My Foray Into Cloth Diapering

I’ve reached the point in the winter where I look outside and say “enough already.” After coming off a vacation in sunny New Mexico, I’m looking outside to grey skies, and melting snow. I took a walk around our house last weekend to survey the grounds.

I just said “grounds”…as if we live on some sort of freaking English estate a la Downton Abbey.  We don’t. Our yard, while ample, is still small.

Anyway, I walked around, looking to see how our fall bulbs were blooming and saw a few little tips coming thru the water logged soil. I also noticed a heck of a lot of bunny turds all over our flower beds. Those aint no Cadbury Crème Eggs.  Alas my new found hobby of gardening will have to wait a few more weeks.

Like I have nothing better to do with myself, I decide that cloth diapering would be a good “hobby” errr, lifestyle choice to incorporate in to our lives. Nothing like the deep, dark, doldrums of winter to make you want to do even more laundry than you already do on any given day.

My closest friends all cloth diaper their children. I see fat and cute clothed baby bums at baby yoga class and I figure I’m the last to join this movement.   So like most things I “get into” I do a mild amount of online research and head to the store to buy cloth diapers.

Now I know how men feel when women ask them to go to the store and buy them tampons. I am staring at a wall of cloth diapers. Names like Fuzzi Buns, Thirsties (uhhh, terrible name by the way), Bum Genius, and G-Diapers (G-What?!). I am literally a deer in the headlights. Nothing like going to buy cloth diapers to make you feel even more like an inadequate mother. With a little help from the sweet sales lady, I am armed with two kinds of diapers. Go ahead ask me about the pocket diapers, all in one, or inserts!  Huzzah!!

In full disclosure, I am doing part-time or half-assed cloth diapering. I am merely scratching the surface of the cloth diaper world. I have yet to harness the full power of the cloth diapey.  Ruby will only wear the diapers when we are at home, and only during the day. So I have a total of 7 diapers. Those of you cloth diaper veterans are probably cackling right now at my cloth diaper arsenal, or lack thereof.

We are almost through the week and I have to admit—it’s really not that bad.  It’s actually….just…fine. The problem so far has been a minor diaper rash which I believe to be caused by me letting her wallow in her feces for more than 30 seconds. With disposables you can let them sit in their poo for just a few extra minutes while you finish watching Kathy and Hoda.  But with cloth diapers, I have to march my tush and her tush upstairs and change immediately.  And frankly, the biggest challenge has been trying to figure out my washer. Seriously. We have a high efficiency washer that came with our house when we bought it this past summer. My inability to figure out the prewash cycle and soak cycle is akin to watching my parents try to text.

Now look, I’m still in the honeymoon period here with these diapers.  It’s all colorful diaper patterns, and badonkadonk baby butts.  Little girl is still a breastfed baby and no “real” food has been introduced yet. And we all know what happens when those sweet little babes start eating solid food. Stink. Stunk. Stanky butt. So fingers crossed I can keep up with this new hobby of mine.

[typography font=”Delius Swash Caps” size=”16″ size_format=”px”]Do you have any cloth diapering war stories?[/typography]