Making the Switch: Why We Decided to Cloth Diaper

A few months ago my husband and I made the decision to start cloth diapering our now 16 month old and 7 month old. There was a lot of thought that went into the decision. At the beginning it was a bit scary and overwhelming when we first started to do some research online about all the different types of diapers available. After research, discussions with other cloth diapering mommas, and taking a look at all the pros and cons, we decided that cloth diapering was simply a win-win decision.

The following are the reasons why we decided to make the switch. I’m so glad that we did! I would never go back to disposables. What would motivate you to make the switch?

1. I imagine that finances are probably the biggest reason most people make the switch. We have 2 babies in diapers. Even though I looked for the best deals and clipped coupons, we were still paying about $.20 per diaper, and $.03 per wipe.

Lets imagine that I change my boys every 2 hours except during the middle of the night when they go 8 hours without a change. That’s 12 diapers a day. Now, doing the math:

12 diapers X .20 a diaper = $2.40
24 wipes (2 wipes per change) X .03 = $.72

Together that is $3.12 a day, or $21.84 a week. That’s $1135.68 per year! Assuming my kids are geniuses and potty train at 2, that’s $2,271.36.

In contrast cloth diapering, buying the most expensive diapers and wipes, creating a 2 day stash of 48 diapers (again, to change every 2 hours), and 48 cloth wipes, would cost about $1000! That’s less than half the cost even with some of the pricier diapers!

We haven’t spent anywhere near that much. Bargain shopping, sewing my own, and utilizing cheaper options (like prefolds/flats and covers), we have been able to create a stash of 38 diapers, including 7 of the premium diapers, for around $300! And our cloth wipes were free because they were either sewn out of towels and flannel blankets we had around the house or are newborn washcloths that I never use.

2. The second biggest reason for the switch was due to the health of my babies. Ever since the most recent changes in diapers, and the introduction of the newest absorbing materials, my sons started getting red bums. I could not clear them, no matter what I tried.

Discussing the issue with one of my friends, the idea of trying cloth diapers was suggested. Not wanting to put my money into it, I grabbed some flannel receiving blankets, safety pins, and googled ways to fold the blankets. Just using them part time, at home, I began to see a vast improvement in the rashes. Before long I was completely sold on the idea of cloth.

3. There is a trend going right now to be more green and conscientious about our earth. Its not a new trend but I have seen it increase. I’ve always tried to do my part to help protect our world, but when it came to diapering, I never even thought about how much of an impact disposables would make.

When my second baby was born, we started filling our diaper pail within a couple of days. Seeing the huge bags of diapers that we were filling our trashcan with started to really gnaw on me.

I knew that disposables did not disintegrate, and I hated the idea of contributing to the huge piles of trash. I do not want to leave that behind for my kids or grandkids. With cloth diapers, I know that I am leaving a much smaller impact on our world.

4. The final reason for making the switch is for the cuteness. Who can help but to fall in love with such a cute tush?

Dana G is the proud stay at home mother of 2 handsome baby boys and the wife of a marvelous man who serves our country in the Air Force. You can check out more of her tips and stories on adaynasmile.wordpress.com.

Making the Switch: Why We Decided to Cloth Diaper

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To Cloth or Not To Cloth

The moment I found out that I was pregnant, I knew that there would be many important decisions that I would have to make before the baby was born. What formula would I use if breastfeeding didn’t work out? What detergent would I use to wash the baby’s clothes? Would I use regular diapers or cloth diapers? These are a few of the many questions that I found going through my mind throughout the nine months of pregnancy. While I admit that some of the decisions that I made before my baby was born were not always the best, my decision to keep my baby in cloth diapers is one that I would recommend to all parents. As someone who cares deeply about the environment and also saving money, cloth diapers were without a doubt the way to go for me. The following are a few of the advantages that I found in using cloth diapers.

Cost. This is probably the greatest advantage in my book! After comparing prices of regular disposable diapers and cloth diapers, it was evident that I would save money by putting my baby in cloth diapers. Washing the cloth diapers would beat making weekly trips to the store to buy diapers that would just end up in the trash can. If you are looking to save some money, cloth diapers are definitely more cost efficient that regular ones.

