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June 28, 2013

Major Cloth Diaper Skeptic gives Cloth Diapering a Trial Period to see what the hype is all about!


Hello Everyone!

My name is Katie, and as I sit here trying to figure out what to say, I have to laugh a little because I find it quite ironic that I’m writing for a Cloth Diapering Blog of all things.  Why, you ask?  Only because I just happen to be one of the biggest skeptics out there when it comes to Cloth Diapering!  Not that I don’t totally commend everyone who does, in fact, I give them a ton of credit!  My sisters, Kristina and Jen, both are big time Cloth Diaper Addicts, so I’ve had my share of cloth diaper experiences, but it just wasn’t my thing, or so I thought…

First, a little about me and my family – I am married to a pretty cool guy, Jesse, (who is even more skeptical of cloth diapers even more than I am).  He is a Research Development Chef, so it’s kind of fun having him around!  Seriously though, he is my best friend, I love him and am thankful that he supports me on all my crazy endeavors no matter what they might be! His hobbies include shooting, music, following Hockey and Football, horseshoes, bowling, reading and pretty much anything to do with Zombies!

I work one night a week, and also am an Independent Consultant for Thirty-One.  So I like to say that I’m basically a Stay a Home Mommy!  We have two children, Colton and Rebecca.  Colton is 5 ½ and every bit the typical 5yr old boy!  Loves sports, getting dirty, playing outdoors, spending time with his cousins, reading…the list goes on!  Rebecca is 11 months old and is our little social chatter box!  We all love watching her learn new things and making her smile and laugh.  She is definitely Mommy’s girl, but lately has been getting better about giving Daddy some of her attention. Honestly though, I think her big brother is her favorite!  I love my babies so much more than I could have ever imagined loving someone before becoming a Mommy and while I’m far from perfect, I do my best to make sure they are loved and provided for!

We just moved into our house a few months ago and are finally starting to settle in and are enjoying the extra space both inside and out.  Eventually, I’d love to have a few small farm animals, but for now I’m settling with getting a garden started!  I also LOVE taking pictures/photography, playing softball, reading (which I never have time for), and spending time with my family and friends.

About six months ago, I was talking to my sisters about writing for this blog.  I was trying to convince them that just because I don't "Do" Cloth Diapering doesn't mean I couldn't write about other earth friendly things that I support!  It was kind of a losing battle!  They have been trying to convince me of converting to cloth for a few years now.  Even when I didn't have a baby in diapers!  I wasn't having any of it!  There is just something about scraping poo off into the toilet that just doesn't fly with me! (There was an incident with me babysitting a nephew, wearing a cloth diaper, and it was the day after he had eaten six ears of corn on the cob.  Let me tell you...what happened in that diaper...it wasn't pretty!) There were other reasonable arguments I had about Cloth Diapering which I will list in a minute!

My sisters finally came up with an idea about how I could write for them.  They thought it would be cool to have our followers hear from someone who is new to Cloth Diapering so that they could get a fresh perspective on things.  It's easy to say "Yes! CD'ing is the only way to go!"  when you've been doing it forever.  That's where I come in.  I am not only a Mom who has never Cloth Diapered, I'm also a huge skeptic of it, so who better to test it out than me!  So I am going to be doing a trial run, with my cute little test subject, Rebecca, and we will see how it goes!

Here are some, ok, a lot of skepticisms I have about Cloth Diapering.  As we go along throughout the next few months of this experiment, I promise to be honest, even if it means I end up loving Cloth Diapering.

1.  It's a lot of extra work, and time consuming - you can't just throw the diaper away and  be done with it
2.  Lots of extra laundry and hang drying to do
3.  the SMELLS!
4.  Does it really actually save money?  Honestly?  By the time you buy the diapers, the special butt creams, the special laundry detergents, and then you have the extra loads of laundry to run, its hard to believe you could actually save money
5.  The start up cost is pretty steep
6.  How much does it really help the environment?
7.  What about babies with sensitive skin?
8.  Seems like traveling and having to deal with cloth diapers would be a pain
9.  Leakage issues?
10.  Bulkiness of diapers - not a fan of the big butt, I know its a little on the vain side, but I'm just being honest!  It also becomes an issue when pants don't fit the baby right because of the extra bulk
11.  If someone did decide to try Cloth Diapering, how would they even know where to start?  I got lucky because I have sisters to help me out with questions, but even then, things still seem a bit overwhelming as I prepare for this adventure!
12.  Reusable wipes...seems like an added pain.  We shall see!

I look forward to sharing my Cloth Diapering Adventures with all of you!


Apparently we need to get an updated family picture with all of us in it!!

6 comments:

Wife, Then Mama said...

I look forward to reading about your "adventures" in cloth diapering. I am a proponent of cloth diapering, but as I have no children yet I don't have a lot of hand-on experience!

Anonymous said...

Point 6 and 7 are completely moot. You can have 1000 worries but please forget those!

Leah said...

Hi Katie!

Looking forward to hearing your perspective!

I was also somewhat skeptical of cloth diapering before I tried it. I did not cloth diaper my first son, but knew some friends who tried it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Thankfully, I found out it was no big deal for us.

Regarding the extra work and laundry, I found an efficient system that works for me.

I don't have an issue with smells, thankfully. I drop a tiny amount of bleach in the first hot wash, and do one cold and two hot washes.

I don't buy special diaper creams. I just use baby powder occasionally. My son has never gotten a diaper rash in cloth.

I found that my BumGenius diapers hold just as much, if not more, than disposables. My daycare provider said the same thing.

Honestly, my only complaint is that they really hold the smells in. So, if my son has a BM, I don't smell it and it often takes me a while to realize that's why he's fussing. LOL.

Good luck!

v_sue2 said...

I had disposables on my first who is now 14. Still not sure how I afforded it. My second, now 5 months I started cloth diapering at about 6 weeks. For the first 6 weeks in disposables his little bottom was always red with a rash. He also exploded out of at least 1 diaper a day. So, now in cloth. He has had 1 rash which was my fault, he was getting urine burn because I started drinking caffeine. And the explosions basically stopped. He does pee out of them occasionally but it is usually user error...pocked diaper and the insert was not flat....

Unknown said...

I started researching Cloth diapering when I was pregnant and luckily my husband went along with my wants and desires (smart man!). I was SUPER overwhelmed at first and really thought I would end up using disposables but I am so glad I stuck it out.

I have cloth diapered my son from the day he was born, in the hospital and everything which really wasn't a hassle.. the nurses were great! My son is now 11 months old and after trying all sorts of brands and types, my favorites are Chelory AIOs. I prefer AIOs because they are the closest thing to a disposable, very easy to use and daddy/grandma/grandpa friendly. I would suggest hook and loop or Aplix (same thing) since its also the closest to a disposable. I literally cannot imagine my life any differently, and I only do laundry every 2-3 days and line dry diapers only when they have a slight stain. As far as cost goes, I have found that if you take good care of your diapers you can sell them for almost what you paid for them and then reinvest in either a different type of diaper or just get your money back, so its almost a risk free endeavor. I wish you luck and I really hope that you love it as much as I do. Besides.. who doesn't love a cute baby booty!

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