Cloth diapers got me totally cray cray y’all. And I mean they’ve captured my very soul and essence. So obviously the letter C was bound to be my favourite one in the #AtoZChallenge
I’ve written many posts about Cloth Diapering, but still its never enough. And i think you will agree when I say that you have never met (ok maybe barring 1 – 2 people) anyone who cloth diapers and is NOT obsessed with them. I am the biggest example of that and everything mentioned here in this post is about me. 🙂 Quite shamelessly too!
But why are most new moms obsessed with cloth diapers?
Here’s my feeble attempt to justify all my CD obsessions by giving seemingly valid and scientific reasons for the insanity.
My precious laundry pile
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- Fuels the nesting syndrome – Did you pregnant mommies, find yourself collecting baby stuff, cleaning, and de-cluttering your homes and spaces a few months before you gave birth? Well that was the nesting syndrome – nature’s tug of hormones to get you prepared for the change that was about to smack you in the face.  Now add to that your endless searches on online shopping portals in the baby products category and “hey wait a minute what is this cute print and what are those buttons … oh my, its a nappy. Wait it doesn’t leak, holds for hours on end, is reusable.. and wait it comes in designs featuring owls, isn’t that like the “in-thing” on the catwalk this season?” You’re done for now. And then you begin collecting – you need owls, penguins and pretty little stars and prints about the monsoon and cars & trucks on your baby. And soon you are sitting on a stash of 20 cloth diapers. That’s just the beginning…
My first cloth diaper ever
- Cloth Diapers mould you into a routine – Cloth diapers are fun and pretty, but they also need a lot of love and care. It is definitely not difficult to do that but it takes time, effort and repetition and that sets you into a routine. And routines are satisfying – the lull of a routine is kind of like a drug, it is therapy for when you are wound up and need calming down. Parenting is a lot about setting good routines for your child and can also help parents get used to the new roles and responsibilities that come with a new addition to the family. And cloth diapering is one area where you can have plenty of that joy. Routines are comforting. Hence you should cloth diaper.
- Scoring cloth diapers – For those of you who don’t know cloth diapers are few and moms who want them are many and  that means you got to earn it. Cloth Diapers are stocked online at certain preset times and then when the clock says go, moms the world over (I have scored diapers at unGodly hours like 3 am all the way in the USA) go for the kill. Imagine this, a store in the USA announces a new diaper (“Oh my God, a Vincent Van Gogh print.”), they do a big reveal (“Ooooh I want that diaper, if that’s the last diaper I ever own.”), they announce a stocking (stalking more like.) and its set for 10 am CST (do you even know America has 6 time zones? Well I do and my favourite is Central because it converts well to the Indian time zone :P), you convert it to IST – that’s 830 am for us (that’s a perfectly decent time to wake up to in India) and you wait, 825 am you are logged in, with your credit card close by and hitting refresh a million times. 830 am and the screen comes alive with all the products listed – you hunt, you kill, you check out, you have a confirmation. You have just scored a DIAPER. Now did you enjoy that ride? Just imagine how it feels to be actually doing it. That is why we love cloth diapers. 🙂
Wasn’t kidding about the VanGogh diaper 😀
The sense of achievement and the rush of adrenaline and dopamine are so good for the brain. And the diaper is your trophy. 🙂
- Fuels the nesting syndrome – Did you pregnant mommies, find yourself collecting baby stuff, cleaning, and de-cluttering your homes and spaces a few months before you gave birth? Well that was the nesting syndrome – nature’s tug of hormones to get you prepared for the change that was about to smack you in the face.  Now add to that your endless searches on online shopping portals in the baby products category and “hey wait a minute what is this cute print and what are those buttons … oh my, its a nappy. Wait it doesn’t leak, holds for hours on end, is reusable.. and wait it comes in designs featuring owls, isn’t that like the “in-thing” on the catwalk this season?” You’re done for now. And then you begin collecting – you need owls, penguins and pretty little stars and prints about the monsoon and cars & trucks on your baby. And soon you are sitting on a stash of 20 cloth diapers. That’s just the beginning…
- Feels like being in love – just like being in love makes you go crazy in the head a little bit, cloth diaper obsessions fuel that happy, delirious feeling.
Blame it on post partum hormones, combined with an array of tempting designs and prints, a variety of diapering systems and types, satisfaction of using a cloth that is so effective in doing its job without too many bloopers and the fact that you are saving tons and tons of waste from ending up in landfills, you have a lethal combination of the love potion.Your brain and body are rife with the race of serotonin and you are in love, love, love.. so you don’t see that the diapers are laced with poop, which you need to scrape off, run two washes – preferably hot, multiple rinses, need special but no-frills detergent and time in the sun.
- Love takes effort and you are in it for keeps. <3
- I need a point number 5 yougaaiz, so I created this one (yes I have an OCD and so I cloth diaper. Even OCD has CD in it) Ok so let me collect my senses here and tell you why I really love cloth diapers and am obsessed with them.  a) After experiencing horrific blowouts with disposables that couldn’t hold my exclusively breast fed baby’s poop, I can assure you cloth diapers hold it all in. Even the worst of pooplosions, all contained! b) I have never bought a tube of rash cream for babyT ever. That’s how safe and amazing cloth diapers are. c) I am saving so much waste from ending up in landfills. You should visit a beach front in Mumbai at the onset of monsoon, to understand how much backwash turns up on the beach and how much of it is sanitary waste. Read: disposable diapers and sanitary pads. d) Using cloth diapers has made me more aware of how my actions impact the Earth and I have adopted sustainable modes of living in other areas of my life too.
