A lot of people think that I’m crazy. Not because of the way I dress, not because my home is a total mess (it’s not…ever), not even because of my personality (I’m pretty quiet). Instead, it’s how I choose to diaper my baby that gets to them.
I frequently get the question, “So…what kind of diapers do you use/recommend?”
I reply, “We use cloth diapers and we love them!”
That’s when I get the “you’re crazy” look which only gets stronger when they find out that I have been breastfeeding for 13+ months AND I still use a sling to carry my toddler around. But, for that, I don’t mind being crazy! What I’m doing is what is best for MY child, and I’ll take all the looks people have to give me. It’s worth it.
After realizing that cloth diapering is a lot easier than it was when I when I was a child, I decided it was something that I wanted to do. My husband? That was a different story. Just think, you’re getting ready to have your first bundle of joy and there’s so much that goes along with it– clothing, cribs, bedding, nursery decor, swings, bouncers, NAMES and that’s the fun stuff; let’s not forget the spit-up, the late nights and lack of sleep…the poop. I knew I’d have some serious convincing to do, and I’d like to share my, “honey, this is worth it” list with you.
So, obviously the first thing you want to do when trying to convince your husband to hop on board (with anything, really) is to go and turn on a ball game. Get him a cold drink, hand him the remote, give him a kiss and let him know you won’t complain one bit during the game that he’s not spending time oohing and ahhing over all of the stuff you got at your baby shower- so long as you can have some undivided attention when it’s over. I find that 10 times out of 10 this works. When the game is over, give him 5 minutes to get over his excitement or disappointment and then sit down with him. Start with reason number one (this was the biggest reason for us):
1. “Honey, cloth diapering will save us a lot of money.” No one is ever opposed to saving a good dollar or two….or several hundred in this case. Cloth diapering is a very cost effective way to cover your baby’s (or babies’) bottom(s). While you’ll be putting out a good amount of money up front, you’ll be saving a lot of money in the long run- especially if you’re planning on having more than one child. When we purchased our set of cloth diapers (22 bumGenius One Size 3.0′s) we spent a little over $350. I know… deep breaths. That’s a big number. Ready to keep going?
So, on average, for the first 7 months of your baby’s life, you’re going to go through 7-10 diapers a day. Doing some quick math, that’s close to 1,600 diapers in 7 months! If you spend $7 (the cheap brands) per 32 diapers, then by month 7, your baby has gone through about In the first 7 months you’ve spent $355 on just diapers!
Now, if you invested in the one size cloth diapers, you’d have already broken even! Amazing, isn’t it? By month 9 we were saving money! Interested in finding out how much you’d be saving? Go here and do your own calculations. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of your savings if you keep it up with baby number 2, then 3… Imagine if you put the money you’d be using towards diapers into savings–what a great start to a college fund!
You may be able to stop your convincing right here. The money saving may very well be enough of an incentive for your husband to want to go ahead with it (it was for me). If it’s not, well, keep going….
At this point, you’re pretty set on cloth diapering. You’ve gotten past the money reason and while it’s piqued his interest, your husband may not be sold yet. Remember, there are a lot of preconceived notions about cloth diapering that make it less than appealing to most mommies–imagine how the dad’s feel about it. Don’t worry, there are plenty of other reasons to grab him! Onto reason number 2:
2. “Poop is gross.” Stay with me, now. I’m going to tell you what I tell anyone who wonders why I do cloth – poop is gross no matter what. If it’s in a disposable diaper sitting in a trashcan gathering stink or if it’s sitting in a diaper pail waiting to be washed–it’s gross. I highly recommend (if you do decide to cloth diaper) a diaper sprayer. It will save your life…or at the very least your hands from having to spend a lot of time in the toilet cleaning diapers. Definitely worth it.
