Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you buy through my link, I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosure page here.

When Andrew and I decided to cloth diaper, we got a lot of push back. Don’t get me wrong, it was all well-meaning. People were concerned we didn’t think it through and they wanted to make sure we understood our decision, especially because cloth diapers are a big up-front cost. But we found that a lot of their concerns were unfounded. Andrew especially considers himself totally on the cloth diaper side, despite being on the fence before Mac was born. (Make sure you also check out cloth diapering 101 and my minimalist’s guide to cloth diaper accessories.)

Our main, everyday diapers are Grovia Hybrid. We like the 2 in 1 diapers because we don’t have to change the shell as often. You just have to change out the pad. This was especially nice during the newborn stage. At night we use pocket diapers. A lot of them we bought second-hand, but my favorite to buy are bumGenius. Not only are the bumGenius diapers adorable, but we have really put them through a lot and they still are looking great! There are so many great companies, but these are two that we have used extensively and love.

I will also put in a plug here for using a diaper service. If you are not sure about the laundry part of cloth diapering, look into diaper services. They are usually pretty fairly priced and you get the best of both worlds: cloth diapers and a few less loads of laundry a week!

So here’s the deal, I change disposable diapers all day long at work, so I have plenty of experience with them. Full disclosure, we also used disposables with Mac for the first few weeks until her umbilical cord stump fell off. Someone had given us a box of newborn diapers, so we didn’t have to buy any. But you can purchase cloth newborn diapers, which I am considering the next time a baby enters our lives. Either way, I have experience with both kinds of diapers and after everything, I recommend cloth diapers. Here are 5 reasons why:

Less Expensive in the Long Run

Raising a baby is expensive. Even if you only buy the bare minimum a baby needs, it can be costly. And cloth diapers may seem pretty expensive up front. $15+ for only one diaper? That seems outrageous. But after dropping the initial cash, the only thing there is to buy for diapering is wipes. One way we cut the initial cost of cloth diapering was putting cloth diapers on our baby registry, and not much else. We only had to purchase a few diapers ourselves.

Baby-Friendly

Cloth diapering is much easier on a baby’s sensitive skin. Today’s disposable diapers are filled with chemicals meant to make them more absorbent. But do you really want your precious baby sitting in a wet diaper for 12 hours? Because that is what disposable diapers are technically made to do. I have seen some bad diaper rash on babies using disposable diapers. It can be incredibly painful and can lead to difficulty with diaper changes and toileting because they have bad associations with it due to the pain.

Environmentally-Friendly

Cloth diapers have been proven to be so much better for the environment. Did you know it is estimated to take 250-500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose? Our world is filling up with so much garbage and I want to do my part to help save and maintain Earth for Mac when she grows up. One thing I can do is cloth diaper her. Most people will point to the fact that you have to use water to wash them, but the water used is negligible.

Here is another small tip for all of you disposable diaper parents: dump the bms in the toilet before you throw away the diaper. That will at least take care of the human waste aspect once the diaper hits the landfill.

Containment

Warning! We are going to talk about poop in this one! Every parent seems to have story after story about blowouts. Epic tales of poop everywhere caused by faulty diapers. You know how many we have had? One and it wasn’t even caused by the diaper, it was user error. (Meaning a middle of the night diaper change where it was not adequately tightened due to fatigue.) And even then, it was only a few small smears that escaped. Now contrast that with a child I had at school whose disposable diaper only seemed to funnel poop up her back.

Disposable diapers are made to fit kids in general. There are only a few sizes and you can’t customize the fit. Sure, they have some elastic in the leg hole and around the waist, but it doesn’t seem to do much. Cloth diapers are incredibly adjustable. Not only do they have snaps or velcro to adjust the waist, they also typically have snaps in the front to adjust how high they rise in the waist. The elastic around the legs is tight enough to fit tightly but comfortably around the leg.

I found both the bumGenius and Grovia diapers to contain waste really well, which is why I will keep on using them and recommend them to others.

A Jump Start to Using the Toilet

Children in cloth diapers tend to make the transition into underwear earlier than children in disposables. Why? Because cloth diapers give them the same feedback as underwear. When they wet in a cloth diaper, it stays wet. They can feel the wetness and will make the connection to their bodily function a lot sooner. Like I said before, disposables are made to be absorbent. Instead of letting children learn from their body functions, they take the liquid away.

Ultimately, diapering is a family decision. There are pros and cons to each kind of diaper and it is up to each family to decide which one fits with their lifestyle.

What helped you make your diapering decision? What are you wondering about when it comes to cloth diapers? Tell me about it below!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you buy through my link, I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosure page here.