It had been a few weeks since we brought baby home when the box of unused cloth diapers started speaking to me.
With a newborn and a two year old to care for, as much as it pained me, cloth diapering went by the wayside. Once I had adjusted to my new life of being a mom of two, I was able to start getting back on track.
I’m a bit superstitious and didn’t set up the nursery or wash baby clothes before we brought our babies home from the hospital. The same went for the cloth diapers. I had opened the box to admire my purchase and then quickly put them away to wait for baby’s arrival.
Now baby is home and it was time to start using them, but I must admit that I was completely intimidated. I knew I needed to “prep” them, but I was afraid to get started. What if I washed them wrong and ruined them from the very start?
Every time I passed the box, the pretty little cloth diapers peeking out from inside would call out to me, “Wash me.” “Use me.”
I was totally committed to using them before my daughter arrived and had been doing my cloth diaper homework for months. Now was the time that I needed to put all my research into practice.
So one day when my baby and my big girl were both asleep and I had a bit of energy, I opened the box of cloth. For the next hour we all got acquainted with one another. I liked what I saw. Colorful, fluffy diapers, a diaper sprayer and a diaper pail liner. I fiddled with the snaps, played with the adjustable parts, read the instructions, and practiced stuffing and un-stuffing the pockets. I was elated.
I don’t know what I was so afraid of. This was going to be fun – and if anything – an experience to remember. The hour passed so quickly and you guessed it, my baby woke up. If only she knew what I was doing while she napped and what was in store for her…
Were you afraid of your cloth diapers at first? Share your story!
I was afraid of my cloth diapers at first. I had never seen anyone use them. My baby was 8 mo.ths old when I was trying to switch. I also had not prepped them (I thought it was optional, haha not so mich). Lastly to make it even more fun the day I was convinced I would start I drank a little too much wine the night before. So smelly things were ick. I went to chanhe the first diaper and thought about putting a disposable on and asked myself what I was thinking with cloth. I did however make it through the day and that was when we switched.
I wasn’t intimidated to start, but it took a while to go all-cloth. I made the choice to start cloth diapering when my daughter was 2.5 weeks old & already had diaper rash from disposables. I started off part-time only, just when we were at home during the day. Within hours of being in cloth, the rash started to go away so I knew immediately that I had made the right choice. Eventually I got a travel wetbag & did it every day, home or not. Then, when we started having night time leaks in disposables I started using cloth at night too. It was a gradual process, and we never got around to using cloth at daycare, but we were 100% cloth at home somewhere around the 9 or 10 month mark. Laundry actually became easier when we switched to using cloth wipes as well because we didn’t have to pull the wipes out of the travel wetbag before dumping the diapers into the washer.
I am so glad I have the supplies now – I’ll be able to cloth diaper from the beginning with baby #2 (due in 6 months). While we don’t know what our childcare situation will be when that babe starts in January 2013, if our care provider is willing to use cloth, I’m planning to go all-cloth if possible. I’m excited about how low our diaper costs are going to be next time.
I have been cloth diapering since my son was 10lbs..3 or 4 mos old. I wasn’t sure I could handle the constant diaper changing with the breastfeed/poop diapers.. there were so many! I was overwhelmed at first until I bought a spray.. that solved the cleaning up process! It isn’t for everyone but I think if they tried they would also be hooked! LOVE cloth diapering and hope to make my own fluff someday!
I didn’t start CD’ing my first until he was around 3 months, mostly because we were not at our own home at the time and I knew my in-laws had mixed feelings about us using their washer for CD’s. He potty trained at 15 months and we completely put the diapers away when he was 18 months.
So with the discovery of expecting our second son, I knew I wanted to CD from the start. This was a whole new world to me though. Not only were there so many more options (in only a 3 year span of time) but now I had to figure out NB diapers as well! This whole process was so hard and so frustrating. I had seen the many benefits of cloth with my first, I knew all the numbers and statistics, but NB diapers were something else.
Eventually throughout my pregnancy I figured it out and became familiar with all the options and recommendations. I fell in love with some brands, learned to despise others, then learned what would actually work on our little guy.
We’re now expecting our third (May ’12) and our first little girl. I am preparing for a small baby like my other two were, re-using many of our NB diapers, but also getting some additional ones to try on her.
It is definitely a long process if you’re like me and over-analyze everything. But its a great accomplishment in my opinion. I applaud all CD’ing families and LOVE your post!