62 Comments Add your own

• 1. Jess  |  October 23rd, 2008 at 7:05 pm

  I would like to get to the bottom of this cloth diapering thing. Proponents of cloth diapers say that disposable diapers are wasteful. Proponents of disposable diapers say that washing the cloth diapers uses even more resources than disposable diapers. Has anyone actually CHECKED? Have there been STUDIES? Which type is the MORE HIPPIE SOLUTION? I need ANSWERS.

• 2. Susanna  |  October 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 pm

  Am I the only one who is deeply amused by the sudden explosion of vibrating beauty products? Facial doohickeys, razors, and now, of course, mascara. I cannot be the only Babeland customer out there thinking, “Heh…” Now a mascara wand ain’t gonna do it for this girl (believe me, I broke up with a guy because that’s basically what he was packing…) but whoo boy! The possibilities for stealth satisfaction are endless…

  Your daughter may wear pink patent leather heels http://www.heelarious.com/index.php but she’ll kick ass in a very Buffy kind of way. As the eldest child of you, she has no choice but to be a Phenomenally Phenomenal woman. Even if she only weights 13 ounces.

• 3. jonniker  |  October 23rd, 2008 at 7:16 pm

  Jess: I know that with a cloth diapering service, any environmental benefits to using cloth diapers would be completely negated. The fuel, the bleaching agents, the whole nine yards. To me, a service doesn’t add up, that much I know. As far as laundering them yourself, again, it doesn’t add up to me that a few extra loads of laundry a day could equal the damage done with diapers in a landfill. But I have done no studies! And I don’t care what anyone else does! And next week, I could TOTALLY CHANGE MY MIND. Plus, dude, I’d totally use disposables for travel and with other people. I’m not NUTS.

  Personally, I really don’t care what anyone else does to their babies’ bottoms. I don’t, and oh holy God, even if I did cloth diaper, I would never be a sanctimonious cloth diaperer. I don’t necessarily think that one is better than the other, and I’ve NO IDEA WHAT I AM EVEN THINKING WHEN I THINK ABOUT THIS, but for some reason, in recent weeks, it’s appealed to me.

• 4. derfina  |  October 23rd, 2008 at 7:38 pm

  Cloth diapers=pain in the arse, literally and figuratively, if you factor in convenience. Just my opinion after being there and doing that. And for the record, I found most of those lotions and potions and goos did more harm than good. There is nothing like plain old soap and water. I am so happy for you!

• 5. Daily Tragedies  |  October 23rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm

  Allow me to shallowly comment on the most frivolous part of your post, as I have nothing to add to anyone’s knowledge of cloth diapers.

  Mascara: Totally agree! Cover Girl Professional all the way for me. Straight wand, not curved. A few months ago I felt bad about using the same makeup I wore in high school (um, more than a decade ago) so I upgraded to the Maybelline mascara that Carmindy uses on WNTW. HATE. Couldn’t wait to get back to Target and buy my usual stuff. I’ll never stray again.

• 6. JMH  |  October 24th, 2008 at 1:44 am

  I freaked out when I was pregnant with my daughter too (BTW, she is 7 now) I think one of the hardest things as a parent is to remember that your child is a person with their own personality, opinions, choices, etc. I was always a girly -girl, but my daughter was a bit of a tomboy until she was about 4. One year, she wanted to be Spiderman for Halloween! But you will love your baby so much that it really won’t matter. Obviosuly, they cannot always make their own choices and they need guidence, but I have learned 2 things: 1) Never say “My kid will never _________” because your words will come back to haunt you and 2) Don’t sweat the small stuff.

