I thought diapering with Chiquita was really pretty easy, especially before she started eating food, so this time around I was really interested in trying cloth diapering. It's good for the environment (and my pocketbook) - I thought it was a no-brainer. Unfortunately every time I told someone I wanted to try cloth diapering I got raised eyebrows and a sarcastic "Good luck with that!", even from my husband!Now I don't care what anyone else thinks about my parenting choice but my husband is not only my life partner, but my co-diaper changer! This wasn't a choice I could make without his support and he was not budging - cloth diapering seemed like a ridiculous hassle to him.
I'm not good at giving up so I made a compromise.
I bought a trial pack of Econobum one-size cloth diapers - one cover and three inserts. This was a cheap way to try it out.
Here are my thoughts so far:
- All the reviews said these diapers were bulky and they were right. The other cloth inserts I used were much better and worked as well.
- Chato doesn't like to hang out in a wet diaper, even disposables, but I definitely have to change the cloth diapers faster.
- They worked just as well, if not better, at preventing leaks and blowouts. We had GIANT poopies with no problem.
- They aren't more work to put on, but they are more work to take off since you have to rinse poopy ones, but it wasn't nearly as difficult as people made it sound (probably since I didn't do it every time).
My hubby remains totally unconvinced and refuses to use them, but that's why this is a compromise. I feel like even saving one pack of diapers from the landfill is worth it, so we are winning!
We looked into the environmental efficiency of cloth versus disposable when we first had our son. It turns out it really depends on which bit of the planet you want to save more. Disposables are bad because of landfill but cloth ones are bad because of the amount of energy required to wash them and in some cases because they leak more readily (although sounds like you found some that don't) the energy going into washing all the bedding and clothes every times the nappy leaks. We weighed up the pros and cons and decided we'd stick with disposables. I also didn't relish the thought of having to rinse off poop. I think cloth nappies have come a long way though and some of them do look pretty good. I'd be interested to see how your cloth nappy journey progresses, keep posting. Thanks for linking up to the Sunday Parenting Party, I'm pinning to the pinterest board.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it really depends on how much more you have to wash, and probably what kind of detergent you use (talking about chemical pollution). I really don't think we're doing more laundry since we have leaks as often from the disposables as the cloth, but really it's VERY part-time. An experiment... It does take a little more dedication to keep doing it since my hubby isn't a fan. I'll make sure to do an update. I might choose to give it up all together once he goes to solids. We'll see!
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