Jack goes green

Jack is doing cloth diapers now (well at least most of the day - we still use disposables when we go out). Relax. I have not turned into a tree hugging green party liberal hippie. I am just a stay at home mom trying to stretch pennies with the best of them. I decided, after talking with my friends Courtney (who has been cloth diapering for about a year) and Christine (who has done it exclusively since Luke was born) that cloth diapers were an option for me. I understand that cloth diapers are not an option for everyone, and this is by no means an attempt to make other mom's feel bad for using disposable or a plea to make them switch. For the record, I don't think disposable diapers are bad thing, the end of the world, or the Anti-Christ.

Now, I can hear the naysayers from here so just hear me out.

1. The poop issue: Here is a warning to any future parent, from the moment of your child's birth until about 4 or 5 years old (yes 5 just ask my mom who is a kinder teacher how many "mistakes" happen in her classroom) you will be up to your elbows in your child's poop - cloth diaper or not. That being said I consider the issue void and will not go into more details so I don't gross the non parents out.

2. The environmental issue (energy and water vs disposable): It is said that to launder and maintain cloth diapers takes approximately the same amount of energy and water as 4 to 5 flushes a day, the same as a potty trained kid. And when we start wearing disposable clothes, come talk to me. There are also no transportation or packaging costs (outside of the original shipment) for cloth diapers which negates the energy issue. Finally, these will not end up in a landfill after 1 use and when they do bite the dust, they will biodegrade in this century.

3. The cost factor: Each diaper (Pampers Baby Dry) cost between 0.20-0.25 per diaper depending on what kind of sale you can get. Each one of Jack's Bum Genius 3.0 diapers were $17.95. We use about 6 diapers a day, so the cost of 1 Bum Genius is equal to about 3 weeks of disposable diapers. His cloth diapers are adjustable and fit 7 to 35 lbs so can be used thru potty training - at least 1 to 1.5 years from now. Even if there are extra energy costs, we will come out ahead.

4. The extra time: It is really not that much extra work. I dump the dirties in a pail and throw them in the wash at night. Thanks to my handy dandy High Efficiency washing machine, I program it to wash them (Cold rinse, hot wash, hot rinse) and then dry for about 15 minutes or line dry. Just about as much extra work as buying diapers, bringing them into the house, unloading them, and then disposing of them...not that much.

5. Finally, the cute issue: I believe pictures can do the job best here. NOTHING is cuter than a baby wearing only a cloth diaper on a hot day!

Now, these are not the cloth diapers our grandma used. These are sooo much easier. I chose Bum Genius 3.0 because they had Velcro tabs like a disposable, were adjustable up to 35 lbs, had high ratings, and I got a great deal on them. Courtney uses Fuzzy Buns and Christine uses Happy Hineys which are both really good and come in these really cute prints.

Hopefully you all don't think I am crazy now. Maybe I am? If so, I'll be the first to admit it if this goes bad ;) I'll keep you posted!