  However, based on your writing, I think you are very level headed and will be a GREAT mom

• 7. Shelly  |  October 24th, 2008 at 5:07 am

  ITA with JMH that whatever you say, “my child will never ___” is exactly what you will get. But it will be cute and endearing, so don’t sweat it. And I have always thought cloth diapers were a good idea – key word there being idea – and probably not much more work than disposable diapers, but when I remember that after the birth of each of my children, there were days when I didn’t have time to take a shower, I think how much of a burden a few more loads of laundry would have been. But I’ve never even tried to use cloth diapers, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

• 8. H  |  October 24th, 2008 at 5:27 am

  I have been so emotional this week but mine is brought on by PMS or peri-menopause — or both. Damn hormones. I saw a reporter on a morning show factually recounting Obama’s relationship with his grandmother and I sobbed — not just tears running down my cheeks, I sobbed. When I have a sane moment, I really feel bad for my family. Hope you have a great weekend!

• 9. Sarah  |  October 24th, 2008 at 5:42 am

  Has anyone seen those eyelash curlers that are heated??? Well, let me tell you, I have. And, yes, I OWN two because I am a product whore. I simply HAVE to OWN many products to fulfill some sort of void in my life. Not sure what yet, but that’s what therapy is for, right?? Anyhoo, Jonniker, I have an 11 month old daughter and a 2 and a half year old son. Welp, my daughter refuses to play with dolls and plays with monster trucks and has now taken to bullying around my son. Now THAT’S my lil’ princess!

• 10. kirida  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:05 am

  When it comes to babies, everything’s an experiment. You could buy some used cloth diapers (which are perfectly fine and are meant to be re-used!), and try it out, so you don’t have to shell out too much money. We tried out cloth diapers but since I was working full time, it was hard to keep it up. And we have a front-loading washer, which made it difficult to soak the diapers.

• 11. kirida  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:08 am

  Oh and I totally hear you on Fred Armisen. Soooo boring. I mean, he can mimic the speech and the mannerisms, but it’s not funny at all. I miss “Lock Box.”

• 12. Jakki  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:10 am

  Sneak away with baby related items….

  I think that is why my uterus is fluttering all over the place is i want to have a lil princess running around. I want to play dress up, dainty shoes, pinks and yellows.

  More power to you for doing the cloth diapers. I was SO freaking tired…I wanted to be conscious but…i was starving for some sleep and it was just so easy to throw it in the trash. Trash can be intoxicating.

• 13. Gaby  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:18 am

  Ugh, the princess thing. Ugh. Although I know that when I get pregnant I will want to know the sex of the baby, I hate the “Now you’ll only get BLUE or PINK everything!!” I hate that other people start creating an idea of what your baby will be, based only on its itty bitty sex organs—he’s gonna be a quarterback! she’s going to be a princess! UGH! I hate that so much, I’d almost be tempted to not tell people the sex of my baby, but I know I’m totally unable to not share something that exciting. If only I could curb the input…

  Also, cloth diapering? I, too, am interested in using these, but again, I’m not pregnant! So many ideas will change once I am, and probably about 80 kabillon times throughout those 40 weeks. Good luck to you, no matter what you end up using.

• 14. anne  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:25 am

  Try your best to be be calm about the CL rental thing. It will work out. We have had a TON of interest because it is such a renter’s market. We did find that when we dropped our price another $100 we were flooded, so it was worth it (assuming of course that is ec. feasible.) Also since you do have until Jan. it is less likely that people on there now are looking for that far in advance. We have people who have to move out on Nov. 1 and are just now getting around to looking. People = not that smart.

• 15. Swistle  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:25 am

  HA HA HA HA HA! I just adore you. You can email craziness to me anytime.

  The word we use around here is Queen. We think it carries more sober weight than the word princess, while still conveying the amusing concept of a child as royalty.

  I did cloth diapering with my firstborn and it was way easier and way less gross than I’d thought it would be. It seemed so exotic and weird, but then when I started doing it I was like, “Oh. No biggie.” I had special Toilet Gloves I wore for the rinsing.

• 16. She Likes Purple  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:48 am

  I agree about The Office. “We’re going to auction people off like in the olden days.”

  Good to know I’m not alone as I tend to think my television opinions aren’t shared by many since I still tune in and enjoy Grey’s Anatomy each week.

• 17. She Likes Purple  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:48 am

  Oh, “She” is also one of my favorite Greenday songs, and yes I (w/ no irony) love Greenday.