Environmental impact. If a baby can “potty” in a diaper and it not leak a bit, how good do you think this can be for the environment? Not good at all. It can take hundreds of years for a diaper to decompose. Times this by the thousands of diaper your baby will use throughout his toddler years and you’ve got a huge environmental problem. Cloth diapers help reduce the problem.

Once I made the decision to go strictly with cloth diapers, I was faced with another dilemma. There are tons of different brands of cloth diapers available. How would I ever be able to choose the one that would be best for my baby? After researching, reading reviews, and getting advice from other parents that I knew, I decided that the bumGenius brand would work for me. I used this brand until my baby was potty trained. The great thing about this brand of cloth diaper is that it is one size fit all. I purchased several of the diapers when my child was born and was able to use them until he was old enough to learn how to use the potty.

If you are considering using cloth diapers there are likely a few questions looming in your mind. Is cleaning the diapers hard? No. With disposable liners available for purchase, clean-up is relatively simple. The amount of clean up that you will have to do depend on you. Is it difficult to deal with in public places? If there is one disadvantage to cloth diapering, it would be this. You will have to find a way to deal with “messes” in public places. I found it useful to carry around small trash bags for those little emergencies that always happen in public. The disposable liners also were very helpful.

While using cloth diapers may not be for everyone, it was a wonderful experience for me. Pregnant with my second child, I will without a doubt choose to use them again. If you have never used them before, I highly recommend that you do. It will save your money and help save the environment too!

Olivia Nicholas is a writer and blogger. She is always happy to share her passion for life and experiences through her work, and in her spare time works as a freelance writer for Storkie.

To Cloth or Not To Cloth

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I Proved my own self wrong, how embarrassing!

So as I look back on things people have said to me over the last few months of starting to cloth diaper, I want to laugh. Literally laugh out loud. Only because I used to be the same way! Ask silly questions, and laugh when I picked up a pack up cloth prefolds at babies R us wondering "Why would people want to do this!". That's all I knew though. We, in today's age, always hear "Back in the day, I clothed diapered you and used pins and you came out just fine." I told people they could save their breath, because the whole washing poop and pee was not for me. I sadly had mistaken, little to know that I would soon completely change my mind in a matter of minutes.

Myth #1 - Cloth diapering means you have to touch the babies poop, and it gets on your clothes in the wash.
-No, actually spending $44 on a diaper sprayer has saved my life, if we have a poopy diaper, I flip the switch on my BumGenious diaper sprayer, hold the diaper over the toilet (only touching the outer part) and spray away. Only to find poop in the toilet where it belongs, my hands barely wet from the clean water coming from the sprayer, and a pretty white diaper! And, what do you think washing your hands is for anyway? Don't you wash them after changing a disposable? Or after those disposable blowouts? Blowouts get on the babies clothes too right? Busted!!!!

Myth #2 - It takes too much time to cloth diaper, wash, fold, I don't have the patience.
-Then why on earth on you a parent! LOL. Patience is everything in parenting. But, I tested this myth myself. I wash diapers in between chores while I'm at home doing absolutely nothing. Wash, watch a show, rinse, do the dishes, rinse, nap, hang to dry, forget them until the sun goes down, stuff while I'm watching my shows. Then take a minute to obsess over how cute my dipes are and how much cuter they'll be on his tush! But, when I was using sposies, I would find I frequently would get down to 1 diaper!!! On a poopy day! Now, I had to get dressed, dress my baby, drive 5 miles to wal mart, use gas to get there (3.80/gallon), dig for a 3.00 off coupon for the diapers because I knew deep down what a rip off it was, wait in line, check out, use my cash (planned on eating with that), drive 5 more miles, unload a heavy car seat, feed my baby by now because I took an hour, then I can get back to my laundry. Only to dread doing it over again after going through these next 30 diapers in 4 days! Busted!!

