Why We Chose Cloth Diapering

Little joeys are made specifically for preemies and tiny newborns, channing is only 4 pounds in this photograph ( PICU, CHOA ).


While CD cloth diapering may have been the norm prior to Johnson & Johnson's disposable diaper marketing campaign in 1948, it's practically unheard of in my circle of friends. Because my mother chose to cloth diaper my younger sister Avery, I was exposed to the how-to's at an early age; in fact, I remember my mom tossing Avery's diapers into the washing machine when she was little bitty and her reminders to discard diaper waste in the toilet prior to putting them in the hamper.  How could something as simple as tossing cloth nappies in the wash become such an enigma - mass-marketing is a powerful thing.

Between 1948 and 1970 disposable diaper usage amounted to 350,000 tons and made up .3% of municipal waste, and by 1980, American babies had worn 1.93 million disposables accounting for 1.4% of the nations municipal waste. Despite all the diaper pails specifically designed to keep the dirty diaper stench at bay, proper diaper-disposing etiquette, even when using disposable diapers, recommends dumping waste into the toilet before tossing diapers.

From Pampers Website:

  • As the Pampers bag recommends, you'll want to dump bowel movements in the toilet. Then just roll the diaper into its backsheet, using the tape or fasteners to keep it closed, and dispose of it in the trash. http://www.pampers.com/en_US/changing-diapers#one

No one, and I mean no one, I know who uses disposable diapers does this.  Human waste is actually biodegradable; however, disposable diapers are not.  Consider that our landfills now contain biodegradable human waste preserved forever.

If I haven't made a good argument and you're still on the fence about cloth diapering, perhaps an extra $2,500 in your pocket will help you decide. Assuming you potty train your little one at 18 months, you'll have spent a minimum of $3,000 on disposable diapers. Even if you were to buy quality newborn and one-size cloth diapers, $500 would be more than enough to create your stash.  Because Channing was born weighing 3 pounds, we have a larger newborn stash than most. Unless you have a really small newborn (less than 6 pounds), you can probably get away with skipping newborn size CD's and jump straight to one-size.

Our family is committed to reducing our carbon footprint one step at a time.  Stay tuned: next week I'll be sharing a new post, Cloth Diapers Worth Buying.



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Carly Grace Milyo




