Here is the question that feels so easy to answer as a pregnant person, but in practice is a whole beast. Will you use reusable or disposable baby items?
Sounds easy. Sounds simple. Sounds like a quick decision. NOPE. Aside from the potential judgement you will hear from both sides, I am here to tell you the benefits and downfalls of both because I have done both. I am not just talking about diapers here either, I am talking wipes, toys, baby food, all of it. And if the words ‘reusable diaper’ make you cringe, this blog post probably isn’t for you and you should check out my others. Cloth diapering is not for the faint of heart and definitely not for everyone and that is perfectly alright. As I reminisce on the oh so fun times my son and I had figuring out our limits, I want to note that most things in parenting are as gross as they sound, but you do them with love!
If we look solely into the cloth diaper vs. disposable diaper discussion, I need to note that my son did not wear them on a regular basis until he was over 6 months and he only wears them after he has had his daily poo.
Now the main reasonings for us were:
1. He was way too tiny to fit into them properly
2. He peed through them SO fast
3. His poo was SO hard to clean (newborn poos are the worst)
Aside from these complications, we found ways to make the cloth diapers work on our terms. One thing I learned not so quickly that sounds so obvious to me after using them is that you can use TWO inserts. Running on mom-brain, I never would have thought this up on my own. I would credit who I learned it from, but I was in a late night reading daze at the time and trying to understand why my son peed through them every 30 minutes.
If you’re thinking that you might have to bring a lot more items with you, I am here to warn you that every single baby requires a million things. As a new mom, I carried EVERYTHING with me. Just in case. I still carry more than enough and some just in case items, but wow my back was hurting all the time.
Now if you’re wanting a more sustainable option, the cloth diaper is great. In our case, however, we use plastic bags for the used diapers because I usually forget the reusable bag or it is dirty. That reusable smells absolutely horrible after just one diaper being in it for a few hours. We have also used throw away wipes the entire time because that’s where I draw my sustainability line. So, we are not completely zero waste with our diapering, but it works for us and our family.
When it comes to other items, I love reusables. I used reusable nipple pads after going through a few disposable pads. They were so much softer and cheaper in the long run. We have specific rags for all baby messes instead of paper towels. I used ‘period underwear’ for the postpartum bleeding, which were both more comfortable and easy to clean. When I was breastfeeding, I would pump into bottles instead of the disposable freezer bags. I wasn’t producing much, so I was able to feed most of the expressed milk within hours. Now, I buy pureed baby food and usually stick to the glass jars because the plastic ones are not recyclable and I reuse the jars to propagate plants every once in a while. While some of these are cheaper in the long run, some aren’t. Glass baby food jars, expensive/high end cloth diapers (because you need so many and the cost of cleaning), and wooden/Montessori toys are definitely in the expensive category.
The worth of one thing or another is obviously based on the parent and child/children. The cost might be below, above, or adequate to your perceived use of the product at the time and your current values. My parents never would have even thought about using a cloth diaper or breastfeeding because sustainability was not something they valued. I breastfed and cloth diapered without ever thinking twice. Everyone is different in the way they parent, but I hope that this tidbit of information will help you find your perfect balance.
Not So Motherly Instincts 