Why You Should Consider Cloth Diapering Your Baby & Where to Start

Why on Earth would anyone choose to cloth diaper? This thought ran through my head about ten years ago when I was single and had no immediate plans to have children. It sounded gross and like a ton of work. But now, ten years later, I’m a bona-fide cloth diapering mama! Today I’m sharing why you should consider cloth diapering your baby, and as an added bonus, I’m sharing the secret of where to start!

Why you should consider cloth diapering your baby

If you’ve been around Living Kairos for a while, you probably know that my husband and I struggled with infertility. We desperately wanted a baby, and while the journey was difficult and shook us in more ways than you can imagine, we were confident God would bless us with a little one eventually.

Since I was desperate to learn everything I could about babies and baby care so I would be ready when the time came, I stumbled across a blog post about cloth diapering. It looked interesting, so I read further. I honestly don’t even remember the blog or name of the article, so I can’t share it with you, but it caused me to fall down a rabbit hole, headlong into the world of cloth diapering.

The more I researched, the more convinced I was that we needed to do this. So I cautiously broached the subject to my husband and was surprised that it took little convincing to get him on board. And now, I can share these reasons with you as you determine whether you want to begin cloth diapering your baby.

Cost

Cost was the biggest factor in our decision to cloth diaper. It costs around $2,000 to diaper a baby in disposables from birth to potty training. Um, what now? That number staggered me!

On the other hand, it takes a significant up-front cost to build a cloth diaper stash. But the few hundred (if that) dollars you spend up-front is peanuts compared to thousands you’d spend on disposables. Plus, cloth diapers can be used with multiple kids. So say you end up having three kids. That’s $6,000 to diaper them from birth to potty training. If you spend $500 on cloth diapers (and that’s a generous amount; many people spend way less), you saved yourself $5,500!

When I realized how much we could save cloth diapering, we immediately began setting money aside to build a stash. Before I was even pregnant. It was a leap of faith, so to speak, saving for a baby you may never have. Thankfully, God blessed us with a gorgeous baby boy, and I can honestly say cloth diapering has given me so much peace, both financially, and otherwise (read on).

Chemicals

It takes chemicals to make something as thin and absorbent as a disposable diaper. According to Livestrong, many disposables contain dioxins, sodium polyacrylate, tributyltin (TBT), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other chemicals. We decided not to expose our baby’s cute little bum to that yucky stuff.

Other reasons to consider cloth diapering your baby

Environment

Disposables are really bad for the environment, as they take a long, long time to decompose, and the chemicals from human waste that leach into the ground aren’t great either. A child will go through approximately 7,300 diapers from birth to potty trained. That’s a huge amount of waste!

Sustainability

Some people think the cost of laundering cloth diapers (water, electricity, soap, etc.) so high that it’s just not worth it. But I can tell you from personal experience, cloth diapering your baby barely makes a dent in your water and electric bills. Even when Little Man was a newborn and I was washing every day and a half, we only saw a slight increase in our bills. The same is true of the soap situation. Now that he’s older and going through fewer diapers, I only wash once every three days, and it’s completely manageable!

No blowouts or diaper rash

When I read that blowouts were extremely rare with cloth diapers, I thought, Sign me up! We’ve all heard about the dreaded baby blowouts, and I can honestly say we’ve never experienced a single one with cloth diapers. And it’s because cloth diapers are much more breathable, and don’t form a complete seal around baby’s toosh.

That’s also why diaper rash is very rare with cloth diapers, too. We’ve unfortunately experienced a bad bought of diaper rash because we bathed Little Man in another family member’s tub when we were away from home, and whatever they used to clean it caused a bad rash. But it cleared up incredibly fast, and he’s been rash-free for most of his life.  

But what about the poo?

I know your thinking it, don’t lie. Every mom considering cloth diapers worries about the ick factor. I honestly was a little concerned about it myself, but it’s not nearly as bad as I thought. In fact, exclusively breastfed babies’ poo is water-soluble, so you can just throw those diapers right into the wash.

For formula and solids, just plop or spray the poo into the toilet, and wash like normal. And if you just really can’t get over it, there are liners you can buy and insert between baby and the diaper. Then, when he poos, you just throw the poo and the liner away. Easy!

Types of cloth diapers

Before I started my cloth diaper journey, my only experience was the brief time my parents used those big white pieces of cloth and huge safety pins on my brother. And that’s probably what you picture as you consider cloth diapering your baby. But cloth diapering has come a long way, my friend, and the diapers on the market now ain’t your mama’s cloth diapers. There are four main types of cloth diapers:

AIOs (All-In-Ones)

As the name suggests, these diapers are indeed all-in-one. There are no inserts, no extra pieces, and they are incredibly easy. You simply toss the dirty diapers in the wash and forget about them. You don’t have reassemble the clean ones, and they are a great option for the first-time cloth diapering mama. They consist of a waterproof outside and a soft, absorbent inside, and most have elastic around the legs and waist, and fasten with snaps or velcro.

