will cloth diapers make him bowlegged?

[kristine_elen]

My husband thinks I'm nuts for worrying about this, but our 5-week-old son is in cloth diapers (diaper service) and we use velcro diaper covers (Rikki and Especially for Baby/BRU brand.) The diaper and cover together are so thick it makes him hold his legs much wider apart than he does in disposables and I'm afraid it might affect how he walks later in life. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[nohomama]

Lola's been in cloth diapers since she was a week old and she's walking fine and her legs appear to be as straight as the next toddler's. My Mom maintains that one of the benefits of the wad of cloth between her legs is that Lola will be motivated to potty train to be rid of it all. I'm doubtful, but who knows...

[KathyO]

My nearly-two-year-old DD has been in cloth from just a few weeks old, and her legs are as straight as anyone's. She's an expert walker, climber, jumper, and (god help me) runner. One of the other babies in our moms' group was born on exactly the same day, and is in disposables, and both started walking the same day, which suggests that it won't have any effect on your son's mobility either.

All babies look bowlegged at first, and the really young babies look dwarfed by cloth diapers, but trust me, he'll grow into them soon enough! Remember, as well, that for hundreds of years up until a couple of decades ago, ALL babies were cloth diapered...

Congrats for taking The Cloth Plunge!

Cheers,

KathyO