Question for CD'ers... Why do you like it?

[millerpjm]

I am a new mom and currently use disposables. Aside from environmental factors, why do you like to CD? I have been thinking about it but will need LOTS of good reasons to talk DH into it... so let's hear some!

Jen

Proud mama to Thomas (4 1/2 months)

[parkersmama]

If you look down the page there is a post titled "Cloth vs. Disposables" that has the answer to this question for a lot of us. I think the top reasons most people give are: healthier for baby, better for the environment, financial savings, and just to be different! This site has lots of info on CDing including a "why to" page: http://clothdiaperinfo.org/

HTH!

[liya]

Honestlly i started CDing because my son was totally allergic to the stuff in disposable diapers..And now for my next baby i will never go back to it again....Although at first it might seem that your inital cost is high when you see the end results it really isnt...The post link above is a really good one..i would look into it....

[Melanie]

1 - No toxic chemicals in them and on my child's skin for 24/7 (2nd fastest way to get a toxin in to your system is the skin - first is inhalation, btw).

2 - Better for the environment

3 - Less expensive

4 - They're soft and cute :)

There are some great articles at www.punkinbutt.com about cloth diapering costs & disposable toxins.

I plan to CD 100% with baby #2 some day. We started around 13 months with Ds.

[egoldber]

Well, I CD for a lot of reasons, but mainly because I enjoy it. :) They are fun to use, not any more work and cute to boot! AND you save money. What more could you ask?

And as far as DH's go, mine STILL isn't a convert. I read with envy about DH's that breezily put on a CPF and snappi it, while mine struggles with a Bumkins AIO (and that is only a recent event). But I decided to go ahead and switch, because in the grand scheme of things, DH changed VERY few diapers even when we used disposables. Since he works outside the home and I don't, I change 99% of her diapers anyway, so it wasn't a big deal to me that he wasn't convinvced. For a long time I kept a small pile of disposables for him to use by the changing table. He will now use AIOs (I have a small basket of those, mainly just for him) as long as they aren't too complicated.

HTH,

[KathyO]

Yeah, there was the environmental factor... I found myself setting out a big garbage bag of disposable diapers each week (when the whole household generates only a single small bag of "regular" garbage) and wasn't too comfortable with that.

What really helped in the transition was that I had a mom and a friend who had both CDed, and they succeeded in convincing me that it really WAS do-able. And it is! Okay, you have to get into a rhythm with it, as with so many other things, but then you just don't even think about it. Running a load of diapers in the washer takes only three or four minutes of my time, total. It's been many years since we had to bang them on the rocks at the side of the river! And while we're at it, let's repeat the mantra: "It's baby doodoo! It's not plutonium, for pete's sake!"

CPFs are the cheapest option, but even with the more-expensive fitted diapers like those I use (the MotherEase Sandies), there is still an enormous cost savings, and they'll be practically free (just water and electricity costs) for baby #2. And even then, they usually have some resale value when you're done... which is not generally the case for disposables.

You can remind DH that cloth-diapered babies are generally easier to toilet train, since they can FEEL when they're wet. I find that cloth diapers actually stink LESS than disposables... When I open my diaper pail and it's been a few days since the last laundry, I smell a bit of ammonia from the pee, and little else. When a visiting friend puts a disposable in my garbage can, I can smell it yards away. I don't know what the reason for this is, but that's what I've noticed.

If DH is intimidated by CPFs and Snappis and all that, you may want to invest in some fitteds. My DH took to them right away, in spite of being a pretty squeamish guy, although the deal is still that I take care of scraping the occasional REALLY messy poopy one. It's no big deal, and I overhear him talking to his friends about how easy CDing has been. (My Mom also fell in love with the fitteds, although she occasionally got them on backwards at first - but they still worked fine!)

Hope that helps!

Cheers,

KathyO

[Melanie]

> <<snipped>>
>You can remind DH that cloth-diapered babies are generally
>easier to toilet train, since they can FEEL when they're
>wet. >
<<snipped again>>
>KathyO

That was the deal-breaker for Dh. Then after getting CDs when I was explaining the microfleece thing to him HE ACTUALLY REMEMBERED the potty-training thing and said, "Wait, I thought we wanted him to feel wet so he would potty train sooner?" Of all the times he decided to actually listen!

He does like the smaller load of trash to take to the curb.

Mommy to Jonah