Cloth Diapering 101

NEW!  FREE Cloth Diapering 101 Classes

Tight budget?  Need to cut your expenses?  Tired of throwing your money into the trash with every disposable diaper you change?  Want to cut your diaper bill and feel great about the environment?

Cloth diapering really is EASY!  Come find out why and how mothers use washable diapers.  Learn how to care for and wash your diapers, proper detergents, preventing odor or diaper rash, different ways to diaper your little one in cloth.

Offered Monthly, this class is FREE!  Check our calendar for the latest class.

No need to register.  Just come and enjoy!

 

Download our Cloth Diapering Guide

Get All Your Questions answered with the links below!

Our cloth diapering guide is packed with invaluable information about cloth diapers: different types of cloth diapers, how to wash and maintain, how to fold to put on a baby, and much more! Click here to view the guide in PDF form.

 

Also click on the links below for the Bummis and Cottonbabies websites about the correct care of your cloth diapers. Find out how to deal with poopie diapers, how to wash them correctly, what detergents to use (Yes, many are bad for your diapers--do not use DREFT!!), how to deal with stains, keeping your diapers odor-free and sweet smelling, and much more.

Cottonbabies:  Cloth Diapering Basics

Bummis:  Cloth Diapers Use and Care

 

Why would anyone use cloth diapers?

by Jane Bradshaw

The Bottom Line

What does your money mean to you? Did you know that now days most families spend $3000 to $5000 to buy disposable diapers for each child from birth to potty training? I was floored when I did the math. It averages out to about .25 cents a diaper. Of course they cost less when the baby is small, but as they need bigger diapers the price goes up and up and up. Then of course many parents find out their baby can only tolerate certain brands because of the absorbent gels and other ingredients that irritate some babies. Sometimes the cheapest brands don't agree with your baby's tushie.

If you are on a budget, struggling to make ends meet, want your money to streeeeetch farther, have your own washer and dryer, using washable diapers even part-time can save money and may be for you. Of course many parents decide on cloth because of the many environmental reasons. Whatever your reason, we'll be glad to show you how to get started.

I used cloth diapers with all of my 3 babies,(they are all now grown) and can barely remember it. It was basically a financial decision as we were struggling to finish school and pay the bills to keep the electricity and phone from being cut off, but it was not the horrible experience modern parents seem to think it is. In fact there was a lot of satisfaction realizing that I was saving my family money every time I washed a load of diapers. I would hang them out on the clothes line on sunny days and the sun would bleach out stains for me. Believe it or not we are still using the diapers I used on my youngest, now 23 years old, as cleaning rags at Best Start. Now my newest grandchildren (newborn twins) are in cloth as it was going to cost $100 a month or more to diaper these two little boys, more as they got into bigger sizes. Luckily cloth diapers last and last. Most of the diapers the twins are using were used to diaper their older brother and sister. Electricity, water and detergent, is all we are paying for - a huge savings!

THEN did you know many mothers resell their diapers and diaper covers when they have potty trained their last child? We have a bulletin board and you can check it or put up your own ad to resell your diapers when you are done or sell them on ebay. What is the resale value of that disposable diaper??? Does anybody want it after your baby used it?

Now even more than ever with the higher gas prices, cloth diapers make sense. Tell the truth now, if you are using disposables, haven't you made a trip to the store, just because you are running out of diapers? 'Cha-ching' (insert cash register sound here) That is probably another dollar or two or three in gas. When I was running low on diapers I would throw a load in the washer and go to bed, then put them in the dryer as soon as I got up in the morning.

If you are interested read Karen Walter's article, "Why would anyone choose to use cloth diapers?" and the diapering guide and come to Best Start to see modern washable diapers with NO PINS. They are easy to use and many babies have told us they prefer them. (some toddlers pick the cloth diaper and hand it to mom instead of the paper diaper) Who would want paper next to sensitive skin when soft cotton is available?

Testimonials:

“My daughter started with a diaper rash that would not go away. We went to the doctor 3 different times without a cure. When we started cloth diapers, (the Flip diapers from bumGenius) within 48 hours we saw improvement. The raised bumps and extreme redness was getting better. In a week it was gone! Even my mother was amazed! The Flip diapers are great!" ---Nicole Mays

"I've been cloth diapering for over a year with prefolds & Kushies and just bought bumGenius 3.0 last week. I LOVE THEM!! The colors are so cute, good for boys and girls! I like how trimly they fit. You really can't even tell the difference between these and disposables. Great buy!"  ---Jai Albert

"The regular cloth diapers are wonderful because they honestly don't smell as bad as disposable ones. They are extremely easy and wash so wonderful. Even the covers when soiled wash up right back to white. Christopher does not have hardly any diaper rash even after a 10 -hour nights sleep"  ---Cathering T. (Mother of Christopher)

"I just started cloth diapering and it is easier than I thought it would be! I wish I would have started sooner. This week while we were on vacation I used disposables while we traveled. When Caleb had a poopie disposable diaper, it was amazing how you could smell it across the house – my husband could not believe it! We had gotten used to the cloth diapers not smelling so badly. No more bags of stinky diaper trash to drive to the dumpster down the road – my husband is thrilled!” ---Joy Rhodes, Mom of Caleb

"My husband and I decided to use cloth diapers as a means to save money but after we took our son on a weekend trip with disposables we learned that not only did we save money (a lot of money) using cloth, we preferred our cloth! It worked better, stunk less, was more comfortable, leaked less and was cheaper. Cloth diapers have been made so easy that almost every mother who sees me changing my son's diaper in a public bathroom or at church is amazed at their ease and interested in learning more. I send them all to Best Start Parenting Center where one can find all the supplies you'd need to start and maintain a happy, economically and ecologically friendly, diapering experience." ---Melody Lauer

Best Start is part of the Real Diaper Association! 

The Real Diaper Association Mission Statement: The Real Diaper Association is a collective non-profit organization in which parents and small businesses take the lead in creating a cultural shift to increase the use of simple, reusable cloth diapers. We connect current cloth diapering parents to the long history of cloth diapering. Cloth diapers are real diapers. The Association organizes local advocates and activists for cloth diapers through a member-supported resource center which plans campaigns, trains organizers, distributes educational information, supports local groups, and connects users to the Cloth Diaper industry. Local Real Diaper Circles reach users face-to-face with knowledge and tools to make cloth diapering accessible and acceptable to U.S. parents, who have the power to change the world one baby at a time.
 

MORE interesting articles about the cloth vs. disposable debate:

From the folks at Mothering Magazine
-The Joy of Cloth Diapers
-The Politics of Diapers: A Timeline of Recovered History

Read this article from ConsumerReports.org about Cloth Diapers:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/baby/2009/07/cloth-vs-disposable-diapers-getting-started.html

January 21, 2008 - Time Magazine.
"Diapers Go Green" writted by Pamela Paul and published in the January 21, 2008 edition of Time Magazine, page 56.

 

Check our BLOG for more cloth diapering articles!