Tips for Moving to Cloth Diapers

Author: Kara Piper

To use cloth diapers full-time, you'll need approximately 12-18 diapers a day, with either a built-in waterproof layer or separate covers. Separate covers do not need to be changed unless soiled, so you can get by on about 3 per day. For newborn covers, you may want to have a few extra.

Buy a few Cloth Diapers first

If you're looking to cloth diaper a newborn full-time from Day 1, the best advice is to begin purchasing in advance so that you'll have everything ready. Keep in mind that you don't have to go all or nothing. Start with a small variety before you purchase a larger amount of the ones you like best. Try cloth diapers at home during the day, and expand your usage to nights and outings over time as you gain confidence in your diapers.

If you want to start out using cloth diapers full-time but don't have the funds to buy 2-3 days worth of your favorite style, consider temporarily bulking up your stash with cheaper alternatives and/or washing every day. Remember, every time you use a cloth diaper, you are saving money, saving environmental resources, lessening your child's total chemical exposure, etc.

Helpful Accessories for Cloth Diapers (and ways to get by without if necessary)

--dry pail
Just an empty container to hold used diapers. A lid is optional, if kept out of reach.

--pail liner
Made of the same material as diaper covers, these keep your pail clean and can be washed with the diapers.

--wet bags
Just like a pail liner, but small enough to travel with your wet diapers safely zipped inside. Usually has a decorative outer layer.

--diaper sprayer
This mini-shower hooks to your toilet's water supply line and removes poop from diapers quickly and thoroughly.

--snappi
This little invention holds a diaper in place with little plastic teeth instead of pins. Works great for getting a snug fit with a prefold.

All of the inventions above are well worth it in terms of convenience. However, you can get by using plastic grocery bags to hold your used diapers, using other methods to remove poop (see above), and using a wrap cover to hold your unpinned prefolds in place.

About the Author:

Kara Piper is an attached mother of four children, doula and La Leche League Leader who is passionate about cloth diapering and babywearing. She's also the owner of Mom & Baby Naturally, an online boutique. For more expert advice visit her website at http://www.momandbabynaturally.com/articles.php

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - How to Get Started with Cloth Diapers

Why go the extra step when diapering your baby? Don't parents have enough things to worry about?

Those are two excellent questions. But what if I changed them up a bit and asked them this way:

Would you take an extra step if it were healthier for your baby, the environment and your pocketbook? What if you never had to worry about running out of diapers and needing to make a middle of the night diaper run?

When first introduced to the idea of cloth diapering, I didn't rush right out and buy pins and prefolds. It took months before it wasn't about me and the 'extra work' I imagined. I began to see the benefits cloth diapering had to offer my child. The proverbial 'straw' was seeing those icky gel crystals from disposables on my son's private parts. After that I jumped right into cloth diapering and never looked back.

Further research into those gel crystals revealed that they had a name! Sodium Polyacrylate. Scientific journals reveal that those crystals could cause minor skin irritations and oozing blood from perineum and scrotal tissues (do a Google search and you will even learn that this chemical is also found in Sephora's Lift Fusion face lift product!!!). That is not something you want touching or possible entering your child's body. It's hard enough dealing with a little diaper rash!

If the health argument isn't a strong enough reason to make you run away from disposables maybe their impact on the environment will be.

Have you ever driven by what looked like a mountain only to discover that it is in fact a landfill?

I used to live close to a landfill just outside of Dallas. The landfill was as part of the skyline as skyscrapers are to Downtown Dallas. Next to this dump are some of the nicest shopping malls and brand name stores. When you left the shopping Mall area towards the highway you would see what appears to be a massive, barren mound that looks as if an atomic bomb was dropped on it. Contained in that monstrosity of a hole are BILLIONS of disposable diapers. Scientists aren't even sure if disposable diapers will ever fully breakdown while sitting in the landfill.

Besides the fact that this space to store our waste is encroaching upon our living quarters, there are real human feces floating around by the tons! Even the EPA has something to say about this: 'a significant portion of the disposable diaper waste dumped in American's landfills every year is actually biodegradable human waste preserved forever.' In order for anything to decompose air and water must be present. However, when landfills are constructed they are designed in such a way as to limit these 2 key components.

Therefore, even if you bought 'green' disposables they would still sit unchanged for hundreds of years. On top of that, in 1998, the World Health Organization made it illegal to toss human waste into the trash. This law isn't something you will read on the back of that brand name diaper package. When I was using disposable diapers, I certainly didn't empty out the solids. Why take an extra step?

And of course, finally but certainly not least, is the financial impact diapers have on a family. You have heard it a million times, 'Diapers are expensive!' And they're talking about disposable ones. You never hear a family that is actually 'cloth diapers are expensive'. When comparing the numbers, it's very clear which method is less expensive. Even a coupon-clipping, grocery-gaming mom who can get disposable diapers for free wouldn't come out the winner (or at least not their child).

A quick search on the internet for great diaper deals yields this 'bargain': Huggies 40ct size 3 diapers 4-pack for $61.92. If you change your baby's diaper every 2 hours (as recommended) that pack will last 3 days and 8 hours. A year of these diapers would cost $6780.24 at this price. That is only for one year! Let's say we cut that in half for store brand and you still have $3390.12. You would have one rockin' cloth diaper stash if you spent that much money in one year. Buying conservatively and choosing to be frugal guarantees that cloth diapering will save you money (even when you factor in a little extra for washing).

You will love knowing that if all your diapers are dirty or if you are stranded (as were the survivors of Katrina), you can confidently and creatively diaper your child. You will no longer be dependant upon the diaper industry and a paycheck for diapers.

Cloth diapering is an amazing opportunity to lessen your footprint on this Earth. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that choosing to cloth diaper is the best choice biologically, environmentally, and financially.

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Autumn Beck invites those looking for the latest information on buying, using, washing and making cloth diapers to visit her blog "All About Cloth Diapers" Click Here for The Latest Cloth Diapering Strategies