We're pleased to share another post from Ecological Disciple subscriber, writer, and supporter of Circlewood (our parent organization), Abigail Welborn. In her last column, she shared her experience with rooftop solar. Today she talks about cloth diapers.
Once upon a time, cloth diapers were the only option. The advent of effective disposable diapers changed the parenting world, and these options were widely embraced for their convenience and, uh, carrying capacity. However, as our knowledge of the costs of producing and disposing of plastic has grown, “reusable” (cloth) diapers are starting to come back into fashion.
Cloth diapers have come a long way since folding your own diapers and sticking yourself with pins! Modern cloth diapers are cute and easy to use. Like any decision, choosing cloth diapers has trade-offs, but don’t let fear of them dissuade you. I used primarily cloth diapers for my two children, and I want to share with you the good, the bad, and the smelly.
Why would anyone want to go back to cloth?
Cloth diapers sound inconvenient and, to some extent, they are. You have to wash them, obviously. You have to use two layers (a diaper and a cover). They’re a little bulkier than disposable, which have themselves come a long way since plastic and tape. Modern absorbent diapers stay dry on the surface for a long time, so they’re no more likely to cause diaper rash.
So why would we even consider cloth? At first, a friend of ours calculated the total cost of cloth diapers, including the cost of water and electricity to wash them, and found that for more than one child, the total cost is much less (Wirecutter found similar results). We were always planning to have two kids, but if we hadn’t had a second, we could have made up the difference by selling the used ones (or buying used in the first place).
Probably our biggest reason for choosing cloth was our concern for the environment. While the lifetime carbon emissions haven’t been conclusively determined in favor of one or the other (it depends a lot on how you wash and dry the diapers), cloth diapers generate far less waste.
And finally, this wasn’t a factor at the start, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that cloth diapers did a better job of containing “blowouts” (diaper contents escaping out the back of the diaper and up the child’s back).
How we made it work
First, we had a washer and dryer in our house, which made doing laundry a lot easier. If you don’t have in-unit laundry, a diaper service might be your only option, and that might not be available. However, if it is, it’s the best choice of all environmentally and probably for convenience, too.
Second, we used all-cotton diapers. These can be washed in hot water and dried on high, which does use a little more electricity, but also means your diapers will last longer and smell less. Microfiber claims to be more absorbent but develops odor over time. If your cotton diapers do get smelly or stained, drying them in the sun will clean it right up—and in fact, if you have sun available, you can lay them out to dry or hang them on a line every time. We lived in Seattle, so we could only sun-bleach our diapers a few months out of the year, but it absolutely worked.
Third, we bought good equipment. For short outings with baby, I took extra cloth diapers with me and stored the soiled ones in a wet bag - a zippered, waterproof, washable bag, which can be put into your diaper bag or snapped on the outside. They do an excellent job of containing moisture and smell. When I got home, I emptied it into our diaper pail (a lined trash can with a foot-pedal flip lid) and then threw in the bag, too. On wash day, we took the liner to the washer, emptied the diapers into the wash, then the liner.
Once babies start solid food, you’ll want to get the solid waste into the toilet, and that’s a lot easier if you have a sprayer and shield. (Interestingly, I learned you’re also supposed to shake out solid waste from disposable diapers, too!)
Since cloth diapers cost more up front, we asked for them on our baby registries. We also bought them in stages, adding more as the baby grew. Our kids spent longer in the larger sizes, so we ended up buying more of those.
I also feel obliged to mention that we had help. About a year or so after our first baby was born, we switched from daycare to having a nanny come to us, and she washed the diapers after that. As a counterpoint, my sister did all her own laundry (in the basement of her building, no less!) and still liked cloth.
Conclusion
We weren’t puritanical about disposable. Throwing away is indisputably more convenient. We used disposable for the first week, until the baby was having, uh, normal bowel movements. If we were traveling for more than a day, we used disposable at least on the travel days. In places where trash is responsibly managed, it’s not the end of the world to throw away a few diapers.
But expecting parents shouldn’t be afraid of cloth. Diapers have come a long way and they can be great options for budget- and/or eco-conscious parents who have convenient laundry.
Abigail Welborn