• 18. Sonya  |  October 24th, 2008 at 7:31 am

  I’m 17 weeks preggo right now and considering cloth diapering as well. Wait, I actually bought 12 used fuzzibunz CD last week, so I guess I’ve moved past consideration. So while I cannot speak from tangible experience, from the reading I’ve been doing, CDing has come A LONG way since our childhood and I hear overwhelmingly that it is very doable.

  I understand there is no real need for rinsing or pre-soaking in the non-solid poop stage (did I just say poop?). Once the solid poop stage hits, you will need to drop the solid bits into the toilet before putting the CD in the diaper pail or can. So other than a few extra loads of laundry, really no more work than a disposable.

  I would recommend looking into buying them used, as some of the more desirable CDs can be $18 a pop (and the ones I just bought were not at all stained or gross in any way). Maybe stalk Craigslist and keep an eye out for used CDs with pics. Personally, I’m leaning more towards a one-size like bumgenius offers (gotta love the name). That way, the CD I buy will grow as the child grows. But that’s just because I’m a cheap bastard and I don’t want to have to buy all new diapers as the kid outgrows them.

  If you’ve got any questions, I’d be glad to help you with whatever I can or point you to a website to save you some googling around. Best of luck!

• 19. Carrie (in MN)  |  October 24th, 2008 at 7:48 am

  One of the freeing things about having twins is that you realize how much nature drives personality, rather than nurture. I have twin girls – fraternal – same place in the family structure, same big brother, same not-very-girly-girl mom (I have the interest, but not the skills, you know?). Not only are they at a very different place from each other on the girly-girl scale, but they’ve moved up and down that scale as they’ve grown. We went through a stage where I bemoaned the fact that I had two daughters, but still nobody to practice cute hairstyles on. That changed. One daughter went through a very fashion forward stage – leopard skort with striped tights anyone? – now she dresses almost exactly like her big brother. Which is all to say…I agree the princess thing is annoying, but there really isn’t a need to sweat this, because it is almost totally out of your control. They are born with the personality they are born with, and it is quite liberating when you can realize that, because hey! if they turn out to be the fishnet hose type, it’s not your fault!

• 20. chirky  |  October 24th, 2008 at 7:49 am

  A daughter! OMG, the clothes. You’re going to have so much fun. Especially living somewhere that requires PUFFY SNOWSUITS.

  I’m so happy for you both.

• 21. jonniker  |  October 24th, 2008 at 7:58 am

  “the interest, but not the skills” HAHAHAHA, Carrie.

  To clarify the princess comment, I’m not so concerned with how girly she is on cosmetic-type things (clothes, etc. — not that I won’t PANIC when/if that happens), but the term “princess” seems to imply a level of spoiled-brattedness acceptable in girls, especially the only little girl in the family, and that attitude isn’t cool with me, you know? That’s more of what I meant.

• 22. Moose  |  October 24th, 2008 at 8:01 am

  Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy visiting? I think perhaps not. So I will just say that:

  “obviously, I need to stop thinking about this, because PEOPLE, SHE WEIGHS THIRTEEN OUNCES. Let us not start planning her emotional journey as a woman! ”

  …won me over anew.

• 23. :: Plain Jane Mom Blog&hellip  |  October 24th, 2008 at 8:05 am

  [...] "PEOPLE, SHE WEIGHS THIRTEEN OUNCES. Let us not start planning her emotional journey as a woman!" Snort! [...]

• 24. Amanda  |  October 24th, 2008 at 8:21 am

  STUDY: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4969413.ece In terms of carbon footprint, gdiapers are the way to go. Not that cloth diapering wouldn’t be fun! (I was WAY too impatient for cloth diapers. My only diaper-related contribution to the planet was potty training my kids early).

  The biggest thing I’ve learned since having a second baby is how little I have to do with how they turn out. My kids were born being and acting EXACTLY like themselves. Most of the time, I’m just trying not to get in their way.

  “Babies are one of my many areas of expertise. Growing up I performed my own circumcision.”

