Making the Switch

Before Peaceful Baby was born, I spent quite a bit of time contemplating what to do about diapers.  We have all heard that it takes something like 7,042 years for a typical disposable diaper to decompose, clogging and polluting landfills all the while.  Then there’s all the talk about what’s in them (petroleum, little beads of absorbent stuff, chlorine, bleach, demons, puppy-killers, etc.).  I knew that in theory I’d like to do better for my baby’s bottom, but the reality of adjusting to life with a new baby may prevent me from jumping in to cloth diapering full steam.

During a particularly gung-ho phase of my pregnancy, I purchased 3 types of cloth and hybrid diapers, as well as some more “natural” disposable diapers.  I figured I’d give everything a try, not be too hard on myself one way or the other, and see what worked best for our family.

Well.  If you’ve ever seen newborn poop, you’ll know it’s a sticky, liquidy mess.  I knew that if I was hardly able to make it to the bathroom to brush my teeth those first few weeks there was nary a chance I’d be cleaning loads of icky diapers.  So we used the ‘sposies and happily tossed the sodden landfill bombs into the trash.  Once I felt I was getting a handle on mothering and maintaining personal grooming at the same time, I tried putting little PB in various cloth diapers.  Results were mixed.  One brand had all cotton inner linings, which meant that the wet stayed wet against her skin, and the poo stained right away.  The hybrid diapers were bulky on her wee frame, and the biodegradable liners felt stiff and rough.  Back to a mixture of Pampers and 7th Generation.

Now that PB is 4 months old, her exclusively breast-fed poos are fewer and less voluminous.  And she fits securely into the Bum Genius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers (say that 3 times fast).  This adjustable diaper has a waterproof outer layer and a soft, micro-fleece lining that wicks moisture away from Baby’s skin into the removable micro-fiber insert.  They are made with polyester, which isn’t very eco-happy, but they wash up super easily and haven’t leaked so far.  I had to actually pull out the liner to see if she was wet the first few times it was so effective!

So, we are in the process of making the switch from disposable to cloth.  There’s definitely a learning curve, but we are coming up with a system that works for our family.  I’m certainly going to be keeping some 7th Generation diapers around for travel and laundry emergencies, giving myself a break if need be.  But in my experience so far, these modern cloth diapers are so simple to use I don’t see a reason to not make the switch.  I think the benefits far outweigh any inconvenience.  Plus, they’re cute and colorful, and that goes a long way to brighten up the often smelly diaper-changing experience!

Here are some sites that I found helpful:

Mothering Magazine, Diapering Naturally

Diaper Daisy; try renting to see which cloth diapers are for you

Baby Cotton Bottoms; 5% discount for Ravelry users

Types of Cloth Diapers

Bum Genius

Fuzzi Buns

Diaper Swappers