Cloth Diapering has certainly been one of the best decisions I have made. I am proud of all it has done for me and our family. It has opened up our lives to so much more than just diapers. If you have a baby in diapers, make sure it is cloth. And if you need any help with that, I’m all ears. 🙂
Hello there,
I have a 2 weeks old boy and I am very interested in trying cloth diapering. But I am confused about how many diapers do I need at the beginning? I don’t want to buy too many or too little. Can you suggest ? I read and liked your article about CDing on vacation where you have given specific numbers. Can you give me a list similar to that article?
I really liked your blog.
Regards, Pratirupa (from Goa).
Hi Pratirupa, congratulations on the arrival of your little one. And it is lovely to know that you are considering cloth diapering. To begin with I would suggest you buy newborn sized diapers. Cover diapers work well because they can be wiped and reused unless soiled with poop. And you can use anything inside – special inserts for covers or nappies or home made flat cloths. Newborns wet a lot so it makes sense. Having around 3 to 4 covers if you are going to be diapering full time should work.
Once your baby grows to say 7kgs+ you can consider one sized diapers where i would recommend you try one each of pockets and all-in-ones to find your and baby’s comfort. I find having a total stash of about 10 to 15 one sized diapers works well considering wash and dry times. But you can build it up slowly after finding which brand works for you. ?
Somehow I’ve never had the chance to use cloth diapers. But these look lovely.
I have always always loved cloth diapers but honestly I have also used other diapers too! I generally use cloth diapers when I am at home or when the baby is sleeping because it’s comfortable
I used cloth with my daughter, and I use it some with my son as well and it is really great. They really save so much money and really are better for the environment.
We haven’t tried cloth diapers with my 2 kids but I’ve read a lot of great things about it. This post is another reminder why it’s amazing. I’ll be sharing this to my mom friends or if we ever decide to have another kid, I’ll be sure to consider cloth diapers!
Belle | One Awesome Momma
I am out of the diaper phase but looking back it would have been nice to give these a try with my 3 kids, lol, just realized my first words to the sentence sound like “I” personally no longer use diapers. lol.
Some of these have such cute patterns!! I’m not a mother yet but I know when the time comes I’ll have to make a call on cloth diapers! The environmentalist in me says yes yes yes. The lazy part of me says no haha. But you’ve made a convincing case here
There are so many cute designs for cloth diapers. I can totally see why they work for you, too.
I think it’s awesome that people are going back to the old ways of using a cloth diaper. Diapers aren’t exactly cheap and using these will definitely help you save money! The designs are super adorable too!
I have missed out on using cloth diapers and I am sure if I plan a second I am saying no to disposables and will be coming back n back to your blog to get a complete guide and more inspiration ..
yayyyy hope that day comes soon. You will love it Priya. 🙂
My 2 daughters haven’t tried using cloth diapers but I think I should use these for our baby boy. These cloth diapers are too cute!
I am completely out of this phase of diapers and bottles. I also never used cloth diapers as both my daughters were born in the US. These look like good cloth diapers for little ones. I will share with my friends.
Hey modern cloth diapers originated in the US. It is a huge industry there. ?
I used cloth diapers for Ashley until I worked. Then no. They were not as pretty as the ones you have here. I agree with routine, something so lovely about that!
I haven’t really heard of cloth diapers as an option because I don’t have kids, but it makes a lot of sense as you probably save so much money and wastage x
We have recently moved to cloth diapers and it’s a huge saving on the pocket. I liked your point no 5!
My mom used cloth diapers on us as babies because I was allergic to the disposables. Back then we had a service that picked up and dropped off, but theses new ones look so much easier to use and so cute.
I wish I could stomach cloth diapers! I couldn’t and neither could my hubby lol! These are such adorable prints though!
I didn’t ever use cloth diapers on my babies, but I did know people who did. I love all of the different patterns and prints available on cloth diapers.
I’m with you on cloth diapers. My husband and I have long talked about using cloth diapers if we ever have a child.
I have never heard of these! Maybe because I am 20 and not a mum but they have lovely patterns 🙂
It has been such a long time since I had little ones. Cloth diapers were just starting to become more popular when they were little. This is great information.
I did cloth diapers for 3 of my kids and actually worked for a cloth diapering company but it just wasn’t for me. I still have my huge stash of over 100 diapers but never use them!
Oh thats a bit disappointing. It isn’t for everyone. So many factors at play. Well at least you tried. Im sure you could put the diapers up on BST groups on Facebook. You’ll get a fair amount back.
I used cloth diapers for all of my kids and I loved it. They were much more sensitive for their skin and they were so cute!
These are such cute patterns. I wanted to cloth diaper but other people didn’t think we would be able to with working.
hello i am a new reader to your blog n totall obsessed with all the writeups,i m 5 months pregnant n nowdays try to get more and more information on parenting and stuff.i was wondering if u could mention some websites for cloth diaper shopping n also a little guide on buying them.
Hi there.. many congratulations. Blog post on types of diapers coming up soon. I would recommend you buy some nappies (flats) I liked a brand called Tiny Care. And for the early days go for newborn sized diapers. Superbottoms has a newborn sized diaper cover. You can buy it directly from their website.
I think it’s great to see environmental concern with cloth diapers. I love the feeling of cloth verses paper!
Cloth diapers may sounds like the answer to every parents cry whenever they see rashes in their babies it may answer that part of the problem but there its not perfect at all specially for busy parents.
Also obsessed with cloth diapers!! Want to be friends?? Lol