|
I love cloth diapers! If you were to accuse me of being obsessed with cloth diapers, I wouldn’t argue. The reasons to use cloth instead of disposables seem so obvious to me now that it seems hard to believe that there was ever a time when I wasn’t infatuated. But it’s true – before the birth of my daughter, I told myself that I would be fine using ecologically conscious disposable diapers; I had enough on my plate without having to wash diapers. By the time my baby was four Journeymama's Favorites
~ Cloth Diapers
~ Cloth Diaper Vendors
~ Eco-disposables months old, my careful plans began to melt away. Like so many other parenting choices on my journey, I learned from my baby and followed her lead. It occurred to me one day that I wouldn’t like wearing paper underwear, so why should I expect that she would? I wanted soft organic cotton next to the sensitive, irritated skin on her little bottom. I hated the gel that leaked out of full, wet, disposable diapers (even eco-friendly Seventh Generation). The other eco-friendly brand, Tushies, felt coarse and scratchy and fastened with tape that inevitably got stuck in the wrong place. I also didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t really tell whether or not my baby had peed, since the diapers were so absorbent.
Not long after beginning my exploration of cloth diapering, I came across information on Elimination Communication and we began the journey toward becoming diaper-free. However, I firmly believe that cloth diapering and EC go hand in hand. Especially when infants are tiny, most parents who practice EC choose to use diapers for back-up from time to time. It makes sense, then, that this backup diaper would be cloth, since cloth allows babies (and parents!) to feel the wetness. Even if you choose not to practice EC or to practice EC part-time, changing a baby after every pee facilitates toilet learning, protects against diaper rash and prevents a baby from becoming accustomed to sitting in wetness. This facilitates toilet learning on down the line.
Cloth diapers are more environmentally sound than disposables because cloth diapers do not contribute to landfill waste. Most “mainstream” disposables are made with toxic chemicals like PCBs and chlorine bleach that harm the environment (And then we put it next to a baby’s genitals? Go figure!). Yes, it’s true that energy and water are consumed in laundering cloth diapers, but the amount of water and electricity used (especially in an energy-efficient washer and dryer) is less of a drain on the planet than heaps of diapers in the trash. By practicing EC even part-time, it is possible to significantly decrease diaper laundry.
Finally, cloth diapering is a wise financial choice. While cloth diapers cost more to purchase on the front end (around $15 each for the higher-end products), they are a one-time purchase. You can expect to spend a few hundred dollars, and you can spend less if the less expensive options work for you. Disposable diapers, on the other hand, cost a family an average of $3000 per child (Source: New York Times, October 9, 2005).
Making Cloth Diapers Work For You
Cloth diapering is a personal choice. Its success depends on three main factors:
- A system that works for you. There are literally hundreds of cloth diaper styles to choose from. You need to choose the cloth diapering system that is the best fit for you and your baby. I recommend doing some surfing at Diaper Pin, a site that answers numerous FAQs and provides customer reviews of all the major diaper brands. Most vendors that sell cloth diapers online have written excellent FAQs and guidelines. If you have questions about a particular product, don’t hesitate to email a vendor to ask questions. Most are wonderful about responding to inquiries – and if you don’t get a response, buy from someone else! A word of caution: Many vendors offer “intro packages” designed to help you try out various kinds of diapers before you buy. While it’s true that shipping costs can add up, there are now several vendors offering free or discounted shipping. You might be better off ordering one or two items that you think you want to try, rather than the package that a vendor has assembled. Just don’t get sucked into someone else’s idea of what you need. Figure out what will be best for you.
- Availability of laundry facilities. Those of us who live in apartments without laundry in our units know that trips to the basement laundry room or laundromat can be the bane of our existence. Add wet or dirty cloth diapers to the mix and it might be that cloth diapering is more than you feel you can handle. If this is your situation, and you are still interested in trying cloth, I’d suggest you try out one or two cloth diapers before investing in several. If you’re like me, you’ll soon figure out what it takes to make it work. One option is a diaper service, although they typically offer only flat “pre-folds” that you have to fold and fasten and cover – much more hassle than other diaper systems out there, but it works for some people, at least until your little one grows too squirmy. I don’t know anyone who uses a diaper service. In my case, I did the math and realized that the amount of money we would spend on coin-operated laundry in the basement over the course of one year would be more than the cost of a portable washer-dryer unit. I purchased the Malber WD1000 ventless washer-dryer, which operates from a normal wall plug (115 V) and hooks to our kitchen sink. I love this machine, and the Malber servicing in New York City is phenomenal. The downside was the small load size (for items other than diapers, baby clothes, and delicates, we still tended to use the big washers and dryers downstairs) and the fact that we couldn’t do dishes in the sink and use the washer-dryer at the same time. But these issues are slight when compared to the convenience of being able to throw wet diapers in the washer-dryer at night and wake up in the morning with a load of clean, dry diapers! For what it’s worth, I have not found it necessary or possible to undertake elaborate laundering schemes for my cloth diapers. I simply throw them in a plastic bin and then wash them with Allen’s Naturally detergent (no bleach, no fabric softener) and then dry them. With the Malber, I used about a teaspoon of vinegar in the fabric softener slot to keep them from sticking to the sides.
