Dumping Disposable Diapers, a fabulous Mothering article!

If you've never wandered over to Mothering.com then you're really missing out. Not only is it full of tons of great info from from topics like home birth, breastfeeding, vaccines and cooking to cloth diapering! The Mothering crew really has a love for cloth and they've got some great articles that are really worth reading.

One such article is Dumping Disposable Diapers, by Lindsay Evans. Lindasy shares with readers her thought process on making the switch, how the idea came about and why it works for her.

"as my stock of disposables dwindled and Amelia and I settled in to our new life together, the thought of continuously buying—and supporting the makers of—disposable diapers made me sick."

She covers the different styles of cloth diapers, their cost, how to care for them, and more in this great article. She even discusses traveling with cloth diapers and the environmental debate, cloth vs. disposables.

This is a perfect article if your a newbie, or considering making the switch to cloth. Head on over to Mothering and check it out! Come back and let me know what you think.

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For more details and answers to Frequently Asked Questions about this trial program please click HERE.

Not Your Grandmother's Diaper!

I would not consider myself a "crunchy" mom by any stretch of the imagination. Sure I breastfeed, make my own baby food, and wore my baby in a wrap for the first two months of his life (the only time he was small enough to not break my back), but I can't really conform to the flowy-skirted, Birkenstock-donning mental picture that this term conjures up in my mind. I do these things first and foremost for my baby, but I also find them very convenient. Instead of slithering out of bed and down the stairs at 5:45 am to prepare a bottle for my hungry 8-month old, I can just pluck him out of his crib and latch him on. Rather than running out of baby food and frantically dashing to the grocery store for some culinary delight like pureed lasagna (gag), I can whip up a mean chicken, rice and veggie dinner for my little man in no time at all. And for the brief time that my son fit in a wrap, I could finally get stuff done around the house (I can't remember what is was, but it must have been something). I like things that are beneficial for my baby, cost-effective, and easy, easy, easy.

So I must admit that when I first heard about cloth diapering my eyes glazed over and my brain shut down. Who wants to deal with scraping poop off diapers, pee leaks all over the house and ever-growing mounds of laundry collecting dust in a corner near you? Who does this anyways? And why in the world would you want to when you can get disposable diapers for $17 a box?

And yet I, even the toughest of cloth scrutinizers, was somehow converted.

I began to notice other moms around me looking into cloth diapering. And these were not the hippy-chic mamas who swear off meat and buy only organic. These were moms just like me, all about convenience, somewhat thrifty but still wanting the very best for their babies. So I took a nosedive into the world of researching cloth diapers. I soon realized that the pool was empty.

If you have ever researched cloth diapers then you know how confusing it can be at first. With abbreviations scattered about the internet like AIO/AI2, OS and UCIBFP, I honestly tossed the idea around that I had stumbled upon some sort of secret society. And in a way I had, only this exclusive club wanted as many new members as possible. As I started learning the different meanings and brands, everything started to come together and I found myself able to make sense of the acronym jumble.

I clumsily stumbled upon many websites that claimed to debunk the myths around cloth diapering. I rolled my eyes at first, but upon reading them found that they actually made sense to me. I was intrigued by the idea of this age-old method of diapering your baby and how it could be convenient, a money saver, and be so great for the environment. (Yep, that's right! Mommies like me care about the environment too!) But on the other hand, my less expensive disposables were working just fine, and finances were just not that much of an issue. Sure I like to save money where I can, but I certainly didn't need to switch to cloth out of necessity. If it ain't broke, don't fix it right? Wrong, at least not for me. After doing the math and realizing that my baby would have gone through about 7,300 diapers by the time he potty trained, only to be discarded into some stinky landfill somewhere, I decided that it was my obligation to at least try cloth. Not to mention the thousands we would save over his diaper-days, multiplied by the number of little brothers and/or sister he ends up with, if cloth ended up working out for us.

So with a deep breath I took the plunge.

Now all I can say is that I can't believe it took me six months to try it! The diapers nowadays are not your grandmother's cloth diaper, for the most part. You can get cloth diapers that have everything all in one, meaning that if you can velcro on a disposable then you can velcro on these. There are diapers with pockets for faster drying, soft fitted diapers that go under cute covers, and yes, there are still the inexpensive, yet-oh-so-soft and squishable prefold-style diapers that our grandmothers used. I have tried every kind and love them all for very different reasons. We have explored around and found what works. We didn't put all our eggs in one basket and stick to one brand or type. We decided to try everything and see what worked for us and are very happy with the selections we made.

And yes some cloth diapers can be expensive, but cloth diapering is very doable even on a budget. There are plenty of sales and less pricey styles if you just take a little extra time to look, and even the priciest diapers will pay for themselves over time. With so many cute patterns and prints, the main problem here is self control. (I will not go online and order than adorable paw print fleece cover, I will not, I will not...oh, you accept Paypal?)

As far as laundry goes, it is admittedly a little extra, but it is a labor of love that does not require the monotonous sorting and folding of regular laundry. And a wonderful little side-bonus about having cloth diaper laundry is that my other laundry gets done in between diaper loads, so the heaping mountains of laundry have shrunken into oblivion. My hands don't get any messier than they did with 'sposies, and my trash can is no longer over-flowing with poopy diapers. Now if only I could find a solution (or an excuse) for that stack of dirty dishes...

I can now proudly say that my baby's bum is wrapped in the adorably-patterned, gentle, chemical-free goodness of cloth. I am happy that amidst all the "green" chatter, I know I am doing my part to help out with our waste problem. And on top of it all, my pocket book feels a little bit fatter these days.

