A Case for Cloth

I've been wanting to write a post about why I love cloth diapers for a while.  So on a Friday afternoon without any new stories or pictures, here it is.

Let me first say that when I had Mr. Mister, cloth diapers weren't even on my radar.  About halfway through his diapering journey (which thankfully is down to nights only), I became interested in them as my sister started using them.  But at that point, I decided to just wait until we had another child.  So when Mr. Newton came along, I was ready to give it a try.  Now I am completely sold!

Reasons I'm a fan of cloth diapers:

1. They save A LOT of money.  Cloth diapering has become way more economical in the past few years.  The total cost of all of our diapers and accessories (wet bags, sprayer, etc.) was right around $300.  For those of you who aren't aware of how expensive disposable diapers are, it doesn't take long to get to $300.  And if you register for them and get them as gifts when you have your baby, you may pay even less!

2. They grow with the child.  We use Flip diapers, which on an average size kid can be used from birth to potty training. So that $300 should be all we spend on diapers for 3 years.  To not pay for diapers is seriously like getting a raise!  And it feels so good to walk past the diaper aisle in the grocery store.

3. Less waste. This was a big one for me.  Our weekly garbage was cut in half when we went to cloth.  I have long wished to get by on one bag of garbage for the week and now we can.  (if my neighborhood would now allow me to compost or if I ever get brave enough to try an indoor worm composting system then we'll reduce it even more.)

4. Fewer poop blowouts.  The elastic waist and legs holds poop explosions in so much better.  If you are tired of cleaning poop out of your baby's onesies, consider cloth!  I rarely have to clean #2 out of Mr. Newton's clothes.

5. No chemicals. It makes me feel good that the cloth against his skin is 100% chemical free.

As in everything, it's wise to count the cost before diving in.  The biggest cost for using cloth diapers is being willing to wash them every other day.  Before I started, that idea kind of overwhelmed me because I do laundry almost every day already.  But, it's really not that bad and now that I'm in the groove of doing it, it's hardly an inconvenience.

Poopy diapers can feel inconvenient.  It's a lot easier to throw them away than wash them.  But most good things in life are hard (i.e. marriage, having kids, running a marathon, etc.) so for me, the benefits far outweigh the cost.

If you're interested in cloth diapers, I'd love to talk to you more!  It can be an overwhelming task to tackle as you start to look into them.  But I had my sister and a few friends to walk me through it, which was so helpful.

Okay well there's my case for cloth!