Cloth Diapering

I am excited right now. And the reason is actually a little silly.

I'm excited (and have been for a long time- actually from long before I even got pregnant) about cloth diapering.

My sister Kate is extremely unsupportive, skeptical, and disinterested about this entire topic. I can't criticize her about this because she IS the one with two kids, changing diapers every day. I have zero kids and I think I've only changed a poopy diaper once in my life (though I have changed several wet diapers). However, to be completely fair, Kate has never actually TRIED cloth diapers (to my knowledge), and therefore has less room to judge than mothers who have at least experimented with it. Still, she's got the babies and the experience; all I have is a plan. I shall therefore refrain from speaking condescendingly of her anti-environmental stance until I have tried and tested the cloth method myself. (har har, just kidding, to each her own and far be it from me to judge)

I had lunch with younger sister Dot today and asked her what she would do with her kids in the (hopefully) very distant future, just out of curiosity. She said DEFINITELY disposables: "I'm green, but I'm not THAT green!!" When I inquired as to why, she said that Kate had talked to her about it and brought up strong arguments against it, which convinced her to go with disposables. I assume Dot was probably leaning towards cloth before that conversation (if she even thought about it at all), since she really is quite environmentally conscious. I find it highly amusing that Kate is so vehement in her opinion, enough to promote disposables (or demote cloth, I'm not sure which) when she hasn't tried anything different. It doesn't annoy or irritate me at all, I just think it's kind of hilarious, especially since she told Dot (who won't be having kids for a long time to come) all about this opinion.

I'm sure she avoids the topic with me because she doesn't want to argue, and she finds the topic boring. I wonder if she'll even finish reading this blog entry once she's read the title. I'm also pretty sure that she and Danny (particularly Danny) think that I'm an uppity snob who will lecture them on the damages disposables pose to the environment while promoting my own "greener" way as far superior to theirs. And I KNOW they're just waiting for me to have the baby, try cloth diapering, get sick of it and give up so that they can smile knowingly to one another and say "it was a noble intention, but short-lasting, just as we thought." When I picture this scene in my head, I can't stop laughing even though I would be the one SOL in the scenario!

Either way, I am EXTREMELY enthusiastic about the idea of cloth diapering as I have already stated. I first got excited about it (and this is a little embarrassing) before I was even married. (I can't believe I used to make fun of Dot for packing her suitcases three months before we were to leave on our summer vacation.) I've always known that I would have kids someday and I like to plan these kinds of things! Plus, I hadn't decided which method to use yet and I wanted to do the research before I got pregnant so that I could be well-informed when the time came along. And I had a lot of spare time on my hands in California!

I've also done several research projects concerning this and similar topics for my psychology classes at school. Specifically, I wrote an enormous paper (which I'll post here at a later date) all about Elimination Communication, aka Assisted Infant Toilet Training. I did a ton of research for it, and learned a lot about the pros and cons of all three methods (cloth, paper and commando). I decided cloth was the way I'd go; I'll give EC a shot, but as "granola" as I may be, I'm not sure of my abilities there. We'll see, and I'll discuss my plans for that in a later post.

Here is my EXTREMELY simplified list of the pros and cons of cloth diapering:

Pros
Much more economical (and YES, I'm including the extra cost of electricity for the washer and dryer in that statement)
Much more environmentally friendly (disposables make up approximately 2% of our country's landfills; I'll post the citation for that when I post my research paper on EC)
Better for baby's skin, assuming you do it properly and aren't washing your dipes with fabric softeners or what not
Less leakage IF you use and fit them properly

Cons
You have to do more laundry, which takes time
It's grosser since you keep the dirties to wash instead of tossing them
This leads to a big loss of convenience because you have to make sure that the smell from your pail/bag doesn't permeate, work on treating and preventing stains, fix seams and replace elastics when they wear out, etc.
Figuring out how all the different kinds work and which is best for your baby also takes time and energy

There are quite a few more reasons under each category, but those are the biggest ones. When examining these pros and cons, I found the cons for cloth diapering much more "fixable" than the cons for disposables, and the pros much more worthwhile. So I decided to do further research.

First, I looked for someone I knew who had used cloth diapers. Lo and behold, my very own MOTHER fit that description! I honestly didn't know this until I asked; as a toddler I always carried a cloth prefold with me wherever I went because I loved putting it against my nose and smelling the clean detergent. I had no idea that I once wore the same type of diaper on my BUTT! (and just for the record, NO, my "security blanket" prefolds were never used as actual diapers; I did NOT inhale the scent of a cloth that had been previously peed/pooped on)

So I asked my mom about that. How much of a hassle was it to do all that extra laundry? Well, apparently grandma Vasicek got her a diaper service for Joe (and maybe Kate too?), so that wasn't a big issue the first time around. When she did have to wash her own diapers, she said it wasn't that hard, and she was used to the folding and pinning by then so no biggie. I'm still surprised that I'm surprised that I was CDed myself, by my very own mother.

And yes, I meant to include both "surprises" in the previous sentence.

Then I started researching the whole thing online. And wow, has the world of CDing come a long way since my mom did it! Parents aren't limited to prefolds and flatfolds anymore. There are pockets and inserts and All-In-Ones and All-In-Twos and One Sizes and fitteds and doublers and hybrids and liners and covers and soakers and woolies and snaps and velcros and so much more! And yes, I've read about each and every single one of these things and I know what they all mean!

It's late and Mykle wants me to come to bed soon, so I can't go into descriptions and explanations right now. Besides, I'm sure most people would find that extraordinarily boring to hear about. However, I have been working on making some fleece soakers myself (I'm learning to sew!!! How exciting!! It's both easy and incredibly complicated all at once. Sigh.) and I wanted to post pictures and brag about them!!

For your information, a soaker can be worn over a disposable diaper or a cloth diaper such as a prefold/fitted. It serves two general purposes: Preventing leaks/wicking moisture away from the baby's skin, and being cute! Most variations I know of are made of fleece or wool, or a combination of wool and nylon.

The pattern I used was online at http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.html, and is available for free! It's very simple and detailed with pictures showing each step. This is essential for beginner sewers like myself. (Mom taught me the basics when I was thirteen. That's the only instruction I ever had and I hadn't practiced since then. Luckily, I have a near photographic memory and remembered how to do all the basic crap like threading the bobbin, etc.)

Here are pictures of the fronts and backs of the two soakers I made just tonight! (Thank you Connie, for the use of your sewing machine!) Both are made from fleece remnants I got at Joanne's for half price. The first is black (not a traditional baby color, but I wanted to start with something generic):


This black one has an extra piece of fleece sewn in the bottom to help prevent leaks. I promise it looks less blobby in real life! For the picture I propped it against a shoe :)

I do not know the gender of my baby yet. I find out in a week. I realize that this next soaker is blue. Yes, I DO predict that it'll be a boy, but that's not why I picked blue. I just thought this print was adorable. Also, I think the only REALLY non-gender-neutral color is pink, and a girl can wear a blue fish-themed soaker without appearing ridiculous. Whatever.



This is another remnant I got the other day. The pieces are cut out but I didn't have time to make a soaker out of it yet. I wish they were crabs not lobsters, but I still think it's cute. Esp. since I'm from New England. And again, I don't care if it's blue. (the background is a lot bluer than it looks in the picture)


This last pic is a very poor quality photo of a PUL print I got for covers. It's a light green with monkey faces on it, also gender neutral IMO. I'm psyched to use it, but need to find some elastic and a good lining first.


That's all for now. Time for bed!