Why cloth diapers are bad: Downsides to cloth diapers

The main downsides to cloth diapers are

• Larger upfront cost
• Washing them
• Cloth diapers with snap closures can be confusing

Are cloth diapers harder to put on then disposables?

Some are some things about cloth diapers that are exactly the same as disposable diapers, but there are also parts that are not so similar.

Closures

Cloth diapers have 2 main closures, #1 snaps and #2 hook & loop (Velcro).

While the hook & loop cloth diapers would be about the same as putting on a disposable, the snap versions aren’t as easy.

Cloth diapers that have a snap closure typically have on the wings 2 snaps that adjust the fit around the legs, and 2 snaps that adjust the fit around the belly.

Some cloth diapers also have crossover and/or hip snaps on the wings for added adjustability, but extra snaps tend to add extra confusion.

And on the front of the cloth diaper they usually have 9-16 snaps that adjust the rise of the diaper (how high the front of the diaper is so it can fit larger babies).

Inserts/ absorbency

Many cloth diapers have a pretty straightforward design, and the inner surface is just like a disposable in the same way that a disposable has 1 flat surface, however there are others that are not so straightforward.

In my experience many all-in-one style cloth diapers (cloth diapers that have all their absorbency sewn to the water-proof outer layer) have very odd and sometimes cumbersome inserts.

These inserts are what absorb the pee, and they usually do a very good job, but they can get kinda crazy.

The first time a I got my hands on a cloth diaper with a tongue style insert I was like ” *blink**blink* What in the name of all that is holy is this bullcrap”.

Now that I’ve had some practice with this style of all-in-one it’s not a problem at all, but man did that take some getting used to.

Now, let’s go 1 step farther into to the “what do I even do with this” category and talk about flat cloth diapers.

The first time I heard the term “flat cloth diaper” it was like that person had just started speaking Ancient Greek, I didn’t even know how to try and picture what they were talking about.

Flat cloth diapers have to be folded into a shape before they can be used as a cloth diaper.

There are very simple folds like the pad-fold, but there are also tons of more complicated folds.

If you want to learn more about flat cloth diapers check out my article “Flat cloth diapers: How to use & best materials”

Are cloth diapers hard to wash with the poop?

Poop is actually mostly removed from the cloth diaper before it is washed so poop doesn’t really factor into the washing process.

However, removing the poop from the cloth diaper is quite the adventure.

This is where having a diaper sprayer really comes in handy, so that you can just spray the poop off into the toilet.

If you don’t have a diaper sprayer then you will have to dunk the dirty cloth diaper in the toilet water and swish it around to get the poop to come off.

There would also be the option of using disposable cloth diaper liners.

Disposable liners basically look like dryer sheets, and are placed on the inside of a cloth diaper to catch the poop, but much like life itself, poop is very unpredictable and sometimes the liner doesn’t catch it all.

If you want to learn more about cloth diaper liners or washing your cloth diapers check out my articles ” Are cloth diaper liners really necessary? An overview of fleece & disposable liners” and ” How to tell if your cloth diapers are clean”

Are cloth diapers expensive?

The upfront cost of cloth diapers is way higher than the upfront cost of disposable diapers.

A single cloth diaper can typically cost anywhere from $7.00-$30.00 depending on style and brand, while disposable diapers usually cost between $0.20- $0.70 for a single diaper.

However, the tables drastically turn after a few months.

Babies use roughly 8 diapers per day, that’s 240 diapers per month.

Now let’s say that the vast majority of disposable diapers cost about $0.30 each, that’s $0.30 X 240 = $72.00 per month on disposables (not including tax).

So, after 3 months of using disposable diapers at $0.30 each you will have spent a total of $216.00 (not including tax) and you haven’t bought wipes, rash cream or factored in additional trash removal (assuming that’s necessary).

You will probably need about 24 cloth diapers total and if the vast majority of cloth diapers cost about $20.00 then $20.00 X 24 = $480.00.

That’s about the cost of 7 months’ worth of disposable diapers

If you want to know more about the cost of cloth diapering check out my article ” How much are cloth diapers? some numbers you should know”

Resources

Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) from qualifying purchases made through those links. * Indicates an affiliate link

Link to barnyardbums.com

Link to smartbottoms.com

Link to Cloth-eez prefolds on greenmountaindiapers.com

Link to SprayPal cloth diaper sprayer on clothdiaper.com*