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Just curious what everyone's primary reason(s) is for cloth diapering?
I went into it because of all the guilt I felt from throwing away diapers from two babies every day.........so mine was pretty much environmental.
What about you?
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| Well, I'm brand new to CD, but I am switching for many reasons. Health, environment, cost savings. I'm also hoping cloth will help my 2 1/2 yo DS potty learn. We're expecting, and I didn't want to double my diaper budget every week! We try to live as healthy/green as we can on our budget -- some organic, less red meat, fewer toxic cleaners and food additives. We homebirth, breastfeed and homeschool. With all of that it seemed inconsistant to still be using disposables. So my primary reason for switching was that using disposables no longer matched up with my image of who we are (or try to be!) as a family. Or with my personal mama-image. So we switch! From Beautiful Rockport, Texas |
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For me it was pretty much environmental as well. At first I had really crappy used and low quality diapers and covers. They leaked easily and I found myself rather frustrated with them. I'd take 'disposable' breaks fairly regularly but my conscience always brought me back.
Then I discovered Mother-Ease! I discovered that good quality cloth diapers were actually WAY BETTER than disposables! They didn't leak and they didn't allow poopy blowouts!! And washing them was no big deal and I saved countless 'emergency' trips to the store cause I was running out of diapers! I discovered how cute they could be (dyeing and buying funky summer covers - that although I don't trust as much as ME, are super cute paired with just a t-shirt in summertime!) and that they were actually FUN!
When my twins were born, I used nothing but cloth right from the start. I used disposables in the hospital only because I was afraid my cloth would be lost or end up in the hospital laundry! I was obviously overwhelmed with two babies to care for (plus two older siblings) but I chose to stick with cloth mostly for convenience! Yes, that's right, I think it's largely MORE convenient! I knew the diapers would never leak, I knew I'd never have poopy blowouts and I knew I'd never run out of diapers! I did all kinds of things to make my life easier those first few months and if would have thought for a second that using disposables, even part of the time, would have made things easier, I probably would have done it. People don't believe me when I tell them stuff like this. It's like they think I'm some kind of saint that sacrifices myself constantly for the environement. I'm like a eco-martyr in their eyes and they think I'm lying or exagerating to further 'the cause'. They just don't get it and probably never will.
Karen. |
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I have done licensed home childcare for the past 7 years here in Lincoln, Nebraska. I've probably thrown away thousands of diapers from the numerous kiddos I've had the pleasure of taking care of, including 1 of my own. When we found out we were expecting our second boy last summer, my hubby's mother asked if we would use cloth(she used cloth for all 3 of her kids). To be honest, at first I thought "ewwww!!" and then "do they still even make cloth diapers?" Throwing away diaper after diaper for the several months that followed made me curious about cloth and that for thousands of years our ancestors did without disposables, and yet here we still are....I researched cloth and I'm glad I did. My own Mother offered to buy ALL(100%) of our son's disposable diapers until he was potty-trained if we would change our mind from using cloth! I was also astonished at all the other mothers out there that get talked out of giving cloth a try, sometimes by their own husbands!
Cost was a small factor to us. Comfort of our son was first(How comfy can paper underwear be?) Environmental concern was second(I wish I still didn't have to throw away 30 or so diapers away per week from my daycare kiddos) Longterm health of our son was also a factor. Chemicals chemicals chemicals surround us everyday. If we can cut down our exposure, I think we should. Oh, and the lack of rashes! Once again, comfort and health.
Now I can't stop singing the praises of cloth diapering! I wish I had used cloth 7 years ago with my first son. Thank heaven for mother-in-laws(did I just say that????)
Hummmmmmmmmm............
Cheers! |
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I honestly started because of the cost of disposibles. My mother told me that I would be throwing money away by using disposibles full-time and bought me a bunch of 4th hand diapers (which worked remarkably well for my first child). Then a co-worker learned I was planning on using cloth and lent me her entire stash of motherease diapers. I only hung in until my first child was 8 or 9 mths but started again with my second child last year.
