I am new to the world of cloth diapering and let me tell you, it's downright addicting. I can't really say why, but I have spent so much time on Diaper Swappers lately that I think James may file for divorce any day now. I need to prepare myself for a breakdown when my credit card statement comes in.
Most of what I ordered hasn't come in yet (I'll be in mail heaven over the next week or so) and tonight when I made an organized list of my purchases (I am such a list-maker), I was horrified at how much I bought. I wasn't keeping track. I've bought one of every color, every style, extra liners, covers, you name it!
My reasons for switching over are various. First of all, there's the whole natural aspect to it that I tend to graviate towards these days. I'll admit it, I'm becoming a crunchy mama. I like that I'm not contributing to landfill waste (and b/c we have city water, most of it will be recycled after washing all these diapers). Also, I can use them on another baby, saving us money in the long run, just not this month. Or the next. Olivia has really sensitive skin and has been getting rashes because it's so hot here and the chemicals in the diapers combined with urine just isn't good. And then the girly factor. They are cute cute cute! It's like another accesory! Hey, I have to make up for the fact that this kid won't let me put ANYTHING in her beautiful blond curls. No bows, head-bands, nada.
My pediatrician was impressed with Olivia's cloth, and with the fact that I'm still nursing. She had her check-up yesterday. She's 21 lbs, 12 ounces (25th percentile) and 31 inches (50th). He also said how advanced she is. He asked me if she could say 5 words. I wasn't going to brag, but my mom piped up that we counted 75 the other day off the top of our heads (words that she uses regularly). She's even started to put short sentences together. Hey, family reads this blog. I can brag. :-) She takes after her daddy. James says that I'm smart too (I was in gifted classes), but I had to work at it. James is naturally a genius and much smarter than me. I don't mind admitting it. :-) I made a C in college, and several B's. The horror! James has never had a C in his life. Or a B. Ass-kisser. :-)
Anyway, my husband is tired of hearing about Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz and hemp liners. Anyone else wanna talk cloth? Or talk about how I've lost my damn mind?
BTW, I'm not giving up my disposables completely. I'll use them for travel. I'm not going to put a whole pile of crap diapers into someone else's washer. And I'm using disposables at night until I am confident I've mastered cloth and I know she won't leak. Sometimes they just are easier. Right now cloth seems overwhelming, but I hope I'll settle into a routine. If I change my mind, which I hope I won't, I can sell them on Diaper Swappers for a decent price and then I can go get my head examined.
I'll be sure to post pics of Olivia in her cloth as they arrive. I love how puffy her butt looks. I actually saw a shirt today at Babies R Us that said "does this diaper make my butt look big?" but there was something wrong to me about having the word "butt" on my innocent baby's shirt. Really though, she has a total bubble butt. Hey! Like mother like daughter!
And you're going to totally laugh at this. I ordered some washable pee-catcher pads (for my incontinence issues) that I can launder with the diapers. The cost of those Poise thingies is adding up! I told James how proud I was that I was going to save money on pee pads. Had to make him think I'm still semi-responsible before that credit card statement comes. Oh, I'm so bad!
Posted by Hannah at August 2, 2007 01:24 AMI'll be completely honest, cloth definitely intrigues me & I've been interested in the idea. I've also been hesitant because I know that it'll be more work. But, you may be able to tell from my blog that I can lean toward the crunchy side as well & I totally hear you on the chemicals in diapers - I hate it! (did you know when they've tested diapers around animals they've found an increase in asthma?)
Posted by: Jessica at August 2, 2007 10:12 AMSorry Hannah, can't relate to you on this one. I've never had even an inkling of an urge to use cloth diapers. We use Target brand diapers, and they are pretty inexpensive, about half the price of Pampers or Huggies, and I've been fine with them. We do use Huggies Overnights at night though. I also read an article once about the pros and cons of cloth diapers, and in the long run they just didn't seem enough more environmentally friendly after all the water/electricity/detergent use. But, I support you in your choice to do this, especially if you truly feel that this is the best thing for Olivia.
Posted by: Chas at August 2, 2007 11:06 AMHi Hannah! I've been reading for a while- and yes, we have used cloth since we brought our baby home from the hospital. (My daughter is only 3 months now). So far, it's been great. I love that it's so good for so many reasons, especially since we're not contributing a ton of waste (literally) to the landfills, and that we can use them again for the next kiddo. Plus, like you said, they are darn cute. And yes, it is strangely addicting. Who would have thought? I'm no expert yet, but feel free to email if you have any questions!
Posted by: Tara at August 2, 2007 11:28 AMwe use cloth off and on... we use them when lore has bad diaper rash from teething... and it really helps...
Posted by: Shannon O. at August 2, 2007 10:41 PMI have never used cloth but my mom used them on me because of diaper rash and my sister used them on her oldest kids. I can't say I've ever thought of using them but I totally support your choice and can understand why you would choose that. Good for you for doing what YOU think is best and not necessarily what the world thinks!
Posted by: villagegirl at August 3, 2007 04:59 PM