Let’s face it – caring for our babies can get expensive fast! But cloth diapering is one way to save major bucks.
Most babies go through more than 7,200 diaper changes in the first three years of their lives. This adds up to an average of nearly $3,300 in an mid-range disposable diapers over those three years. If you use other diapering systems, specialty disposables, or a cloth diaper service, that amount can easily be even more.
However, if you choose to purchase your own cloth diapers and launder at home, the average cost for three years ranges between $900 – $1,500 – for a savings of about $2,000-2,500!
And if you use your diapers for more than one child, the savings multiply three- or four-fold.
Here’s a quick look at the numbers for different systems:
For a mid-range disposable, considering the addition of wipes and accessories for each age range:
TOTAL of 7200 diaper changes for 3 years = $3290.40
For various cloth diapering options:
Most Economical Set (Prefolds) + Covers + Snappis + Accessories = $393.48
One Size Pocket Diaper (bumGenius) Set + Accessories = $773.62
A perennital favourite and easy to use Diaper Diaper Set (Fuzzi Bunz) + Accessories = $941.35
Beyond paying for the diapers and accessories themselves, the average cost of laundering your diapers every two days, including the cost of running your washer and dryer and buying detergent, is $3.42 per week over those three years. Sixty-one percent of that cost is dryer usage, so if you line dry when you can, your savings will certainly add up!
A great way to start to build your collection of cloth diapers is to create a gift registry and let your friends and family know. And let the practical, useful gift giving begin!
In the early days of babyhood and diaper changes, having reliable night-time diapers isn’t so much of a challenge. Young infants tend to be changed often due to their waking and sleeping cycles that have no awareness of night and day, and so having diapers that can last for hours and hours overnight isn’t much of a concern.
When babies start sleeping through the night, however, or when parents are in the process of teaching a sleep routine to their older infants, having reliable nighttime solutions become much more of an issue.
Here’s a run-down of why we at N&G heart wool for night-times:
Coupled with an absorbent diaper, wool has natural properties to keep your baby dry, comfortable, and free of diaper rash.
Due to the natural lanolin found in wool, it is a naturally water-resistant material and will repel liquid for hours. Then, even when it has reached its saturation point and starts absorbing liquid (like any good fabric will do), it still can absorb up to 30% of its own weight in liquid before it even feels damp! And THEN, even then, it won’t actually leak, but will just feel, well…. damp.
Also, due to the breathability of natural fibres, air easily passes through the wool cover to help the pee next to your baby’s skin evaporate, leaving your baby dry for much longer periods of time. This not only helps prevent and treat diaper rash, but helps regulate your baby’s body temperature, keeping him or her warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
It’s easy to keep clean, naturally antibacterial, and provides an easy solution for families who want to use as many natural-fibre products as possible.
Wool’s natural antibacterial properties mean you only have to wash the cover once every 1-2 weeks. After a quick swish in the sink with some yummy smelling wool wash followed by a line dry, you’re good to go for another couple of weeks.
All the wool options at New & Green are made right here in BC, so you can feel good about buying local!
Aristocrats double-layer wool soaker covers (great for nighttime) come to us from the Kootenays and Luxe single-layer wool diaper covers make their start right here in the Lower Mainland in Langley. One of the New & Green Mamas Bonnie has a particular love for Luxe Wool Diaper Covers. So much so, she wrote a love letter to her Luxe.
Wool may feel like a stretch to think of as a cloth diapering must have, but ask families who have used wool. They’ll tell you they wake up feeling great in the morning because their baby has been dry and comfortable all night long!
PS – Other wool to keep your little one happier at night: a wool puddle pad, often used as a mattress pad and a wool doubler to boost the functionality of your single layer wool diaper cover.
For many urbanites, apartment dwelling involves a shared laundry room, coin operated machines, and designated time slots for using the washers and dryers. Can families really still manage cloth diapering in these circumstances? The answer is a resounding “yes, oh YES!”
Dealing with cloth outside of one’s own suite may seem like a nuisance, not to mention expensive when you’re shelling out coins in hand. In reality, it’s quite easy and the cost is usually comparable, if not less, than paying for the extra energy usage on your monthly utility bill.