My co-worker gave birth to her 2nd child 10 days before me so I had to start over (the stash from my mom started to fall apart shortly after DS#2 arrived). I then discovered all the different options--pockets, bamboo, wool, dyed diapers and hyenacart. I must admit I certainly haven't saved as much money as I planned to but have had lots of fun and feel good with every load of laundry knowing I've kept all those diapers out of the trash. |
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| I'm a big cheap-o and figured saving money by CDing was a great way to cut down on our dipe budget. I also feel good about not throwing as many disposables into the trash, but mostly it's the savings. Plus I don't mind the poop and pee and laundry. You touch poop and pee on a regular basis if you have a kid no matter what diapers you use, so what's the big difference in deal with it in CDs? I've always bought used CDs, because they're cheaper and I figure it's a good way to reuse something that's already been made (making a smaller footprint on the earth and all that jazz). Although, I've always longed for someone to buy me new ones, just to see how big a difference new makes!Anna |
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I started CDing for 2 reasons 1) curiosity. I had read on other boards how great they were and how many people loved them. So i wanted to see what the fuss was all about. 2) to save money. I was plain old sick of literally throwing money in the garbage every day.
Now that I have been CDing for a while, I still do it to save money, but I also love that DD isn't sitting in chemicals all the time, her booty breathes better, I am not ruining the environment, and all the other benefits of CD's. Although, I am not sure how much I am going to save now that I have become totally addicted to cloth.  But ooh well. I love my cloth.....wish i had started sooner. |
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| I started when DS was 18 mths old and I wanted him to be more comfortable. I also was concerned about the enviornment. Plus it could help him PT. He never minded sitting in a dirty dipe until I switched to cloth. Now he likes his diaper changed and wants to use the potty. Now if I could only be as brave as the others to strip my stinky detergent build up dipes........ |
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| I started using cloth diapers 18 years ago for my 3rd and 4th children (twins) because of cost. We used a diaper service for the first year and then I continued until potty training. My 5th and 6th children did not ever wear cloth diapers because we had to pump out all of our used water from a holding tank and cloth would mean too much water consumption. With number 7 we moved when he was 1 and I switched him to cloth right away because he was bursting disposable on a regular basis. I was so excited to see all the new kinds of diapers out there. It also helped him with potty training. Now we foster babies and I love for them to feel comfortable and give them everything I can while they are with us. The little guy we have right now is such a heavy wetter that he breaks the disposable if I put him in one overnight. I started cloth diapering him at night time and that lasted for about 2 days until I figured I may as well cloth diaper him all the time as it's so much easier not to switch back and forth constantly. I had him in a disposable the other day (for a visit with his family) and put it in the garbage after he had used it and even my hubby noted that cloth diapers don't smell nearly as bad.LOL. I love that I am helping the enviroment and the comfort that I think cloth gives the little ones, also the convenience and the fact that I can trust that I will not have blowouts or leaks on a regular basis. |
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I did not get to stay home with my 5 year old daughter when she was born because I was the breadwinner of the family, and leaving her almost killed me. I have since remarried and quickly became pregnant with my son, who was just born this past march. When i was carrying him, I knew money would be extremely tight if I were to stay home with him, so I had to come up with ways for us to live more inexpensively. I found some second hand diapers at a consignment shop and used them for awhile. They were homemade and had velcro fasteners, I did not mind them, but they sure got soaked fast and stuck to each other in the laundry.
One day I went to a $2 a bag clothing sale at my church's clothing depot and came across 2 baskets of mother ease diapers, liners, and covers. I liked the way they looked as they were thick and had these easy to operate snaps, so i scooped them all up. It took 4 plastic bags to contain them, so I got 30 OS, about 10 liners and 4 covers for a grand total of $8.00!!! I really am proud of getting that deal as money for us is more than tight being that we are a blended family who have 5 children on only one small income :-)
I tried using these diapers and love them! They do not leak and my son is so comfortable. I have always been an environmentalist at heart and do what i can where i can, so CDing fits very nicely into my value set.
There is something very zen about cloth diapering, line drying and simplifying one's life. I am so very happy that I found this site and went to that $2.00 bag sale. |
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My main reason for switching to cloth was cost. I am also diapering two little ones, and found it to be ridiculous to be spending so much money on diapers every week, and sometimes we'd run out and be in a bind because we didn't budget enough money for diapers/groceries that week. We are trying to get our finances in order so that we can have another baby next summer, so that is another factor that went into our decision to cd. Plus, how can you pass up a cute fluffy bootie  |
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The primary reason I started cd'ing was to save $$. I haven't had to buy diapers (except for a few times when we were going out of town) in over 2 years!! ~Kristy <a href="http://www.workathomeunited.com/homemaker"> </a> |
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