by Francesca Pawlak

Created on: June 25, 2008

Think cloth diapers are still prefolds and plastic pants? Think again! The new generation of cloth diapers has evolved and they offer so many advantages over using disposable diapers. Want to know how I know that? I switched from disposable diapers to cloth diapers for my 19 month old daughter 3 1/2 months ago. If we have a third child, I will certainly cloth diaper from day one and I'll tell you why.

There are many different types of cloth diapers on the market right now. There are still prefolds with covers, pocket diapers are waterproof and have an opening that you can stuff inserts into to customize abosrbancy, there are fitteds with covers, and all-in-ones (AIO) that go on just like a disposable because they have all of the absorbant materials sewn right in.

The first advantage I found, is that it's most cost effective, especially now with the rising gas prices. I purchased 5 All-in-One (AIO) diapers for under $60, I then purchased 10 more of the same diapers from a chat group mom used for $50. This was $110 for 15 diapers. 15 diapers last for a day and a half. I wash every other night. I've purchased other types of diapers and swapped diapers to be able to find ones that work for us the best and have found that most of the different types work great for us. After the initial purchase, the only thing I am paying for is the energy used to wash them. I line dry to help cut costs as well. All in all I am saving approximately $150 monthly by using cloth and not disposable diapers.

The second advantage is that it's earth friendly, or green, and helps reduce my carbon footprint. I'm not dumping all of those disposables into my garbage which end up in landfills taking forever to decompose. I line dry and reduce my energy use. And I am also reducing my footprint since I'm not driving to the store every week or every other week because we ended up using more diapers than expected and ran out.

The third advantage is that my daughter no longer leaks out of her diapers. We tried every disposable brand available in our location and NOT ONE of them could hold her overnight. The special overnight diapers did hold, but are so costly that it was a choice between diapers or groceries. With cloth diapers I am able to customize the absorbancy to meet her needs. I no longer wake up to a sopping wet toddler who needs a bath and all of her bedding washed every morning. This gives me and my daughter more bonding time in the morning when she first wakes up.

The fourth advantage that cloth diapers offer is that many children seem to potty train earlier than disposable wearers. My daughter, at 19 months, does not have bowel movements in her diaper. She refuses to deficate in her diaper and will ask to go "poopy potty". She has consistently had bowel movements on the toilet for nearly 3 weeks. My oldest daughter, who is 3, is still struggling with potty training and is waiting for the arrival of her cloth trainers "big girl panties" to help aid her in mastering the potty.

All in all there are many advantages to cloth diapering, cost effective, environmentally friendly, customizable absorbancy, and possible early potty training. These are some of the many reasons I chose to switch from disposable to cloth diapers. I hope more parents do their research and see the advantages of cloth vs disposable and also make the switch. Happy Diapering Those Cloth Fluffy Bottoms!

Learn more about this author, Francesca Pawlak.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.