Cloth Diapering

Cloth diapers? Yes. Cloth diapers.

You're probably thinking, 'this must be another eco-freak trying to get me to eat organic and dress myself in hemp when we're all going to die anyway.' I assure you, I am not an eco-freak, I just try to live healthy because I don't want to increase my risk for cancer.

We have been cloth diapering for 2 years now, and it has been an incredibly ECONOMICAL as well as healthy way to take care of our diapering needs.

If you haven't heard of them, cloth diapers are an excellent alternative to the chemical filled-huggies-pampers-and other garbage diapers out there. They don't cost a fortune, and you're not putting harmful cancer-causing chemicals on your baby's fresh newborn skin.

I'm not hard on disposables in general, there are better brands of disposables out there (Seventh Generation, Earth's Best, Honest) and they don't cost much more in the long run than the ones full of  hazardous chemicals.

The fact is, most people aren't aware of all of the chemicals in the big name brand disposable diapers out there. Those chemicals come into direct contact with your baby's skin which absorbs the toxins. Most people have no idea how many harmful carcinogenic chemicals are in diapers. It's truly a shame.

Why I would NOT use a chemical filled diaper: I won't go into a lengthy explanation because you probably don't have the time to read it, but here is just ONE of the many chemicals in disposable diapers, do I really need to list the rest when this ONE chemical is so harmful?

DIOXINS: According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), dioxins are among the most toxic chemicals known to science and are listed by the EPA as highly carcinogenic chemicals. According to the World Health Organization, exposure to dioxins may cause skin reactions and altered liver function, as well as impairments to the immune system, nervous system, endocrine system and reproductive functions.

Want to know what other chemicals are in those Huggies and Pampers?

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/111348-chemicals-disposable-diapers/#ixzz2Vw5eijsC

Experience:
From experience, Noah and I can say that the cloth diapers we use (Flips) are truly a wonderful system. We don't worry about any carcinogenic or endocrine system disrupting chemicals on our daughter's skin, AND we save a fortune by not having to buy disposables constantly. We throw the inserts in the wash and reuse the shells unless they get wet or stained, in which case they also go in the wash.

They grow with the baby so you don't need different sizes!! ONE SIZE for the LIFETIME of the baby, and if you have more kids- you can reuse them!! They have snaps so you can just snap them to the next level up when your baby grows.

The best part? They DON'T leak. We have tried lots of different types of reusable diapers (pockets, all in ones, etc), but the Flip is the best we have tried and - they leaked MAYBE two times. Ever. With our first baby. Our second baby- a little different story as her body shape is different. I'll admit they do leak with our second, but they won't have a problem once she starts solids and not the blowout-breastmilk poops.

Oh yeah, and they don't end up in landfills like disposables.

If you don't care very much about chemicals or landfills or anything else, just look at the cost.

Cost Savings
You will spend significantly more money on disposable diapers, then you would using cloth diapers. 
These costs are rough because different sizes of diapers and different size packs (jumbo vs smaller quantities) vary slightly in cost but this will give you a good idea of the fact that buying disposables every month is going to cost a lot more than the one-time cost of investing in cloth diapers.

Costs are assuming baby uses 10 diapers a day, and all approximate.

Disposable brands I would never buy or recommend:
- Huggies from target, 88 pack for $25, $85 a month
- Pampers from target, 148 diapers for $34, $68 a month
- Up and Up target brand, 108 diapers for $20, $60 a month

Better quality disposable brands:
- Honest diapers, $26 for 50 at target, $156 a month.
- Babyganics diapers at 108 diapers for $28, $80 a month.
- Earths Best at 40 diapers for $12, $90 a month.

Cloth Diapers:
Flip reusable diapers: 50$ for a pack of 6 pads and 2 covers. We have 10 covers and 30 pads, and do laundry twice a week. Total cost: 250$ + cost of doing laundry.

There are many cloth diaper options, some prefer all-in-ones, all babies have different shapes and some diapers are better fitted to one body type than another.


So you STILL don't want cloth diapers? 
If nothing else, and you are going to get disposables- consider getting Babyganics, Earths Best or a more skin-friendly brand. The difference in cost between the really toxic disposables and ones with less chemicals isn't that much.