Cloth Diapers!

I never even thought about cloth diapering Honeybunny before he was born, or for the first couple months of his life. If you would have tried to talk to me about cloth diapering when I was pregnant I probably would have told you to go take your hairy armpits on a hike. I thought it was only for dirty hippies and something only our grandmothers and grandmothers' grandmothers did.

It all started one day in my favorite baby boutique, Be By Baby. After adoring everything in the store I couldn't afford, I was on my way out when the most adorable little diaper covers caught my eye. At first I actually thought about just buying them and putting them on over Landon's disposable diaper. Then I thought maybe cloth diapering isn't as nasty as I once thought. After getting sick of (literally) throwing money away on disposable diapers and doing some research, I have now become a STRONG advocate of the many, many perks of using cloth diapers. I have come to see how cloth diapers SAVE you money, SAVE your babies' bottoms, and SAVE the environment. And just how adorable they are on those precious little baby bottoms. 

There are so many articles and studies about the many benefits of cloth diapering your baby but here were a few big ones for me: 

- Every baby that uses disposable diapers produces approximately 4,000 pounds of disposable diaper waste that ends up in our landfills. 

- It costs between $2,500 - $3,500 for disposable diapers for one child vs. $500 or less for cloth diapers - and most can be reused on several children 

- Disposable diapers contain a chemical called Dioxin. Dioxin is listed by the EPA as the most toxic of Cancer related chemicals and has been banned in most countries except in the US. Dioxins are highly poisonous to human tissues and cause them to mutate into cancer cells.

- Babies in cloth diapers potty train sooner than babies in disposables! Many believe this is because babies can feel the wetness much easier in cloth than in modern pull-ups and training pants.

- Disposable diapers do not "breathe" like cloth. This causes a child's scrotum to be up to 2 degrees higher than the rest of his body temperature and many  professionals believe this can be linked to infertility problems later in life.

 I found it's one thing to know you want to try cloth diapering but it's quite another to buy your diapers and start using them. There are tons of different kinds - pre-folds, all-in-ones, hybrids, inserts, hook & loops, snaps - it can be overwhelming and hard to know where to start.

I ordered all my diapers @ Everything Birth after attending a diaper party at my friend Erica's house. Through everything birth, you are able to attend a FREE consultation with a Diaper Party Representative at a diaper party near you where you get a hands-on explanation of how to use them and see all the different kinds out there. Each diaper and accessory comes with its own little cheat sheet so you can read about the product and how to use it, while seeing, touching, and trying it. Plus you can also enjoy some yummy food and meet new mommas :)

& I think Landon is pretty happy in them too ;)