“So…it’s not just a disgusting, pee soaked, towel full of poop?”
One day, my grandmother mentioned cloth diapers & apparently my pregnancy hormones took the sugar coating right off of my response. For a long time, the thought of cloth diapers repulsed me. I explained to her that I figured the life of a cloth diapering mom looked a little something like this: take a washcloth, wrap it around your baby, secure with HUGE “safety” pins, then you’ll either need to tie a grocery bag around the kid, or plastic wrap the furniture because there will be pee and poop on everything. (Not only gross…but not very “green”). She laughed and explained what cloth diapers were, even 50 years ago, and convinced me to at least look into them.
Although all of the current cloth diapering options available did spark some interest, I was overwhelmed by all the choices and put off making a decision. Thankfully, by the time the baby was born, family & friends had already supplied us with a stash of Huggies and Pampers, so once again, the cloth diapers got put on the back burner.
As mothers, my aunt and cousin knew that they could either make a decision and get the ball rolling for me, (which was exactly what I needed) or listen to me as I’m kicking myself in a few months because “I wish I were using cloth diapers.” One day, a package came in the mail…POCKET DIAPERS & BAMBOO INSERTS!
I've been using cloth diapers for a month and a half now, and I am SO GLAD I didn't let my first experience turn me off completely. Having the type of cloth diapers already chosen for me, made the research of how to care for them much less overwhelming. I know I should have done the research on using and caring for the type cloth diapers I had BEFORE I used them, but you live and learn I guess.
Learn from my mistakes, be sure to take a look at my post about what I learned during my first month of cloth diapering.
I recorded the first time I put them on him, and watching it makes me laugh. Check out the video below:
There are huge gaps between the diaper and his legs (which is where the poop squished out later that day) and there was pee on the outside of the pocket diaper which got his onsie damp. I’m not scared of pee, or even poop, but it wasn’t as “great of an experience” as I had convinced myself it was going to be after getting pumped up about the cloth diaper life. The plus side: NO diaper rash. Even after the “poop-splosion” his tiny hiney looked 100% healthy.
A friend who has been using cloth diapers for a little while now, recommended Charlies Soap powdered laundry detergent. I bought some, and it worked really well, but I started making my own homemade detergent and it is excellent. It’s super cheap, equal parts Epsom salt, Washing Soda, Baking Soda, and store brand cheap OxiClean. 1 TBS per load. I use it for cloth diapers and all of our other laundry. For now, I’m using wool dryer balls, but I’m not sure how I feel about them yet.
Thank you for your support!