Monday, February 16, 2009

Cloth Diapers/Exposing the Myths (part 1)

What do newborns do? It can pretty much be summed up in 3 words.
Eat, Poo, Sleep.
And each one is very urgent for baby in the moment.
No wonder we as parents are consumed in anything having to do with these actions.
When I learned I was pregnant, the first thing I thought about was diapering. I knew that as a baby, I was allergic to disposables. I also knew that my husband has even more sensitive skin than me (don't tell him I told you he was a sensitive guy; ). There already seemed like a pretty big chance Morris would have a problem with disposable diapers. So, I did what any mom in that situation would do.
I started researching other options.
I'll talk more about this in a later post-- but basically, I first had to get over a few preconcieved notions about cloth diapering. Today I will focus on the first myth that needed debunking.
MYTH: Cloth diapers are gross.
Fact: Okay, I can't really come down on this one with hard facts, but I have to laugh whenever I hear it. If you think that disposables are going to completely save you from having to deal with baby Pee and Poo, you might need a wake up call. Being a new parent means you're gonna have to deal with baby waste somehow. After doing the research on cloth diapers, I realized that now more than ever, cloth diapers are just as easy as disposables! It truly is as simple as dumping any waste in the toilet, rinsing in the washer, and then setting it for a hot load.
Just look at how plush and soft this would feel next to your skin. I decided that if it didn't sound pleasant for me to wear paper underwear, I wouldn't expect Mo to do it either.
These are diapers I have him wear out and about. They work just like disposables.

Now, if you really want to make sure you don't have any extra rinsing to do on your diapers, you can purchase a roll of flushable liners. You lay them inside the diaper so all waste falls straight into the commode with no extra work. They run about $8 a roll and have a 100 tear off sheets. I'm told you could tear each sheet in half and it would still be big enough.


Around the house, I decided to go with old school, extremely cheap (yet still soft) prefolds. These are so easy to launder and I love the look of a baby in prefolds. I learned I didn't need to use diaper pins thanks to the snappi. This little gadget works on prefolds like the snaps for ACE bandages. I LOVE 'em and you have no fear of sticking yourself with a diaper pin--Plus they make flatfold changes super fast!Tomorrow I will focus on more myths surrounding cloth diaper care.

Purchase Diapers HERE

Part 1 HERE-Exposing the Myths (sanitation)
Part 2 HERE- Exposing the Myths (ease of use)
Part 3 HERE- Exposing the Myths (cost)
Part 4 HERE- Cloth Diaper Benefits (health, environment)
Part 5 HERE- More Benefits (potty training, and more)
Part 6 HERE -Basic info and terminology
Part 7 HERE- Building your cloth diaper stash
Part 8 HERE- Diaper Needs Questionnaire

7 comments:

Ella A. said...

Very good information! I love my bum genius diapers! and, like you said, they are not much more work. Definitely not enough for me to sto doing them. And WHENEVER I have to use a disposable, Hudson gets a rash immediately.

Kara said...

NEVER thought I'd go there...but now I am actually thinking about it. Hey, I just saw the button you put on your side bar of me-LOVE IT. I really need to find a better header for my page, might swipe your button and we could match :)

Megan Loves Life said...

We seriously considered cloth diapers for our first but took the "easy" way out I guess you could call it. I was kind of overwhelmed with all the options and trying to research what we wanted that I just gave up and went the traditional route. You made it sound so EASY in this post I want to switch tomorrow!

fish said...

very cool. not sure i'm there yet, but definitely appreciate the info. i'm sure you'll have me convinced soon enough, though.

Emily Ruth said...

Yeah Ladies! That's the spirit: ) I hope I properly convey how truly easy cloth diapering can be. I think you may like what is to come!

Katie said...

Emily, where do you buy your diapers? I think I might be willing to give this thing a try.

Emily Ruth said...

Great Question Katie! http://www.cottonbabies.com/ or http://www.kellyscloset.com/ are my favorite online stores right now.