Central Florida Green Guide

Gone are the days of dunking and swirling diapers in the toilet, fighting stains and housing a stinky wet pail in your home.  Today’s cloth diapers are modern miracles of parenting.  They keep baby dry eliminating diaper rash, are easy to put on, don’t stain, and they keep the mess where it should be: in the diaper (no more “blow outs”).  The best part, throw them in a regular washer and dryer and you can use them again and again, year after year.  They can even be passed on to future siblings! 

Specifically, the pocket diaper delivers on everything listed above.  Pocket diapers are constructed of a waterproof outer and an inner of microfiber fleece or suedecloth.  The two layers are sewn together with an opening at the waist in the back.  This opening creates a pocket where an insert is stuffed.  The insert provides the absorbency and pulls the moisture through the inner and away from baby’s skin.  This greatly reduces diaper rash.

Wearing just 6 diapers each day to his third birthday, a baby will use 6,570 diapers.  The Real Diaper Association estimates that 27.4 billion diapers are consumed in the US annually making disposable diapers the third largest single consumer item in landfills.  It is also estimated that it takes 250-500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose. 

In our example above, if the baby’s parents purchase 6,570 disposable diapers they will spend $1,643.  However, opting for one-size pocket diapers that grow with baby from birth through potty learning, parents can outfit their baby for life in cloth diapers for under $500 including accessories. The cloth diapers can then be used for future siblings.  Cloth diapers also have a wonderful resale value.

To learn more about cloth diapering and meet other parents who use cloth diapers, visit the Orlando Cloth Diaper Lovers or stop by for a monthly meeting.  We meet the second Tuesday of the month at 3pm at Infusion Tea in College Park.   

Kristy has one son and since his birth she’s been researching to find healthier ways to do things and live a life of less impact. In a city that is less than “crunchy” it has been an adventure and she hopes to share some of what she’s learned both here and at her store Wee Willie Winks where she offers cloth diapers and other earth/child friendly parenting solutions.