Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Diaper Decision

I’m throwing around the idea of using cloth diapers. This is a very hard decision to make, because if we decide to do it, we have to stick with it because the start up cost of this could be around $400-$500 dollars. But, that is it…after you make that purchase, you are done spending. Well, that is not entirely true. Your spending could continue after that depending on if you want to purchase some of the cool, convenient, and eco-friendly accessories. But the cost will never be near what it costs to use disposable diapers for the next 2 ½ years. Plus, we can continue to use the same cloth diapers on our second child.

Until yesterday, I thought a cloth diaper was a thick white towel that needed to be folded a particular way, and pinned to the baby with a pink or blue safety pin. I pictured poop being scrapped out of it before it could be put into a washing machine and I pictured poop stains on every cloth diaper we own. I thought that using cloth diapers made you a bit of a “hippie” (no offence to anyone who uses cloth diapers, and no offence to any hippies). Apparently, times have changed. Nowadays, cloth diapers look just like regular diapers…but cooler. They come in a variety of colors and patterns, they come with covers to prevent possible leaking, they come with Velcro and pull ties to secure the diaper on your baby, and you can purchase flushable liners to put into the diaper.

The main problem I have with this is the laundry end of it. I have a hard time keeping up with my laundry now…I can’t imagine adding 10 diapers to it on a daily basis (plus all the regular laundry baby Thomas will be contributing). I also have to think about when I go back to work. Would my daycare be willing to work with cloth diapers? Would I still be willing to try to keep up with the laundry everyday…plus take care of the baby, the house, and the husband???? I can’t decide if the benefits out weigh the massive amounts of laundry.

It’s a big decision to make. And we will need to make it quick. Is it worth it????

4 comments:

Joleene said...

That is something to decide for yourself. I had a diaper service given as a gift when Victoria was a baby, and still hated it. I know it is better for the environment to do cloth, but just can't bring myself to do it.

Jeff9 said...

The best way to clean cloth diapers is to pre-rinse them off in the toilet using a Hand Bathroom Bidet Sprayer. So convenient and if you are trying to help the environment (and your pocket book) you can give it a double whammy by virtually eliminating toilet paper use at the same time as you benefit from using it on the diapers, by using it on yourself. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off" Available at www.bathroomsprayers.com they come in an inexpensive kit and can be installed without a plumber. And after using one of these you won't know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. Now we're talking green and helping the environment without any pain.

Cori said...

Okay, I have to weigh in here, too. I considered this with Cooper. I even have a few of the new fancy kind that a friend loaned me, but I never used them for one pathetic reason. I, too, cannot keep up with the laundry. I just couldn't make the commitment. Also, I'm not saying "don't do this", but I read in one of my Earth Friendly baby books that you're using up so many resources to clean them, that it's honestly a tradeoff on whether they're better for the environment. So just go with what seems to work for you and your family. Good luck!

Partridge Family said...

I am one of Traci's friends and have to say that I enjoy cloths diapering. The start-up cost is only $200. All you need is 12 diapers. You wash them every other day and it really isn't all that bad. The #1 cloth diaper that I rave about and others rave about as well is the one-size pocket diaper made by BumGenius. It will fit the baby when they are a newborn up to 35 lbs. If you have questions for me, my email address is kalonandsara820@yahoo.com

Good luck with your decision, I know I haven't regretted it because of the HUGE amount of money that I have saved.