Obviously, the laundry aspect of it isn’t too fun. In fact, if we’re being honest, those are some of my least favorite moments of the week…I think I’d rather clean toilets in a frat house. If I felt this way about it, I knew when I spoke with my husband that this could be a potential deal breaker. So, I went in also knowing that when he asked, “Who’s going to be doing the laundry?”, if I was serious about it, I needed to suck it up and say, “I will.” You may have to do that, too. The laundry isn’t fun, but when I see my little girl waddling around in her pink bumGenius…it’s worth it.
3. “Cloth diapering has come a long way since we were babies.” And it has! It’s incredible how much like a normal disposable diaper some cloth diapers are. If you’re going for the super money savings, you may want to just go with the prefolds and snappies, BUT if you’re going for the ease and convenience in cloth diapering, the world is at your finger tips! There are all kinds of brands out there, many of them you can find at Mom’s Milk Boutique. You can find all kinds of different things that float your boat- velcro or snaps, one size fits all or all in ones, washable liners and/or disposable liners–the list goes on and on! So, do your research- make sure you do it together because he’ll be changing diapers, too, and you want him to get something that’s going to be comfortable for him. As I mentioned above, we chose to use the bumGenius 3.0 one size diapers and not only is my husband comfortable with using them, so are the grandparents, friends and babysitters who have come over.
At this point, take a deep breath, smile and gauge the reaction. If it looks like he’s convinced then you need not continue, you don’t want it to start to feel like a lecture! If it looks like he may need some more convincing, there are several other great reasons to cloth diaper. It’s much better on the environment (for all you mommas with “green” hubbies); it’s much better for baby’s bottom– less diaper rash = less money spent on diaper creams (again, with the money saving) AND less diaper rash = less tears and pain; it’s easier to potty train a baby who has been cloth diapered because they’re used to having that kind of fabric on their bottoms (the cloth diapers are more like a pull up and less like the bulky disposable diapers) and so it’s not quite as big of a transition.
Will people think you’re crazy? Probably. Would it be easier to buy disposable diapers, throw them away, and not think about it? Definitely. Is it worth it to save the money, do the laundry, and protect your sweet baby’s bottom? Absolutely. Start the conversation with your husband, and hopefully he will see, like mine did, that it’s worth it.
by Christy Kayle, guest contributor
GIVEAWAY!! We are giving away one GroBaby Smart Package – since GroBaby is a super smart way to save money!! In order to enter, please comment below and tell us how you convinced your husband – or how your husband convinced you! Entries close at midnight on 4/30/10. Winner will be posted here and on Facebook. Contest void where prohibited by law. It is the winner’s responsibility to contact us to claim their prize.
GroBaby Smart Package winner….thanks to random.org we have a winner!! Rachael who commented @ April 23, 2010 at 8:45 pm. Please contact abbie@momsmilkboutique.com to claim your package!
I mentioned it while pregnant, got a resounding “Ew!” But, when my son was five months old, he agreed to let me try it out and see how it went! Now he agrees that it’s not bad at all. My son just turned two, and I figure we’ve come out WAY ahead (we only have enough diapers for one day at a time, though). We just got a diaper sprayer (hoping to install tomorrow!) and I’m so excited! I think that will be great for future babies!
I got my husband to cloth diaper when i told him how much money we would save doing it and the fact that i do all the CD laundry, and basicly am the only one that changes baby (was basicly the only one before cloth too lol). I have been CDing for almost 3 months now and i love it, its so easy when at home…if we are going to be gone for an extended amount of time then i do disposables for the meantime
I simply told him he would say money and it is easy! Money made him change his mind quickly!
I tried all these things with my man and he still has a hard time with the cloth diapers! We compromised though and use cloth at home and disposables on the go. I have to admit I love how cute the cloth diapers are and I’m addicted to fluff! I’m always on the prowl for some new prints or colors!
My husband didn’t understand exactly what cloth diapers were. He only remembered the old pin prefolds and had memories of going to his friends house who had a younger sibling and seeing the cloth diapers soaking in the toilet. Once he saw how easy they were to use it was easier to convince him that it was worth the value.
