Having twin boys is the best. I am so grateful that the Lord chose to bless us with our boys. But I’ll be honest, it was a shock to our core. When the doctors first told us we were having twins we began taking note of what things we would need to double. Like two cribs, bedding, car seats, a double stroller, and double bounce seats. Yet, it was the smallest thing that had me most worried- DIAPERS. Would we need to do the unthinkable and cloth diaper our twins?! There are so many factors to consider when deciding to cloth diaper- what is the healthiest choice? What about the upfront cost? and of course- what about all that POOP?
At the start of my pregnancy with the twins we were living in a wall tent in the mountains of Colorado getting ready to move into a small apartment. I felt like expenses were piling up faster than my belly was growing. My urge to start nesting was strong, but I also knew that we would need to be smart with our money. Our church at the time had blessed us with plenty of clothes, but the issue of diapers still hung over my head. The average baby goes through 70 diapers in a week for the first 11 weeks; which is a total of 770 diapers; meaning for my twins I was looking at 1,540 dirty diapers in just 11 weeks.
When I began research into cloth diapers there were three top reasons that convinced me to give it a shot.
Cloth Diapering is HUGE money saver According to the diaperplanner.com during the first year I could expect my twins to go through at least 4,914 diapers. Which, at the average cost of $0.20 per diaper, added up to $982.80 in just the first year. On average, cloth diapering spends around $800 total through all three years. (Of course this number varies based on what brands you use and the accessories you buy). With my twins I spent around $300 once we made the commitment to cloth diapers as well as around an additional $250 once I had a better understanding of what I needed. Another benefit? Once we had our third kid, we’ve only needed to spend an additional $45 since she was born a year ago. Main Point: with three kids we have spent less than $600 while disposable diapers would’ve cost us closer to $5000.
Cloth Diapering is Chemical Free and Environmentally Friendly
My second concern was the amount of chemicals used in cloth diapers. There’s no question that disposable diapers work great, but I wasn’t comfortable with the material that was put into them that would be on my babies skin. Additionally, for the lifestyle that we live I felt uneasy about the amount of waste that diapers created, and how it affected the environment. For this post I won’t get into the details because every family needs to make the right choice for what works for them. However, if you are considering cloth diapers and the environment issue is something you are concerned about I highly recommended taking a deeper look into the issue.
Cloth Diapering is Directly Correlated with Earlier Potty Training
One of the most compelling reasons to use cloth diapers I found was that using cloth diapers promoted earlier potty training. I was willing to try anything that meant less time dealing with other people’s poop. In 1957, when disposable diapers still weren’t popular, the average child started potty training around 11 months, and by two years old the majority were dry during the day. The whole process of cloth diapering is parent and child lead. Mom’s are motivated to start the conversation soon to lessen the amount of laundry they do, and to keep from spraying out poop diapers. It also motivates children because of the discomfort they feel when the diaper is wet and full. Disposable diapers are created to quickly absorb and leave the inner layer dry for baby’s comfort. However, as the child gets older it hinders their ability to recognize when they have wet their pants and lowers their motivation to stop playing and use the potty. When we potty trained our twin boys I definitely found this to be true. My boys were out of diapers during the day by two with only occasional accidents at night until three. For us, Cloth Diapering was 100% worth it. Thinking about Cloth Diapering? Add my favorite Cloth Diapers to your Amazon Baby Registry! Don't have one yet? Click here!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHello! I'm Christine. Archives
September 2020
Categories |
Proudly powered by Weebly