- A positive attitude. Just as with disposable diapers, cloth diapers can leak. Expect the occasional blow-out poop (another reason to try EC!). Avoid the urge to blame it on the cloth. Insulate yourself from negativity of family members who may not be completely on board with your decision to use cloth by including diapers in your system that are both user-friendly and leak-proof. Use these diapers when your baby is around the skeptics. If the skeptic is one of the baby’s parents, try to be considerate of the skeptic’s limitations when selecting your diapering system. For example, putting a prefold inside of a snap-on wool cover and then putting both of these on a wriggly baby is a skill that is mastered over time. Do not expect immediate competence from someone who has not had time to ramp up. All-in-Ones like Bumkins are a good choice for the uninitiated.
Journeymama's Favorite Cloth Diapers
Below are the brands of cloth diapers that I endorse from personal experience. Remember that we practice EC, so we change after every pee that we don’t catch, even at night. If you plan to change your baby on a time schedule rather than practicing EC or checking your baby’s diaper for wetness, you will need to do some research about which diapers have maximum absorbency, no wicking, etc. The bottom line on selecting your cloth diapering system is that no diaper is 100% wonderful 100% of the time for each and every purpose. Trial and error is part of the adventure. I am simply sharing what works for my family now and what I have learned along the way.
- Firefly Easywool Cover with Infant Prefolds. This is the nighttime solution I've come back to as my daughter approaches the 2-year mark. Though she is almost always dry all day, she still pees in her sleep, and I think I've finally figured out what works best for us. Easywool Covers are expensive (~$35 each), but they're worth it. Why? Wool is a natural, breathable material. No PUL off-gassing here! They are incredibly soft. We have never had a leak or wicking (though if left unchanged for a long time, there can be slight clamminess). Wool is self-sanitizing, so as long as they aren't soiled with poop, just leave them to dry -- there's no need to wash them unless they smell. The Stacinator is another wool cover on the market that gets good reviews. I purchased one Medium Firefly Easywool cover when my daughter was 4 months old and it still fits her at 22 months! I recently added two Large covers to our collection, and I am usually able to get through the night with three wool covers (I have two fleece covers for back-up). Of course, the quantity and type of insert needed for each child differs based on elimination patterns. I like the infant prefolds as inserts because they're incredibly absorbent (use them as rags around the house so that you wash them more often, and use a clean-rinsing bio-friendly detergent like Allen's Naturally); the infant size is less bulky than larger prefolds, but size is a matter of personal preference.
- Bumkins All-in-Ones. These diapers are cotton lined with polyurethane laminate (PUL). I came to Bumkins rather late in the game, when my daughter was about 7 months old. I began using them at night when my pocket diapers began leaking unpredictably. I continued to use them at night and during car trips and nighttime outings, and will consider using them with future kids. Unfortunately, around 20 months, my daughter started telling me that they "hurt," and I could see that the corners of the diapers, the tabs and velcro looked like they might be uncomfortable. It was then that I switched to Firefly Easywool Covers and prefolds at night. Based on a recommendation from a friend, I have always dried Bumkins despite the care instructions that say not to dry them, and they are fine. So much easier than pocket diapers, and with the added advantage of allowing my daughter to feel the wetness. They have incredibly fun and cute prints. Downsides of Bumkins AIOs: (1) My daughter had a period of time in which she insisted on undoing the Velcro fasteners, so during that time I had to cover the diaper with pants or shorts, which then requires another step during nighttime changes. This was a passing phase, however. (2) I have read several reviews that say that Bumkins are not able to last throughout the whole night without leaking, so if this is something you desire, use caution. You can also use an extra insert at night in the Bumkins. I have had “blowout pees” on a couple of occasions, mostly because I didn’t get the diaper fastened as snugly as I could have, and the pee just ran out the leg hole. Also, it took the diapers a while to build up to their maximum absorbency when I first purchased them. (3) I am not crazy about using products with PUL, since I have read some scary things about off-gassing. However, since my daughter’s exposure is limited to naps and nights, because I have not yet had time to investigate the science behind the anti-PUL claims, and because even if there is some off-gassing, I still feel this is a much less toxic alternative to disposables, I have largely bracketed this issue for now.
- Kissaluvs fitted diapers. We have only one of these, but I have determined that this is what I will use from the beginning when I am next blessed with an infant. They are so soft and cuddly! They are thick fitted diapers with snaps. If you are changing after every pee, you would rarely need a diaper cover. However, they are not waterproof, so if you were going out and were concerned about leakage, you could choose from covers made of wool (the most breathable), fleece, or PUL. The Small size that I bought when my baby was 4 months old still fits her at 16 months as a pair of training pants.
- Cloth Training Pants. We used training pants with my daughter during the day for several months. See Journeymama's Favorite Training Pants on the EC page.
