(Baby #4: Our cloth diapering test subject -- photo added July 2009)
My road to cloth diapering has been long. When my son, now 17-years-old, was born, I used cloth for much of his infancy because it was an inexpensive option. I was a teenager, finishing high school, and washing diapers seemed like a small price to pay if it helped defray all of the costs my parents were incurring. But, cloth diapering wasn't glamorous -- simple white pre-folds, huge pins (cleverly disguised as innocuous with their baby blue tops), and sticky vinyl covers. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I discovered these thin liners that I could put in the diapers. They made the cleaning process much easier -- just lift the liner (and its stinky contents) and flush down the toilet. To be honest, I really didn't put much thought into the environmental benefits of using cloth, or the fact that I was keeping strange chemicals away from my baby's skin. Although I was becoming a die-hard environmentalist at about this same time, I didn't realize my baby's bottom had anything to do with it.
As I grew up, finished college (with a degree in Environmental Studies), and started working in a job in my field, I realized more and more that the simple acts of each and every one of us are going to make the biggest impact on our planet. As I got older, and added more stress to my life, I also became much more practical. When my first daughter came along in 2003, I thought about cloth diapering...for about fifteen minutes. I wasn't going to go back to the old fashioned method and we didn't have a diaper service in our area. But then I learned about the new cloth diapers. I started a subscription to Mothering magazine when my daughter was a few months old and fell in love with the cute little bottoms in gorgeous cloth diapers. Excitedly, I did some Internet research and, just as quickly as I had fallen in love, realized that there was no money in our budget for such an investment.
But, cloth diapering kept nagging at me (like the old-fashioned diaper pins that always stuck my fingers). I had another baby in 2006. But, again, circumstances and finances kept me away from what I knew was a good idea.
Finally, when I was pregnant with our third daughter, born in 2008, I knew I was going to go cloth. Even if this was our last baby, I had to do it. My husband wasn't overly supportive, so I showed him the money (how cloth diapering could save us money). At this same time, daughter number two developed a horrible rash when I tried to use Luvs diapers on her. This was the proof my husband needed that there's something not-so-safe lurking in disposable diapers. I even got my mother-in-law excited about trying to make our own diapers. Over the course of a few months, I acquired a good stash of diapers and have never regretted it.
Diapering baby number four has been an adventure so far. Most of the time she's in cloth, but we do use disposable diapers about 10-20% of the time. We decided to use BumGenius 3.0 pocket diapers and pre-folds with PUL covers (Thirsties and Bummis). I try to use liners as much as I can to make clean-up easier. (I've read accounts of "shaking solids into the toilet" but that hasn't worked well for us.) I wash about every two days. We have a front-loading washer and I did find that rinsing was an issue. Now I add an "extra rinse" to the wash. I've tried different detergents and, so far, have liked All Free & Clear and BioKleen the best. I love the sun for it's bleaching and freshening qualities.
It will be interesting to see if cloth diapers will help us toilet-train baby number four more easily or what we will do if there's ever a baby number five. Only time will tell!