Pocket Diapers

Pocket diapers are my personal favorite. Like AIOs, they have a waterproof outside and absorbent inside and have elastics and snaps (or velcro). The difference is that pocket diapers have a “pocket” where the user stuffs an insert (usually microfiber, bamboo, or other absorbent fiber). I like these diapers because I can add additional inserts for overnight use or when my guy goes through heavy-wetting stages. Right now, Little Man is fifteen month old, and we triple-stuff his nighttime diaper so he rarely wakes up in the middle of the night wet. Pocket diapers are also easy to wash, just remove the insert and toss it with the covers.

Prefolds

Prefold diapers are pieces of absorbent material that are folded and sewn together. They are most similar to the diapers I remember on my brother. They can be very absorbent, but you do need a few extra things. You must use a fastener to hold it all together (don’t worry, safety pins are out; they make much better ones now, like these from Snappi). You must also use a cover (remember those plastic ones? They make better ones these days) so stuff doesn’t leak everywhere. Prefolds are usually less expensive than AIOs and pockets, but there is a little more work involved. One great thing is prefolds can be used for burp cloths, wiping dirty faces, and much more, so they are pretty versatile.

Flats

Flats are one single, flat piece of fabric. It’s usually a large piece, and you have to fold it. The great thing about flats is you can fold them to fit your baby, thus customizing the size. Like prefolds, you need covers and fasteners. But an upside is that you can use them for small blankets, burp cloths, wipes, and anything else you can think of.

Our preference

As I stated above, we really like pocket diapers the best. We experimented with a couple brands, and here’s what we concluded.

Fuzzibunz

Fuzzibunz diapers are super cute because they have so many prints to choose from. Since we didn’t find out Little Man’s gender before he was born, we stocked up on a lot of gender-neutral prints (plus, we can reuse them if we ever have a girl!). They are on the lower end of cost in the cloth diaper world, so you can build a good stash for a fairly decent price. They have adjustable elastics in the legs and waist, so they can grow with your baby.

However, we discovered that they are very prone to leaks. This is partly due to user-error, as sometimes the bamboo inserts get a little twisted. We placed several orders over a span of about nine months, and it seemed like the materials and quality changed a couple times. For example, I have a couple of diapers from one order that held the softness on the inside very well, and diapers from another order in which the inside material seemed to pill a bit. Overall, you get what you pay for, and these are decent diapers that got us through the newborn stage and beyond.

bumGenius

When we started experiencing issues with Fuzzibunz, I decided to try out bumGenius. These diapers are awesome! Though they are more expensive, the quality is much better. I bought a few of them used, ranging from the 3.0 series to the 5.0 series. Though the styles vary a little, the quality is consistent. They also come in many fun prints, so you can build a pretty stash for your little one. bumGenius makes both pockets and AIOs, so you have your pick!

However, unlike Fuzzibunz, the elastics are not adjustable, so you have to be gentle on them so you don’t stretch them out. But with proper care, you shouldn’t have an issue cloth diapering your baby in bumGenius.

Cloth diaper accessories

If you decide cloth diapering your baby is the way to go, you need a few other things besides the diapers themselves.

Large wet bags

Wet bags are amazing! Most have a waterproof coating on the inside so all the, ah, liquid stays where it should, and they keep the odor in surprisingly well. I bough these large Teamoy wet bags, and they are awesome! When Little Man was a newborn, we kept one by his bassinet for those middle-of-the-night changings and one in our living room. Now that he’s older, I keep one in his nursery and one hanging on the bathroom door where we spray off dirty diapers.

Small wet/dry bags

These guys are great for cloth diapering your baby on the go. They have two zipper pockets: one for dirty diapers, and one for clean diapers, clothes, etc. I bought the Damero wet/dry bags pictured below, and they are awesome!

Cloth wipes

We actually didn’t initially plan to use cloth wipes. But after learning about all the yucky chemicals in disposable wipes, we decided, “Hey, we already wash diapers, might as well add wipes, too.” I bought a bunch of Fuzzibunz cloth wipes, and they’ve worked so great. Unfortunately, I don’t think they sell them anymore, but you can use pretty much anything. Cheap baby washcloths are perfect for cloth wipes, and I know many people make their own by cutting up old receiving blankets and hemming the edges. You can also buy cheap cloth wipes on Amazon.

Diaper sprayer

This is a must, in my opinion. We bought this Bumworks sprayer, and though we didn’t use it until Little Man started solid foods, it’s been a lifesaver. You attach it to the plumbing in your toilet, and use it to spray off the poopy diapers.

Spray Pal

This is one thing that I’ve been meaning to buy, and just haven’t got around to just yet. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it helps reduce the mess of spraying dirty diapers.

I hope I gave you something to think about today, mama. Cloth diapering has been a huge blessing for us. We saved so much money and are doing our part to help the environment. Our sweet baby bum doesn’t touch any yucky chemicals, and we’ve never had a single blowout and minimal diaper rash. If you are considering cloth diapering your baby, stay tuned for the next post in our cloth diapering series: Cloth Diaper Care.