Ever since we started using & selling cloth diapers, I've heard so many things from so many people. I think I hear more about cloth diapering than I ever did about nursing. A lot people praise the idea, but quickly give excuses as to why its not for them. Older moms & grandmas smile & tell stories of their cloth diaper days; then, when I show them Booty Buns Cloth Diapers, they tell me that these are not the cloth diapers they remember! A reoccurring theme that I've noticed is that a lot of people have excuses for not
using cloth diapers ~ not a single one of them being 'I am so rich, I wish to waste my money.' ;)
I'd like to take a minute and address four of the most common ones that I've heard.
1."Ewww, POOP! I don't want to touch it, clean it or smell it; and, I really don't want to look at a stained diaper."
I wonder if they know their babies still poop in disposable diapers? ;) When ever we are around a sposies baby who happens to have a BM in their diaper, I am sooo thankful for the tight fighting Booty Buns Cloth Diapers that my baby wears that do such a good job of containing smells. I mean yes, I can still smell when she has gone, but thank goodness I can't smell it in the other room like you can with disposable diaper! Plus, an
international law says that you are not allowed to throw away poo in disposables because it can cause viruses to become airborne. Here's what the Pampers' website says about this:
“As the Pampers bag recommends, you’ll want to
dump bowel movements in the toilet. Then just roll the diaper into its
backsheet, using the tape or fasteners to keep it closed, and dispose of
it in the trash.”
Aaaahhhhh man! Looks like poop has to be dealt with even if you use disposables. I wonder what you're supposed to do when the baby has the runs in a disposable diaper. . .
After about 6 weeks of using cloth diapers, my husband wanted to use up the last few disposables we had left. Now, at this point he still wasn't 100% convinced that they were better. He liked the idea of saving money, but thought it was just easier to toss the poop with the diaper. When it came time to change her, we could smell that child a mile a way, well almost a mile ;) It was that moment that I looked at my husband and said, 'Honey, YOUR baby needs her booty changed.' My husband laid her down & had me come look at the huge gap around her legs caused by the added weight.He was surprised that the disposable diaper didn't maintain it's fit as well as the cloth diapers do.
Then, his exact words were,
'Wow Honey! After using the cloth diapers for so long,
these disposables are total weak sauce! Let's just use the cloth.'
We haven't looked back since.
Something else to think about is, if a baby has a BM in a disposable that they then place in the trash can, the whole house will smell like diapers. YUMMY. Even if it goes to the outside trash can, every time the lid is lifted out comes the lovely aroma. With cloth diapers, the BM goes the same place that the rest of the family's goes ~ down the toilet. Then, at least in our house, the dirty diaper goes in a container with a lid to contain any other smells. Thanks to this bin, we have noticed that we actually do smell less than we did with disposables.
Thanks to the 100% cotton flannel liner we include with our diapers, BM clean up easier than people might think. Solid BMs knock right off into the toilet; where, EBF & teething BMs can be easily cleaned by holding the liner in the water and shaking. This will usually get it off, but you may have to use both hands & rub it together to get it off. You could also use a toilet sprayer, but I have never used one, so I can't tell you how they work or if they work well.
2. "I just think that its too much hard work to wash diapers; I don't know how you do it. I just don't have the time to wash & dry all those diapers"
I'd like to share how much hard work goes in to washing cloth diapers in my house. We do 2-3 more loads of laundry per week.
Phew, all that hard work leaves me exhausted!
Seriously though, my 9 year old produces more laundry than that every week because she can never find the right outfit; and, every outfit she tries on is then 'filthy' & needs to be buried in the hamper. Every time I wash my family's clothes, hers take over by about 4 to 1 for every one else in the house.
Diaper laundry is nothing compared to a pre-teen
girl with an eye for fashion!
Here is our diaper washing routine:
*Cold water rinse
*Double cold rinse
When they are ready to be dried, I grab all the inserts, liners and wipes & toss them in the dryer. I then walk out side & pop open my handy tri-pod clothes line that my awesome mother in law bought for me, then I hang diapers. I spend maybe 10 minutes start to finish loading the dryer & hanging diapers.
The only difference between washing diapers & our regular laundry is that I don't usually pre-rinse our clothes; I do have a lot that we hang dry though. So I spend about 15 minutes more per load on washing our diapers. That's only 30-45 more minutes per week.
