Reason Number 496 Why I Like Cloth Diapers

I love cloth diapers. My husband is on board with them now too. It took some time for us to get them, since the start up cost was a little daunting. One of my mommy friends was really nice and lent us some prefolds and covers and from that moment on I was hooked. I recently returned her diapers so she'll have them when she and her husband decide to have another child.

I love so much about cloth diapers (and wipes!) First off, I love the money savings, that was one of the main reasons that I wanted to cloth diaper in the first place. I love the cute colors on my baby's butt. I love the fluffy butt look when I slap a new diaper on him. I love that I always have diapers. I enjoy the fact that while my water bill when up about $3.00 a month from all the laundry, I'm not buying $30 dollars worth of diapers. I strongly enjoy the cloth diaper community. I love the fact that I have never had to clean up a “blow-out” on my son. Another great thing is that it is so good for my son and the environment. I feel good about not putting chemicals on my son's bottom and that I'm not helping to fill up the landfills.

Those are a few of the reasons that I use cloth diapers. Last night I thought of another one.

Every once in awhile a friend of ours goes out of town and asks us to watch her dog Morgan. We happily take Morgan in when we can. She's a great dog and is great with our son. He loves to climb on her and she doesn't react to his climbing at all. I never, of course, leave them alone together for obvious reasons. We'd love to have a dog of our own, but the costs of dog ownership are a bit much for us and we would insist on being responsible dog owners and keeping up to date with her vet appointments and registration.

Anyway, in addition to our visiting dog guest, I also babysit every weekday for my handsome little nephew. He's adorable and loves animals. It's really a great mix to have my son, my nephew, and Morgan in the house with me. Well, until night falls. Last night Morgan was nowhere to be seen. We called to her, we whistled, and finally my husband went downstairs to find her enjoying a little diaper salad from the garbage can. You see, while my son is cloth diapered, my nephew is not and his diapers need to go somewhere.

I usually dump what waste I can from the diaper to the toilet, but I can't actually dunk it, so there is often waste still on the diaper when it gets thrown into the garbage where it is easy pickings for an ambitious dog like Morgan. I know what you are thinking... just empty the garbage before you go upstairs. Well, I didn't think of that, because I cloth diaper. Usually I will empty it when my nephew goes home for the weekend because I don't want the garbage to smell over the weekend, but there are usually at least a couple diapers in the trash on Thursday night.

So, reason number 496 why I like cloth diapers: No Diaper Salad.

Sarah Brooks is a cloth-diapering stay-at-home mom to her 12 month old son, Quentin. She, her husband Charlie, and Quentin live in northern Vermont.