Recently I made, what I believe, is a responsible choice to try out cloth diapering. I’ve been wanting to cloth diaper even while I was still pregnant, but the thought of doing laundry, and, all this information are.. overwhelming. Flats? prefolds? Pockets, AIO, AI2. (WHAT?) Then, there are inserts, hemp, microfiber, bamboo, stay dri, natural, organic.. ARGH!!!

The first switch I made was switching to cloth nursing pads. Previously I was using disposables nursing pads and they are so expensive! It’s about RM30/week. So, my husband suggested the washable ones and I cringed everytime he suggested it, thinking about the extra laundry + overwhelming new baby. Then, I found a good deal, 8 pairs for RM32, I didn’t think twice and grabbed them. It turned out to be extremely comfortable (no wonder I was so cranky before, my breasts were uncomfortable! haha) and the laundry wasn’t that much at all!

Now, fast foward. When Sara was barely 5 months, I got brave and bought some pocket CDs (that’s cloth diapers) from Teddy Genius. Since they were on clearence, no harm.

My logic: I can do washable nursing pads. That means I can do CD, too.

I initially got three. And now I’ve increased my stash to, to, well, a few of various brands. Now, I’ve been CD-ing (let’s keep up with the lingo, folks!) for a month and I have to say that it’s a wonderful experience, I enjoy it and I’m definitely ready to CD full time.

There are four reasons why I PERSONALLY  love cloth diapering; cost efficient, environment, comfort and health.

1. ENVIRONMENT

I am, by no means a hardcore green person. I do try when I can, to recycle. (I don’t know if Malaysia has pickup services for recyclables). However, the amount of disposables we’re throwing away is crazy! During Sara’s first 3 months of life, we have thrown away about 1000 disposable diapers into the landfill. That is an awful lot of diapers, it’s INSANE! Now, imagine that average babies are on diapers for 2.5 to 3 years. That’s almost 8,000 diapers for just ONE baby!

To give you the visual, it’s probably equivalent to a full rack at the store.

According to Real Diaper Association, it takes approximately 250-300 years for a diaper to decompose! Whoaaaa

When you think about the mountains of landfill, it’s kinda irresponsible of us humans to do that to our own environment for the sake of “convenience” of taking care of our offsprings. Don’t you think? There are people who genuinely believe human shouldn’t procreate for environment’s sake.

Sure, disposables come in handy during overseas trip and such, but on day-to-day basis, it makes sense to use cloth. Here’s some light on our landfill situation. Now that my perspective has changed, I will consider switching to cloth pads too, once I get my period back. 

2. Cost Efficient

Now that you’ve gaged just how much a baby uses diapers. Let’s crunch some numbers. Assuming all diapers cost RM0.40,

0-3 months: 12pcs  a day  =   1008pcs x RM0.40 = RM403

3-24months: 8pcs a day = 4704pcs x RM.40 = RM  1881

24 – 36 months: 6pcs a day = 2190pcs x RM0.4 = RM 876

A staggering total of about RM3160!

How  much a cloth diapers would cost? They are not cheap, but they are affordable. And the overall cost would be around RM300-RM800 depending on how addicted you are. (LOL) With cloth diapers, you really get what you pay for. A high quality one would last longer and perform better, so it’s matter of budget and preference.

PLUS: Cloth diaper retains its value. If you take care of them, you can resell them, especially the premium brands -or donate them! Also, the cloth diaper’s use extend beyond baby’s use. The microfiber inserts make really good cloth wipes/ mop!

3. Comfort

Now, imagine. Babies wear diapers for 3 years. THREE  YEARS. Let me ask this, would  you wear menstrual pads every day, for THREE YEARS ALL THE TIME? I don’t think so. Even I have to take a break from disposable panty liners from time to time. Speaking of which, I should switch to cloth panty liners too.

When I see it that way, it totally changed my perspective. No more disposables for Sara. Let me add the hashtag #makeclothdiapermainstream here.

4. Health

I was never really conscious about the chemicals present in disposable diapers. I know that the super absorbent disposables are not magic. You can theoritically just change your baby twice a day (disposables can hold THAT much liquid), but that’s obviously gross.

The truth is, there are so many chemicals involved in the making of disposables. There are reported cases of diaper burns where the gel broke and cause chemical burns on baby’s skin (which look a lot like heat burn!). Although, it is rare, but why would I want to expose Sara to such risk?

I noticed that sometimes during diaper change, I saw some tiny little gels on her butt, and I always thought that it was the diaper cream changing shape or something. Then, I was mortified to realize that those are gels escaping from the diapers!! (It happens a lot with Drypers and a lot less with Diapex) It’s no wonder Sara always get redness on her bum. Perhaps we should’ve gotten her more premium diapers.  or perhaps we should just do cloth and eliminate the risks altogether.

A bit of info here

5. Babies on CD potty train up to a year earlier

That.

6. They are so cute!

I’m not afraid to admit that I love CD-ing because they come in cute fabrics. I mean, just look at that fluffy butt! hihi

Honestly, I never knew I’d be such a fan of natural parenting. Cloth diapering, babywearing, breastfeeding, co-sleeping. It makes sense and it’s actually more convenient. I always thought we can just train a baby to fit in so that we have to change as little as possible. The fact is, we have to work everything around Sara now, and that makes her a happy baby. Happy baby = happy parents = more sleep. Yeay!