Cloth Diapers

If your diapers aren't cloth, they're garbage.

I have moved into the world of cloth diapers with the arrival of Simon. It has been an adventure. We didn't even consider cloth diapers for Zoe because there was no diaper service in Medicine Hat and we lived in apartments with shared laundry and we didn't think that our fellow laundry sharers would appreciate the washing diapers thing. In addition, the plan was for me to only stay home for 5 months and then Dan would be home with Zoe, so we weren't up for the extra laundry and learning curve that came with cloth. Since the plan is for me to stay at home and we have our own laundry now, I looked into cloth and we decided to go that route.

There are lots of reasons to use cloth diapers. Every online store that sells cloth diapers has pretty much the same list of reasons and some go to great length to explain the superiority of cloth diapers. Pretty much, this sums them up:

1. Environmental reasons (reusable, don't go to landfills)
2. Economical reasons (reusable, don't have to keep buying more)
3. Health reasons (Chemicals in disposables linked to health concerns, the heat that disposables keep in may be linked to infertility in men)
4. Potty learning (allow child to feel when they're wet, in theory they learn to use the toilet earlier)

I may have missed others, but these were the key reasons for me. The economic reasons were enticing for me, but I really liked that I could make less of an impact on the environment and still save money at the same time. It seems like a lot of the time when you're out to save the environment, it can cost you more money (Hybrid cars, solar panels, organic food). I'm certainly not totally granola about saving the environment. I recycle (I love Edmonton's super easy blue bag recycling program). We drive a fuel efficient vehicle (mostly for economy). I turn off the tap when I brush my teeth. But nothing heroic.

Cloth diapers have come a long way in the last, say, 30 years. They're no longer large blanket-like flannel that you have to fold all fancy and pin. I don't own a diaper pin. Simon wears unbleached Indian "prefolds" with covers. They're small rectangle pieces of cloth that if you imagine them like an Austrian flag with three horizontal stripes: the middle stripe has 8 layers of cotton and the outer two stripes have 4 layers. You can take a look at them and how to put them on here: prefolds.

So, Simon wears cloth diapers. He's never been in anything else. They use cloth diapers at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, where Simon was born. And we've never had any reason to put him in disposables.

I switched Zoe to cloth diapers at the same time. I tried to do it earlier, but after initial success ("It's sooooo soft, mommy"), she decided she didn't want to wear the Fuzzi Bunz, she wanted to wear "a diaper." I decided that when we had used up the box of disposables we had left, I wasn't going to buy any more. This was not an easy decision to make because, although I could get her into maybe 2 cloth diapers a day when she wasn't paying attention, if she noticed me putting one on her, she threw a little fit.

We ran out of disposables the day we brought Simon home from the hospital.

I nearly caved and asked Dan to run to the store to pick up some diapers. But I managed to hold my ground. When she started to throw a fit about wearing a Fuzzi Bunz, I held up the basket that used to hold the disposables, "We don't have any diapers left, you have to wear these." She wasn't happy, but she let me put it on her (stopped kicking her legs all over the place). She did the same thing the next day, but since then hasn't had any problem with it. Success!

Now, I do a lot of laundry. It's really not that bad. I mean, I have machines that do it for me! I'm kind of amazed when I hear people complaining about doing the laundry and they're talking about using a washer and dryer. You put it in a machine, add some soap, take it out and put it in another machine, fold it and put it away. It's not like you're taking it down to the river with your washboard or even hanging it on a line to dry (though I suppose some people with a backyard still do this).

I must say, cloth diapers are superior to disposables in how well they work. Simon has only leaked poo on his clothes once. For anyone who has ever had a newborn with runny newborn poo, they know this is some feat. The diapers and covers just hold it in better. And I'm getting better at putting them on so they hold everything in. He doesn't have diaper rashes, he doesn't seem uncomfortable. And they're really not that hard to use, once you get the hang of it.