I was cloth diapered as a kid, and 10 years later, I helped cloth diaper my sister. So when my son was born in 2005, I had already registered for (and received) 3 dozen prefold cloth diapers. And somehow, after the initial supply of disposibles I was given by well-meaning friends ran out, I just went and bought more. And more. And more. Until my son had celebrated his 2nd birthday, and the prefolds were still in a box in storage. I think I was afraid during those first hazy few months (meaning like 15) that I couldn't stay on top of the extra laundry. I wasn't staying on top of the laundry we already had. The kitchen was constantly in upheaval. I got more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep maybe a half dozen times that first year. I was afraid, I was very very afraid that diapers that needed to be washed would quickly turn into "that bucket of festering poop and cloth." And so the idea of cloth diapering was unceremoniously moved to the Back Burner.
After I felt really settled into the rhythm of motherhood, I still thought that I couldn't cloth diaper. This is because the world of cloth diapering has developed into something that appears really complicated. It's an industry, and it makes money. There are prefolds, organic prefolds, organic fair trade prefolds; snappies and inserts of hemp, wool, and silk; prowraps, kissaluvs, bummis, happy heinies; diaper ducks; fancy diaper pails and toilet add-ons. You can easily plunk down four or five hundred bucks if you want to. And while that's a considerable savings over what you'd spend on disposable diapers, it seems like a lot to spend all at once. The ease of spending $20 at a time on throw-aways seemed more accessible. And because I always sort of have a "do it right or not at all" kind of attitude, I picked not at all.
( I have since been made aware of an organization that serves low-income families by providing them with access to cloth diapering supplies by rental. Check them out at miraclediapers.org.)
But sometime earlier this year I started feeling really yucky about the choice I'd made. This came on the heels of a bit of a rampage, in which I very nearly rid the house of any commercial cleaning products. I had been reading articles whose content is well summarized in this article, "Clean Green" from Mothering Magazine, issue 141. Additionally, a stay-at-home dad in my ECFE class brought copies of THIS list of recipes for non-toxic, homemade cleaning products to class around the same time. It became important to me to get the chemicals out of our house. Yes, I've turned into one of those people who looks for milk-based paints and dreams of having an organic mattress. And it doesn't sound remotely crazy or alarmist or gullible to me.
So a couple of weeks ago, on my favorite moms' forum, a mom I really respect opened a cafepress.com store featuring products with THIS design, and something clicked. How can I reconcile making my own cleaning products with putting my son in diapers full of chemicals? I don't even clean with anything with bleach. I've been buying unbleached coffee filters for years. Why would I put my son in a chlorine diaper? I dug out the prefolds, gave them another wash and bought the right size covers the next day.
Recognizing that learning is trial and error in most any persuit, here is how I started and how cheaply I did it. I will have to make changes as I go, and there will be additional cost involved. But here is how I got started for $27.
I spent $12 on old school vinyl plastic covers. I have 9 of them, which is plenty. I used the prefolds I was given at my baby showers, about 3 dozen of them. Free. I had also received a few sets of diaper pins. Free. On the recommendation of another mom, I bought 3 Toddler size Snappi Fasteners from Amazon (because no one carries that size locally), and that was $15 with shipping. I really love them, by the way. I got the lidded bucket I'm using as a diaper pail from my mom. My friend Nicole gave me a few ProWrap diaper covers and a few more prefolds. That's it, and that's plenty. It works and I'm out $27. So there goes that excuse.
If you want to read more supporting the use of cloth diapers, click here: The Politics of Diapers and here: A Tale of Two Diapers.
1 comment:
Most of have inauspicious starts to CDing full time. I had to with my oldest she would break out if she just sweated in a diaper and didn't have it changed right away. my second was ill and not allergic so she wore sposies. new one is allergic and now there are so many choices. We spent about $120 but we've got fitteds and countours enough for 2 children and other than 6 kissaluvs I make my own. We don't use old fashioned vinyl pull on covers because they still break out (doesn't breathe) we use PUL with hook and loop and fleece covers. Most of ours are made from recycled materials (old sheets etc) and remants from Wally world and $1 a yard flannels, plus flannel my mom gave me free.
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