Madison
Follow her @ Life happens during NapTime

If I knew then what I know now (re: cloth diapering newborns & small babies)

Steering my customers in the right direction when they ask for advice is always a top priority, and sometimes this means steering them away from a huge sale and into a more realistic, economical and practical option.

New moms, specifically first time moms, are usually really good about doing their research. Which diapers are the best? How do they work? How many do I need? and so on. In my experience they usually end up deciding on a well known pocket diaper and make up their mind that's what they want to use and they plan to build their stash accordingly. New baby = 12-24 pocket diapers plus inserts. Then they're off to shop.

If I knew then what I know now about babies and their bowel movements...lol I would have started with prefolds and covers when I first began cloth diapering my sons, especially since I rarely left the house. Why would I say such a thing? Because new babies poop and pee all day long. A squirt here, a drop there, as soon as you've placed a fresh diaper on their tiny bum they've gone and soiled it again. You check it and think, "man I can't just let them wear that diaper, even if it is only a pea sized amount of poo." Before you know it you've changed that babes diaper 3-4 times in one hour!

This is where prefolds come in. A soft and fluffy prefold, which are easily laundered and very forgiving, can be tri-folded into a cover, think Thirsites, and you're ready to go. Baby soils it two seconds later, you grab a fresh prefold and replace the soiled one with a clean one. Chances are your cover didn't even get dirty. Repeat this scenario throughout the day and you might go through a dozen prefolds and 2-3 covers. Depending on how often you plan on doing laundry, you could get started cloth diapering an infant with 4-6 covers and 2 dozen prefolds.

When you're ready to take baby out and about or have a need for diapers that you can or need to leave on for an extended period of time (like overnight), then you should experiment with pocket diapers and microfiber inserts or hemp inserts. Microfiber and Hemp are miraculous in the amount of pee they can hold, and paired with pocket diapers such as BumGenius or Duo Diapers they've been known to rival disposables in terms of how much they can hold before leaking. This makes them a perfect option for night time diapering or for use when heading to the doctor, the mall, or the grocery store.

Final thoughts, extend the life of your expensive pocket diapers by utilizing prefolds and covers when you can, especially when babies are less than 6 months old.

Thanks for reading!

What's a Pocket Diaper?

Originally invented by the owner of Fuzzi Bunz, Pocket diapers are two piece diapering system typically with a piece of fleece or suede cloth that makes up the inner portion of fabric and a waterproof layer , typically PUL, that makes up the outermost portion. An absorbent soaker or insert is placed inside the pocket opening and it draws moisture through the inner liner and soaks it up. Inserts can be made of a variety of materials. Inserts are removed and both are to be washed after each use.

DayCare's & Cloth Diapers

I have had many customers interested in converting to cloth diapers ask me if their Daycare Center is going to accept them using cloth diapers. My initial response is that it is up to each individual daycare and I know of no law that prohibits them from accepting cloth diapered babies.

So a couple days ago I got the idea to call a few local daycares in my area and ask if they will or will not accept babies or toddlers who wear cloth diapers. Below are the results of my top-secret investigation...lol

1. B. Patch DayCare- Receptionist placed me on hold and returned with a simple NO. She vaguely described some type of health issue and tried to lead me to believe there is a law against cloth diapers.
2. Kids Pl.- Receptionist admitted that they have never had any children in cloth diapers before, but said she'd have to call the Sanitation Department to make sure it was ok. I didn't feel like arguing or I would have explained that the Sanitation Dept is responsible for garbage removal, not health codes.
3. W. Academy- NO.
4. B. Bears- Only after the child is 12 months of age?
5. S. Petite Academy- Absolutely, no problem! :)
6. K. Care- No one had ever cd'd before, would have to ask the director. Please check back.
7. Doorway to L.- Yes.
8. Country B.- Does not accept children under 2 yrs, but cloth diapers on a 2 yr old wouldn't be a problem.
9. C. Choice DayCare- An at home daycare, said "No."
10. E. Coast- "Sure why not?"
11. JB Junction- Yes.
12. L. Explorers- Receptionist seemed a little confused, said "sure" and then asked if cloth diapers were waterproof?
13. D. Road Disc. Center- "Sure, I guess so."
14. Sunshine & S.- "No problem."
15. ABC Acad.- Never have had anyone use cloth before, would have to check into it.

**So the verdict seems to be that people at day care centers are pretty receptive to the idea. Besides a couple of snippy comments made by uninformed employees, it sounded to me like people have no idea how far cloth diapers have come and how convenient they can be.

If you are considering approaching your child's daycare about whether or not they will change cloth diapers, I would suggest you bring in a couple to show them and ask them in person. Make them aware that they do not have to use pins, they do not have to dunk and wash the diapers, and show them your wet-bag and how they'd just simply toss the dirty diaper in for you to take home and launder. Just as easy as disposables if not easier, in my opinion!

Good Luck!

Don't Hate Me Because I'm Fluffy

Welcome to Diaper Discussions. The reason I have created this Blog is because many new and existing moms who are giving cloth diapers a try or are interested in them feel overwhelmed by all the options, terminology, fabrics, and choices in general when it comes to learning about cloth. Having been new to cloth myself once, I realize that it's sometimes even hard to put into words how overwhelming cloth diapers are and form the questions you need to ask in order to help you make decisions about what to do.
So, I hope this Blog will serve as an archive of all my customers diapering dilemmas and the dialog between us. I will also post other useful information as I come across it and links to other helpful diapering sites. Questions and comments are always welcome.