available to keep my baby's bottom dry and comfortable.

4. No more blowouts. I used to hate when I would put on a really cute outfit on my baby before I went out and as soon as I arrived to my destination I had to not only change my baby's diaper but his whole outfit because of a blowout. Since I've started using these pocket diapers I have never had another blowout.

5. Convenience. Gone are the days where I have to run to the store late at night or early in the morning because I ran out of diapers. I love that I don't have to make many trips to the store to buy diapers anymore. It's also nice not to have a huge trash bag of diapers to carry out, which would release the stinky smell all over the house.

6. Earth Friendly. Another reason is for the environment. I never really thought about this or cared about what disposables did to the earth until I started learning about it. I couldn't believe that 1 diaper alone could take 500 years to decompose. Yes you read that right, 500 years! And with all the disposable diapers in the landfill we run the risk of contaminating our ground water!

7. So cute. This one is just for fun. I love all the different color diapers available, it actually makes changing diapers fun. I can't wait to put the next cute diaper on his bum!

8. Get money back. Even though you save hundreds of dollars using cloth diapers making your first purchase can be hard because you have to invest in them upfront. I learned that not only do I save by using my cloth diapers but I can also make at least half if not more of my money back by selling them used. There is a community of mothers out there waiting to buy your used diapers!