before jia was born i made a somewhat radical decision to cloth diaper.
i say radical, because people look at me a little like i'm crazy when i tell them, and imagine leaky nappies with safety pins sticking out everywhere.
i do care about the planet. and i like trying to do my part.
but the reality is that i'm usually lazy enough just do things as long as they're convenient. cloth diapers are definitely more eco friendly, since diapers just clog up landfills. but i doubt i could have even considered them if they hadn't massively upgraded in the past 20 years.
there are so many cloth diapering options now days that it's almost overwhelming! my friend was using the flip system though and loved it, so i decided to give those a try.
these days cloth diapers are more like undies with snaps or velcro. some are all in ones, where you just throw the whole thing in the wash each time it gets wet or soiled. i liked the flip diapers though because they have an insert, and when the baby just wets, you can usually just change the insert instead of using a new cover each time. the inserts are much cheaper than a whole all in one diaper, and if you get more of them then you don't need to wash nearly as often!
jia didn't fit into them properly until she was about a month old. thankfully enough people had given us disposables to get us through most of the first month. i was kind of starting to get used to them though, and getting a bit nervous about switching to cloth.
but we've been in the cloth ones for a little over a month now, and are loving it!
sure, they may be a bit more work, but honestly not much! if it passes the husband test then you know it's not that bad! my grandma babysat for me one day, and i had a supply of back up disposables on hand just in case she didn't want to mess with cloth, but she caught on to the cloth system quickly and loved them as well!
another perk about the cloth diapers is that they look super cute! the covers come in all kinds of colors, and so i tend to just match them with jia's outfits since they look kind of like bloomers!
when i took her to the pediatrician for her two month check up, he commented on how much he loved these new cloth diapers, and how they keep the baby's skin in so much better condition than disposables.
i have to admit though that what ultimately sealed the decision for me was all the money that we'd save! they say that using cloth diapers saves you about $3000...per child! yes, you can use the same diapers from kid to kid, and they adjust in size from newborn to toddler! i even have heard of a lot of people selling their cloth diapers once their kids are done with them and getting even more of their money's worth out of them! it seems like they hold up to all the abuse and the test of time. with the flips it costs about $200-300 to get fully set up with all you need, but that quickly pays for itself within the first few months of use!
there aren't many things i love more than saving a big chunk of change!
and with cloth diapers, i actually feel like i'm paying way less money, to put something of much higher quality on my cutie's bum! oh, and plus it's good for the planet! ;)
jia definitely approves!