I convinced my hubby to cloth diaper when my 3rd baby was born. We knew we would be having a large family and that cloth would be a good financial investment along with breastfeeding we would SAVE money and have less trash for him to take out.
Now 3 kids later the man cant even smell a disposable diaper! He loves them, loves how easy they are and even knows how to wash them correctly!
I married an accountant, so I appealed to his accountant ways and showed him how much money we’d save. I showed a chart, which he proceeded to double check the math of. He’s still not 100% on board, but he’s slowly coming around!
I didn’t really tell my husband that we were going to cloth diaper until I had already been using (and washing) them for more than a week with our two little girls. I wanted to make sure that **I** liked them before I introduced him to them!
Now we have no problems – I have about 30 diapers for the 2 girls, and I have been CDing full time now for close to 6 weeks. And I LOVE the cuteness factor!! I am a cloth diaper addict…
I wanted to use cloth diapers from the start, but my DH was not as convinced b/c of the poo. I though gDiapers would be a good compromise, but talked to some cd’ing friends (via Facebook since they all live on the opposite side of the country – love technology!) and they convinced me that cloth would be better since you have to deal with poo no matter what. Combined with the fact that we used a diaper service for the first 9 months and DH was convinced. He also really liked the fact that cd’ed babies potty train faster and we never had to run out to buy diapers!
Let’s see. First I presented him with the facts such as cost for disposables vs. cloth. We hadn’t cloth diapered my daughter so we definitely had an idea how many diapers we went through with her and the costs. I started slow to get the feel of it and then decided to commit full time. I did my research on what kind of CD we wanted, what got good reviews and we jumped in! I even got him to start using prefolds. Another convincing argument was that my son was so much more aware of his potty-ing and he even potty trained early. Bonus!
I explained to my husband about all of the toxic chemicals found in conventional disposables and he was right on board.
I haven’t started using cloth yet but I’m about to!! I have a few diapers (few goodmamas, few FB’s) and I’d LOVE to add to my collection and get started!!
I started researching a bit about them and brought up the idea to my husband. At first he just looked at me like I was crazy, but then I purchased a few used Fuzzi Bunz and he loved them! He even helps me stuff them. In the beginning I was the only one washing them, but now he makes sure he helps with that too and he even recommends them to his coworkers.
The only CDs he isn’t very fond of are the prefolds. He says her little baby tush looks too big!
Right now are stash mainly consists of FBs and a few BGs.
I just ordered some new GroBaby’s and I would love to convert to those exclusively.
Since we have started CDing my husband is all about being “green” and finding more ways to waste less.
He also likes to brag about bed sharing, breastfeeding, baby wearing and our DDs teething necklace. LOL! I just let him think it was all his idea
Well. I am a single mama but i had to convince Grandma the baby sitter. She always supports me so I just told her about all the benefits. We ordered a sample pack and fell in love
it took little convincing, money saving was a big aspect and he doesn’t like the idea of diapers hanging out in the dump for 50,000 years!
I was able to convince my husband, by telling him how much we’d save, and that he wouldn’t have to wash them. But now he’s so on board, he washes them before I get to them.
It didn’t really take much convincing for us, either – the money savings and the health benefits are the biggest reasons.
(One note on the money savings (forgive me if someone’s already mentioned this, I didn’t have time to read all the comments!
) you also have to factor in water and electricity costs from laundering your cloth diapers which can actually make more of a difference than you think! BUT it’s still a great savings, especially if 1) you use your diapers for more than one child, 2) you line dry as much as possible, 3) you would have used the more expensive, name-brand disposables (even from a club store!) and 4) your child may very well potty train sooner if there is heightened awareness of when they are wet.)
Oh another of my favorite reasons to cloth diaper is the lack of blowouts in the exclusively breastfed stage!!! That alone is probably worth it for me!
