Why We Use Cloth Diapers

Since we’ve started using cloth diapers for Pumpkin, we’ve gotten a lot of questions on how and why to use them, especially from expecting parents. Since I have several friends who are expecting this year, I decided to write down all of my thoughts and explanations about cloth diapering on this blog in a way that is (hopefully!) easy to understand. Researching cloth diapers can be confusing or overwhelming, so I’m going to boil it down for you here, in a three-part series! First up, we have the ever-important question: Why would you even want to do this?

Let’s get started.

Cloth diapers are cost-effective.

Let’s say you change your baby’s diaper approximately 9 times a day (this will undoubtedly be more when your baby is younger, and possibly less when baby is older). That’s 3,285 diapers per year. The going rate for the Target brand, Up&Up is $0.13 per diaper, so that’s $420 per year. If you use Pampers at $0.27 per diaper, that’s $877 per year. And you will be using diapers for more than one year. If your child is in diapers until, let’s say age 3, that’s $1260 - $2631 in total. (These are very rough estimates, because honestly, who can predict how many diapers your baby will use??)

Now, our cloth diaper stash cost about $277. And that’s it. That will last us until Pumpkin is potty trained. We can also reuse them for her younger siblings, which is another huge saving. I should note, however, that the type of cloth diaper we use is not as expensive as other types, which I’ll discuss in my next post. However, even if you buy the most expensive type will put you at about $576 total, which is still less than using disposables, especially if you use them for multiple children.

Here’s a note about laundry. Some people question whether or not doing more laundry really saves you any money. Honestly, I don’t have any numbers for this, otherwise I’d share them with you. But since we started using cloth diapers, we have not noticed a huge difference in our electricity or water bills.

Cloth diapers are better for the environment.

This one is kind of obvious. Cloth diapers are better for the environment in the same way that the dishes in your kitchen are better than paper plates. You reuse your diapers, instead of throwing them away. A common saying in the cloth diaper community is, “Make laundry, not landfills.” If you use the numbers we calculated earlier, that’s 3,285 diapers per year not going into a landfill!

Cloth diapers can be good for your baby.

Some parents feel more comfortable using cloth diapers because they know what materials (such as cotton) they are putting on their baby’s bottom. There is no scientific evidence saying that cloth diapers are better for your baby than disposables, but if this is issue is important to you or if your baby has had trouble with disposables in the past, then you may want to consider cloth.

Cloth Diapers are adorable!!

Seriously. They’re just so cute. I don’t need to write anything about this. You can just look at their cuteness.

Now that we’ve covered these reasons, I want to make it clear that this is NOT meant to make anyone feel guilty for using disposable diapers. Cloth diapering just isn’t for everybody. For example, if you don’t have easy access to laundry facilities, using cloth diapers would be very difficult. If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of using cloth diapers every day, or for multiple children, use disposables. You can also use cloth part-time if you feel more comfortable with that. I’m sharing this information with you not so that you will feel pressured, but simply so you can make an informed decision. I had no idea that cloth diapers were still a thing until some relatives started using them!

Let me conclude with this: one of the main reasons we use cloth diapers is simply because we enjoy it! If you don’t think you will, then don’t worry about it! Parenting is difficult enough as it is, and there is no need to make it harder on yourself!

This is part one of a series. Click here to read the rest!
Part two: Types of Cloth Diapers
Part three: Getting Started with Cloth Diapers