Myth #3 - It doesn't save money, you waste more energy and use electricity washing and drying them.
-OK, so you spend a little to get started, but they say you can CD your baby to toddler age for under a $100. It's only if you want name brand, cute prints and such that things get pricey. 1 pack of name brand disposable diapers (30 ct Size 2) is $9.99. OK, 8 diapers a day, roughly, that's stretching 4 days worth (3 if my baby goes to daycare-due to overchanging). So $10/3days=100 bucks in a 30 day month. $100 X 12 months= $1200/year X 3 yrs=$3600 (roughly). Then your diaper genie liners, and trash bags. O, wow! And I could have just bought a pretty good stash of Cloth diapers with that first 100! I compared my electricity bills before and after CD'ing. Water bill stayed the same no matter how many rinses I did, electricity actually went down.....O, maybe because I hang my diapers to dry. Even with a little high heat fluffing in my dryer for my inserts only, it's lower. Interesting....Busted!!!

Myth #4 - It just sounds dirty and it smells.
-Actually, the sun sanitizes your diapers when you line dry them. My diapers smell quite nice, pretty much like nothing. A couple of cute smelly diapers in a cute little wet bag that will be washed the next day seems to be more logical then old dirty and wet diapers that sit in a diaper genies for weeks. Diaper genies can hold up to 100 diapers. Eww, that's days worth. Talk about the trip to the trash can with old dipes, or the drive to the apartment dumpster, with possible leaks. No thanks!! Busted!!

Can't believe, looking back, I asked these same questions as if I was too good for cloth diapers or something. Now I am completely opposite. It's amazing. I'm so ashamed, but just laugh at myself. I'm starting to think I'm too good for disposables, and my baby's bum is too good for those chemicals! I'll use my $3600 I save up to buy things for my new house....maybe use a little for some new prints I have my eye on!

BIO: Traci has been cloth diapering her baby boy since he was 6 month old. Started with the cheapies, but couldn't resist the prints! Now, a self proclaimed diaper addict, she enjoys her days off, when her list consist of washing diapers. Sad, but true.

I Proved my own self wrong, how embarrassing!

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Natural Childbirth was as 'Green' as I Planned on Getting

Well I would say I am pretty young, 23 to be exact. I have never been a typical person, I guess I didn't fit the profile of doing things the way I did. LOL. People say I have an old soul. I've always wanted to be a mommy. So me and my high-school sweetheart grew up, got married young, he joined the army, and we finally started a family when I was 22. From the beginning of my pregnancy I knew I wanted a natural birth, completely, no doubts, no questions, no hesitation. The looks I got from my family were priceless. And their looks made me want to do it even more. 18 hours of labor and a natural childbirth brought my beautiful son into this world. But that was as "green" as I ever planned on going.

So on to parenting and working in L&D as a RN. I had tons of free disposable diapers from the hospital I work at that I collected throughout my pregnancy thinking "Diapers are the most expensive thing, I'll collect all the samples I can!" That should have been a sign right there. Never the less, I prevailed collecting enough sposies to last 3 months of his life (awesome savings, horrible waste!). Then it was back to clipping coupons for Huggies, and adding that to my grocery list. Diapers, wipes, Desitin…the typical last 3 things on my list. That got old. I also was doing the typical store bought baby food, talk about high grocery bill. I changed that real quick when I found out that I could buy fruits and veggies at the commissary at a discount, blend them and feed more organic things to my precious baby for CHEAP!!!! Loved that. Now $1 of veggies makes 12 servings of something. Awesome! So I considered myself a good mom ya know?? My family was like "You make his own baby food, like handmake it??" LOL. "Yes!" And I was proud of it. But, that was as "green" as I was going to get.

Well while sitting at work one day with a girlfriend, delivery baby after baby, one of my patients mother's told her daughter in labor "At least you don't have to use cloth diapers like I did way back in the day..". My friend said "I use them, and love them!" After seeing the looks on their faces, and asking "someone in 2011 uses cloth diapers?" I was sold! I wanted more info. NOW!!!!

