I’ve sort of become the go-to cloth diapering person among my friends and acquaintances. Every so often since we started cloth diapering, a college friend, high school friend or family friend asks if they can refer their sister-in-law/daughter/cousin/friend/coworker to me to talk about cloth diapers. It’s usually a quick email:
Hey Sarah – How are you? Kids are good. How are yours? They are so cute. Listen, I was just talking with my friend’s brother’s wife’s sister about cloth diapers over the weekend and I mentioned that you have done it for a while. Actually, I gave her your email address, so she may get in touch with you – hope that’s okay! It’s been too long – we need to get together soon! XOXO
Do all cloth diapering moms get this? Or have I just been so vocal about it that everyone knows to contact me?! Not that I mind – I actually enjoy it! Anyway, I got one of these requests recently (this one was actually from some really good friends). Interestingly enough, the dad-to-be is the one who reached out to my husband to ask whether they should cloth diaper the twins they are expecting! We are super excited for this awesome couple, but had to laugh that they asked him. My hubby is definitely a proponent of cloth diapers, but chooses to leave most of the details to me.
Back to the question at hand: would I recommend cloth diapering for twins? I’m obviously a huge believer in cloth diapers, so my initial reaction was “Yes! Absolutely!” but I felt I owed them some logic behind my enthusiastic reply. I know they are looking for some solid reasons that this is the right decision for them and their family.
So I boiled it down to three reasons why cloth diapering twins makes sense:
Reason #1: The Cost. Honestly, it’s hard for me to even comprehend the amount of money that would go down the drain with two babies in disposables (not to mention two car seats, two high chairs, two cribs – boggles my mind!). My (very) rough math estimated they would spend approximately $1,300 on disposable diapers per year. That’s almost $4,000 in diapers by the time they are potty trained. Wowsa. It makes me gag a little. Take that $4,000 and put it toward their college tuitions! They would maybe – maybe! – spend $1,000 on cloth diapers for that same three years. Less if they buy some secondhand or watch for deep discounts.
Reason #2: The Earth. If we really need something to gag about… Using my same rough math skills from above, twins could put almost 6,000 nasty, dirty diapers in the landfill every year. That’s almost 25,000 diapers – that can each take 500 years to decompose – from one family. That eco-guilt can almost completely go away by using cloth diapers. And even if they used cloth diapers part of the time or just during the day (which is always one of my tips – it doesn’t have to be all or nothing!), they can reduce that pile of dirty dipes significantly by even using cloth part time!
Reason #3: Eliminate the fear of running out. There were a lot of things I could have included as the third reason to cloth diaper twins (the cuteness factor is doubled with twins!), but not having to worry about running out of diapers when you are going through 20 each day could quite possibly save any new parent’s sanity. It’s hard enough to keep track of all the feedings, poops and baths with one child, I could not imagine it with two, so cloth diapers provide one less thing to think about. I’m sure there are a hundred more reasons to cloth diaper twins and definitely some reassurances (your laundry will explode anyway, a couple more loads is not that big of a deal!).
I am not a parent of twins, but I am an avid cloth diapering mom. For those of you who do have twins (or more!), what are the reasons you give to parents of multiples when they are considering cloth diapers? Is there any advice or reassurance you would offer?
Sarah is a mom of two and blogs about her adventures in motherhood, cloth diapering and everything in between. Catch her “Cloth Diapering Unwrapped” series on the FuzziBunz blog every week.
Tags: cloth diapering multiples, cloth diapering twins, Cloth Diapering Unwrapped
