Everything Old is New Again
As I'm sure many of you know, cloth diapering is gaining popularity among several segments of the population. There are the thrifty types who calculate how many thousands of dollars they will save over using disposables (especially for more than one child). There are the environmentally-conscious folk who want to keep disposables (and human waste! poop goes in the potty!) out of landfills - a worthwhile goal for most of us, though questionable for those who live in regions with lots of land and not so much water. There are the parents of babies with sensitive skin who want to keep perfumes, bleach, and various other artificial stuff away from their bums. And then there are those of us who just think that today's cloth diapers look cute.
Okay, fine, I'm a crunchy environmentalist, too.
The financial aspect doesn't hurt, either.
I'm also not a fan of perfumes and bleach, but we've been using Seventh Generation diapers and wipes since the kids were a couple of weeks old, so that was really a non-issue. We're not going all-natural here, either; for the kids' comfort (and our own sanity) we are opting to use a "pocket diaper" system, wherein a polyester fleece or suedecloth layer is closest to the skin, wicking away moisture to be absorbed by whatever sort of insert we stuff the diaper with.
Right. Maybe more details on the thought process later. This post is just to say that we have our six trial-run diapers (two each of three different brands), a few hemp inserts to play around with in addition to the freebie microterry ones that came with the diapers...and we are washed, locked, and loaded, ready to give thiings a whirl tomorrow.
Erm...today. It's pretty late, isn't it?
4 comments:
Well, I am impressed that you're giving it a whirl. I love the idea of cloth diapers but living in a big apartment building with just two shared washing machines, I couldn't face the laundry issues.
Let me know how it goes. (The best pocket diapers, by the way, and no, I haven't tried them personally, are Cloe's Toes. Disclaimer: The designer is a personal online friend of mine. I know she sells the pattern, but I think she sells diapers too.... not sure.) Aaron seems a bit leery of pocket diapers, so we haven't tried them, but I'm tempted. I really need to get back into doing cloth. We do enough laundry around here already though, that paper is sooo much easier, but my husband really hates wasting money on diapers. (The money on fabric and materials, water, gas to heat the water, and detergent to wash the cloth ones is somehow transparent.)
I bought a few of the fb's, but I think I need better inserts than the standard one that comes with the diaper, because he leaked through a nap, which wasn't all that long. So either I'm doing it wrong, or it just wouldn't work. Ultimately, I love the idea of them, but one of the main things is the overnights.
My little one can soak through (and out of!) a disposable overnight, so I'm not sure what I'm gaining, except less laundry - I was using some nb prefolds with covers until he grew out of them.
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