Back to top
Other cloth diaper reviews…
- Pocket diapers. Pocket diapers are essentially a pouch made of PUL on the outside and fleece on the inside. The back seam of the diaper is left open to allow insertion of an absorbent material. The fleece wicks the wetness away from the baby’s bottom; pee goes straight through to the absorbent insert. The industry leader is Fuzzi Bunz, which we used exclusively for several months until adding Happy Heinys to my collection (at the time, I was frustrated with trying to snap the Fuzzi Bunz on a wiggly baby, and was thrilled with the ease of the velcro closures on the Happy Heineys). I also really liked Swaddlebees for their trim fit, though I didn't use them at night because I didn't find them as absorbent as the others. The problem with pocket diapers is two-fold: (1) Fleece is temperamental. It responds to detergent build-up by repelling water, which means that pee will deflect off of the fleece and soak anything else in the vicinity. My pocket diapers worked beautifully until I went away on vacation and washed them in a foreign machine. Despite being careful to bring my own detergent (Allen’s Naturally is the best thing on the market for fleece), and despite repeatedly “stripping” the offending diapers after returning home, some of them were ruined. By that time, I was only using them at night, and no longer have the time or energy to deal with nightly experiments that required beds to be changed. (By the way, if you are interested in buying my stash of gently used pocket diapers in beautiful colors, I’ll sell them for cheap, and you can strip them and get them back in shape! Email sales@journeymama.net). Pocket diapers are not the best choice for ECing, since they don’t really allow a baby to feel wetness. However, if your baby wakes at night with a wet diaper and it is having a negative impact on everyone’s sleep, you may want to try using a pocket diaper or (gasp) an eco-friendly disposable to see if this makes a difference. For us, it does not. Night waking after peeing is a function of how deeply or lightly our daughter is sleeping, not what kind of diaper she is wearing.
- Fleece liners with AIOs. I have also tried using fleece liners laid inside my Bumkins AIOs. These are available at Jack's Magic Beanstalk I wanted to try this to see if it helped my daughter sleep instead of waking up each time she peed. Not only did it not keep her from waking, but I ran into the same old frustrations with the fleece repelling the pee instead of letting it wick through. So I gave up. If you have a good working relationship with fleece, though, you might want to give this a try.
- Kissaluvs Contours. I chose these, along with two fleece covers and one wool cover, as my diapering system when my baby was 4 months old. It worked for about a month, and then she just got too darn wiggly to make it work! Plus, with EC, having two different things to get off and on was too inconvenient. (Interested in buying my stash of Kissaluvs Contours? Email sales@journeymama.net)
Journeymama's Favorite Cloth Diaper Vendors
- Thanks, Mama! (www.thanksmama.com) Amy at Thanks, Mama has the best prices on Bumkins AIOs and Fuzzi Bunz that I could find on the web, and excellent customer service.
- Jack’s Magic Beanstalk (www.jacksmagicbeanstalk.com) has a great selection of Bumkins and other waterproof training pants, as well as many other items.
- Diaperware (www.diaperware.com) Ingrid at Diaperware has the best prices on Happy Heineys that I could find. I bought my Sugar Peas fleece diaper covers and my Indian cotton prefolds from her, as well. Excellent customer service!
- Firefly Diapers (www.fireflydiapers.com) Lori at Firefly makes organic cotton fitted diapers as well as my favorite Easywool diaper cover. I also purchased Firefly's organic cotton wipes, which have been somewhat disappointing because the process of breaking in the fabric so that it is absorbent took much longer than I expected. The prices were too high for me to purchase more than a few items, but this reflects the extra costs of organic cloth. Although I would love to buy only organic products, I felt it was more important that I implement a workable cloth diapering system, which in my case meant both larger quantities and different materials than I could afford if only buying organic.
Back to top
If you are going to use disposables…
There are times when even the most ardent fan of cloth diapers chooses to use disposables, particularly during extended trips away from home when accessing laundry facilities will be difficult or impossible. Or perhaps you’ve determined that cloth diapers are just not your cup of tea. In either case, please give serious consideration to using an ecologically friendly brand of disposables:
- My favorite is Seventh Generation. They are not chlorine bleached but remain soft (as soft as paper pants can be, anyway) and absorbent (they contain gel that the company insists is safe – I still don’t like seeing it all over my daughter’s bottom, so I change them frequently). They close with Velcro-like tabs just like mainstream diapers. By the way, I emailed Seventh Generation to encourage them to create pull-ups, since there are no eco-friendly disposable pull-ups on the market. If you would like to do the same, click here.
- Another interesting option, which may be my favorite by the next time around, is a new product called gDiapers: a cloth outer pant with a plastic sleeve that holds an absorbent liner that is flushable. Therefore, you can put poop and pee into the sewer, where they belong, instead of in a landfill. The cloth outer pant stays dry. The plastic sleeve gets damp, but you carry a spare and can easily “reload” the gdiaper; you are encouraged to keep a second gdiaper fully loaded and ready to go so that you don’t have to reload the first one while your baby waits (as if!). The Velcro fastens in the back, which keeps little hands from playing with it, but this feature has scared me off from using gdiapers at night. The liner is not terribly soft, either. I tried using the gdiaper system with an organic cotton maxipad, which was softer, but it leaked (and those aren’t flushable, either, but at least they’re biodegradable). I need to test this product with a smaller infant before I can give it my wholehearted support. But a great concept!
Back to top
|
