How we Cloth Diaper
I've been cloth diapering off and on for about eight months now, Since Gwendolyn was less than a year old.
I keep coming back to it because there are a few things about cloth diapering that really appeal to me. For instance, in between birth and potty training the average baby will go through a literal ton of waste in diapers. That's two thousand pounds that I personally can keep from the landfill with a little reuse. That's two years worth of fecal matter that wont be poisoning the groundwater. That just feels right to me.
There is a study stating that disposable diapers have about the same ecological impact as cloth diapers when you take laundering into consideration. There are a couple flaws in the study though, which makes me feel like that it doesn't really apply to my situation.
Most glaringly, the study assumes that everyone who cloth diapers uses a laundry service, and adds the gas consumption associated with picking up and dropping off diapers as part of the the ecological impact of the cloth diapers.
Cloth diaper service, ha.
Most of the moms that I know who cloth diaper do their own laundry at home, and half of them don't even use a washing machine, but do it by hand, and then line dry. This seriously lessens the ecological impact of cloth diapering.
Cloth diapers are suppose to be healthier for your baby as well. There is a whole laundry list of chemicals in diapers used to make them absorbant, feeling, dry, and just the right color. Not all chemicals are bad obviously, but these ones are unnecessary and have come into question in other applications (tampon use, for an example).
Really though, what I keep coming back to is the cost savings. Diapers are expensive. And I already bought/borrowed all the supplies I need for cloth diapering, so I feels like throwing money away to get a pack of the convenient stuff.
So this is how I do it.
I use flats because I wash by hand and line dry. They dry faster than other diapers and are a little easier to clean than a lot of the other types.
I got my flats by going to the local thrift store and picking up as many xxxl 100% cotton tee-shirts that I could afford at the time. They were two dollars each so I got ten. I didn't pay as much attention to size as I should have, and some of my diapers are just a bit on the small side.
If you have a ton of options choose the shirts that have bodies that have less curvy shoulder seams, and shallow neck lines, that way the end product will be more uniformly rectangular.
Now take them home and cut the sleeves off and separate the two sides of the body.
Congratulations you have cloth diapers. You can either use the sleeves as additional liners, or as washcloths, depending on which you are hurting more for.
I also picked up a couple 100% wool sweaters to use as
. Gwendolyn keeps leaking through the covers I made, so I wouldn't actually call them a success. I have plans to try again though. Theoretically, felting the sweater first should help.
I really like the idea of wool, because it's a recycled product just like the t-shirts, it's not manufactured from petroleum products, and it is suppose to breath well (fewer night time rashes). So I'm hoping to have better luck next time.
That said, I'm mostly using the PUL covers gifted to me by an acquaintance. They actually work.
In an ideal world, I would be trying to decrease my use of petrolium products, but the overly concerned environmentalist in me can shut up, because it's good enough that I'm doing this at all right now.
I also use a Snappi gifted to me by my sister-in-law. She cloth diapers in circles around me and is amazing.
The trickiest part about this whole thing is that my baby will not sit still for more than about three seconds. Changing her diaper has become a tag-team event for us, which is one of the reasons why I'm so lucky that Josh works from home most of the time.
After Gwendolyn soils them the diapers go into the dry pail underneath the sink. Luckily Gwendolyn is at the point where her feces will usually just fling into the toilet.
Usually *shudder*
Every day I do a load of laundry in the wonder wash. This is a pretty great product by the way, it mainly just does diapers, but I can toss a shirt or some underthings in there if we're in a pinch. I can fill and operate it by myself so it's not a big deal if Josh is working or out with friends.
When we moved into this new apartment there was an additional shower curtain hanging over the bathroom door. The was also a paper lantern in the corner. We tossed the lantern and josh mounted the extra shower curtain over the bathtub and I strung yarn in-between the two shower curtains. Now I have a convenient place to dry the diapers overnight.
Theoretically when summer comes around it'll be nice to hang them outside instead, but our little balcony faces west and there's a building ten feet away, so I don't know how effective that will be.
So there's my system. It depended quite a bit on coincidental introductions and the generosity of others.
And my own cheapness.
Do you cloth diaper? Do you want to? What are your reasons?
