A cloth diapering rave
Jan. 4th, 2008 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
same_skyYou know how you become more comfortable with something the longer you're exposed to it, until one day you can't remember what it's like to be apprehensive in the first place? When I was pregnant, you may remember that I wrote several times about deciding to use cloth diapers. There are lots of reasons to do it and yet, most people don't--is it because it really IS as hard and as awful as everyone is telling me? Maybe they just don't know about all the reasons it would be worth it?
Evelyn is nearly eight months old now and so I think it's time to follow up on those tentative cloth posts. We LOVE IT. There is just something wonderful about pulling a load of fresh-smelling cloth out of the dryer and putting soft squishy fabrics on my baby's bum. They smell MUCH less horrible than disposable diapers do--really! I didn't understand this until I smelled it for myself--I thought that was just how baby poo smelled. No, it isn't. They contain poo better than disposables. We're never out of diapers, and if we are, we can throw them in the wash without leaving the house. Trips to the store do not involve forking over insane amounts of money every single time. (We do occasionally buy disposables for when we're away--we wouldn't have to, but we usually do because they take up less space in the diaper bag and she can wear some of her smaller pants when wearing a trashy.) I can change her as often as I want (she has a real problem with being wet--in a disposable or in cloth, doesn't matter) without mentally throwing a quarter into the garbage every time.
I guess I worried, in the beginning, that I would be getting too involved with my baby's bodily wastes because of the cloth diapers. It doesn't matter what kind of diaper you're using, though, you are not going to escape babyhood unscathed.. especially with disposable wipes, but that is another rant/rave altogether. ;) It will get on your hands, and you learn to live with it pretty easily because it's YOUR baby. It comes off! No big deal! The diapers just get thrown in the pail and then dumped without touching again into the washer, so that really has never been a concern for me. Our pocket diapers need unstuffed after use, but even when there's poop right there where you have to stick your hand... it isn't that big of a deal. Really, it isn't. It is about as much of a big deal as getting your hands dirty changing the diaper in the first place. Of course, things change as they begin solids, which she's doing now. I think every stage of diapering involves a different set of techniques, but it's not like you have to start out knowing everything. You learn as you go, so it's not nearly as intimidating as it looks when you first start out.
I don't write about diapers nearly as much as I think about them. I spend most of my non-LJ forum time on a forum for sewing cloth diapers these days. It's kind of my baby-related internet activity, so to speak. Her next diaper stash will be almost exclusively Mama-made. She's outgrowing her medium FuzziBunz and her first batch of homemade fitted pockets by now. I stopped taking pictures of every one that I made, but I did post a couple of new pictures this week to use at that forum because I think they turned out to be pretty cute. M bought me dies to use for his drill press for Christmas so that I can do snaps now! I am really excited by that. ;)
You know what the best proof is, though? My husband will still sometimes randomly look over at me and rave about how much he loves these diapers. When is the last time you have raved about a diaper? When's the last time your husband raved about a diaper? :)
Evelyn is nearly eight months old now and so I think it's time to follow up on those tentative cloth posts. We LOVE IT. There is just something wonderful about pulling a load of fresh-smelling cloth out of the dryer and putting soft squishy fabrics on my baby's bum. They smell MUCH less horrible than disposable diapers do--really! I didn't understand this until I smelled it for myself--I thought that was just how baby poo smelled. No, it isn't. They contain poo better than disposables. We're never out of diapers, and if we are, we can throw them in the wash without leaving the house. Trips to the store do not involve forking over insane amounts of money every single time. (We do occasionally buy disposables for when we're away--we wouldn't have to, but we usually do because they take up less space in the diaper bag and she can wear some of her smaller pants when wearing a trashy.) I can change her as often as I want (she has a real problem with being wet--in a disposable or in cloth, doesn't matter) without mentally throwing a quarter into the garbage every time.
I guess I worried, in the beginning, that I would be getting too involved with my baby's bodily wastes because of the cloth diapers. It doesn't matter what kind of diaper you're using, though, you are not going to escape babyhood unscathed.. especially with disposable wipes, but that is another rant/rave altogether. ;) It will get on your hands, and you learn to live with it pretty easily because it's YOUR baby. It comes off! No big deal! The diapers just get thrown in the pail and then dumped without touching again into the washer, so that really has never been a concern for me. Our pocket diapers need unstuffed after use, but even when there's poop right there where you have to stick your hand... it isn't that big of a deal. Really, it isn't. It is about as much of a big deal as getting your hands dirty changing the diaper in the first place. Of course, things change as they begin solids, which she's doing now. I think every stage of diapering involves a different set of techniques, but it's not like you have to start out knowing everything. You learn as you go, so it's not nearly as intimidating as it looks when you first start out.
I don't write about diapers nearly as much as I think about them. I spend most of my non-LJ forum time on a forum for sewing cloth diapers these days. It's kind of my baby-related internet activity, so to speak. Her next diaper stash will be almost exclusively Mama-made. She's outgrowing her medium FuzziBunz and her first batch of homemade fitted pockets by now. I stopped taking pictures of every one that I made, but I did post a couple of new pictures this week to use at that forum because I think they turned out to be pretty cute. M bought me dies to use for his drill press for Christmas so that I can do snaps now! I am really excited by that. ;)
You know what the best proof is, though? My husband will still sometimes randomly look over at me and rave about how much he loves these diapers. When is the last time you have raved about a diaper? When's the last time your husband raved about a diaper? :)
