Cloth Diapering Is Gross!

Is Cloth Diapering Gross?

The first time I ever encountered a fellow mom who cloth diapered, my first child was 6 months old. Having experienced my share of diaper blow outs, I couldn't fathom why anyone would want to deal with cotton prefolds, diaper pins and plastic pants. Clothing, in my mind, was too much effort and not nearly enough containment, which to me was just plain gross. Thus, my first daughter remained in her disposable diapers, until she was two, when we switched to the even more expensive pull-ups. When she was potty trained during the day, we still used pull-ups at night until she was at least 3-years old. Looking back, I probably easily spent between $2,000-$3,000 dollars on diapers and wipes, even more if you figure the gas I used driving to the store on emergency diaper runs.

When my second child was born, I was forced to take a closer look at our diapering method. Our family was struck by the sluggish economy like many other hardworking Americans. My husband's company was going bankrupt, and as low man on the totem pole, he was facing a layoff. Thankfully another job opportunity opened up for him, but it was on the other side of the country, and I had to leave my family (built in daycare) and my job behind. We were a two-income family, forced to survive on a single income until I was able to go back to work. Cloth diapers were just one of the many ways I was hoping to save money. I learned that on average diapers cost $0.28 each, and most Americans spend close to $3,000 on diapering by the time their child is fully potty trained. $3,000 is a lot of money to just throw away! Cloth, on the other hand, range from $300-$1300, depending on if you want simple or the Mercedes-Benz of cloth diapers. The more I learned about clothing, the more I was convinced that this was something I could do. All in all, I spent a total of $300 on my diapers, and have bought detergent twice since I began cloth diapering almost 15 months ago. I've been pleasantly surprised by how much money I'm saving and how simple and hygienic it can be. Allow me to elaborate:

Cloth Diapering Has Evolved Over The Years

The leaky plastic pants and diaper pins, they are all gone now! You can still go the route of prefolds and diaper covers if you so choose, but the diaper pins have been replaced by a handy rubber fastener called a snappy, and the plastic pants, now have improved leg gussets and Velcro/snap closures making leaks a lot less likely. Also, there are so many different kinds of absorbent baby diaper inserts that you can hand tailor your diapers to your infant. For instance, if your baby is a soaker, you can add hemp or bamboo to your diapers to increase absorbency. I personally elected to go with the Bum Genius 4.0 pocket diaper with snap closures. I liked it for the following 5 reasons:

1. It is extremely durable, I can pass these diapers on to subsequent children

2. It accommodates babies from 7-35 pounds using a 3x3 snap down that allows you to adjust the diaper to fit your child, meaning this is the only diaper you will ever need.

3. They are easy to wash and care for

4. They are extremely absorbant

5. Pocket diapers have the appearance of a disposable baby diaper, so for someone who is not accustomed to cloth diapers they are very easy to fasten and put on baby.

How Do You Deal With Dunking Cloth Diapers?

Honestly, In almost 15 months of cloth diapering, I have only had to rinse off my diapers 2-3 times ever. Breast milk poop is completely water soluble. Thus, when baby has messy diaper, take the entire diaper, pull the insert out and put it directly in the diaper pail, no dunking. When my daughter started solids, most of the time I could just tip the diaper contents directly to the toilet. If the thought of dunking a nasty diaper grosses you out, you can always purchase a diaper sprayer from Amazon. The sprayer connects directly to your toilet and makes it even simpler to clean off solids. I had horrifying thoughts of doing this, but when it came down to it, it really wasn't that gross, and it sure beat scrubbing baby poop out of a cute outfit that a disposable diaper was unable to contain!

How Do I Wash My Diapers?

Bum Genius has some particular detergents that they recommend. My particular favorite is Rockin Green Bare Naked Baby detergent. It's amazing. I have no stains on my diapers, no lingering odor. They smell great. I simply:

1. Cold wash

2. Hot wash with 2 TBSP of Rockin Green detergent

3. Rinse-Rinse

Dry the inserts, hang the covers. It's easy to do, and even with the extra laundry cycles each week you'll see major savings.

Thus, I, the cloth diaper skeptic has become a major cloth supporter. I no longer fear the unknown, and since converting to cloth, I have never had an up the back uncontained diaper blow out, I have never had poop staining on my clothes, my overall diapering situation and satisfaction has improved. I would definitely encourage anyone to try cloth diapering. If I can do it... you definitely can do it, take it from a busy working mother of two small girls.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy reading:

Cloth Diapering To Save

My name is Jennifer Zielinski, I am an RN specializing wound care and a hardworking mother of two young children. The RN side of me appreciates the fact that with cloth diapers we have seen fewer instances of diaper rash and skin irritation, and early recognition of bladder control and potty-training. Cloth diapering has been an amazing diapering system for our busy family. If you are interested in saving money, preserving the environment, and on leading your young child into early potty training, take the time to learn more about cloth diapering today. To check out more information on cloth diapering, please visit my website:

[http://www.levelonenetwork.com/bloggingqueen/cloth-diapering/]

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Use Cloth Diapers During Potty Training

There are many advantages for using cloth diapers that go far beyond the health of your baby's skin. First and foremost, cloth diapers are less abrasive against your baby's soft, sensitive skin which causes fewer rashes than disposable diapers. Cloth is more economical because you wash and reuse the diapers instead of throwing them away after one use like how disposable ones are designed. Diapers can be very expensive if you have to keep buying them, and cloth is a onetime investment that gets multiple uses. They are also better for the environment because disposable diapers are often times not biodegradable and cloth isn't meant to be thrown away.


The best advantage that most parents have experienced with the use of cloth diapers is that their babies potty train earlier than most kids that wear disposable ones. On average, babies that wear cloth potty train up to six months earlier than expected which have been proven in studies about potty training. If you talk to parents that use cloth, they will likely tell you that their babies were potty trained before they were two years old. Cloth diapers also make potty training easier in addition to happening faster. Disposable diapers are too absorbent and babies can't feel when they are wet. You may think this is an advantage because it's more comfortable for your baby, but that can become a problem during potty training. It is thought that babies want to potty train earlier because they don't like the wet feeling from cloth. Also, your baby will know when to go to the bathroom because they can feel when the diaper is wet.


It is common for babies to have a lot of accidents during potty training. It is a new feeling that they have to learn to understand when they need to go to the bathroom. Another advantage of using cloth during potty training is that you'll save a lot of money. Instead of having to buy a lot of disposable diapers after each accident, you can just wash the cloth ones and reuse them. Cloth diapers have come a long way and can be bought with Velcro attaching or even fitted for your baby. More parents are switching to cloth because of this convenient feature and they don't have to use pins to secure the diaper. Because of the newer features of cloth diapers that are fitted, it makes them easy to use during potty training. They act just like a pull up but have more advantages.


Cloth diapers should be used during potty training, and before as well, because of the advantages they offer to both the parents and babies. They are convenient, more economical, better for your babies' skin, better for the environment, and most important they will make your baby potty train earlier and easier. 


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