Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Word or Two About Cloth

I just would like to say a word or two about cloth because this is something that so many people have asked me about in the past. This is a word of encouragement for those thinking about using cloth diapers. Using cloth diapers is really no big deal. Once you have decided to have them in your house, taking care of them is no big problem. You have kids, you need to do laundry all the time. You will need to do one extra load every two days.

It's easy to go online and read about lots of different theories about how to store them--wet or dry--how to wash them, etc. It did make my head swim a bit, then with each child, I just decided to do the easiest thing that I could do. I bought a diaper pail, with Thumper I even bought two fancy diaper pail liners, then every two days I would dump the entire contents of the diaper pail into the washing machine, add an appropriate soap (All the experts seem to agree that the soap you decide to use really counts. This last time I ordered Charlie's Soap online and had it mailed right to my door.) then washed on hot. I'm sure many would say that there are better, more elaborate ways to wash diapers but my diapers never smelled and seemed to be reasonably absorbent.

My brother is seven years younger than I am, and I remember my mother taking care of his diapers. My mother is not the most domestic person in the world. I figured that if she could handle it, then I could, too.

I should say that for my older daughter I was given a set of diapers by my sister-in-law who did not end up using them. She did give me a great piece of advice, however, suggesting that if one wants to use cloth diapers it would be wise to get a diaper service for the first few months. I did this with both of my kids and did not regret the expense with either one. I loved having the diaper fairy come every week before I was ready to get myself together enough to wash them myself.

For my younger daughter, I needed to buy diapers. When I saw the sheer number of choices out there, I nearly didn't go through with cloth. I was saved by the Jillian's Drawers website (www.jilliansdrawers.com) which presented all the options in a way that I could understand.

Turns out I had more than just a word or two to say, I guess.

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