Myths I Had About Cloth Diapers Before I Actually Tried Them

If you're a new parent or soon-to-be parent, you might have heard of cloth diapers as an alternative to disposable ones. Maybe you've even considered using them yourself, but have been hesitant because of the myths and misconceptions that surround them. As someone who was in your shoes not too long ago, I can relate. Before I actually tried cloth diapers, I had a lot of preconceived notions about them that made me reluctant to give them a chance. It was great for other parents to choose cloth, but not me.

However, after actually using them on my little ones, I can honestly say that many of the myths I had were largely unfounded. Below are the most common cloth diaper myths I had before I tried them, and how my experiences changed my perspective.

I used to think:

You Had To Be A Stay-At-Home Mom

I had this assumption that you had to be home all the time to make cloth work.

As a first time Mom I learned that people leave their houses to grocery shop and stuff with their babies, and moms go back to work all the time. Turns out that travel wet bags do exist for cloth on the go and other caregivers CAN and DO learn to use cloth diapers every day.

You Only Needed Cloth If Money Was Tight Or You Were A Hippie

Talk about stereotypes right? It was a friend that introduced me to cloth and I quickly realized that money wasn't the only reason to consider cloth diapers.

People around me were choosing cloth so they could:

Control what went on baby's skin
Decide to divert their money away from multi-national corps.
Reduce their carbon footprint/landfill waste
And yes, some to save money
But none of them were wildly unconventional

In fact, they were moms that were a lot like me and I wasn't a crazy tree-hugger or anything, just conscious as a new parent of the world around me and what we were leaving for our children.

It Was Gross
I could not reconcile in my mind WHAT TO DO WITH THE POO. I mean, it was a fabric diaper, and sure it was cute and all, but ewww what was I supposed to do with it after... you know...

Ultimately I have to say seeing is believing. My friend showed me her diaper bag and the cloth diapers were clean and white and they smelled...fresh. Amazing what a washing machine can do.

Once I understood that gobs of poop weren't actually going into the washing machine, but rather in the toilet where it belonged, I started to come around to thinking it might be something I could try, maybe even just on a part-time basis.

It Took A Lot Of Time
I hate laundry. Always have. Cloth diapers seemed like just one more thing I was going to have to wash after baby clothes and spit up towels and I was tired.

Then I noticed as a new mom that what I detested more than a couple loads of laundry was packing up a baby to go to the store to buy diapers I was going to throw away in the middle of a northern blizzard.

Washing Cloth Diapers Is Hard
And of course I worried about how to wash cloth diapers. But in the end, just treating them like really dirty laundry was all that was needed. A pre-rinse and then a long hot heavy duty wash with good detergent and magically clean diapers were ready to go again.

Oddly I kinda like cloth diaper laundry and we've used cloth now for all four of our kids. It's strangely satisfying and also comforting that I'll never run out of something my baby needs no matter our financial situation or how many kids we have in diapers at once, no matter the weather, no matter any crisis or natural disaster or shortage of diapers because of Covid or inflation. Always covered with cloth, and it puts my mind at ease, even if we do use a disposable diaper here and there, that cloth is always available and always reliable.

But I still hate regular laundry. For the record.