My Yia-Yia (grandmother) after seeing our first ultrasound told everyone in the family that my baby had a big head. Therefore my mom has taken to calling our bundle of joy the big-headed-baby- only because she thinks it will eventually start to tick me off, but I don't care.
Anyway, the big-headed-baby and I have big plans, and I am so excited about it! We've decided that we're going to use cloth diapers! I decided to post about my decision to go cloth because I have gotten a lot of laughs and she's such an idiot looks from people and I know that it's because they have no idea how cloths diapers work! These aint your grandmama's diapers!
I have two main reasons that I've decided to go the cloth route. First and most importantly cloth diapers have been proven to be healthier for babies, especially their skin. The chemicals in disposable diapers have been known to increase the risk of diaper rash, cause skin problems like eczema, and in certain cases increase the risk of infertility in males. I have a history of eczema, hives, and full body rashes so knowing that there is something I can do to lower the chances that my baby might suffer the same way is so important to me. The second reason is the environmental factors. Something like 18 billion disposable diapers are deposited into landfills each year, each of those diapers takes 500 years to decompose! The Earth lover in me is so psyched. People underestimate our generations responsibility to reduce our Carbon footprints and be as green as we possibly can stand/afford to.
Chad was not on board based on either of those awesome reasons, but when I told him the economical advantages and how much money it would save us he was SOLD! Using cloth diapers as opposed to disposable ones will save the average family somewhere between $1,500 and $3,000 over the course of two years! Those figures vary based on what brand of disposable you use and if you use a cloth diaper service or clean them yourself, but even the lower end of that statistic is a phenomenal amount of savings for any family dealing with the expenses of a child!
If you want to look more into the facts you can visit :
Now what about the hassle of cloth diapering? Its minimal at best, the diapers are now designed to be easy on moms and babies, and there are so many tools and tricks to the trade, that I'm not scared at all! Thanks to some detailed advice from the fabulous wife of one of my great buddies from high school who has had great success in cloth diapering, and some more tips from one of my mom's friends who went the cloth route, I feel ready and prepared! The cloth diapers that I'm going to use aren't plain white dish cloths that you hook with two diaper pins. Cloth diapers today are precious and come in beautiful prints and colors, and are designed for your babies comfort as he or she grows from a newborn to crawler to toddler. Most secure with a hook and latch, button snap, or baby friendly velcro. Some come with inserts that can easily be removed and replaced when a diaper needs to be changed and can be doubled up for overnight diapers. Gone are the days of accidentally flushing the diaper down the toilet trying to shake off the poo (story from Yia-Yia), and hanging all of your diapers on the clothes line (unless you want to, which I might) the new and improved cloth diapers can be washed and dried like any normal load of laundry! There are some environmentally friendly and baby friendly detergents that are promoted to help extend the life of your diaper, however. There are even accessories like a diaper sprayer that attaches directly to the water line at your toilet and works like a removable shower head so that you can rinse messy diaper off directly into the potty. Also wet bags that work similar to the very un-earth friendly deodarized plastic diaper bags that mom's use to put dirty diapers in when on the go!
To see companies that offer these products and get a glimpse at the fabulous diapers out there and the awesome accompanying products you can visit these sites:
This is just a quick overview of cloth diapering, I am a new fan, and I haven't actively used them yet (obviously) but I am so excited to, and with all of the positives....why not? I think it will be lovely! layne
2 comments:
That is very interesting. I have never thought about using cloth diapers on our furture kids but those are some really great reasons to start thinking about it!
I know a lot of people who use cloth diapers and love them! I've thought about changing to cloth. I might have to look into it more!
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