- materials like 100% cotton, fleece, micro-suede, bamboo next to baby's skin (no harsh chemicals)
- potential for cost effectiveness (though you take a $$ up-front on reusable diapers and covers, we'd be paying mucho moolah each week anyway for disposables, and the reusables can last through multiple kids!)
- environmentally-friendly-ish (HOW environmentally friendly is debatable; you are upping your washer and dryer water/energy consumption and EVENTUALLY the waterproof covers ARE going to end up in a landfill, but it seems to still be less of an impact than chucking every single disposable that ever touches a soggy bottom)
- lots of options (this is both good AND bad when it comes to my decision-making abilities!) now that cloth diapering is becoming "trendy" again - and no sharp diaper pins!
- lots of options - color/pattern-wise that is . . . so maybe Jesse doesn't care so much about this but I do love cute bright colors . . .
CNY Cloth Diaper Express also offers multiple service options (rentals, delivery/wash/pick-up service, purchasing your own), which is nice because we'll be able to adjust as we go along. We may decide to utilize their diaper service for the first few weeks while we're settling in, we may just get them to wash/pick-up/deliver our own diapers, or (Who knows!) we may find out we are super cloth-diaperers and willing to take on all the washing and drying ourselves. The company president we sat down with last night was obviously super-knowledgeable and ready and willing to trouble-shoot any problems/questions we might have (ie how do all the sizes fit, what cleaners work best, just exactly what do you DO with the poop???).
Mainly last night was a chance to get a solid foundation in the most well-known types of cloth diapers. There are cotton pre-folds (which Jesse and I agree is a misnomer - these 4-8ply quilted rectangles themselves are NOT pre-folded, YOU have to pre-fold them!) which then need a (usually waterproof) cover, fitted diapers (these are a material such as cotton/bamboo that have snaps or velcro, making them a bit easier than a pre-fold) which also need a cover, pocket-diapers (the waterproof covers have a 'pocket' for an absorbant cloth that can be removed), and "all-in-one" diapers that are basically just like disposables except you wash, dry, and reuse them. Like I said - LOTS OF OPTIONS. It was good to just get our hands on them, try them out, feel the materials . . .Nothing is set in stone yet - we may still use disposables on long trips, in a pinch, etc. At this point, we're going to give it a try and not drive ourselves crazy clinging to ANY method if it's not working out. We're hoping to take this attitude with all of our baby/parenting (eek!) decisions: We'll give anything a try, we'll do what's right for us, we support what works for other peops!
Oi. Babies!
*Picture source: http://www.atlantadiaperservice.com/images/stories/frontpageimage.jpg
5 comments:
Diapers in the beginning, when you're nursing, not formula, are not particularly messy or stinky. I did use a service for a few months? then did them myself.
The leftover diapers, if you didnt rent them make great rags for years.
We used disposables on trips. Eventually I got spoiled by them. There were some eco friendly ones that turned luke's butt into something disastrous. That was 19+ years ago, so hopefully they are better. ANyway, they didn't bother ellie. But I stopped using them.
Kids never had diaper rash on the cloth. Washed them with shaklee products.
I say use the cloth for as long as you can. I would put them in the washer for a quick rinse maybe once a day so they didn't stink before they went to the service pickup. As far as stink goes, Having disposables around stink too. John built a crate in the back 40 where we put them til we could take them to the dump.
If you do cloth now, and some day you have another baby, you'll have the cloth already, to use for as long as you can stand for that one, too, without the upfront costs.
I washed the diapers, not the kids with shaklee products. Although Im SURE shaklee has a baby wash as well!
Haha . . . I was just imagining you guys quarantining stinky diapers to the "back 40" :)
they might keep the deer away!
Have you heard of G Diapers? They are a hybrid... like a Prius. The outer part is cloth and the liner is compostable/flushable. You should check them out. Just another choice to add :)
I can't figure out how to post on this without using Walt's email.
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