• 25. Jen  |  October 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am

  We’re about 96.7% sure we’re going to do cloth diapers. We’re definitely committed to at least trying them out. The thing is, there are SO many options these days, it’s hard to know what will work for you and your baby. That’s why we’re not going nuts trying to stock up on any one type. We *think* we’ve found the best option for us, however, I know that the second it becomes too difficult or too gross (you should read this, HILARIOUS!), I’ll have no problem switching to disposables. For now, it seems doable.

  Let me know if you want me to send you some fabulous information we received at the cloth diapering class we took a few weeks ago. In fact, I bet there’s some hippie-dippy earth mama store near you in Vermont that offers a similar class. Definitely worth looking into, if only so you can see AND feel all the different cloth diapering options on the market today. That really helped us narrow it down to what we (again) *think* will work for us.

• 26. Hollylynne  |  October 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am

  I agree about cleaning up some excessive spending habits . . . and I’d noticed the absurd vibrating mascara, but I hadn’t connected the two. You’re totally right, NICE ONE!

• 27. jonniker  |  October 24th, 2008 at 9:05 am

  Amanda: So funny! I had just read that story a few days ago — I also vaguely remember when it first came out, which was a little while ago.

  I’m generally pretty environmentally friendly, but that wouldn’t necessarily be the only reason I did it. That being said, I do think it’s strange that they didn’t consider the landfill impact, and focused solely on carbon footprint, but again, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m one of those nutters screeching “DOWN WITH SCIENCE. I SCOFF AT YOUR STUDY”

• 28. Amy K  |  October 24th, 2008 at 9:15 am

  I try to save the earth in a lot of other ways, but I think I might just be too lazy to deal with washing loads of poopy cloth diapers all the time (in addition to the daily loads of other soiled baby clothes and accessories). But maybe I’ll change my mind.

  After my mother kindly sent two boxes of all-pink baby clothes, I let her know that it was okay for girls to wear other colors. Green, purple, yellow, whatever…even blue. When I said that, she actually yelled, “No baby granddaughter of mine will be wearing blue!” Like she’ll turn into a social deviant if strangers aren’t able to identify her oh-so-important newborn gender at a glance.

• 29. Jamie  |  October 24th, 2008 at 10:26 am

  Oh yes. Armisen as Obama…it’s just so HORRIBLE. I don’t understand anyone who can find that particular impression funny or entertaining. Yuck.

• 30. Tressa  |  October 24th, 2008 at 10:47 am

  Delurking to tell you that the most nauseating, offensive odor I have ever been privy to was a soiled cloth diaper. And it wasn’t even poopy.

• 31. metalia  |  October 24th, 2008 at 11:01 am

  Oh, my god. Someone bought Ella a BLACK AND GOLD SPARKLE HOODIE that says “Princess” across the front. I gave it to Goodwill because–NO. Not what we’re trying to instill in her. And yeah, you’ll spend a lot of time over the next few months looking at scantily-clad teen girls and maternally wanting to throw a large beach blanket over them, just to cover them up. That, and secretly judging their parents.

  (It’s one thing if they’re out alone, because they could have sneaked out, but when I see a grown-ass woman accompanying her 13-year-old daughter, who’s wearing pink fishnets, a pleated mini skirt and a visible thong? NOT OKAY, LADY.)

  Ahem.

• 32. Urban CHick  |  October 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am

  i seem to recall that the cloth vs disposable boiled down to: is your nation lacking space for landfill sites or is your nation lacking water?

  if you lack space for landfill sites, go for cloth

  if you lack water, go for disposable

  me, i live in scotland where we have plenty water (though we generally call it RAIN) and notsomuch free space

  so…i went for dispoable…erm, yeah

  but in my defence i plead the twin thing, the prematurity thing, the health issues thing, the ‘bugger it, it was a lot like hard work’ thing

  and ooh, hey! if you’re into the simple living, come and join me for chat at http://www.simpleliving.net (i think) – fun fun fun
  

• 33. Laura  |  October 24th, 2008 at 11:29 am

  Ahh! I have a hot button issue, and you have found it!
  And I don’t even really cloth diaper anymore. I am a lazy, part-time cloth diaper-er.

