Now, before the environmentalists out there beat me over the head with a tree branch, I'm not a complete dolt when it comes to the environment. We recycle, I use the "light" setting on the dishwasher and clothes washer, and I save the various containers from Peanut's baby food for reuse...but that's about as far as it goes. However, there is another big step toward the "green" arena that I'm contemplating. Something that could be groundbreaking in this household.
Cloth diapers.
I was a first-hand witness to the prefold cloth diaper days of my cousin P.J. (who is turning 18 soon...geez oh Pete!). They were ugly, cumbersome, and created an unnecessary amount of work. Knowing all this, I didn't even consider the cloth diaper option...even after seeing the "new and improved" options.
Here we are, a couple weeks away from Peanut's 1st birthday, and I'm seriously considering cloth diapers. A list of the reasons why this popped into my head all the sudden:
1. Buying disposable diapers takes a nice size chunk of cash every month
2. Now that I'm at home during the day, I have more time for washing the diapers consistently (and spending 11.5 months on the front lines of baby mess, rinsing the cloth ones out in the toilet doesn't gross me out in the slightest)
3. For a few months now, Peanut has been using the potty on occasion (don't get me wrong, I'm not potty-training her. I just know when she's gonna go and take her to the toilet. Much better than cleaning up a stinky crap diaper, in my opinion). Usually the diaper we remove is barely soiled...and I feel like I'm just throwing money away when I trash it.
4. Gone are the days of ugly white, plastic covered cloth diapers. They come with easy closures, fun colors, and uber-soft fabrics.
5. They can be saved and used for the next munchkin.
6. If I have any issues whatsoever, there is an insane amount of information online to help me out.
So, there you go. I'm thinking we'll start with 3 or 4 and see how that goes. I've talked with ShankRabbit and I think he's gotten past the "what the...?" stage and is on to "well, if that's what you want..."
We'll see what happens.
4 comments:
I remember babysitting once for a new family and realizing the baby was in cloth diapers. But these were the old school kind. With pins. I had no idea what to do. I don't know that I'd ever even seen one before. But these new ones look like a huge improvement! Definitely report back.
My husband's pretty green and I have a feeling that if we ever have a baby, he's going to insist on cloth diapers. At which point, I'm going to insist he does the laundry. :)
That's great! I have considered it but never went beyond just considering. At this point I have been using disposables so long I'd be hard pressed to change. Good for you! (And they are adorable these days!)
@ Call Me Cate - LOL...that must have been a nice surprise. :) Even though I'm sure you figured it out, I have this funny image of the parents coming home and the cloth diaper is around the kid's head.
I think that's a fair exchange "you want cloth, you do the laundry."
@ C. Beth - I hear ya on change. Since my cousin, I haven't had to deal with cloth diapers since...so I really don't have any experience to draw from. All the kids I've ever watched have been in disposables.
Now, I'm so used to just knowing when Peanut needs a diaper change that it's going to be hard to re-learn this process.
cloth diapers! you go you brave one, and my the wind always be at your back...lol..if you know what i mean.
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