This episode of “Parenting Talk Series” is not just about helping the environment but giving our child the best when it comes to something that touches them daily – their diaper. Cloth diapering was how our ancestors diaper their babies but with the invention of disposable diapers, we became dependent on disposable diapers. However, this dependence comes at a great cost not just to our environment but also to our child’s health. With many new cloth diapering systems available in the market today, adopting cloth diapers is easier than ever.

We have invited a cloth diaper expert, Victoria Chuard (Founder of Just Peachy), to show us all there is to know about cloth diapering. From how they work to selecting the right one for you and your family, plus tips and tricks to make the two-year journey of diapering simple and easy.

As always, Little Monkey is here to provide information to help make parenting easier. This is so parents can make informed decision – whether that decision is on where to take their kids to play on the weekend by using our child-friendly directory to our new project – “Parenting Talk Series” – 30 minutes recorded interview with subject experts on all things parenting uploaded to our blog for the convenience of parents to watch whenever they like.

If you would like to contact Victoria or attend one of her cloth diaper workshop, please see the full contact details below.

Here is a recap of what we spoke about and the visual aids.

• Victoria Chuard is from Canada and started using cloth diapers with her two kids when they were babies, because of health and environmental reasons. She noticed that her son would get rashes on his bum and discovered it was due to the chemicals in the disposable diapers. As parents, we are always trying to find the best for our kids and not knowing how the chemicals would affect our bodies long term, she decides to try cloth diaper.

• After her amazing experience using cloth diapers, she decided to help other families to understand cloth diapering. While her workshops are educating families, she realized that the cloth diapers available on the market still didn’t address a lot of issues that babies have with them. Thus, she started Just Peachy with an innovative cloth diaper that resolves big issues like leakage and easy to put on a squirming toddler.

• At this time during our interview, we showed you some of the most common types of cloth diapers out there and the good and bad parts of it. Check out this part to see how easy it is to adopt cloth diapers today.

• We then discuss the benefits of cloth diapering:
  • Environmental – We all know about the environmental benefits for using cloth diaper as disposable diapers are not biodegradable. Disposable diapers might partially decompose, but the rest remains in the landfill for about 500+ years. Greener disposable diapers uses higher quality natural ingredients which are better for our kids, but it still takes about 100+ years to decompose and its pricier compared to the regular diaper.
  • Health – With the chemicals in disposable diapers and the amount of plastic used, a lot of babies get rashes and after using a cloth diaper, parents do see that their babies get less diaper rash. Even the greener and more higher end disposable diapers, there are still some plastic and chemicals that wearing long term would still be a concern. With modern cloth diaper systems, cloth diaper actually wicks away the moisture from the baby and gives them a more comfortable feel throughout the day. Not to mention no harsh and unknown chemicals touching their sensitive skins every day.
  • Economical – As discussed, babies usually have to be in diapers for at least 2 years with some going longer depending on their success in being potty-trained. The high upfront cost of cloth diapers will be offset within months in comparison to using disposable diapers even after you factor in the cost of electricity and water for maintenance of the cloth diapers. Please see below link for an article by local mom Alix as she documented her journey in using cloth diapers and did the math for illustration.
    • https://www.justpeachybaby.com/blogs/stories/just-peachy-community-alix-from-hong-kong

• So how easy is it to use a cloth diaper? We went over what happens when a baby pees and poops and how to clean cloth diapers. Listen as Victoria explains the process and see how easy it truly is.

• We then went over some advice in choosing the right cloth diapers for your family. Here are some key things to keep in mind when choosing cloth diapers:
  • Think about what systems work for your family base on your lifestyle. Check out in the beginning the types of diapers. Are you willing to change cloth diaper every couple of months with buying ones with different size or would you prefer one size that is adjustable? Would buttons work better for you or Velcro? Victoria also holds monthly workshops for you to look, feel, and try out the cloth diapers yourself on dolls.
  • Choose a reputable company so you know that the materials used are legit and quality of the construction in the cloth diaper is sturdy. There are a lot of cloth diaper companies out there that will advertise how great they are but for our babies, make sure to always go for safety first in what they touch.
  • Do your research for a company or brand that has good reviews as trusting other parents who used the products before having first-hand experience in important
  • Look for the material and construction – hemp and bamboos are most thirsty along with construction like better elasticity around the legs and the belly area.

• Tips on managing this journey of cloth diapering:
  • You don’t have to go all in and can start small if you feel overwhelmed. Just one cloth diaper a day saves at least 1000 diapers in the landfill
  • Use a strong shower head to help blast off extra residue on the cloth diaper
  • Use bio-degradable liner to help the cloth diaper last longer
  • wet bags (not just for cloth diapers!) are life savers

• Victoria then showed us what’s unique about the Just Peachy cloth diapers and how she took everything she learned from the cloth diapering workshops to make this new innovative cloth diaper.

Thank you so much to Victoria in sharing her knowledge of cloth diaper and the cloth diapering journey with us. We really hope this helps you understand cloth diapering better and can decide or even try cloth diaper to give a better future for our children.
And as always, we really hope these 30 minutes Parenting Help video interview is useful to you parents watching. As always, we advocate for each family to make the decision on what works for them and their kids.

Our next interview is with a lactation consultant on the topic of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is such an amazing and selfless act of love from mother to child as it takes a lot of work. So, we will look at what happens during a breastfeeding journey, tips on increasing supply, and debunking myths about breastfeeding. So please stay tune for our next interview and in the meantime, check our Scarlett’s post about a local point of view (written in Chinese and translated to English)!

Below are the visuals we used during the interview for your information.