  There is no way, NO WAY, no way, that cloth diapering uses more resources than disposables. MYTH, ok? MYTH.
  People go on and on about the services, how they drive the diapers around in TRUCKS that use FUEL and then they BLEACH THEM!
  And all of that is true. But do people think that each case of Pampers is manufactured in the back of your local Target? They are not. They are shipped, *cross country*. In TRUCKS. that use FUEL.
  Also, you might have noticed that disposable diapers are white?

  Because they have been bleached.

  Sorry, I really just get all het up about this, I do. And I do think washing at home is better than a service, and you get to use your preference of diapers that way, no matter what- NO MATTER WHAT- disposables are worse for the earth. Hands down, no doubt.

• 34. jonniker  |  October 24th, 2008 at 11:31 am

  OMG Laura you nailed it. YOU NAILED IT. It’s the same theory as food miles. THE EXACT SAME THEORY. YES. THEY ARE NOT CONSIDERING THE MANUFACTURING AND TRANSPORTING FOOTPRINT beyond just basic measurable things like water. That bothered me a lot. And many cloth diapers are made in home businesses and reused and yes. Just yes. I knew there was a piece that I was missing, but I couldn’t add it up.

• 35. Anyabeth  |  October 24th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

  Ok I have done cloth diapering since my daughter was born (she is nine months) and beyond the economic savings (which are huge) and the environmental thing (which I confess was not a big factor for me but a plus) I find them way easier in every single way than disposables. Mind you I have my own washing machine and my daughter is cared for by my MIL (who thinks our cloth diapers are so much better than the ones she used thinks this is heaven) so my situation is ideal for it. But honestly, I think I do less laundry than my disposable using friends, my daughter has had diaper rash once and she has never had a blow out in a cloth diaper (but did one of the few times we used a disposable). Your kid may vary obviously but if you want to email and chat about the endless varieties forever and ever feel free!

• 36. Mauigirl52  |  October 24th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

  OK, I’ve been on vacation out of easy internet range this week (am sitting in my car near a laundromat with wi fi right now) so am catching up – first of all, congratulations on your baby being a girl! Very exciting – it makes it all so real!

  And in regard to the current financial crisis – I so agree with you – I’ve said before that what this country needs is a good recession. However, I didn’t mean when I was 2 years away from possibly RETIRING! (retiring quite early, let me make that clear). Guess I’ll be working awhile longer!

• 37. Emily  |  October 24th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

  My friend Maureen wrote an awesome series on cloth diapering that you would absolutely enjoy. Enjoy because Maureen is funny, and a great writer, and also completely sane in that she didn’t care one iota smidgy squidge that I used disposables, because she is not a pusher! Go to her site, and the four-part series is right there on her sidebar, at the top of the page.

  http://www.docmaureen.com/

• 38. Lippy  |  October 24th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

  Wow, so much to agree with! I teach high school (pray for me) and there are girls actually named Princess. I just don’t know what their folks were thinking. We are very short on girls on both sides of our family so when we found out we were having a girl everyone went nuts. And she is much girlier than me. She is only 2 and has strong opinions about shoes and clothing. But she also digs for dinosaur bones in the backyard and will beat down the older boys in the family. I think it is a good combo.

  We discussed last night and the benefits of everyone being a little less entitled and learning to scale back. I think it is nature reining us in.

• 39. kenandbelly  |  October 24th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

  Congrats on the healthy girl!

  With the diapers, you can always try something else later. It’s not like the decision is Set In Stone, and you may have to try a few kinds anyway. We didn’t try cloth till after we were done breastfeeding because I figured disposables would contain the runny a bit better (probably TMI there, sorry, but it IS a totally different consistency). Tried gDiapers first, liked them fine, but felt they had more of the downsides of both kinds than the upsides of both. We now alternate between biodegradable disposables (Nature Boy and Girl are good– try drugstore.com) and bumGenius cloth all-in-ones on our toddler. The laundry isn’t bad with a toddler but I would be scared of how fast it would pile up with a newborn. In short: diapers aren’t a lifetime commitment.

