Natural: Judah – A Boy of the Cloth

December 30, 2009

Recently I began cloth diapering Judah. As a mom who is new to cloth diapering, it has been an adventure. For my first children I used disposables, but decided to switch to cloth with Judah for many reasons. First, cloth diapering is budget friendly. Using disposable wipes/diapers and diaper rash cream would cost me between $2,000-$2,500 by the time I potty trained Judah at 2 1/2 years. If it took him longer to potty train, it would cost more. My cloth diapers and detergent will cost me about $400-$500 total for the same amount of time. My water and electric bill increase is negligible compared to the amount I would spend on disposables. Second, my kids have sensitive skin. With disposables I have to use diaper rash cream with every diaper to keep the rash under control. With cloth, Judah hasn’t had a rash since the very first day I started using them and I haven’t use rash cream since changing. And third, of course, it is better for the environment. The idea that I won’t be adding more diapers to an enormous pile of trash is nice. Leaves the world in a slightly better state for future generations.

All of that being said, changing to cloth diapering has been a change in my thought processes and habits. Also, the first few weeks were full of leaks and frustration. However, the diapers weren’t to blame. My ignorance was. Now that I have figured out the perfect fit for Judah, I rarely have leaks. With cloth, you do have to change the diapers more often and have to wash them every 2-3 days with all natural detergent. It is less convenient than using disposables, but in so many ways much better.

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