I convinced my husband by buying a few and telling him I was tired up waking up wet while we were co-sleeping with my son. After a few nights of not having to wake my son up to change him so much my husband was happy with the extra sleep he was getting.
So then I jumped in full time.
I didn’t really give Chris a choice.. I’m the one that diapers Willow all the time, so what we use was up to me.. When I realized the money that we could save along with the fact that I was NOT contributing to the million of diapers put into landfills, I couldn’t say no .. PLUS, Willow has the nicest looking butt at our play dates because her diapers are cute and pretty. Since starting with Cloth diapers at a month old I have also switched to cloth wipes as well!!
I have 2 friends that are currently pregnant and both have already stocked up on CD because of talking with us.
How I convinced my husband…. Me: Sweetheart, we are going to cloth diaper our baby, okay? Him: Okay.
My husband REFUSED to let me purchase cloth diapers because he just “knew” I wouldn’t be able to handle it. By this, he mainly meant the smell & gross factor since with our firstborn I would gag with every diaper change. But I really wanted to do it, and when I put my mind to something, I can overcome even the strongest gag reflex. A friend of mine had a surplus of cloth diapers, from CDing her 4 kids, and offered to let me borrow her stuff for a few weeks to see if it was for me. Since it was free, my husband wished me luck.
Within 24 hours we were both sold. It’s so much softer on her bum, better for the environment & really not as much work as either one of us anticipated. We gave it a full three week trial before purchasing CDs of our own, but now that we have we would never have it any other way!
He loves how much money we’ll save (we bought the one size diapers, so we’re done buying diapers for this baby and the next one or two whenever we decide the time is right to grow our family), and I love that we’re saving the environment as we save money!
We’re definitely taking slack from our friends, acquaintances and some family members, but we stand up for our decision again and again. … And hopefully we’ll be the parents that encourage another family to make the switch 
I really didn’t give him to much of a choice. I told him it is a way to save money and will be better for our baby. He thought I was crazy at first but I bought real easy to use diapers and showed him how to use them. The other day he told me how proud he was of me for being so informed and how he is now proud of using cloth diapers. We are three months in and loving it.
I convinced my husband when our 6 month old son kept getting diaper rashes. I told him this would be good for our son, the environment, and our wallets.
When I first decided to CD, it was more out of neccessity! I was BROKE and my son became allergic to ALL sposies! Now, huggies came out with the P&N line and he does OK with those in a pinch
However, I had to convince all his caregivers (he’s a special needs kiddo) that this was THE BEST THING for us! I held a mini class with everyone on how they worked (we chose g’s to start with, long before Flip and GroBaby came out!) and promised that when they recieved the diapers they would be ready to throw on him just like a ‘sposie! They were hooked! I find it hilarious that now the LPNs and other nurses that work with him come back asking who has the best deals on CDs and how they get started!!! Its an addiction, and it’s infectious! Now, I’m hoping to host a CD session with several other moms to teach them about CDing!
I’ve been cloth diapering for five days and I LOVE it! I am still working on my husband but since I do all the laundry and 99% of the changes he’s letting me try it. I’ve told him about the money we’ll save, especially now that I’m a SAHM. I’ve also told him about how this will help my daughter’s constant diaper rash. He’s still reluctant to let me spend more money, but I’ll wash diapers every day if that’s what it takes!
I just told my husband how much money we were going to save and that I would do all the washing and caring for the diapers and he was convinced!
I convinced him to cloth diaper by telling him about how much money we would save, telling him how good it is for the environment, and showing him how easy it could be to cloth diaper!
The main selling point to my hubby was the cost effectiveness of cloth diapering. When I told him the investment would be good for more than one baby, he was totally hooked.
We also love the fact that we don’t have to make any late night diaper runs. I’m also breastfeeding, so we are a pretty self sufficient little family!