• 40. mar  |  October 24th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

  when you mentioned cloth diapering it’s funny because the first thing that popped into my head was your divacup. same concept, no? we had a retiree-age mcdonald’s drive-thru cashier ignore us because he was so busy reading a study from england that cloth uses more energy, but laura nailed it, i think. i’d at least like to try cloth if/when a baby appears in my life.
  i don’t want a snotty princess either. ‘dolly’ was what my uncle called the little girls (ie me & then about 15 years later for my 2nd cousin & now his granddaughters). it was rather endearing & still is.
  ugh, fred armisen as obama.
  still loving the office, even though occasionally i cringe at some of michael’s comments & have to turn the channel/leave the room.

• 41. Marilyn  |  October 24th, 2008 at 6:58 pm

  congrats, first of all, on the girl!!

  Secondly, yay for cloth diapering! I truly had no idea how simple of really was until we started doing it and now… Wow. I’m so glad we did. It’s not hard at all and is, dare I say it, fun. OMG, I just said diapers were fun. Someone call the asylum.

• 42. Loralee  |  October 24th, 2008 at 8:09 pm

  I WANT A GIRL.

  And?

  I was a nanny to my nieces and nephews from the age of 12 on and did cloth diapers in the days of old. I have such “issues” with excrement that I couldn’t cloth diaper my own kids. However, I have no issue with those that do or don’t. In fact one of my fave bloggers, Jessica, ‘Kerflop’/Very mom has a cloth diaper web site and I saw those suckers in action. They’re pretty swell. Not for me, but WAY better than they used to be.

• 43. Loralee  |  October 24th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

  I should also clarify that it might be different if I had a diaper service but I don’t think that my husband would go for that.

• 44. Angella  |  October 24th, 2008 at 9:24 pm

  I TOTALLY planned on cloth diapering my children. A friend even gave me diapers.

  And I have used disposables ever since.

  BAD Angella.

  Jessica (Kerflop) and OMSH are great resources, should you choose to go the cloth route.

  I was/am too lazy. Boo.

• 45. Nora Bee  |  October 24th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

  I’m happy to mentor you through cloth diapering. We love it.

• 46. TJ  |  October 25th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

  Cloth diapering? bumGenius! (exclamation point theirs). All you need to know. My 18-month-old is in the same dipes he was in when his cord fell off (they adjust via velcro and snaps), I did laundry maybe 4x per week in the early days, much less now. Seriously, check them out. SIL used other cloths and switching sizes is a beeyotch.

  I’m not being paid, or anything: http://www.cottonbabies.com.

• 47. TJ  |  October 25th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

  I forgot to add that I am completely. lazy. And yet, I cannot convey my love of not buying a crate of Blue’s-Clues-adorned (or Sesame-Street-adorned, or Pooh-adorned) paper products every week…

• 48. samantha jo campen  |  October 25th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

  Oh I hope you DO cloth diaper, if only so I can live through you. I wanted to. Was dead-set on it–even had the whole package picked out. Then I found out since Theo was going to be in daycare, he’d HAVE to have disposables. I was crushed (and felt that he and I were being punished in some way for going back to work, but that’s a whole post right there). And no, I wasn’t going to disposable diaper him there and cloth him at home. So we use 7th Generation which I feel better about, but not great.

  So I’m behind you (ha ha! I’m so puny!) all the way sister!

• 49. the new girl  |  October 25th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

  I barely wear my wedding band but my kid actually OOOHS over sparkly jewelry. I shit you not. Like this: ‘oooOOOOooooh.’ It’s cute as hell but I gotta tell you…every time she does it, I’m like, ‘Who ARE you and where did you COME FROM?’

  I blame my husband’s side of the family. It’s a trip, though. Amazing.

  P.S. I love Swistle’s comment and I’m officially swiping yet ANOTHER thing from her.

