Making the decision to cloth diaper can be a daunting one, but the benefits certainly outweigh the minor drawbacks. I never thought I'd be a cloth diapering mom until I gathered a wealth of knowledge on the advantages. Initially, cloth diapering was a deterrent as family and friend alike tried to talk me out of it, convinced that even if I tried it, I wouldn't last long. I made the decision to put my baby in cloth, and a year later, I'm loving it. It's one of the best decisions I've made for my baby and our budget.
There are several different options when it comes to cloth diapers. There is the pocket cloth diaper, the all-in-one, the one size fits all and the two part pre folds. They all have some strong environmental advantages but some types make more sense in practicality, convenience, and cost.
I knew I needed a diaper that was versatile and easy to use, so I chose a one-size cloth diaper. It was the most most user-friendly not only for me, but also for the friends, family members and potential daycare providers that could take over without being confused by the cloth diapering process. After all, my goal was to keep my baby in cloth 100% of the time. If my cloth diaper system was confusing for others, it would have been more difficult to be successful.
Cloth diapering has been a satisfying experience for both of us this past year. It's been a little messy at times since baby has begun solids and I had to use a diaper sprayer to clean out the mess before throwing the diaper into the washer, but the benefits we've both had from this experience have been tremendous. Now that I'm a full-time stay-at-home mom, I've found that using the prefolds with covers have made washing preparation even easier than my beloved pocket diapers.
The one size fits all style cloth diapers are designed to be the the one and only cloth diaper you will need. They can come in all in one or pocket style and have a great amount of adjust-ability to fit children from newborn to toddler. The downside to this style of diaper is that no matter what the manufacturer says there is simply no way one size can fit all. The amount of liquid a newborn produces is clearly different than that of a toddler.
Not only have my cloth diapers contained blow-outs better, they've kept baby drier overnight (the disposables have always leaked for me even though I've tried various brands), and they've kept diaper rash at bay. Also, they're much more economical. The average family can save approximately $1,500 to $2,000 per child using cloth. As an added bonus, cloth diapers are environmentally-friendly and free from potentially harmful chemicals found in so many disposable diapers.
I highly recommend cloth diapering to any caregiver. It's been such a breeze and I enjoy knowing that my baby is happy, we're doing something sustainable for the environment, and to top it all of, we're saving money.
