14 months of Cloth

**warning - this blog post contains references to poo and pee. please refrain from reading if you have a sensitivity towards discussions of this nature**

Excluding the first months when we were on the traditional white nappies, we have been cloth diapering now for 14 months in total. Unlike the traditional white nappies most of us grew up in, these modern cloth diapers are quite a different creature - they are a little more complicated to clean, but manage to stay on JWs bum for a little longer compared to the white nappies.

Its been a long and interesting journey, tears and sweat, satisfaction and contentment. Many efforts in getting the laundry process right; bearing in mind rigorous washing required to clean out poo and pee wears out the material and elastics. Yes - not all of our cloth diapers survived, but we are happy to report that we have managed to keep our modern CDs and our son's bum quite clean.

There is no doubt that disposable diapering is the most hassle free way of diapering. And on the days when life just gets too too much, or if we have a few days of watery poo, then we have no choice but to disposable diaper. We simply don't have enough modern CDs to deal with days such as these.

On all other days, CDs are our preferred choice. Somehow after getting into the routine of washing, drying and putting them on JW for 14 months, it seems like the right thing to do. Seeing a whole bag of dirty disposables go out to the rubbish bin at the end of the day just seems so wrong now. Nevertheless, it is a matter of perspective and what one gets use to.

So, did we save much money in the decision to use cloth?

The jury is out on this. Given the cost of damaged CDs, washing & sterilising/ strip washing (in electricity and water) and special detergents, it is hard to say whether the savings are huge.

In the monetary sense, I would say we are no worse off, even after taking into account the high start up cost in these modern CDs. From an environmental point of view, just on the feel good factor alone, we are glad to have taken the more sustainable route. We certainly hope we can sustain cloth diapering!