Honestly, cloth diapers are what’s up.
I can already hear you…
“ewwwwww gross! Poop!”
“I’m not a hippy-dippy kind of mom.”
“That’s WAY too much work.”
And, OK, ya, your points are semi valid.
But, cloth diapers are not nearly as hard, yucky, or annoying as you may be thinking.
Just hear me out.
Editor’s note: We do rely on disposables here and there (traveling, long car rides, when I forget/don’t have time to do the diaper laundry) but Ro is in cloth about 75% of the time and it makes a huge difference.
PROS:
1) FAR LESS WASTE. Not taking out a heaping bag of diaper trash every few days.
Our planet is already bursting at the seams with waste, and every single day, we can a chance to make an impact. Every time we reduce waste, we’re helping contribute to a cleaner environment and a healthier planet for our children, and someday, their children.
Here’s some numbers to help you visualize: in general, the average baby will go through approximately nine diapers per day, during the first year of their lives. That’s 3,285 diapers dumped, and that’s just the first year.
In general a baby uses about 8–9 diapers a day in the first year. So that’s roughly 3,000 diapers in the first year.
2) fewer rashes. Even though we choose diapers that are fragrance free and more natural than big-name brands, Ro still usually gets diaper rash when wearing disposable diapers. She has super sensitive skin, and the natural cotton of cloth diapers keeps her rash free!
3) fewer leaks. IDK bout your baby, but my baby can BLOW OUT A DIAPER. It’s very rare that it happens in a cloth diaper, but it almost always happens in disposable diapers. The fit just isn’t as good. Yes, we’re using the right size.
4) save money. We have 24 diapers, most of which we bought on clearance, for anywhere from $18-$29 each. That’s somewhere between $432-$696 for TOTAL INVESTMENT.
P.S. you do not need as many diapers as we have. I purposely bought a lot extra because I didn’t want to have the burden of daily washing. You can get away with as few as 14. The SmartBottoms (the brand of cloth diapers we use) has a chart that helps you determine how many you’ll need. Find it here: https://smartbottoms.com/apps/help-center…
These diapers are adjustable in size and will be worn until she’s a potty-training toddler. They can even be passed down to a sibling.
We don’t spend extra $ washing them, because it’s recommended to wash them with a full load of laundry (I wash them with the towels) to get them the cleanest. If you have a top loader, it only takes one wash. If you have a front loader, it’s recommended to wash them twice.
We hang dry. (You don’t have to hang dry the brand we use, but, I like to because it saves energy and the sun naturally bleaches whites, so you end up with fewer stains).
5) the kind we have are easy to use, easy to learn, and come in super cute colors and patterns.
We use SmartBottoms Dream 2.0 Cloth Diaper – here is a link: https://smartbottoms.com/coll…/dream-diaper-2-0-cloth-diaper
You can also find them on Amazon, but to get the best deals, I suggest buying straight from SmartBottoms (peep their clearance section periodically).
If you’re interested, I have more info on getting started with cloth diapers in my IG highlights – @thenortheastginger
the northeast ginger 