As soon as you find out you’re pregnant, the worries start to settle in. Am I going to be a good mom? Will I give my baby breast milk or formula? How much does it cost to raise a child? Should I use cloth diapers or disposable ones? While this may become overwhelming, today I am going to help put you at ease. Here are some benefits for both cloth diapers and disposable diapers.

Benefits of Cloth Diapers

There are many benefits to using cloth diapers. For starters, let’s talk about their environmental impact. They do not contribute to landfill waste, and in production, require fewer resources. So you can feel good about making our environment cleaner and healthier.

Cloth diapers also have fewer chemicals in them which is healthier for your baby. This helps your baby not get diaper rash as often and is overall better for their skin. Some mothers have felt that their babies who wore cloth diapers were also more comfortable in them.

When it comes to potty training, cloth diapers have an advantage. Because cloth diapers do not soak up as much, they have that feeling that they are wet, which helps in the process of potty training! Once your baby grows out of them, you can use them again with your next child, or find other ways to use them including bibs, burp cloths, etc.

Benefits of Disposable Diapers

Now onto disposable diapers. These are a great choice if you are constantly running from point A to point B with little to no breaks. They are convenient and easy to use, since all you have to do is wipe and change your baby, throw in the trash, and you are good to go! These diapers definitely save you a ton of time. You do not have to keep up with laundry on a daily basis to make sure you have enough diapers on hand.

Disposable diapers are available almost anywhere. You can go to the nearest store and easily pick up a pack when needed. They are said to be more sanitary, and you do not have to wash out the messes your baby has made.

Another great quality of disposable diapers is that they have a high capacity to absorb helping you save even more time, so you are not constantly checking to see if you need to change your baby. You also can get biodegradable and organic to be more environmentally friendly.

Cost of Cloth Diapers vs. Disposable Diapers

Cloth diapers can be expensive in the start-up. You will probably want around 20-25 on hand unless you plan to do laundry every single day. You will need to buy the diaper, inserts for the diapers if they didn’t already come with them, a spray to help keep the diapers clean, and of course, the laundry supplies to wash them consistently. A single diaper usually costs from 4 up to 20 dollars. So, if you were to get 25 of the most expensive cloth diapers, you are looking at most $500. Then you would just have to factor in your laundry costs including water and detergent. After a while, your cost could increase if you choose to filter out the old diapers for newer ones.

Disposable diapers, on the other hand, you just need to buy the diapers! Babies typically go through 8-10 diapers a day. If you end up using 10 diapers a day for a year, that’s 3,650 diapers! Buying in bulk will decrease your cost a little bit, but buying organic will increase them as well. On average, you can find diapers for about 20 cents per diaper. So, for only one year of diapers, you will spend around $730, or about $60 a month. Depending on when your child becomes potty trained, you will pay even more.

Overall, choosing affordable quality cloth diapers will be cheaper in the long run, but you will lose out on the convenience of disposable diapers.

Final Thoughts

There are many benefits to both cloth diapers and disposable ones. No diaper is the best choice for everyone. Here, we’ve identified the benefits for either one. Of course, they are cons as well, but we choose to focus on the positive because as a new mom, that’s what we have to do to survive. Only you can decide what is truly best for your baby and your situation. There is no shame in choosing one or the other. Just do what feels right for you and enjoy that precious baby of yours.