Have you ever wondered just how many cloth diapering families live in your area?  Are you plugged into a local cloth diapering support group?  Getting together with a local group to chat with about cloth diapers has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I tell this story quite often, but before I moved to the Houston area, about seven years ago, I wanted to make sure that I was plugged into the cloth diapering community before I arrived. I did a search on Yahoo Groups, because that was where the most activity was, and I couldn’t really find what I was looking for the the Houston suburb to where I was moving, so I started a group.  Before I knew it, there were lots and lots of members, and I started forming wonderful friendships.  Since then, the group moved over to a Houston area group, and it finally migrated to a really large group on Facebook, not too long ago.

Why is a local cloth diapering group so important?

There are several perks to being plugged in to a local cloth diapering group:

Like-minded friends – Not everyone cares or understands why cloth diapering is so important to our family.  Getting hooked up with a local cloth diapering group has helped us find friends who get our parenting style.

Comfy and fluffy play dates – Kiddos enjoy play dates, but I’ve often found myself attending play dates with families that are so far from my realm of parenting that it’s an uncomfortable situation all around.  Plus, it’s awesome to be able to see all the little ones in fluff and compare!

No Shipping Required – With a local FSOT (for sale or trade) board, you don’t really have to worry about shipping costs!  Although, in the Houston area, it’s often easier to ship, I have found that I meet more friends and save everyone money if we meet up to trade or buy cloth diapers.

Diaper parties – If you’ve never been to a diaper party, it’s so much fun! They can be done several different ways, but the mainly, everyone brings their cloth diapers, and you can touch and feel diapers that you’ve never even heard of or always wanted to try, and you can even swap, sell, or buy right there at the party!

Local advice – Having a group of cloth diapering families all in one place makes it easier to ask questions that pertain to your area such as “Where can I buy XYZ detergent locally?”, “Because our city water is hard, how do you generally wash?”, “Is ABC Daycare cloth diaper friendly?”

Local advocacy – The internet is a great place to find cloth diaper information and advocacy, but you can’t really beat local, in person cloth diapering events.  It’s an awesome way to meet new friends and spread the word about cloth diapers.

If you do not belong to a local cloth diapering group, there are several places you can look.

Find a local cloth diaper group!

• Search for a Real Diaper Circle (group) in your area.
• Check out Yahoo Groups by searching for “cloth diapers (your city)”.
• See if there is a local group on Facebook by searching the same way as above!
• Look or ask around for a local group on your favorite parenting forum.

If you are unable to find a group in your area, do like me and start your own!

Become a Real Diaper Circle Leader, start a Yahoo Group, form a group on Facebook, or check your favorite forums to see if they have the capacity for you to start a local board!

Online cloth diapering groups can be a fantastic resource, but when you’re looking for something a little closer to home, trying getting involved in a local cloth diapering board.  Local support and friendships can help make your cloth diapering experience so much more fun!