Cloth Diapering Four Years Later

by Nessie on December 6th, 2011

I started cloth diapering around this time four years ago. I never imagined my cloth diapering adventure would be as interesting as it has been. I went from not wanting to use cloth diapers, to buying them, and then making them for my little ones and for other babies.

Northern Baby Cloth Diapers

Recently, I’ve been asked what I love and hate about cloth diapering four years later. Here is what I came up with.

The things I like/love about cloth diapers:

Overall, I still believe they’re healthier for a baby, and better for the environment.
They’re (usually) more comfortable than disposables.
I can’t imagine sitting in paper and plastic pants 24/7. Cloth is much nicer to sit on :)
They’re cute.
The selection is amazing.
They’re breathable (at least the ones I use are).
They don’t normally stink like disposable diapers do when wet.
If your cloth diapers smell really bad right after a pee then you probably have a residue problem.

The things I dislike/hate about cloth diapers:

I still don’t love snaps, velcro, pins or the snappi.
Basically, I don’t like any cloth diaper fasteners that I’ve used so far. This is partly why I prefer to use snug-fitting pull-up wool trainers with a special insert most of the time.
Getting the poop off the diaper is not something I like, so I’m adding it to this list.
This is a slight dislike though because you do get used to it. Since I’ve figured out how to use my diaper sprayer so that it doesn’t shoot poop onto the bathroom floor or wall, I haven’t found it a problem. We’re supposed to be flushing the poop that’s in disposable diapers before throwing them in the garbage anyways, so we all have to deal with the poop, whether the diapers are re-usable or disposable.
Cloth diapering at night can be a pain.
If you have a heavy wetter or a child who is very sensitive to wetness, then it’s not fun trying to find a night-time cloth diapering system that works for your family.

Most people who do not cloth diaper would probably wonder why I didn’t include diaper laundry on the “dislike” list. Well, I didn’t include it because I don’t hate it. Every couple of days, I take a few minutes to put the diapers in the washer, do other things while they wash, and put them in the dryer once the wash is done. I don’t consider that a lot of work.

Four years later, I must admit I still get a little excited at hearing news of a new cloth diaper coming out. I do use disposables (corn-based ones) at night and sometimes when going out. The main reason why I use disposables at night is that my son wakes up frequently and is sensitive to wetness. Because he’s so sensitive, I have to change him every time he wakes up wet when in a cloth diaper. When I change him he screams almost at the top of his lungs which stresses me out. I don’t want everyone in the house to be woken up by that. So, to keep me sane and to keep him and the rest of the family happy, I’m using Nature Babycare disposable diapers at night. I might try cloth diapering at night again in a few weeks, but the last experiment a few nights ago was a big FAIL.

Have you been cloth diapering for a few years? Do you still love it years later?