This following post was an entry in our Blog to Inspire contest. The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily those of Eco Baby Steps or Parenting By Nature.
Blog to Inspire entrant Stretching the One Income Dollar is Monique Rowe from Saskatchewan. She is the author of the book, Stretching the One Income Dollar, mother to two great daughters, and soul mate to Gerry.
There are many reasons to and advantages to using cloth diapers. First of all, cloth diapers are less abrasive against your baby’s soft, sensitive skin which causes fewer rashes than disposable diapers. Cloth is more economical because you wash and reuse the diapers instead of throwing them away after one use like how disposable ones are designed. Diapers can be very expensive if you have to keep buying them, and cloth is a onetime investment that gets multiple uses. They are also better for the environment because disposable diapers are often times not biodegradable and cloth isn’t meant to be thrown away.
The greatest advantage that a lot of parents are experiencing with the use of cloth diapers is that their babies potty train earlier than most kids that wear disposables. Babies that are wearing cloth will potty train up to six months earlier than expected -which have been proven in studies about potty training. Talking to parents who have used cloth on their babies will prove they are potty training way soon than those wearing the disposables. Cloth diapers also make potty training easier in addition to happening faster. Babies that are wearing disposable diapers cannot feel as well that they are wet. This is not such a good advantage . It is important when the babies are being potty trained that they feel the wetness. It is thought that babies want to potty train earlier because they are not liking the wet feeling from cloth. Your baby will know when to go to the bathroom because they can feel when the diaper is wet.
There are going to be a lot of accidents with babies when they are potty training. This is natural. It will be a new feeling that they have to learn to understand when they need to go to the bathroom. A great advantage of using cloth during potty training is that you’ll save a lot of money. Instead of having to buy disposable diapers after each accident, you can just wash the cloth ones and reuse them. Cloth diapers have come a long way to what they used to be like. The older style diapers were the big white pieces of flannel that looked like they could drape a small table. Today, there are so many nice colors. There are ones that are fitted and ones that have Velcro. Wow- not like it used to be. It is also so nice to not have to use pins anymore. Because of the newer features of cloth diapers that are fitted, it makes them easy to use during potty training. There are so many great leaps and bounds with the new age diaper.
Cloth diapers should be used during potty training, and before as well, because of the advantages they offer to both the parents and babies.
They are
- convenient,
- more economical,
- better for your babies’ skin,
- better for the environment, and
- most important they will make your baby potty train earlier and easier.
Read about the Blog to Inspire contest and read posts by the finalists and by the rest of the entrants. Forty-four bloggers reached out to inspire on the topics of cloth diapers, babywearing, breastfeeding, and natural parenting.