• 50. K  |  October 25th, 2008 at 10:22 pm

  Congrats on your girl! I just wanted to add to the cloth diaper thing (although I have no kids). My best friend did disposables with her 1st but cloth with her 2nd (who is 3 months old). Her diapers do not smell (she has a metal trashcan/pail). She also has one of these (or something like it) which she says was the best purchase she made for cleaning cloth diapers. http://clothdiapersale.com/new-improved-minishower-cloth-diaper-sprayer-now-on-sale-2/
  She still uses disposables when she’s out of the house but I’m impressed she’s stuck with the cloth. Good luck with whatever works for you!

• 51. Timi  |  October 26th, 2008 at 2:50 am

  I have to say I love cloth diapers. They’re really easy, and it’s a great feeling to be self sufficient. I love that I don’t have to go shopping for one more thing everyweek (I also live in the land of crazy drivers and no parking/ Targets, but either way knowing I always have clean diapers at home is great). I don’t find them gross at all, especially with the newborn poop. There is absolutely no soaking necessary, just dump them straight from the pail (dry) to the washer. We also live in a place with really scarce water and I still feel that the extra 3 loads of wash a week still have a much smaller imprint on the environment than disposables, but that’s not a scientific study just a gut feeling. Also, what made me decide on cloth diapers was that if it was me having to sit in a diaper I’d rather it be cloth than plasticky stuff.

  As to what diapers to buy, the best advice I read was to have a base stock of prefolds with covers (the basic, cheapest option) and then build up from there. We ended up liking the prefold system best anyway, and just bought some expensive bumgenius for the grandmother and eventually daycare.

  And I second http://www.cottonbabies.com, I’ve bought almost everything there and love it.

• 52. Heath  |  October 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

  Hey, I didn’t read all the other comments, so I”m probably echoing lots of other people – but cloth diapers are the WAY TO GO. Environmentally better, cheaper over the long haul (especially over more than one kid…?) and usually cloth kids potty train quicker. We started with prefolds and covers (Bummis and snappis) and when he got to be an impatient toddler and didn’t want to lie still for anything (and when he went to nursery school) we switched to BumGenius (which are awesome, and snap down to fit wee babies: if I had another kid I’d start with the BGs right off the bat.) I’d be glad to explain it to you if you want some help choosing – email me if you aren’t already inundated with help!

• 53. Joceline  |  October 27th, 2008 at 2:16 pm

  I’ll be another person to voice that cloth diapers are awesome! We’ve used them since my 12 month old son was born, and they are so not that much work. You can make the system dirt cheap or more expensive, but you’re going to save money no matter what. Hands down, they are better for the environment, and they are also much better for the baby. BumGenius are great, but you also can’t beat a prefold with a Snappi, topped off with a wool soaker. We’re about to have #2, and we have only bought a couple dozen extra cloth wipes (about $20 worth) to add to our stash. Otherwise, we already have everything necessary to diaper a second baby!

• 54. Trina  |  October 27th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

  If you have the time/inclination for a short meme, I tagged you :~D

• 55. Kristabella  |  October 28th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

  My niece loves all things pink and dresses and dressing up in fairy outfits and dolls and all things girly. But she will play with a truck one second and then beat the shit out of her older brother the next.

  And Fred Armisen sucks. But I probably won’t watch SNL after the election. Up until recently, I hadn’t watched in like 10 years.

  I don’t think I could ever do cloth diapers. Just seems so YUCKY.

• 56. Penny  |  October 31st, 2008 at 10:02 am

  I agree, if you’re going to go reusable with the diapers go all the way – gdiapers are a wimpy halfway point.

  I tried out a cloth and thought they were okay. I got “fuzzy buns”, and it was really cute on my daughter. And then I started to think about how much laundry and rinsing of the diapers in the toilets or whereever and I got immediately exhausted, and stopped.

  But I will say that the cloth wasn’t all that bad – looks tricky with its many inserts, but it is not. And if I were to commit to cloth (still not!), I’d probably skip the very early newborn stage in which they’re just pooping every 1/2 hour and wait for the poop to, like, solidify into at least less frequent blasts.

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