Cloth Diapering 101
Let’s be honest: There is a lot of shit talk in the first year of motherhood. We get pretty pro at counting, describing, and examining our babies’ stools. It’s glamorous! And along with the infinite bowel movements, come loads and loads of diapers.
Of course, every family must choose diapers that best suit their lifestyles. Our family chose to give cloth diapers a try when our son was 2 months old. Before making the purchase, we considered the advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages:
Produce less waste.
Grow with the child. The same diaper can be worn from birth until potty-training years.
Offer the opportunity to be reused on other children.
Save money. Studies show that it can save you about half the cost of disposable diapers in the long term.
Are made from natural materials (i.e. cotton, bamboo).
Are stylish and cute!
Disadvantages:
Consume more water and electricity. It’s worth considering that these are services that we pay for, so utility payments will rise.
Require extra logistics when out and about.
Are expensive upfront.
Are less absorbent than disposable diapers.
After discussing the pros and cons, we found ourselves leaning towards cloth diapering. As a family, we try our best to be environmentally- and economically-conscious; The waste-reducing and penny-saving aspects of cloth diapering really appealed to us. Plus, who doesn’t love doing laundry?... Yeah, right!
Once we reached our decision, we realized that there was still lots to look into.
Firstly, there are tons of styles: Pocket diapers, flat diapers, all-in-one diapers, all-in-two diapers, fitted diapers… The list goes on! Secondly, there is a science to cleaning them. It’s definitely not rocket science, but it’s still a new process to learn.
The Calgary Cloth Diaper Depot offers a test drive rental program which gives you the opportunity to try out different types and brands of cloth diapers within a 3-week period. At the end of your trial, you can (a) return the entire load and your deposit will be fully refunded, (b) keep the diapers you want/return the diapers you don’t want, and your deposit will be refunded for those returned or (c) keep them all. This service saves you from falling down the research rabbit hole, as it allows you to get your hands dirty (literally!).
… And speaking of dirty, cleaning soiled cloth diapers isn’t as complicated as it seems. The process entails the following steps:
Flush & Collect. We installed a handheld sprayer on the side of our toilet to spray off and flush down the waste. We also added an extra trash can lined with a wet bag beside the toilet to collect the used diapers until wash day.
Wash & Dry. Every brand will have specific washing and drying instructions. Generally speaking though, the cloth diapers will undergo back-to-back wash cycles on different settings (i.e. heat, spin, rinse) using gentle detergent, and will be air-dried when possible. We wash and dry our stock of 20 cloth diapers every 3-4 days.
Strip. Over time, cloth diapers experience build-up that reduces their absorbency and releases a funky smell. When that occurs, filling a tub or washing machine with hot water and adding in a laundry stripping solution (i.e. Dawn dish soap, RLR Laundry Treatment, Grovia Mighty Bubbles, bleach, etc.) should help. We find the need to strip our cloth diapers every 6 months or so.
See! It’s not as intimidating as you may have thought!
Teix is now 20 months old, and we’ve been diapering him in reusables on a daily… Even when we’re out and about! We simply add bamboo liners into his cloth diapers, and remember to bring biodegradable dog waste bags. That way, we can easily remove the liners once soiled, toss them in a bag (and eventually, into the nearest trash can) and carry on with our outing. If you don’t use liners, then travel-sized wet bags are your friend!
All that said, there are occasions when we choose not to use cloth diapers based on the activity, the timeframe and/or the weather. Disposables can be much lighter on backpacking trips, more absorbent for longer stretches in-between changes, and more comfortable on very cold days.
To conclude: Choose whatever diapering method suits your family, whether that be disposables, reusables or a combination! I just hope that my words encourage you to feel less daunted by the logistics of cloth diapering. Trust me: You can get into the groove of it real quick!
