I failed at cloth diapering my first go. It was all too overwhelming and I couldn’t wrap my brain around it all. I had so many questions and FEARS, I was unable to commit. In asking questions of other moms who may or may not have considered cloth diapering, I found the questions and concerns I had are common. I finally navigated through them and the following posts share what I have learned.
What About the Yuck?
The initial reaction people seem to have is “yuck.” So let’s address that first.
You have a washing machine right? Well there you have it; the yuck is already minimized. Lucky for you, the machine does most of the washing for you. I occasionally run an empty washer with bleach to give the washer a good sanitizing, but I did this before I cloth diapered, so nothing has changed for me.
When you are changing a baby or toddler’s diaper you are dealing with the poop regardless of whether you cloth or not. Admittedly, it can get pretty gnarly in the trenches some times.
Cloth diapering doesn’t really add that much facetime with poop- I swear. With newborns you can simply toss them in the washer, run a rinse cycle, then wash as normal. When it comes to more solid poop, you dump it in the toilet, rinse the diaper, and wash as normal. They sell fancy sprayers which attach to your toilet, but you can save money by purchasing a sink sprayer which uses the same hookup.
And yes, it’s true- You have poopy diapers in your house, but (having done no scientific studies to back up this claim, I’ll still say) I’ll bet cloth diapers with poop spend less time in the house then disposable ones.
And let’s face it. Exposure to body excretions is part of the contract when you become a parent.
