Wednesday, March 11, 2009

the world of cloth!

I must admit, the world of cloth diapering can be a little intimidating. With all the different kinds of diapers, specific laundering instructions and even the extra laundry, it took me a while to open the grocery bag of diapers a friend lent me. I had thought about cloth in the past, however I was skeptical that I could do it.

On Monday night, I went to a cloth diapering session. It was wonderful to meet new moms (and a grandmother to be!) and really see how other people do it. The host made everyone feel welcome and most of all, made cloth diapering seem ACCESSIBLE. You don't have to be rich to make the investment! Most of her diapers were from yard sales and some were pretty worn! I think cloth diapering has become such a fad in some ways and the initial investment seems scary. (Although much cheaper than disposables in the long run.) For me, with hubby in school right now and me on maternity leave, it seemed practically impossible to make the investment. But seeing this mom explain her experience and her joy at contributing to a healthier environment, and her passion about using cloth was amazing. It was not about cute diapers with patterns and little fashion statements crawling around! It was about making a difference in a big way. And simplifying that by not needing all the extra gear. Thanks so much, because you know who you are!

So feeling empowered to try this for myself, I broke open the grocery bag and outfitted Charlotte yesterday. And it was...... EASY! She didn't leak, and although I didn't have to clean a messy one, it was not hard to do cloth. (I will keep you updated on this!) So onto kijiji and the fredkid classifieds I went, to find some used diapers! I am excited, I know that it will be worth it cost-wise and to know that I am making a difference in the landfills by choosing cloth. Now, I know it's not for everyone, and I will keep you updated on my experiences!

I am looking forward to providing a healthier option for Charlotte. There are many chemicals in disposables and we have dealt with rash and dry skin, perhaps because of this. Let me know about your experiences and worries about cloth. I don't know many moms who do cloth, but I think it is a good and valuable option and important to have support and encouragement!

3 comments:

  1. Ooooh! Im so happy your trying it! I LOVE hearing about people trying to make the world a better place. Sometimes it's making big sacrifices like the luxury of disposal diapers and then other times it's as small as picking biodegradable house cleaning products! But ALL these things help and will make our children's world a much healthier/happier place to live in.
    Yay for cloth!!

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  2. YAY, it's great to hear this Pamela, I'm so proud of you:) I can't wait to come home and see precious charlotte in her cloth diapers. you could probably find patterns to make your own too!

    you should check out thestoryofstuff.com it's great if we could remove some of the steps by paying attention to what we consume!

    love you

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  3. I agree, it can be intimidating, but it's not hard once you start! :)

    I think some people get overwhelmed at the start by thinking they have to use cloth all the time, instead of doing what works for them! We use cloth at home and on occasional outings, but we use disposables at night and disposables or flushable gdiapers when we're out and about (or when the laundry pail is full! lol). I figure, every cloth/flushable we use is one less diaper in the landfill!

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