Diapering Baby for a year: Cloth or Conventional?

I share my story for the first year of my first baby and our diapering story.

Any choice when it comes to your baby is a personal one and it always seems like someone will have an opinion with your choices when you become a parent. Diapering is one of the big decisions you may be faced with. I can remember telling some people we were planning to cloth diaper and received a few strong responses. However, others thought it was great. 

I wanted to share a little more about our diapering journey in case it helps you in one way or another.  Over the past year, we have used primarily cloth diapers at home and use disposables while out or at daycare. I’ll share some about cloth diapering and what I chose as better disposable options. 

Why to go cloth? 

The main benefit of cloth diapering may be obvious to some: save diapers from going into landfills. But, there are some other benefits. To the first point, using reusable, cloth diapers you are decreasing your overall waste. Some will argue that cloth diapering may actually increase your carbon footprint but using more energy and water for laundering. However, the alternative is using diapers that will take years to break down in landfills. At the end of the day, I think you need to decide what’s more important to you. I felt like it was more important to decrease my contribution to landfills vs. using more energy and water. 

Another benefit is the quality of ingredients. Traditional diapers have been linked to different chemical exposures. There aren’t many studies but some chemicals found in diapers have been xylene, ethyl benzene, styrene and isopropylene. These have been linked to hormone disruption, cancer, respiratory and neurotoxicity. Many disposable diapers may also contain plastics, adhesives and lubricants which can be more sources of harmful ingredients. 

Unfortunately, the diaper industry has little regulation and diaper companies do not need to disclose their ingredients used. Their formula is proprietary and so does not have to be shared. So it can be really tricky to figure out what is actually being used on your child. Using cloth, especially organic cotton can be safer and less exposure to chemicals for your little one. 

Cost can also be another benefit. Investment upfront may seem more but most parents will actually save money over time if using primarily cloth diapers. We were gifted a big portion of our diapers but I usually recommend starting with 32 diapers. Your upfront cost will likely be about $400-$600 depending on what type you go with. However,  most parents will spend in the $2000 range in one year for disposable diapers. 

The Basics of cloth diapering

What are the cloth diaper options? 

There are several different types of Cloth Diapers. There are the traditional old school “nappies” or pre-folds which are essentially cloth that you fold together and must pin to hold. These are typically the most cost-effective but certainly take a little more man power. 

For example this one from www.greenmountaindiapers.com

Another type is the hybrid type. These are a little more affordable than the All -In-Ones but do have more pieces. They are made up of a hybrid shell which can be reused if not soiled and a cotton insert. They are washed separately and need to attach the inserts after washed. They are easier than the pre-folds but still some added work. 

See this type from Grovia.com

The most comprehensive are the “all-in-ones” that are most similar to disposable diapers. These are the ones we chose to use more from the convenience factor. Imagine changing in the middle of the night or multiple times per day, we wanted the easiest. These are more expensive but still can be a savings over disposable ones. Our favorites were Grovia. We also used Bumgenius Freetime but liked the Grovia ones better. 

Heres a picture of some of our Grovia All In Ones.

Cleaning 

Cleaning is probably the scariest part of cloth diapers for some (I know it was for my husband). And I get it, some people may not be able to get past to the cleaning of the poop diapers. But, hear me out I don’t think it’s that bad. If you’re breastfeeding, the poop will be pretty liquid and small amounts for the most part until they start on solid foods. The poop will be worse once they start eating real food, but still not bad as adult poops. 

You can choose to wash in your washing machine (what we do) or use a cleaning service, if you have one available to you in your area. If doing it at home, you’re going to want a bidet. We used a super easy one you can install to your toilet to help spray off. Similar to this one HERE. It makes it a lot easier to clean the poop diapers. 

So the process after you do a diaper change, pee diapers can go directly into a wet bag. Poop diapers should be sprayed down and then put in wet bag. We initially washed daily when we were going through more but now at least every 48 hours. Wet bags are essentially a washable, waterproof bag to hold dirty diapers. We use these ones from Grovia we love. 

The actual washing process. 

I did a TON of reading on all sorts of detergents to use and wash cycles, etc that work well for cloth diapers. Essentially, you want a cleaner detergent without very harsh chemicals. So I would avoid detergents like Dreft, All, Tide etc. We typically use Seventh Generation in our house which has worked well for us. In terms of the wash cycle, if you use a high efficiency washer you want to make sure there is enough water to clean the diapers. Since they’re absorbent cotton, they will take more water to get clean. After some trial and error, we use a normal cycle with warm water extra rinse cycle which seems to work well. Then we dry them in the dryer on normal. You could certainly air dry for part of it if you have the time too to save on dryer energy. We did more air dry when we were going through more cloth diapers early on. Likely, you will need to experiment a bit with your specific washer type. 

What about safer disposable options?

Ok so maybe you decide that after all, cloth diapers just don’t seem like they will work for you and your family. There are still some good reasons to still think about what ingredients are used in your disposable diapers. Many use harmful chemicals and unnecessary fragrances that you want to avoid, as they could expose baby to unnecessary chemicals and even cause irritation or allergies. There are also some better brands that actually compost or biodegrade, but remember if you’re tossing them in a regular plastic trash bag they wont break down. 

Dyper: we love dyper and what we use primarily as disposable option. They are made of bamboo, super soft but no dies, fragrances or harmful chemicals. They are also compostable. They offer subscription service too which can be more affordable. 

Eco by Naty: these seemed promising and I hear are popular but I had a hard time finding them. 

Seventh Generation: I didn’t have as much luck with these. They did not hold up as well in my opinion. But they are a safer option and widely available 

Honest: not necessary biodegradable but certainly a safer option. We’ve used the overnight ones before and they have worked well. 

So that’s my round up and diapering for the last year. I love using our cloth diapers at home which I feel have been really absorbent, safe materials and sustainable. I’m here to tell you that if you’re interested in cloth diapering, you can totally do it! You just have to have a plan and know how to do it. Don’t let anyone talk you down if it’s what you want to do. But, if it’s not for you, that’s ok too. The great thing is there are so many options now on either side that you have options. 

And know, that in the end, you’re doing a great job.