I entered the cloth diapering world almost 12 years ago after being shown one of the "Diaper Genie" things. If you don't know, these are contraptions that take your plastic poopy diaper and shrinkwrap it in another later of plastic so that it is stink proof until you take it out in the garbage in another plastic bag. Besides the fact that I couldn't figure out how to use the darn thing, it simply seemed like way to much plastic for one human being who was less than 10 pounds. I also read at that time how the chemicals used to make the gel in disposable diapers was being detected in the breastmilk of polar bears in the arctic and I knew that it was time to call my mom to find out how she did it.
Luckily, cloth diapers have come a long way since the 1960's. Pins are no longer needed (although still an option) and no more soaking the diapers in a bucket of bleach water (we actually tried this at first but found other ways after I accidentally spilled the bucket of poop-water on my way to the laundry in the basement). There are tons of adorable diaper covers that can be fastened with velcro or snaps that make diapering almost as easy as disposables.
Three baby bums later, I have discovered many other benefits as well. I love knowing I am not putting scary chemicals right on my baby's genitalia and there is really nothing cuter that the bubble-bum of a baby in a cloth diaper. I know there are heated debates about whether cloth or plastic is the better environmental choice. To make it more complicated, we now have other choices such as bleach and gel free disposables, organic cotton or hemp diapers, and in some areas, a diaper service. Most comparisons I've seen come out without a clear winner. To me it is hard to overlook the fact that 18 billion disposable diapers are thrown into a landfill every year, taking 500 years to decompose. If you decide to use cloth, here are a few links to get you started from Mothering Magazine.
It has been a few years since I had a little one in diapers, but I wasn't too successful at finding a good local source of diapering products. Target had some prefold diapers but the covers they carried where not very good and leaked. Mostly I ordered from mail order (often mom-owned) companies. In Madison, you can try Wild Child or Happy Bambino
4 comments:
Perfect timing! I spent the afternoon setting up 2 'diapering stations' at my house, one upstairs and one downstairs (I know that experienced moms will say that this is crazy and that I will end up changing diapers wherever, and not in those two places, but just let me be in my parenting dreamland for a few more days). While sorting through the diapers I started getting confused by sizes and types (I got some diapers from Kris and some from my mom). So, the Mothering links will come in handy for me. And if they don't answer my questions I will be calling Kris and asking for a 3rd (yes, 3rd) diapering tutorial.
Actually we all started out diapering at a set spot with the first one and it makes a lot of sense to have one on both levels. You can call me anytime for a tutorial. I'll even help change diapers (before 10pm).
I used cloth for both of my kids, loved using cloth for the reasons Kris identified. However I loved my wraps--diaperaps covers http://www.diaperaps.com/ were my favorite. We did use the soak method, but just soaked in Mule team borax and, trust me, it is easy to get a full load.
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