Why Do We Love Cloth Diapers

There is something about cloth diapers that gets parents in somewhat of a craze. Cloth diapers have created an enormous amount of buzz and spurred forums, groups, blogs, and some serious cloth diapering fanatics. Are parents buzzing about cloth diapers because they are saving so much money? While saving money is certainly a major aspect about cloth diapers, many families own more diapers than they need to cloth diaper their children. Parents are entering into the arena of "collecting" cloth diapers. So why is it that people feel such a need to grab up unique prints or to want to try every variety of cloth diaper they can get their hands on?

Some of our love of cloth diapers could be psychological. If we look at new mothers, we see that they are much more likely to make purchases for their children than for themselves. However, things like baby clothing, books, and toys are not receiving the type of hype that surrounds cloth diapers. If we compare giveaways for cloth diapers versus those for other baby-related items, typically cloth diaper giveaways will gain more entrants and generate more buzz. One of the major reasons that cloth diapers gain so much support, is that they represent a transient stage in a child's life. Childhood passes quickly, and babies are soon no longer babies. Moving away from cloth diapers means transitioning to the next stage of parenting: a stage that is often difficult. While babies are always adorable, perhaps they are even more adorable in cloth diapers.

I think many parents want to preserve the short period of a child's life that is made up of the diapering years. I recall having some conflicting sentiments when our older child potty trained: I was excited to be done with diapers, but I was sad she was no longer a baby. I think there are many reasons to love cloth diapers and a few of those reasons may be related to our emotions as new parents.

Bio: Nissa is a researcher and writer working in the life sciences. In her free time, she enjoys writing about natural parenting, cloth diapering, and eco-friendly living at Cloth Diaper Guru.


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