Here are four tips for using cloth when you don’t have insuite laundry:
Choose diapers that unfold or come apart to wash easily and dry quickly. Pockets, prefolds, and flats are great options for this. If you use fitteds or all-in-one’s, choose ones that have multiple, separated layers for ease of washing and drying.
Sign up for time slots or make your schedule to allow you to wash every two or three days. If you can’t get three slots a week, try to sign up for two slots that are 3 ½ days apart, such as a Monday evening and a Friday morning.
Consider line drying. Since most laundry-room machines are coin operated, line drying will certainly save you $$$. If you’ve got the room either in your suite or in your building’s laundry room, give it go. Inexpensive drying racks can be found at Ikea or any hardware store or mass merchandiser.
Do a short cold wash cycle first or choose your own rinse. The fact that many coin-op machines can’t do an isolated rinse cycle adds unwanted cost and time to the washing process. If you prefer to avoid this cost, consider two cheaper and faster ways of rinsing your diapers (and of course, as always, it is preferable that you knocked off all solids into the toilet at the time you changed the diaper!):
In the diaper pail – Place the diaper pail in a large laundry sink or bathtub. Fill with cold water and swish with a stick. (This is a great use for an old gDiaper swish stick or consider investing $1-2 in a 1/2”– 3/4” dowel.) Pour out as much water as you can, then dump all the contents into the washer and start your normal hot wash. This method requires a strong back, but ensures that you never have to touch the dirty diapers!
In a laundry sink – Dump the dirty diapers from your pail into a large laundry sink, fill with cold water, and agitate them with a stick or with your hands. Drain the water from the sink, pressing on the diapers as the water empties. Toss the diapers directly from the sink into the washer and wash on hot with detergent. Presto change-o, you’re done!
With a bit of planning and some considerations about how to save even more money with cloth diapers, laundering in a shared laundry or a coin-op laundry is definitely do-able.
Are you are a “no in-suite cloth diapering family”? What is your best strategy for making it work for your family?
One of the most common questions we’re asked at our New & Green Cloth Diapering 101 workshops is about cloth diapering at daycare. Do daycares allow cloth? Which diapers are best? Do I need any special equipment?
From the bit of research we’ve done, it seems the vast majority of daycares in the Lower Mainland are happy to accommodate cloth-loving parents, provided the process is made easy for the care providers. We definitely recommend that you “know before you go” – call your daycare (or prospective daycares) and find out what they specifically prefer so that you don’t end up buying diapers and supplies you don’t need. Also, check out the Real Diaper Association’s excellent tip-sheet for some great info.
Basically, when it comes to cloth diapering in a daycare, it boils down to this:
KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly): Make it as easy for the care providers as possible.
Use diapers that are most like putting on a disposable – either an All-in-One or a pre-stuffed pocket diaper with Velcro closures. Velcro closures make diaper changes both easy and speedy!
Considering using Bio-Soft liners and pre-line all your diapers. This way, poop is easy to deal with for the care provider and you’re less likely to have super-poopy diapers coming home for you to deal with later! (Always a plus!)
Remember that some daycares require that everything belonging to the child must be labeled, including cloth diapers. You can either stick these labels right on the diapers or hand-sew a little tag onto the diaper to hold the label so that you can easily remove it later. Laundry-safe labels can be found by searching online for “children’s clothing labels” (or some such variation).
If you want cloth wipes used as well, consider having them pre-wetted in a travel-size disposable wipes container so they are easy to grab and ready to use.
Be prepared: About 93% of the daycares we surveyed on the North Shore stated that they would be happy to use cloth diapers, provided they were shown how to use them. At your first meeting with the provider, bring along samples of everything you’ll be sending with your child and be prepared to show them how to use it. It often helps if you’re upbeat and positive, emphasizing how easy the process is!
Be flexible: If your daycare isn’t quite sure about cloth diapering – even after your enthusiastic tutorial – perhaps propose a trial period, say three weeks, in which to try cloth. Likewise, choosing a different type of diaper may help the daycare as well. Be flexible in accommodating their needs as well as your own – some of them may never have seen modern cloth diapers.
Be happy: We believe that choosing cloth is a wonderful, fun, and sustainable choice for you and your family. Extending that choice to other people who care for your children can require courage, wisdom, and knowledge – you should be happy knowing you’ve prepared yourself for this journey and your child will reap the benefits. Hip hip hooray!
