Cloth Diapers

One of the biggest challenges for a family with an un-potty trained child to go waste free is disposable diapers.  Luckily we use cloth diapers most of the time (except at night and when travelling) which means that it should be easy to ditch the disposables.

Elianna helping wash the diapers

It doesn't take a waste free challenge to use cloth diapers - they just make sense.  There are plenty of resources for cloth diapering.  There is a Facebook group for parents in the Kamloops community and if you are a parent (or soon to be) considering cloth diapers, I highly recommend paying a visit to Jen at Lizzie Bits downtown. She has lots of cloth diaper products and accessories and she even hosts a Diapering 101 seminar that gets you a $25 gift-certificate towards the purchase of $100 or more on cloth diapers.

If you are new to cloth diapering, it is worth doing some research before you buy your diapers.  I am a big fan of bamboo cloth and that influenced my decision to buy a dozen Bamboo Baby diapers, which I hate because the velcro has sharp edges that rub and doesn't stick very well, and while I love the fact that they are made of natural fibres, that means that they hold moisture.  Thankfully we also bought a dozen bum genius (highly recommend) that have synthetic outer layers and cotton liners which means that the moisture is held in the inner liner.

A few other tips for cloth diapering:

• Buy a sprayer nozzle that attaches to the toilet to rinse off the poopy diapers.
• Put a basket of cloth wipes in the bathroom cupboard (if there is room) and just wet them as needed.
• Put a few (damp) cloth wipes in a yogurt container in the diaper bag when you go out. Don't put too many in and don't leave them wet in the container for too long or they get mouldy.
• Get a big pail (like the ones at Scoopz Ice Cream) to put the used diapers until wash time (I put it under the sink in the bathroom for convenience).
• Rinse poopy diapers right away or as soon as possible to avoid drying onto the diaper.  If poo does dry onto the diaper, rinse as best as possible and do a pre-rinse cycle in the wash.

Here are some reasons to ditch disposables and go green!

1. Fashion:  Cloth diapers come in lots of colours and patterns that make your baby look even more adorable (if that is possible). I got some really cute plush animal print cloth diapers that we use when we go out and I get so many comments as looks of astonishment when I say that they are diapers.
2. Blow-outs: Cloth diapers are better designed to contain the runny baby excrement better than disposables.  
3. Save money!!! Cloth diapers cost between $15 - $25. I recommend at least 25 diapers which means an initial investment of $375 - $500.  Compare that to the average cost of a disposable diaper $.10 - $.25 times 6-10 diapers per day for about 2 years = $500 - $1800.  If you have more than one child then the savings really compound if you use cloth.
4. Save the environment: I have been doing some unrelated research and came across a study performed by the Capital Regional District in 2009/2010. This study found that diapers were about 3.28% of the waste going into the Hartland landfill, which equates to 5027 tonnes of diapers in 2009 in Victoria BC! I have also read on various websites that the average disposable diaper takes between 300 - 500 years to decompose and the average baby produces about one tonne of diapers.