I’m back! After taking a break to organize a ladies retreat, I am back in the saddle. Now we are gearing up for summer and, boy, do I have a lot planned! I have kid goats due this summer and we are so excited!! We will breed our rabbits soon too. I love babies! Speaking of babies, our fifth child is due in November!

Today I am going to discuss why I choose cloth over disposable diapers. We didn’t step off into “cloth land” until our fourth child arrived, but wish I would have done it sooner. I will admit that I use disposable the first few weeks of life due to the fact that they need very frequent diaper changes and that lovely meconium. Plus you are adjusting to this new life, so why bother with washing cloth diapers too? Just my opinion.

But with a breastfed baby, washing diapers is easy! I keep a pail next to the changing area and toss them in there. At the end of the day I run them thru the wash. The trickiest part of using cloth diapers in not messing up the PH, which would cause diaper rash. But using a mild soap usual fixes this. I make my own homemade laundry detergent and it always did a fantastic job. Periodically I would pour a little vinegar in there to kill the ammonia smell. I also used a homemade diaper wipe solution to keep the bacteria down. Of course you can use this if you are using disposables too!

If you buy a high quality diaper you will be able to use them thru more than one child. You don’t save a lot of money if you have to buy a new set of diapers every time you have another baby. But if you can reuse them, then you save a bunch of money. Plus think of all the landfills that aren’t getting full of those stinky diapers!

Another thing cloth was great for was potty training. The child learns to dislike being wet and thus potty trains earlier. I recommend introducing your child to the potty at 12 months old. It takes dedication, but it is so worth it! My now 22 mo old rarely has an accident. By 14 mo she knew what she was supposed to do, it just took some training (and some bribery, aka M&M’s) to curb the accidents.

There are many cloth diaper choices that it can seem overwhelming. I only sell one brand as it is the brand I have the most experience with. I don’t want to sell something that I don’t know much about. Diaper Swappers and Diaper Pin are great places to start your research. The diapers All Things Granola sells are Ariana Clothesline, made by a stay-at-home mom. I found the elastic to last. I used the hemp diapers and found them to be very absorbent. I also have two of her new fleece covered diapers to try out with the next baby. At first I bought a bunch of used diapers from varying brands. Some had pitiful elastic, some had velcro (yuck), some leaked all over, and some were just too bulky.

So don’t be scared to step off into the world of cloth diapers. They are fun too – you can pick all kinds of colors or patterns. And feel free to ask questions.