Many people hear the words "cloth diapers" and they envision their mothers' and grandmothers' descriptions: folding a huge piece of fabric, fastening it with pins (don't prick the baby!), covering the diaper with bulky rubber pants that crack and yellow with wear, and soaking the dirty diapers in huge pails of bleach-water (what a mess!). Well, erase all those images and thoughts from your mind, because modern cloth diapering has come a long way!
Today there are many wonderful cloth diapers on the market. They have been designed with modern, busy moms in mind, and make it easy for EVERYONE to use cloth diapers, (not just the hippies)!
We have come to a point as a society where we need to figure out ways to reduce our garbage and cut back on spending. It is estimated that a household that uses cloth diapers reduces their amount of garbage by 1 TONNE per baby, compared to a household that uses disposable diapers.
I like to compare diapers to dishes:
Disposable dishes are convenient for use at parties, but we don't use them on a daily basis in our homes. Washing dishes takes a lot of time and energy, but we do it every day. The disposable dishes are the exception. Likewise, disposable diapers can also be the exception. They can be used occasionally for convenience, but they are a very wasteful product to use on a daily basis. And doing a couple extra loads of laundry per week isn't a big deal!
Even if you don't care about all the garbage that disposables produce, consider this: It is estimated that a family that uses cloth diapers saves about $2000 compared to a family that uses disposable diapers. Imagine what you could do with all that extra money!
Cloth diapering has made a huge comeback in recent years and the trend continues to rise. If you are unsure about cloth diapering, I encourage you to at least take a look at the products that are out there. Once you see how cute, colourful, and easy to use they are, you might feel less intimidated!
Let's make cloth diapering become the norm again, not the exception!