So we sat down, got online to Kelly's Closet and she went over it with me. I wasn't convinced yet, but I had an open mind. I never thought of it!!! The #1 question that I asked was : "How do you handle the poop because I'm a germaphobe!?" So she made everything sound so easy. She made me get out my debit card and order a Econobum trial pack that day. I was excited for something new, for something different, for something no one would expect from me….it would be perfect! Haha. I got my prefolds in, used one of them and got right back on Kelly's Closet to do some research. I thought to myself "If I just spend a lot of money on them now, I'll have to use them because I won't to waste my money." So I debated, and debated for hours. Then hit that payment button! . I bought 6 Rumparooz, 6 Happy Heinys, 5 bumGenius Artist Series, 2 Kawaii Babies, 3 Fuzzibunz, some detergent, liners ect. So I waited and waited. Got my order, washed them and started CD'ing. OMG, this is what was missing from my "all natural" life. I posted it on facebook. I got so many negative comments: "You won't last a day"; "Have fun with washing poop"; "Let me know when you give up": "Are you serious??". Yup negative all the way, no supporters what so ever, and it made me want to love it even more!! MY DH was on board so that's all that mattered. I really think I thrive on the weird stares and questions because as a nurse, I thrive on educating people about things they know NOTHING about, which is usually the case with cloth diapering.

So I love CD'ing, I'm addicted. Been doing it for a solid month now, got my babysitter hooked. I left the daycare facilities because they wouldn't cooperate with my CD'ing. I work full time night shifts, make my babies food in bulk once a month, wash my diapers and love it, and I love diaper changes. No rashes, shorter grocery list, weird stares, more money in my pockets, and one less sposie in the landfill. It's funny, the more I educate people on it and post random facts on facebook about it, I am starting to get compliments like "wow your such a good mommy". Makes me feel great, but hate the stereotypes you get when you do things atypical. So education is key, time to go convince another momma to CD! And I think this is as "green" as I can get. LOL!!!

BIO: Traci is an army wife, full time working mom, photographer, and a RN in Labor & Delivery, who just started cloth diapering her first born son of 9 months old. Her goal is to educate every momma she works with on cloth diapering, breastfeeding, and being green!

Natural Childbirth was as 'Green' as I Planned on Getting

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All The Cool Moms Are Doing It

The moment I found out I was pregnant with my first son, I immediately knew certain things. I knew I wanted to breastfeed, use safe cleaners so as not to expose my son to chemicals, but diapers didn't cross my radar.

When he was a few months old we began dealing with diaper rash and yeast from the antibiotics he was having to take. At that point my mother suggested cloth diapers. No sooner had the words left her mouth than visions of playing in toilet water began to haunt me. Now, I will admit that I still don't like swishing the dirty diapers, but there are so many great tools that have been developed to make that part of things easier.

At this point in time, neither I nor anyone I knew had any clue that anything besides flat cloth diapers existed. My mom taught me how to fold and pin the diapers and we were set. So naturally when I found I was expecting again 6 years later I stocked up on flat diapers, pins, and plastic pants once again.

It wasn't until my third son came along that I learned about a whole new class of cloth diapering options. But so many! What's the difference? Which one do I pick?

I was introduced to Rumparooz and ended up mostly with those and a few GroVia diapers. Holy cow you can't get much easier than that! Now, there are still TONS of other options available, but those were the ones that I was able to see and feel before ordering.

I have since learned that you can cloth diaper on any budget, seriously. If you are worried about the initial investment, save up first. Compare the $500 or so that you would invest in cloth diapers (and you can get some pretty awesome dipes for that amount) to the $3000 or so you would spend on disposables (or chemical diapers as my friend calls them). You would have to multiply the $3000 by each child that you have, but the $500 can be used on subsequent children. You may choose to buy a few more or replace some, but you only have to make the large investment once.

Can't decide where to start? You can host your very own diaper party. This is where you and your friends can get together and see and touch several different cloth diaper options. Not only that, but you can also get incentives this way.

I myself am diapering a 6 month old and a 2 year old. I can never go back to "sposies" now that I know how easy the cloth diapering can be.

Brandy Is a stay at home mom with three boys and a blog. Confessions of a Crafty Housewife is all about how we live, love, play, eat, and search for better ways to raise our boys and protect the planet.

