Cloth Diapering

We decided to use cloth diapers on Henry. This has been met with mixed reactions: there is disbelief: "do people still use cloth diapers?" There are nay-sayers: we have been told we are creating too much work for ourselves, we see people roll their eyes (yes, we see you roll your eyes-you aren't as slick as you think you are), we've been given diapers that were removed from their packaging so they couldn't be returned; and the whole cloth diaper section of our registry that was basically untouched. There are also supporters: we have friends that are cloth diapering or planning to cloth diaper, and meet a lot of people who have at least tried it.

Cloth diapering certainly isn't for everyone.  People have different priorities and needs and we are in no way saying everyone should cloth diaper.  It just makes sense for us. There are several reasons to cloth diaper: namely financial, environmental, health, and function. We are doing it for a combination of these reasons. One child's disposable diapers will generate 1 ton of waste that takes 450-550 years to break down. We try to generate as little waste as possible; we actually drive our recyclables to the local collection bins; we use tupperware and reusable storage bags and refillable water bottles; we try very hard to eat all of our food; and will compost as soon as we have a yard. Adding all those diapers to a landfill just didn't jive with us. The average family will spend $1,500-2,000 on disposable diapers; so far we've spent $275 on cloth diapers and those should last us until he is out of diapers (not to mention can be re-used if we have a second baby). How is that possible?  Oh, because these aren't your grandma's cloth diapers. First, they got rid of pins...no more accidentally sticking your baby.  If we still had to pin, we couldn't do cloth diapering. Henry kicks, squirms, and screams like the world is ending with almost every diaper change.  My parents were skeptical until they saw the new cloth diapers. You can still use old fashioned prefold diapers, but now you use a snappi instead of a pin and covers instead of wet pants. There are also all-in-one diapers and pocket diapers.  With so many options we bought a sample pack.  Some diapers fit some babies better and some parents better ::smile:: As soon as his stump fell off we tried them all. Our favorite diaper is the Flip.  It is a pocket diaper. (visit www.cottonbabies.com for more info). The cover is reusable, but the insert comes out with the each change.  You change the cover when it is gets poopy.  The best part is  they work on bottoms of kids that are 7-35 pounds (you snap the flip differently for different sized babies).  My second favorite is the  actually the prefold with a cover; but Reid says it is like doing origami on a squirmy baby-so the Flip it is!