We often get asked if it’s possible to start cloth diapering from day one or if it’s possible to cloth diaper a smaller newborn. In short, the answer is….YES!
The biggest consideration for diapering a newborn is containment. This is key to success (meaning no leaks and the ability to confidently say to nay-sayers that it IS working out for you!). In the newborn phase, your baby is changed often and their bladders are not all that big, so super absorbency is as high on the priority.
So how to you achieve great containment? A good fit, particularly around the legs and waist, the ability for the fabric to absorb readily and the two barriers that a fitted diaper (like a Kissaluv Size 0) and a Diaper Cover (like a Bummis Super Brite) go a long way in extra insurance!
And if you want to start from day one, you’ll need to consider having a diaper that allows your baby’s umbilical stump to be open to the air to heal. Once it’s healed (usually 1 – 1.5 weeks), having a diaper with a higher rise that covers the umbilical stump is absolutely fine.
Top rated on consumer sites like TheDiaperPin.com, the Kissaluvs Size 0 paired with a Bummis Super Brite is our first recommendation for parents wanting a functional and easy to use system for their brand new babies.
Have a look at the video (caution – I can speak very very fast) and let us know what you think. If you have any questions about your newborn diapering choices, email customercare@newandgreen.com for further direction.
On Twitter tonight (it’s Wednesday) there is a chat called EcoWed. Folks on Twitter chime in on topics that are eco-related and also often health related. One of the frequent discussions is around the safety of plastics.
Recently a customer emailed about a concern with the safety of using Polyurethane Laminate (PUL) covers for her newborn. She had done some preliminary research that left her with some questions.
Let’s take a look at PUL. PUL is a very common fabric used in the diaper industry. It is used in many other industries as well. For the purpose of the following information, we are only looking at PUL specifically manufactured for cloth diapering.
PUL is used for the outer layer of diapers or as the fabric for diaper covers and functions to keep the wetness in while allowing airflow to reach the baby’s skin. It is very durable, even under the rigorous washing conditions associated with washing cloth diapers.
Thanks to Shirley of Bummis, we have some good (and reassuring) information to share with you. Bummis is the manufacturer of the Canadian made and gold standard Super Whisper Wrap and Super Brite Diaper covers.
Firstly, all of the fabrics used in these diaper covers meets or exceeds US Government CPSIA standards indicating that there are no diisocyanates present in the polyurethane lamination. Diisocyanates are a respiratory hazard for which inhalation and dermal contact should be avoided. Other potential toxins that are standard for CPSIA testing include hydrogen cyanide, pthalates, formaldehyde or lead. While these are not expected to be present at any level in PUL testing confirmed that the levels of these potential toxins were zero.
On the making of PUL – PUL is formed by reacting polyol with diisocyanates in the presence of suitable catalysts and additives. This makes the thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) from initial stages of the polymerization. This process is completed in a factory within a controlled environment. Once the polymer is made, these initial substances cease to exist as they were and have formed another compound known as TPU.
The newly created TPU is an inert material.
The Material Saftey Data Sheet for TPU states that it only releases harmful chemicals above 428F degrees. This is true for all plastics. If any TPU was heated to such a high melting point, they could release toxic fumes but this is not the case in a stable product with regular use.
TPU is used on open wound dressings as the waterproof film that stops fluids from seeping out. One of the reasons TPU is used in this application is that it is not an irritant. Beyond dressings, TPU is used in many medical invasive applications approved by the US FDA.
So with that all said, are PUL diaper covers safe for your little one? Yes, with regular use and care, they are comprised of inert substances that will not expose your child to potentially toxic fumes or chemicals.
Bummis Training Pants are an excellent tool in active toilet training. Like any new skill, children need teaching, guidance and repetition to master it. Using smart tools to help with achieving success will make toilet training a more positive and enjoyable experience.
Here is a bit about the trainers and some tips and ideas for using and washing them:
Bummis Trainers are not meant to replace diapers; they are simply intended to provide an “underwear” experience for the child with the bonus of having some absorbency built in along with a waterproof outer layer. These trainers will hold one to two toddler pees if needed.