It started out as a way to save money, at least that is what I told him. And my husband is always happy to do anything that will save money! After getting into boutique fitters and knitted wool, I don’t really think we have saved any money but I love that my son’s booty is free from harsh chemicals and that we are doing our part to help the environment.
When I was Pregnant with #4 I looked in to using cloth, and loved all the benefits, saving money, better for baby and the environment. My husband was easy to convince once I told him how much money we would save. Then he became even more convinced once he go to see the diapers and feel how soft and nice they would be on babies bottom. As for the messy side of cloth diapering, I do all the laundry in the house anyway so no problem there. Plus there is no more smelly trash (from poo anyway) to take out for my hubby all the poo goes where it should , in the toilet. we love our cloth and are now cloth diapering #5!
He actually was the first to bring up the idea! His mother CD’d all three of her children using flats and pins.
Once I finally researched the different options he has somehow convinced himself that we couldn’t do it, both because we couldn’t afford it (ha!) and because it was too much work.
Once he saw how much we would be saving (until I started buying!!) and he saw the logistics, it was a match made in heaven.
I got out my sewing machine and made a diaper with his favorite college team logo on it. He was amused enough to give it a try and now after our third child he can’t believe anyone would wate so much money on something they throw away
Well I have convinced him I think..! Money is tight right now so I am building a stash slowly but when I explained the possible savings and the money back (selling when done with them) he seemed ok with it. I told him you dont get any money back from disposables your just throwing it away along with the diapers. Plus he really cares about our son and wants what is best for him too and I told him this is best for him! Also I am the main laundry person so it’s no extra work for him either.
I didn’t have a lot of convincing to do when it came to my husband. I did my research before even mentioning it, found some one size pocket diapers, and even bought one at a local mommy & baby store to show him, then I showed him how much money we would save.
The hard part was convincing my MIL that we weren’t crazy!
I got pretty lucky and just had to mention how much money we could save an he was on board. He has taken to the AIO’s better than the prefolds but promises he’ll Lerner how to use everything.
I used the “we’ll save lots of money” approach. He knew I’d be washing them, so it was quite simple
I have used cloth diapers on all of our children. I don’t really remember having to talk my hubby into, I just did it and he didn’t really even know since he’s only changed like 3 diapers in his whole life, haha! I love all the benefits of cloth, and wish I could have more children just so I could cloth diaper them! I am excited about all the new stuff coming out, and am looking forward to trying out the GroBaby with our newbie due in June.
Luckily I really did not have to do much convincing. I explained how much money we would save and he was hooked
I am a sahm so he did not have to worry about learning about most of this. I just smile though when I see him trying to decide which diaper to put on her 
I explained how much money we would potentially save, how easy they actually were, and that *I* would deal w/ the washing!
He’s never complained.
AND by going through my same “speech,” I was able to convince BOTH of my brothers-in-law to agree to CD my nieces, too!!
Hello
I was convinced from the beginning to go with cloth, I love that they save money are earth friendly and those cute bright colored baby bums. My husband was on board once i showed him how much money we could save.
It isn’t hard to convince my husband of things. We had been using gDiapers on our third (we used disposables on our first two and HATED stinky, saggy diapers, and don’t even get me started on the fights over whose turn it was to empty the dreaded diaper genie!!!) and I noticed that I was washing the outer covers a lot. It was a logical progression to cloth diapers from there. I ordered a trial pack, and once he saw that they were just as easy to use as disposables, he was convinced. It was easy to keep him on board as he realized he was no longer getting the “pick up diapers on your way home” calls that he did with our other two!
I used some of the same arguments–showing him on paper how much money we would save and ensuring him that it could be much easier than the flats, pins and vinyl covers with exposed elastic our parents used! The argument that had the most impact on him though was me saving only 3 days’ worth of dirty disposable diapers from our 8 month-old son in a plastic shopping bag. After those 3 days, the bag was BULGING. I showed it to my husband, who was horrified, and told him, “now imagine that we will throw that many diapers into the landfill every three days for at least the next three years!” It took no more convincing after that!
