Cloth Diapering Top Fives

There is so much cloth diapering information out there that I thought I could break it down into a couple top five lists.

Five Myths About Cloth Diapering

1. It will make your baby bow legged. What? Definitely No
2. You can only cloth diaper at home, not out and about. Have a wet bag in your purse or diaper bag then when baby needs a change put the diaper and everything else in it. Then you can deal with it when you get home. Plus my diapers are so cute there is no way I'm not going to show them off! 
3. Cloth diapers are so messy. They are no more messy than disposables. And way less messy than potty training. lol
4. You have to be careful not stab the baby with the safety pin. The safety pin and prefold cloth diaper is not used very much anymore. Now you can use a snappi. There is also all-in-ones and pockets. They've come along way.
5. You'll spend all your time doing laundry. One load every two days isn't so bad. I really don't feel like I'm washing all the time.

Five Questions I get about Cloth Diapering

1. What do you do with the poop? I flush it down the toilet. Typically one shake and it falls right off. No biggie.
2. How many do I have to buy? For an older baby (6 months+) you need about 14. 7 each day and you do laundry every other day. There are lots of bundle options out there.You can find good deals on Glow Bug and Thirsties. Now are you going to stop at 14 most likely no way. Cloth diapers are so addictive. I always need one more! haha
3. Is it harder than disposables? Nope, one extra step when you changing and then the extra load of laundry.
4. Can hubby do it too? Of course! Hector said he prefers cloth diapers.
5. Does it stink? Not while you're changing but on day two if you open the diaper pail and put your face over it and smell...yea it stinks! lol Don't do that and you won't smell a thing. lol

Five Things To know About Cloth Diapering

1. You cannot use regular butt creams. Vaseline based creams will clog your fibers and then the diaper won't absorb the liquid. 
2. There are different kinds of cloth diapers and all have pros and cons that just depend on your preference. (all-in-one, pocket, hybrid, prefold, flat... more detail to come)
3. Hook and Loop means Velcro.
4. You cannot use regular detergent. You have to use one with no additives or dyes or perfumes.  The chemicals will clog your fibers and not absorb the liquid. It's really not a big deal anymore because Target carries plenty of choices like Seventh Generation. I've even heard Kirkland has a brand that is safe. Also no softener for the same reason.
5. You do have to change the baby more often than disposables. About every two hours.

Five (well six) Reasons to Cloth Diaper

1. You save a grip of money. One time I put in my information to a cloth diaper calculator and factoring in how I line dry and even with early potty training I will have saved over a 1,000 dollars. Wow!
2. You don't put all those nasty chemicals on your baby's bottom. I was changing Matt and his diaper had exploded (again) and there was these gel like beads all over him. That's when I made just made the change to cloth. 
3. No more diaper explosions. Poop running up your baby's back is one of the grosses things to clean. I have never had a leak or explosion.
4. So much better for the environment. Like no joke better for the environment. Disposables take between 200-500 years to break down. Plus all that untreated waste going into our soil. I'd like to have some usable space left on this planet for my children. 
5. Piece of mind. When I had Nic in disposables I was always worried we'd run out. It was irrational we never got close but how horrible would that be?! I've even heard horror stories about people reusing disposables or letting baby go for long times in them to save on money. Now if I start running low on clean diapes I just do laundry. One less mom thing to worry about.
6. They are so cute!!! There are so many prints and colors I never want to put pants on my little guy. It's summer now and you can believe he won't be wearing anything but his cloth diaper!!!