All The Cool Moms Are Doing It

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Shandelle's Diaper Bag organization

There are 2 kinds of packers. Light packers, who bring only what they absolutely need and heavy packers...like me, who bring everything the could POSSIBLY need, just in case of an emergency or some sort of natural disaster.

So as a heavy packer, I tend to buy big bags. This is an ORE day tripper by Sugarbooger. As the name suggests this is my day trip bag. In the center part that zips I have 3 loaded FLIP covers (loaded with disposable inserts for this particular trip) and 3 extra inserts. If you have a frequent pooper, I suggest bringing more covers. My "rule" is 1 diaper per hour we'll be gone plus one extra.

I use disposable wipes when out and about. I bring a small wetbag in case one of the covers gets soiled. These and my "personal" bag go in the center.


In my personal bag, I have my wallet, ipod, chapstick, lotion...anything I'd need if I was going somewhere sans kids. The ladybug is a small flashlight that doubles as a toy if someone gets cranky. I also keep a small camera w/ me all the time in case the kids do something funny I want to capture.


In this particular bag, there are 2 side pockets. In 1 pocket, my HUGE Nalgene water bottle lives. As a nursing mother, I drink a LOT of water. My nursing cover rolls up and fits next to it. Bonus is if the water is cold it makes the cover cool, which is wonderful on a hot day.


And the other side has all my random stuff...a reusable shopping bag, a package of bandaids, neosporin, tweezers and safety pins, handwipes, sunscreen and something sugary to feed my 4 year old when she gets cranky. I often bring a small baggie of nuts or a granola bar for me since I tend to get really hungry while nursing.


All packed up:


For a short trip to the store, I'd pack a smaller bag with 1 or 2 diapers, a small wetbag, wipes and then throw my wallet and phone in there somewhere.

This is a Land's End Little tripper with 2 bumgenius organics, a small pack of wipes and a wetbag



One other option is to pack a bag and leave it in the car. I bought this little cheap bag off Amazon for less than $10. It could easily fit several prefolds and a package of inexpensive Dappi covers, a change of clothing for baby, wipes etc. The only drawback to this idea is that those diapers aren't in rotation and can be outgrown before they are worn much.



By Shandelle

Shandelle's Diaper Bag organization

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Product Focus: g is for Green! All about gDiapers...

One day over breakfast, Jason and Kim Graham-Nye came across an interesting fact. They discovered conventional disposable diapers are the third largest contributors to landfills in the world and yet only five percent of the population uses them. It was a fact of stunning proportion met by another amazing fact. A single disposable diaper can take up to 500 years to biodegrade in the landfill. Well, that got the Jason and Kim thinking, since they were about to have a baby themselves. At 60 diapers a week until toilet training kicks in, compounded by the possibility of having more than one child... well, it was beyond comprehension. And so they gasped. Did they want to jump on the landfill train? Absolutely not! What would the neighbors say? How would they face the world on Earth Day? And what about their garbage can? Could it contain it all?

It was too much to imagine and so they did what any two self respecting, socially responsible people do in a situation like that, they began researching an alternative. Obviously, disposables were out. Cloth used too much water for the water conscious couple living in drought-stricken Australia. Jason and Kimberly discovered a Tasmanian company that made flushable diapers, right in their own backyard! Thrilled with the discovery and their belief in the product, they bought the worldwide rights (excluding Australia and New Zealand), raised several million dollars, improved the product and brought the concept to the United States (in Portland, Oregon).

Fair Dinkum
The company’s motto, Fair Dinkum, is an Australian expression that means being genuine and real with everyone you encounter. That is gDiapers philosophy toward their business, their people, their customers and the planet.

gDiapers is also about children too (they’re a diaper company afterall)! If there's one thing they understand, it is that the needs of children don’t wait until the end of the workday. Until the Industrial Revolution came along and separated parents and children, families always worked together. So, gDiapers encourages their working parents to bring their kids to work. They provide an on-site child development center. If mom needs to nurse or wants some playtime with her baby, gDiapers is set up to accommodate her needs. If a child is sick, by all means, go home. We hope everyone feels better soon.

