Getting Back on the Cloth Diaper Wagon

When I was pregnant with Claire, I fully intended to cloth diaper. I was cloth diapered, and I watched my mom cloth diaper my siblings. It was normal to me. I looked at the bags of dirty disposables and the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle mantra I’d learned as a kid cringed within me. I looked at the bags and saw money literally get thrown into the trash.

So I planned to cloth diaper.

If you’ve ever considered cloth diapering and looked into it very much, you know that there are tons of options—so many that it can feel overwhelming. I spent a couple of days researching all of them, reading reviews, figuring out the differences between prefolds and covers, all-in-ones, and pocket diapers. Some people swear by this brand while others found it utterly failed on their baby.

I was at a loss about what to pick, especially as my daughter was still in utero and had yet to make her preferences or even her squirmy, long and lanky body-type known.

So I went with the option that proved most economical and practical given the chance that I was taking a bit of a risk picking a system without having a clue what would work for my baby. I ended up deciding to start off with pre-folds and diaper covers, which are the cheapest route to go. (Even cheaper if you are able to get your cloth diapers for free like I was, which you can read about here!) I picked some high-quality diapers (you can see them specifically on my baby registry) and prepped them (which means you have to wash them multiple times, or boil them on the stovetop as I did, so that they’ll readily soak everything up). I folded them and had them at the ready for when she was born.

It was then that we met this little girl of ours, and on top of all the crying and clinging and not sleeping that came with her, cloth diapering flew out the window. Disposables are just so easy! Considering my husband was already doing all the household duties including cooking and cleaning, I couldn’t really justify heaping another one on him, in addition to his full-time job.

But after a couple of weeks, that pile of prefolds and the brightly-colored covers beckoned me back. Reminding me that there is more to motherhood than ease and convenience. And it is something I do truly believe in. So I regrouped and made it my goal to have her wear them at least as often as she was wearing disposables—so half-and-half. It was a good way to ease back into things.

Around this time was when we boarded a plane and came back to Ohio for extra help. Again, cloth diapering flew out the window because we were away from home. Then when I came back, she got a yeast diaper rash that would not go away, so I halted all cloth diapering until it was clear. That took a month. And then soon after that, we moved up to Ohio, permanently.

So you see, there have been many excuses and only a half-hearted attempt at cloth diapering. Still, in spite of all the hiccups, I still believe in it. I still think it’s financially wise and good stewardship of our resources. I think it’s good for my daughter’s skin to avoid the chemicals that are in even the most “natural” of disposables. And like I said before, it’s what is normal to me. Cloth diapering just “fits” my personality, my parenting so well.

Which is why I’m climbing back on the cloth diapering wagon, and I’ll be sharing more about that in a few different posts this week.

{ photo source }