"Every Cloth Diaper You Use is Worth it"

As I was scrolling through Green Mountain Diapers' website, I came across this bit of inspiration. “Every cloth diaper you use is worth it.” I felt a bit ridiculous buying cloth diapers for the first time when my fourth baby was 2 months old. I had already been cloth diapering for a few weeks but I was wondering if I should spend the money on cloth diapers. I had been using some old receiving blankets, a safety pin, and one diaper cover I had picked up from the thrift store. As of yet, I hadn’t invested any money into cloth diapering but my little one was quickly outgrowing the receiving blanket newborn size diapers. I didn’t really believe that I was a cloth diapering kind of mom. I had tried briefly with my first using borrowed supplies and I quickly gave it up for disposables. When I read that quote, I realized there was a lot of truth in it even if it was there to sell diapers. It was worth it to invest a small amount of money, especially when compared with the amount I was spending on Costco packs of diapers, to have the supplies I needed to continue to cloth diaper even if I didn’t do it full time or all the way until my baby started potty training.

There are some compelling reasons to cloth diaper. It is far and away the most natural diaper solution. The only thing touching my baby’s sensitive skin when I am using cloth diapers is organic cotton. If you opt for wool covers (this one is 100% wool and made in Germany), it can also be a completely plastic free option for diapering your baby. It’s a huge win for sustainability because not only are superior materials used, more diapers are staying out of the landfill. I estimate I have saved over 100 diapers from the diaper pail in just two months and I’m not even doing it full time! This amounts to material cost savings as well. The other benefit to cloth diapering that wasn’t as obvious to me going in is that I am more in touch with my baby. I notice when her diaper is wet. I know about how often and when she usually pees. This information is gonna be gold when it comes time to potty train. Yes, I change my baby’s diaper more often when she is in cloth diapers but I don’t think of this as a downside because it means she is clean and dry more of the time.

Full disclosure, I have only been cloth diapering for about 2 months excepting the short stint I mentioned earlier however, I find myself actually enjoying it. Going with a hybrid approach has been the key to my success this time around. This is what I have come up with. I don’t have to cloth diaper. I keep disposables on hand for nighttime, when I go out for long periods of time with baby, and whenever I don’t feel like using a cloth diaper which is rarely because they really are no big deal once now that I’ve gotten the hang of it. Still, when laundry is mounting because of the flu or a potty training regression, I give myself a pass. I have enough supplies to wash my cloth diapers every other day. I use organic cotton flats and Thirsties diaper covers. I only wash the covers if they get dirty. This works for me. I don’t wait too long but I’m not constantly running the washer either. Usually when I wash the diapers I run them through a quick rinse cycle without soap, then I run them through a regular cycle with detergent. This works great before baby is eating solids but after that milestone, an additional step is required to remove waste into the toilet before throwing diapers in the wash. A diaper sprayer can help immensely with this. Cloth diapering aside, I wish I bought one years ago just for potty training mishaps.

This is what works for me but know that if you want to cloth diaper full time, it is an admirable goal. A full time plan would probably include keeping a waterproof bag with you to hold used diapers that need to be brought home and washed and it might require a diaper change or two during the night especially in those first few months. Whatever you decide, know that “every cloth diaper you use is worth it”.