3. "You use cloth diapers? Doesn't your baby have a ton of diaper rash?"
My daughter has only had a diaper rash
2 times since we started using cloth diapers, and they were both when we first started & were still learning the ropes. Now that we have the hang of it, her booty is clear. We change her often, use plenty of corn starch at each change & we use an amazing detergent made just for cloth diapers ~
Rockin' Green & we give her a bath every night.
The first time she got a rash was from using disposable liners. I admit I was {and still am} one who doesn't like the idea of scrubbing poo out of diapers; so, I bought the disposable liners. The first day we noticed her little booty turning a slight pink color. By the morning of the second day she had her first ever diaper rash. I was so sad! My husband said no more disposable liners, her skin doesn't like this rough paper irritating it.
So we stopped using them immediately.
Then she had a BM in the diaper. I so generously let my husband handle the clean up since it was his idea to take away the liners. When he came out of the bathroom, he said, 'We have to find another solution; because, I am not going to scrub poop out of all her diapers if its that hard!'
This is the reason I developed the 100% cotton flannel liner. It has been a life saver in so many ways; most importantly, it makes BM clean up a breeze compared to before.
The second time my daughter got a diaper rash was about 1 month into using cloth diapers. I noticed at this same time that her diapers were smelling like flowery pee when they came out of the washing machine; and, she smelled really uriney when she was ready for a change. I found out that no matter how much I love the smell of Tide, or how clean it gets every thing else we own ~ IT WAS NOT MADE FOR CLOTH DIAPERS. Our diapers had actually developed a build up of Tide + urine causing an irritation to her poor little booty.
We had to strip our diapers to get the Tide out so she could heal. It was a very arduous process. We switched to Rockin' Green & she hasn't had a rash since!!
Other babies we know that use disposables, seem to have a diaper rash all the time. I am sure that there are other factors that cause the rash; but, when sposie parents accuse cloth diapers of causing rashes I want to let my baby moon them so they can see no bumps or redness for her! {Of course I don't let her!}
4. "I could never afford to cloth diaper. It costs so much money & we're on a budget."
There are two wonderful quotes that come to mind every time I hear this:
'Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.'
'Where there is a will, there is a way.'
People who think they can't do something, will never do it. So when they say they could never cloth diaper {even though tons of us know that its really EASY to cloth diaper} they are right. Its a tough job being green & saving money while doing it, but:
If anyone out there has ever has ever wondered how you could ever afford to use cloth diapers,
I have a way to go with your will!
Using the numbers for one of the most popular brands, I'm going to show you how Booty Buns Cloth Diapers is actually MORE AFFORDABLE than disposables.
When we were using disposables, we were buying 2 large boxes or 1 extra large box {if we could find them} per month. Either way were spending about $50 per month on diapers.
Using generic wipes can save a few extra dollars each month, so we used them before we switched. Each box costs around $20 and lasted for about 5 weeks. The combined amount spent on disposable diapers & wipes was about $70 per month.
That's more than my cell phone bill.
A lot of parents wait until their child is 2 1/2 - 3 years or older to potty train. So if these parents spent $70 per month over this time period they would be spending $2,100 - $2,520+ to diaper their child.
A lifetime supply of Booty Buns Cloth Diapers
for their baby & a baby in need is only $510.
THAT'S ALMOST $2,000 SAVINGS FROM USING DISPOSABLES!
Now for the way ~
Don't be intimidated by a large start up cost. Nobody said you have to buy all 20 at once! We actually have developed a program that helps parents buy their cloth diapers over time to reach their life time supply.
If you were to buy 3 Booty Buns Cloth Diaper in one month, it would cost $76.50 including
shipping. That's barely over $6 more than what we paid per month in disposables. A huge difference though, is that you would only need to by 3 diapers for 6 months & 2 diapers for the 7th month then YOU WOULD BE DONE BUYING DIAPERS! That's 23-29 months of saving $70 per month!! You would end up saving $1610-2030 by using cloth diapers on your baby; oh and did I mention, you can reuse cloth diapers with other children thus multiplying the savings!
Here's another cool part of the program:
If 20 Booty Buns Cloth Diapers are purchased over an 8 month period, you get your choice of a free Original Booty, or a $20 rebate!
For every excuse, there is a solution!
