Cloth Diapers -First Steps

Let me begin this by saying I LOVE CLOTH DIAPERING!!

There, now that I've said that, I will tell you about how I got into this love, this addiction, because I wasn't always a believer. I had the same notions that most people do. Pins & plastic pants, dealing with poop & diaper rash. I had no idea how WRONG I was going to be.

I didn't really get introduced to cloth diapering for noble reasons. I wasn't overly concerned about all those disposables going into the landfill, even though I was putting two full garbage bags out the door every single week, not realizing that those diapers probably won't decompose EVER, barring a nuclear blast.

Neither was I concerned about the cost saving factor. I didn't do the math to see how much money I was spending on disposables and had no idea that there was a cheaper alternative. I didn't even realize that cloth diapers could be re-used on multiple babies, or sold in used condition to other mamas who will get months or years out of their uses after I'm finished with them.

I also didn't know about the yucky chemicals that are put into disposable diapers that would be touching my babies delicate bottom & reproductive organs 24-7 for the first 2-3 years of his life.

And, I didn't know at the time that cloth contains those explosive breastfed newborn poops WAY better than any disposable does. (And the disposable mommies are arguing that they don't want to have to deal with poop...um, how about that onesie you just soaked in the sink because your babe was head-to-toe in poop... yeah, you're still dealing with LOTS of poop when using disposables)

Also, I didn't realize that diaper laundry would become my favourite laundry EVER, that it would relax me, that I would squeel with delight at all the adorable fluff that I'm lovingly folding for my son, or the domestic peace it brings me when I hang it on the clothesline to dry in the sun.

I definitely didn't realize that there was a CUTE factor to cloth diapering either. I expected I was going to be getting white diapers with white covers that I would have to bleach all the time. It blew my mind when I started to see all the adorable colors & prints. Yeah, its still just a poo catcher but so what. Do you only buy plain white cotton underwear for yourself? No way, Victoria's Secret wouldn't be in business if we didn't go for the hot pink, the leopard, the plaid and the polkadots for our own underwear, so why should diapers be different?

So, all those great things that I didn't know about before I looked into cloth diapering. What prompted me? The economy! No, I wasn't worried about affording diapers, I was worried about the possibility of such an economic crash that the stores would be out of diapers or something like that. (seriously, I had these thoughts, that there could be a global economic meltdown) So I figured I needed at least a handful of diapers that I could wash & dry, even if we were living in a tent or something like that.

Little did I know what the researching was getting me into. I couldn't believe, not only all the options, but how easy cloth diapering would be, how much I would love it and how much BETTER for him, for the environment and for our wallets it was going to be.

So, now I have all sorts of brands & options, and I am a passionate advocate of cloth diapering, more than I ever could have imagined. I'll write some future posts on the different types of diapers we use, how we care for them, and some links to some great sites that make or sell diapers & diapering accessories.  I just hope that I've been able to educate someone new that cloth diapers are no longer just your mama's pins & plastic pants and that there are MANY benefits for using them.