Back in October, Mamapedia Voices published one of my articles, "Is Cloth Diapering For You?". Mamapedia is a great resource for mothers of all walks of life. Since it has been a while since I have blogged about cloth diapering I thought I'd share some of my current thoughts on the subject.
Cloth diapering is time consuming. Our washing machine in Germany takes an hour to wash one load of clothes. If I put the diapers in the dryer it usually takes about 2 hours to dry. The dryer is not the most environmentally friendly appliance so I try and hang the diapers to dry when possible. Sunshine is the best natural dryer. However, in the winter it rains and snows a lot so it takes 1-2 days to air dry them because there is not a lot of sunshine.
I have honestly stopped using cloth diapers when I go out unless it's just a quick errand where I would possibly only need to change a diaper once. I don't know if it is just because I have gotten so busy or because of the convenience of disposable diapers but primarily when I leave my house I put a disposable diaper on my son. When we travel we only pack disposable diapers now.
My son no longer sleeps in cloth diapers except for naps. His winter pajamas are tighter than summer pajamas and I am unable to zip his foot pajamas up when he's wearing a cloth diaper. Not to mention the fact that it is challenging to cloth diaper at night. It's not impossible but even hemp sometimes leaks if your child is a heavy wetter. Also I have found that Pampers Baby Dry keep his bottom dry at night and they are less bulky.
Other than that cloth diapering is great. I think if I didn't have to walk two flights of stairs to my basement to do laundry and my washing machine and dryer were faster it would be less of a hassle.
If you are a cloth diapering mama I'd love to hear from you.
I have to admit I gave up on cloth diapers too... my eldest got a thrush infections she couldn't shake off... but it cleared up when I started using Pampers. And, as you say, the hassle... oh my....
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