Disposable Diapers

     This week we have been battling a diaper rash. I thought at first that it was just a heat/ moisture rash, and was able to get it to go away, but then it came back again, which made me wonder if it was contagious (ie. yeast infection) and our diapers were infected. So, I went out and bought a pack of 'sposies so I could treat all of our cloth diapers at once, and also so I could safely put a barrier cream and yeast cream on Laura without worrying about ruining our diapers. Usually I don't bother to buy disposable diapers if she has a rash; I either a) just use coconut oil as a barrier (which almost always works) or b) use flushable liners in our diapers when using a more heavy duty barrier cream like Penaten. But, since I suspected that our diapers may be infected, I decided to just bite the bullet and buy a pack of disposable diapers to use while I was treating our cloth ones. It sucks because all the packages cost upwards of $10, and I only needed enough diapers for maybe one day... about six. So, I guess we'll just have some extra on hand if we randomly need 54 emergency disposable diapers now.
     We started using cloth diapers when Laura was about three months old, and haven't even bought disposables in probably the last 10 months. But whenever we buy them, I am always reminded of how much I prefer using cloth diapers.

     Here is my list of reasons why I love cloth:

• I am not throwing 3 tonnes of non-decomposing, poo-filled plastic in the landfill (per child!)
• Instead of supporting large corporations and paying money for something for our child to poo in and then throw away every week, we were able to support entrepreneurial and Work-At-Home-Moms when we started up. It was a one time cost and we will be able to use them on subsequent children and probably sell them when we're done (or at least donate them), saving us thousands of dollars. If you think about it, buying disposable diapers is akin to buying disposable plates because you don't want to wash reusable ones.
• Although cloth diapers use water and electricity in the washing process, I don't feel nearly as bad about that because wastewater is treated and recycled. The only thing we are "wasting" is electricity to wash them, and not much at that (we didn't even notice an increase in our bill) since we have a high efficiency front-loading machine, and hang dry the diapers as much as possible (and our electricity is hydro, so not even that bad for the environment in the grand scheme of things.)

• I never have to worry about finding those unsettling, chemical-filled, gel beads that inevitably escape from the absorbent layer of disposable diapers on my baby's bum anymore 

• The cloth diapering community has opened my eyes to many other ways we can reduce our ecological footprint. I like feeling like I am doing something to help the environment.

• Laura's pants actually fit when she is wearing cloth diapers

• While I somewhat enjoy the smell of a fresh disposable diaper, it does not counter how horribly bad (like make-me-want-to-retch bad) they smell when they're used.
• Disposable diapers feel weird on my baby's bum... like crinkly tissue paper. Why would you want to sit in that when you could be sitting in a fluffy, fleecy pile of goodness?
• Cloth diapers are just cuter. And let's be honest, it's fun to coordinate diapers to outfits.

      Of course, disposable diapers have their advantages as well, but for our family, cloth is what works. 

Our stash :)