cloth diaper blog. the all in one cloth diaper resource

As an owner of an online cloth diaper store, at times I hear parents say, “I really want to cloth diaper full-time, but that’s a lot more money than I want to spend.” I never feel it is my job to coerce them into the decision, so I will encourage them to sit down and figure out what diapering their baby will cost over the duration of that baby’s diapering years; reminding them to consider (if only in their minds) that future babies could be on the horizon; cloth diapers aren’t for one-time usage, like disposables. I tell them to record all their numbers and make sure to do the same across any other diapering systems (cloth and disposable) they are considering.

What do they discover? If we’re just talking about the difference between a cloth diapering package such as the Thirsties Fab Fitted Diapers in a full-time package of 12 fitted diapers to a package of 12 disposable diapers, then yeah, diaper to diaper the expense is higher. If however, you considered the price of that same fitted diaper 6 years from now, on your 3rd child, to the disposable diaper you used once and tossed in the trash, then…maybe not so much.

We haven’t even touched on the reduced environmental costs of cloth diapering, although we do that a lot here at CDB. Bottom line is this, even if you don’t take advantage of the cloth diapering packages, like our newest package of Thirsties Fab Fitted Diapers, you will STILL WIN OUT financially if you choose cloth diapers. Figuring in the washing and drying, the detergent, the electricity, the labor, the “anything else you can think of” right down to production, cloth diapers are less expensive and more environmentally sound.

So no, full time cloth diapering doesn’t cost too much. What costs too much is full-time disposable diapering. And that costs all of us, not just you.

I talk a lot about disposable products, because obviously I am an advocate for cloth, but it goes beyond that. Disposable products are just one more indication that we’ve become a “ME” society - that we don’t care for each other and for even what we’re leaving our own children and their children. It used to be that we were handing down a heritage…now our heritage is a bunch of junk…literally.

While I was probing the internet for statistics on disposable diapers, I came across a write-up by Karen Klages of The Chicago Tribune. She wrote:

“If someone were to load all of the disposable wipes purchased by consumers in North America last year onto 18-wheel semis, the caravan would number 9,000 trucks and stretch for 68 miles. And it would be carrying 83,000 tons of these seemingly ephemeral cloths_which are anything but fleeting.”

Did you gasp? I did when I read it. Now, she’s referring to ALL disposable wipes, not just baby’s wipes, but still…my baby’s wipes don’t need to be adding to that even further; thank goodness for cloth baby wipes.

Intrigued by this research, I set out on another path and came across some hefty complaints about disposable wipes from those that maintain our city’s sewage systems.

“Thicker than toilet paper, the wipes do not disintegrate when flushed. As their use has become more prevalent, the wipes are clogging treatment plant pumps and costing communities extra money in overtime and equipment repairs.”

And you know why they are getting clogged, BECAUSE THEY DO NOT DISINTEGRATE LIKE TOILET PAPER. Right - as in, they aren’t so eco-friendly. They don’t belong in the sewage system and they don’t belong in landfills either.

THERE IS A CHOICE.

The choice is cloth baby wipes and either water or, if you want an easy time of it - an all natural spray like bumGenius! Bottom Cleaner. The name alone will get a smerk out of ya each time you spray it on your baby’s bum. Spray the Bottom Cleaner on baby’s bottom and then wipe clean with any reusable cloth baby wipe or dry, soft cloth. It is unnecessary to wet your baby wipe when using the bumGenius Bottom Cleaner.

But do not get me wrong - you can use a worn, soft piece of flannel and warm water too. There doesn’t have to be anything fancy about making the switch to cloth baby wipes from disposable wipes, you just need to make the switch.

You can actually take an environmental stance with what you use to wipe your baby’s bum…who would have thought?

Cloth baby wipes can be purchased in our online cloth diaper store, or elsewhere online OR you can cut up some old baby blankets, use old wash cloths, even pick up some clearance flannel at year’s end in the fabric shops or better yet, garage sales, to make into sweet little wipes. Use them over and over and your pipes and landfills will thank you.