The cloth
diaper is making a come back folks. It’s about time.
When paper diapers came on the scene mothers and households everywhere welcomed them with open arms. The thought of no longer having to fiddle with diaper pins or wash diapers, treat baby’s diaper rash, and, most importantly, having the convenience of tossing a dirty diaper in the trash and dressing your baby in a new one, was enough to make mothers and fathers everywhere rush out to their grocery and department stores to buy the latest in the world of diapering.
But fast-forward several decades and more and more people are starting to question paper diapering and are reverting back to the old cloth diaper. For anyone that’s at all in to frugal living and finding ways to save money, they know that paper diapers are NOT thrifty.
Yes, paper diapers are in our opinion the epitome of anti thrift; buying a product that is not only expensive, will be thrown in the garbage after one use, will fill up our already-too-full landfills, and have proven themselves to not even be all that good for our babies’ skin, is definitely not a thrifty way to spend your money.
Not convinced? Consider the number of paper diapers a baby will go through on average before they’re toilet trained; close to 8 per day when they’re first born with a few less diapers dirtied by the time a child gets to be a toddler. Then, consider how much the average package of diapers sells for; for a package with 124, newborn-sized diapers, you’ll typically pay about $22 and diapers only get more expensive as a child gets bigger.
Now there is something to be said for convenience and for some families convenience has a price that they’re willing to pay. But for regular, everyday living I’m not buying the old ‘convenience’ excuse. Unless you’re changing your baby on the back of an elephant while traveling through the mountains in Thailand then, ok, maybe you need a paper diaper (although I challenge you to find a trash can to dump that paper diaper when you’re on route). But, if you’re not afraid of dumping a little solid waste into a toilet and flushing it, then you and cloth diapering will get along just fine. Be sure to refer further down in the article where we give some good solutions to make packing a cloth diaper bag a little easier.
We don’t have a hate on for the companies that make paper diapers and we don’t mean to judge anyone who chooses to use paper diapers because only you can decide what diaper fits the needs of you and your baby. But the reason we feel paper diapers are anti thrift is that there’s such a good, viable alternative to paper diapers, and you are guaranteed to save money when you use them.
Cloth
diapers have come a long way from the days when your mother was sticking you
with diaper pins. Just like everything else, cloth diapers have evolved,
they’ve been updated, and made more suitable for modern families to use. For
example, today’s cloth diapers don’t include pins at all and are typically
equipped with little easy-to-use clips or Velcro. The old plastic pull on pant
has been replaced by plastic diaper covers that are shaped more like a paper
diaper, come in a variety of colours and designs, and are fastened with Velcro. For examples, see ClothDiaper.com; they've got excellent selection, really reasonable prices, and regular online promotions.
I would say the number one reason cloth diapering is such a smart financial move is that unlike paper diapers that are only good for one use, if taken care of cloth diapers can be used over and over again and passed on to your other children. Just think about it; a cloth diaper could be around for five or six years, not just a couple of hours. So, that initial investment that you make when you buy a set of cloth diapers and plastic covers will be stretched over the course of a number of years and maybe a number of children. Makes good financial sense to me.
Now, another cost to consider is the environmental cost associated with using either paper or cloth diapers. While it’s obvious that it takes resources to make cloth diapers, to send them to your home or your local provider, and to wash them, in our opinion the cloth diaper still fares better in the environmental cost department. First of all, if a set of cloth diapers lasts a number of years then there are far less being produced and far less being shipped to stores than the paper diapers that parents buy what probably seems like constantly. When it comes to washing cloth diapers, you simply need to employ some of the thrifty ideas that we discuss below to limit the amount of washing and, therefore, water that you’re using. And, last but not least, taking the whole reusable and lasts-for-years thing into consideration, there are far less cloth diapers in landfills than there are paper diapers.
Cloth diapering really is one of the best money saving tips for families. Here are some easy solutions to the old cloth diaper cons:
1) “But I’ll have to do laundry every day of the week:” Reduce the number of times a week that you have to do washing and the length of your wash cycles by filling your diaper pail halfway with a combination of water and either vinegar or baking soda. Both vinegar and baking soda will help neutralize odours and prevent stains, limiting your use of the pre-soak and extra rinse cycles (that use more energy) on the washing machine. Then, when you're getting low on your supply of cloth diapers, do a regular load of laundry and hang the diapers to dry. Hanging diapers to dry will not only conserve power but you will also extend the life of the diapers.
2) “Cloth diapers are less convenient for people on the go:” Let’s face it, when you have a baby it always takes more work to get where you’re going regardless of whether you use paper or cloth diapers. With cloth diapers, all you need to do when you’re packing your baby’s diaper bag is pack it a little differently. For instance, be sure to pack sealable plastic bags in which you can put the dirty cloth diapers until you get home to put them in the diaper pail. You can dump any solids in the toilet of the bathroom in which you’re changing your baby, apply a new cloth insert and be on your way. Another of the best money saving tips I know is to stop buying wipes and to pack little dampened wash cloths in another sealable plastic bag. These little wash cloths can be tossed in the diaper pail when you get home and they don’t have the same harsh soaps that store-bought baby wipes have.
3) “My baby will always have diaper rash if I use cloth diapers:” Although the inserts for cloth diapers are typically made of natural, unbleached cotton and, therefore, haven’t been treated with the same chemicals that have been used on paper diapers, if a baby is left in a wet diaper for too long, they’re bound to get diaper rash. If your baby’s skin is particularly sensitive or they did go too long without being changed, simply sprinkle a little cornstarch on their bottom. You can also rest assured that with cloth diapers the rash that your baby can sometimes get is due to moisture being trapped against the skin, which is not always the case with paper diapers. Just last year, I heard a number of mothers complain that a particular ‘super-dry’ paper diaper left their babies with a rash so bad it looked more like a chemical burn.
Whether you already have children in diapers or are planning to have a family some day soon, we encourage you to do your research. Knowing all of the facts with regards to paper diapering and cloth diapering will help you make a decision that is right for you and your wallet.
If
you’re interested in learning more about cloth diapers or want to purchase a
set of very reasonably-priced and reusable cloth diapers, we recommend you check
out ClothDiaper.com
And, be sure to check out the highly useful videos on how to use and care for cloth diapers, courtesy of Juliet of Mommyswami (see MikeMac625’s You Tube Channel) and Howcast.com.
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