People, planet, profit = fair dinkum.

What are gDiapers?
gDiapers are the best of cloth diapers and disposable in one eco-friendly diaper. gDiapers, which stands for green diapers, consist of a washable, cotton outer little gPant (92% cotton and 8% spandex), snap-in liners (polyurethane coated nylon) and a plastic-free biodegradable diaper gRefill. The biodegradable gRefills are made from cellulose rayon coverstock, a fluffed wood pulp interior, and super absorber. They are free from elemental chlorine, latex, perfumes, dyes, and plastic.

gDiapers recently introduced reusable cloth inserts to the product lineup. Each gCloth insert is made from two layers of soft 100% polyester microfleece to keep baby dry and two layers of hemp/cotton fleece to absorb wetness and lock in moisture.

All items are made of breathable material just like sports clothing. So, babies stay dry and happy and are far less likely to get diaper rash. Can't flush? It's ok to toss our biodegradable diaper gRefills because they're plastic-free. Or garden compost the wet ones. They'll break down in 50-150 days.

Our products have passed all necessary testing and are in full compliance with Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act regulations. The CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in children’s products and mandates third party testing and certification, all of which gDiapers has passed with flying colors.


Why choose gDiapers?
For the last 40 years there have been but two choices in diapers. Cloth or disposable. That’s it. Now gDiapers offers a third option. 100% biodegradable*, flushable diapers. gDiapers puts waste where it belongs, in the toilet. Not the landfill.

You can use both gCloth and gRefills with little gPants. Our system is designed to offer you two diapering options with one diaper cover. Use gCloth at home and gRefills when you’re out and about. Best of all, you only need one type of diaper cover whether you flush, compost, toss or wash.

gDiapers are designed using the Cradle to Cradle** design principles of Bill McDonough and his firm MBDC. That means everything that goes into our gRefills gets re-absorbed back into the eco-system in a neutral or beneficial way. You’re turning waste into a resource and giving something back to the planet while reducing your family's footprint. Just think of the standing ovation you’ll get from the planet.

*Certified 100% biodegradable per ASTM standards in commercially managed and home composts..
**Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM is a certification mark of MBDC.

Product Focus: g is for Green! All about gDiapers...

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Product Focus: Gro Baby Bio Soakers

Introduction to the Gro Baby Bio Soakers

Keep the cloth, lose the laundry!

Gro Baby Bio Soakers are a perfect solution for cloth diapering on the go. Use while on vacation, at day care, or running errands. Gro Baby Bio Soakers are biodegradable, compostable, breathable and hypo-allergenic. They are completely fragrance and dye free!

The soaker pads are designed to be used with your Gro Baby Shell. Instead of snapping in the Gro Baby Soaker Pad, simply place the Gro Baby Bio Soaker in your Gro Baby Shell and you are ready to go!

Gro Baby Bio Soakers are the disposable option of choice because they are affordable, durable, leak proof and because they are biodegradable they are safe for the environment! The soakers come in two convenient sizes to ensure the perfect fit for your little one.

Gro Baby Bio Soakers consists of a:

Super Soft Lining :
Certified natural, 100% Ingeo spunbound non-woven fabric.
Compostable to EN13432 (EU) standard and ASTM D 6400 (USA)

Core:
Biodegradable Wood Pulp fibers, contains 3 grams of SAP gel (compared to 10-20 grams in other disposables).

Waterproof Outer:
The Bio-Film used (fecula) is waterproof and 100% natural.
Compostable to the following standard: EN 13432 (EU)

To properly “dispose” of your biodegradable soaker pads:

Compost - Remove any solid matter and compost in your garden. Compostable to EU and USA composting standards.

Dispose - Biodegradable soaker pads are plastic-free, they will break down in a landfill in 50-150 days (Disposables take up to 500 years).

Flush - You can flush your soaker pads. Simply tear open your pad and empty the core contents into the toilet. Throw outer away.

Product Focus: Gro Baby Bio Soakers

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