I see on de-stashing or for sale posts that people say "cloth diapering didn't work for us" and I'm trying to figure out why. I've already bought a lot of diapers and supplies, and would hate to discover that it didn't "work" for my family. Granted, I'm a soon-to-be FTM, so I'm pretty clueless about the day-to-day business of using cloth.
Why do you think this is? Just people don't like the lifestyle, having to wash, etc? Or something else that I should be considering?
Re: Why people say "cloth didn't work for us"?
There are a host of reasons, including:
They bought all of one type/brand and that didn't fit their LO
Their child is a preemie and/or had medical issues that made it harder, and they threw in the towel
Recovery from childbirth was a nightmare, and CDing was something they didn't want to throw into the mix
They were actively discouraged by friends/family after they'd already bought a stash
They encountered issues (stink, repelling, etc.) that they weren't able to solve
They had to move somewhere that didn't have a washer/dryer, or had a communal one that didn't allow for CDing
They didn't realize there was a learning curve, and didn't get over the hump (I could regale you with tales of things I did wrong in the beginning)
I don't think you have anything to worry about. It's typically a lot easier than you gear up for. And if it "doesn't work", you can sell them.
Cloth is still working great for us, but if I had to hazard a guess or two...
1. spouse was never on board, and this can make diaper changing very hard.
2. Bad luck or poor care or terrible water quality (really hard water, etc.) makes diapers smell or repel too frequently for people to deal with.
3. Tried only one brand of diapers and went all in, only to find that diaper didn't work, and doesn't want to spend that initial set up cost again on a different style of diaper.
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I have a friend who quit CDing as well. Her husband cannot tolerate poop at.all. He gags just picking up dog poo in the yard. They tried using Gdiapers, which I think might be more gag inducing than an AIO (more handling of poopy fabric than just putting a diaper in a pail). It wasn't a battle they wanted to fight, so they quit.
But they tried! You'll be fine! CDs are great.
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I bought a bunch of diapers that were bought, prepped, and never worn.
I think she just psyched herself out that it would be too hard and never even tried. I can't imagine getting that far in and not giving it a shot, but I guess I don't have much fear of the unknown. For some people, they get how disposables work and just aren't quite willing to learn something new. I didn't know anything, so I learned about cloth and now I have no idea what to do on the rare occasion I use disposables.
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
Ditto. I just bought some diapers from a new mom that never even tried them for this reason. It's crazy to me that people spend money building a stash and then never give it a shot. It is just a fear of the unknown.
My MIL also has a girl in her church group that quit CDing after not long because she bought an entire stash of one diaper (G diapers) and they didn't work for her, so she wrote cloth off completely. (Btw, for this reason MIL is very skeptical of cloth because "this girl makes her own baby food, so it isn't like she doesn't put effort in to things!" Ha. Mmkay.)