Featured Blogger:
My name is Seánine Linnenbruegger and I am thirty-two years old and I reside in Almonte, Ontario, a town just west of Ottawa. I am a wife to my incredible husband of nearly eight years and a stay-at-home-mum to an amazing one year old baby boy. Before transitioning into motherhood I was ran a highly successful restaurant and bar in the heart of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I have been cloth diapering my son since he was just a few weeks old and love every aspect of it!When we first discovered that we were pregnant we were bombarded by all of the usual questions that people throw at you: are you going to find out the sex of the baby? are you having a natural delivery or c-section? will you be breastfeeding?
We kindly answered what we could (and what we wanted to!) but one thing struck me as strange, in that laundry list of questions nobody asked “cloth or disposables?” Considering that our babies spend on average three years in diapers, why doesn’t diaper preference make the cut? Until I became pregnant I knew very little about cloth diapers. I admit, I had the same impression that many have about cloth diapers, and it wasn’t good! Yet every time that I entered a baby shop I was amazed by the amount of space devoted to cloth diapers. They were everywhere, and I was intrigued.
Both my husband and I were cloth diapered, as were our siblings. I have vivid memories of helping change my baby brother all the while gagging as i dropped his dirty diaper in the big diaper pail filled with what i can only describe as a mixture of sewage water and bleach. As I began my quest to learn more about the cloth diapers of today it was these memories that plagued my thoughts but I was thrilled to learn that the cloth diapers of yesterday are, in a word, history.
Our decision to cloth diaper came from a desire to give our bean the best that we possibly could. More specifically, we were opting to investigate the alternative and eco-friendly options available to us. This was our plan from the get-go and we didn’t want to deviate from it. In all honesty, it was my idea to look into cloth diapering and I would be lying if I said that my husband was on board right away as he too had his own notion of what cloth diapering would entail in the beginning. I knew that if I wanted him to be on board I would need to do the preliminary research on my own and present it to him in a concise manner that would grab his attention.
For me the reasons for choosing cloth were simple: cost, environmental factors, better for babe, expedited potty training, convenience and, yes, even fashion! My husband, on the other hand, is a logical guy so I knew that the way to win him over was with the financial specs of cloth diapering. Moreover, the cost benefits of cloth vs. sposies. If you figure that the average newborn will go through 8-12 diaper changes a day and an older babe 6-8 changes daily, the number of diapers will stack up (literally!) and with the cost of the disposable diapers sitting at approx. $.22-$.45 per diaper that is a lot of money being thrown in the garbage and an awful lot of diapers piling up in the landfills. While the upfront cost of cloth can be considerable the fact of the matter is that your cloth diapers are an investment, one that can earn you a return when you are finished with them. If you spend the time to take care of your cloth they will hold their value and, in turn, take care of you - in terms of resale, that is.
I laid it all out on the table for him, and no sooner did the word ‘savings’ come out of my mouth that he agreed. Presto, I had him at money saved! Forget explaining the environmental benefits, the potty training perks or the fact that cloth diapered babies tend to have less instances of irritated bums. rash or other ailments associated with disposables, it was all about the financial benefits!
For me it went a little bit deeper. While doing my preliminary research I wanted to do my due diligence researching disposables and what I discovered made my skin crawl. The long list of chemicals that make up the ‘ingredients’ in disposables is shocking enough but it was the mere mention of bleach that got my attention. How could I possibly justify letting all of those chemicals (ahem, bleach) touch my baby’s skin? The answer, I couldn’t and wouldn’t. From that point on it was not about whether to choose cloth, but which cloth to choose.
There is definitely a learning curve associated with cloth diapering and to any first timer it can very easily become overwhelming. AIOs, Prefolds, Pockets, Fitteds, the list, and options, roll on. My husband and I were late bloomers when it came to our social circle so not only were there not any other expectant parents for us to bounce ideas off of, but those of them that we did discuss our planned eco-alternative parenting style with thought that we were out to lunch! The all knowing looks that were shot my way when I told a group of wives our plans to cloth diaper were unforgettable as were their comments which ranged from “you’re crazy!” to “yeah right, good luck with that.” It was clear that we were the black sheep in our small town and everyone who knew expected us to fail miserably.
Determined to succeed and undeterred by the naysayers, I spent hours parked in front of my computer researching and asking as many questions from as many mums as I could, after all, they are the experts. Ultimately, after a lot of late nights and even more questions, I decided to begin with a simple two step system of prefolds and covers. I knew that I wanted to transition to pockets and AIOs as my babe grew but I wanted to begin with something easy and cost effective. Through my research I learned that most OS pockets and AIOs, amongst others, fit baby best when they reached a minimum weight of about 8-10 lb. so I decided that my plan of attack would be to enroll in a diaper trial once my babe reached the 10 lb. mark and use that as an opportunity to try as many brands and styles as possible before committing to any one. I felt that this was truly the best option as it allowed us the ability to avoid the dreaded ‘buyer’s remorse’ that I kept hearing about in the online communities and forums I was a member of.
In keeping with our ultimate goal of saving money, I also discovered the benefits of buying preloved diapers. As quick as you could say diaper I was hooked! I scoured the local consignment stores and kijiji ads for preloved covers and prefolds and even ended up splurging on a few great ‘must have’ deals for some AIOs and OS pockets. We were ready to begin our adventures in cloth diapering, however when our babe finally made his debut he had other plans. It wasn’t until shortly after we were able to bring him home from the NICU that we truly jumped in feet first and began cloth diapering 100% of the time.
Today our little man is just shy of a year old and we haven’t looked back. I am very proud to say that, with the exception of a four day period when we were traveling for the first time as a family, a disposable diaper has not touched our baby’s bum. We have experimented with just about every brand and style of diaper and while our preference still lies with the tried and true prefold + cover combo, we have found a love, and place, for a variety of diapers. If you were to look back at a snapshot of our stash in the early days it wouldn’t look anything like it does today and I’m certain that that will continue to hold true tomorrow.
In the game of cloth diapering we have certainly seen the ups and downs but our initial commitment remains the same and as our love for cloth diapering continues to grow so to does our stash, much to my husband’s chagrin!
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