The greener side of diapers: cloth.

I used cloth diapers with all three of my children, using exclusively cloth for about two years overall, and on two kids at once for at least 1 of those years, all while working full-time.

After a great deal of research, I chose FuzziBunz One-size Pocket Diapers (here at b lime) to meet our diapering needs.

I was turned on to the ‘new’ cloth diapers when my oldest daughter was around 14 months. I read blogs, perused online stores, and finally concluded that I could make it work for us. The eco-friendliness, the cost savings, all this appealed to me greatly, but my biggest push toward cloth was alleviating the constant fear of running out of diapers.

I had calculated carefully the amount of diapers we would need if I could only wash them twice a week. I searched high and low for the best prices. I researched the best, easiest to use, easiest to clean, and most cost-effective types of diapers.

And then I bought 30 pocket diapers.

They fit my daughter perfectly. They were easy to use. My mom (also my daycare provider) could use them, though the snaps weren’t her favorite. I immediately installed a diaper sprayer (kind of like a shower for the toilet, for spraying off soiled diapers) in both of our bathrooms. They looked adorable under dresses. I got a routine going, washing on Wednesdays and Sundays, air drying outside or on lines strung across our basement.

About six months into our cloth diapering experience, my son was born. And after two weeks of disposables, it was time to put these One-Size diapers to the test: a newborn AND a toddler. We set certain colors aside for each kid. We purchased about 20 more diapers. We pulled the elastic legs tight and hoped for the best.

It worked! These amazing one sizers could fit either kid as needed!

They looked a little funnier on my son, with his boy-pants and extra diaper he had quite the puffy rear end. But they continued to be easy to use, not a ton of extra work – and the best part, we never ran out!

We continued to love our cloth experience through potty-training my daughter, right through the birth of our second daughter.

Unfortunately, soon after that our love affair with cloth came to a close: we moved into the city, into a tiny apartment with a shared laundry.  I tried, I tried and tried to reestablish a laundry routine that would work, but found it impossible without tying up the washing machine for almost the entire week straight. Not only did we have 50 or so cloth diapers to pre-rinse, wash, rinse and rinse again twice a week, we also had laundry for a family of 5! I sold off our used diapers in sets of six or so after three months in our new digs.

In my estimation, our shortish encounter with cloth left us with over $1000 in savings on diaper costs over using disposables, and immeasurable impact on the earth.

Check out our other blog articles on greener family life and check our greener local businesses to help you along the way!

6/1/15