Since I’m a SAHM I pretty much just told my husband we were going to cloth diaper. I do all the laundry and 99% of the diaper changes so he didn’t mind. He especially didnt mind when he realized we’d save money. Grobabies are his favorite diaper because they are so much like sposies.
Thank god i didnt have to convince my husband. But my mother and mother in law were not really happy about it… but who cares right?!
When I was pregnant with my 3rd I began looking into cloth diapers. I wasn’t 100% sure, but I wanted to try. My husband gave me a big, fat, NO! All they typical reasons: gross, dirty, leaks, ugly, blah, blah, blah. I dropped it…for awhile. When that baby was 4 months old I still really wanted to do it. I approached my husband again and he said he wasn’t sure and that it was up to me. I went ahead and ordered 2 BG 3.0′s just to “try them out”. We both loved them immediately.
Now, it is two years and another baby later and I can proudly say that “WE” would never go back and haven’t purchased a pack of disposable diapers since. We are actually the proud owners of dozens of types of diapers. With our 4th baby we are using the GroBaby system, and we love it. My husband is great and changes and washes diapers. They are definitely the way to go!
We had been really tight on money and my step-mom gave me a sewing machine so I went and got $30 of flannel and my dad bought me a pack of microfiber towels. I got a pattern and made 6 pocket diapers to put the microfiber towels in and ordered a snappi. I have mow been using cloth for almost 6 months and we love it! Though I did end up getting 3 diapers that are dad friendly as he has a lot of trouble with the snappi.
We have saved over $200 by using cloth and if we have another we will start using cloth from the start!
I wanted to Cloth Diaper before my daughter was even born, and my husband was completely against it telling me he would give me a month and if it wasn’t everything I was promising it to be, he would FORCE me to go back to disposables… WELL as it turns out, after my daughter was born, and we were still in the hospital, she broke out in the most AWFUL disposable diaper rash, bleeding peeling, just awful awful rash… I told my husband he had to go home and get our cloth, and we were starting THEN… from that point on my husband has been 100% on board, AND he changes diapers all the time, he will do everything including prefolds, and insists on learning all about them… he will even do a load of laundry every now and again if I’m sick or something else is going on that prevents me from doing it! he is 100% on board for our daughters health!!!
At first he thought it was going to be too much work, but when I explained to him how all in ones work and that it was pretty much the same (at least for him, since he doesn’t do the washing) he was into it. Now he raves about it to his friends, lol! Both of us at first were thinking about cloth diapers as the old flats our younger siblings had in the 70′s and 80′s.
It was pretty easy to convince my hubby, I do the laundry anyway (and change most of the diapers) plus I’m super crunchy so I think he got that the idea of all those disposables in the landfill KILLS me. But if I had to point to any one single thing, it would be the $$$ savings. THere is no arguing with the money savings. Especially when I throw in diaperswappers and being able to make money back on the diapers I don’t like, it’s a win-win! I’ve purchased my entire stash (which can last 3-4 days) for about $250. Pretty awesome!
THanks for a great article!
Since he does all the diaper duty for the most part, he needed a bit of convincing, but I told him its much cheaper and better for the baby – no crazy chemicals touching baby’s skin. Plus all the benefit to the environment – so much waste with disposables! He’s pretty easy going so he’s been onboard for a while – but today will be the first day we’ll be trying CD since we just got them in the mail yesterday. Still prewashing them — couple GroBaby’s too
We have hard water so hoping it won’t mess them up. This blog seems so useful 
glad I found it. I also breastfeed so I’m really trying to go the natural route here. And DH wears our baby all the time – he loves his sling, don’t know how the last 6mos we would have survived without it. That and the Boppy of course. Looking forward to more entries from you – all yours posts really align with how I’d like to raise my boy 