Bummis Trainers feature a cotton inner layer and terry absorbent core. The advantage to this is that your toddler will receive immediate feedback when he/she begins to pee. The wetness is a means in which to restore and/or reinforce the association between the feeling and process of peeing with the goal of eventually being able to recognize the feeling of needing to pee with the knowledge of what to do when you have this feeling.
Bummis Trainers have a waterproof outer layer; the same fabric that is used with their industry gold standard diaper covers.
Bummis Trainers are generously cut so may appear poofy but are excellent at supporting the self care aspect of undressing and dressing during toileting. Toddlers will have a greater success if the trainers are not too tight and they are able to pull them down and up without too much strength and motor planning. When wearing the trainers under pants, they compact down nicely, losing the poofy appearance.
Before use, for optimal performance, the trainers should be washed inside out 3-5 times on hot with a additive-free (no extras) detergent. This will help the cotton become absorbent by stripping the natural oils from the fabric and plumping up the fibres. Some examples include:
Nature Clean – available locally at Save on Foods Natural foods section
Nellies Laundry Soda – available at London Drugs
Tide
Sunlight
Cheer
Country Save – in Canada at London Drugs
Washing routine – for wet and soiled trainers, run a cold soak/rinse cycle followed by a hot wash with an approved detergent. If using a conventional detergent, reduce the amount recommended by half. Dry in dryer or line dry. Recommend washing inside out for best results and faster drying time. For wet only trainers, you can skip the rinse cycle.
And lastly, some general info on toilet training. There are a couple of threads of commonality woven throughout today’s common philosophies:
The process of helping your child to learn how to eliminate in the toilet needs to be a positive experience; your child should never be pressured into using the toilet
A parent’s job is to observe their child’s behavioural cues to determine if there are any consistent cues related to when the child wets or has a poop in their diaper
A parent must provide opportunities to try and use the potty/toilet at appropriate times
A child is often more successful with learning to use the potty when he becomes aware of the association of peeing and becoming wet.
Bummis Training Pants are one essential piece of “equipment” that you’ll need to assist your child in this transition. Training pants signal a change from “what babies wear” to “what big kids wear” and also give parents and children easier access/ability to get clothing/underwear off to quickly use the potty.
Enjoy the process. Remember every child is different and it can feel tricky at times but in the end, well worth the effort when your child learns that she has mastered using the toilet!
There seems to be some trends emerging in cloth diapering these days. And it’s making me smile. Why? Well really we are coming back to basics, back to what we know works all with the conveninece and technology of today’s textiles.
What is emerging as the top priorities?
Organic and natural textiles next to baby’s skin. Parents are simply getting bowled over by toxicity in toys (have you seen all the recalls coming out these days) and frankly our heads are starting to spin with all the info about what is safe to feed our children, what is safe to wash our children…and it goes on. And for that reason, parents are opting for what they know is safe – certified organic.
Ease of use. This one never falls off the top three list. Plain and simple. We all need more of that in our lives.
Easy to wash and fast to dry. With energy use also a consideration, families want diapers that are fast to dry.
Where does this leave us? Well the trend is moving us towards a diapering system with a reliable, velcro closure cover and an organic cotton absorbent diaper that is easy to fold and lay inside the cover. A combo that will always win out for absorbency and meeting that top three list.
Amongst our favourite solutions in this category is a Canadian made diaper cover and an organic cotton diaper.
Introducing the Bummis SuperBrite and the Organic Cotton Prefold! With over 20 years in the diaper cover industry, Bummis is a tried and true design. The prefolds are soft, absorbent, easy to wash and fast to dry as they open up and become flat in the dryer. No trying to dry through layers and layers and layers of absorbency!
With the new preemie size prefold and newborn size cover, you have a perfect combo that is easy, organic, Canadian made and will fit your brand new baby!
Let’s face it – caring for our babies can get expensive fast! But cloth diapering is one way to save major bucks.
In the early days of babyhood and diaper changes, having reliable night-time diapers isn’t so much of a challenge. Young infants tend to be changed often due to their waking and sleeping cycles that have no awareness of night and day, and so having diapers that can last for hours and hours overnight isn’t much of a concern.
One of the most common questions we’re asked at our 
