Cloth Diapers
Jake and I rented the Aladdin Movie on Amazon two weeks ago. I’ll let you know what we think when we have a few hours to watch it. haha! Life is busy, and with all the right stuff. We have gotten to see several of our closest friends this week and some of their sweet babies too! I am thankful for the pace of life today.
I wanted to write about something that would have seemed crazy to me a few years ago. Moments like these are interesting to reflect on the personal evolution that takes place so organically overtime. I’m pretty sure 2010 Hillary would call me out as a total Hippie if she read this. She would also would have polluted this article with abbreviated text lingo.
Do we really use cloth diapers?
YES. Before you click away or roll your eyes, let me elaborate. We don’t use cloth diapers all of the time. On our best day we use cloth diapers 90% of the day. On a bad day we catch up on washing and drying the cloth diapers and use disposables exclusively. We try to have more good days than bad and don’t stress over the balance.
Our approach to decreasing our consumption is all about ease for longevity of the investment. Using cloth diapers during the day while we are home is very simple.
We use cloth diapers when we can and where we can, without trying to make more work for an already busy family. I wouldn’t board a plane with a cloth diaper, but I feel a lot better about the disposable diapers I use when I lessen my footprint by incorporating some cloth along the way.
Why Cloth?
The desire to use cloth diapers was born from a feeling of exhaustion. I was tired of being a rapid consumer. The amount of trash we were accumulating was a lot. Once we became parents, the waste seemed to triple overnight. It was burdensome for me just to take the trash out daily. DAILY! That is a lot of waste. A lot of waste for the planet, for my dumpster, and for my wallet. In this waste was innumerable diapers.
A trusted friend of mine originally mentioned cloth diapers. I just about laughed but decided to hear her out. My friend explained how they use cloth diapers and how it is helpful without it being their exclusive system. This was alight club for me. I could use cloth diapers AND disposable? That hadn’t occurred to me to use them both to my advantage.
I decided I would give it a try. I did research. I ordered products. We tried everything and in every environment too. The results were life-changing. Something aren’t as inaccessible as they seem at first.
How inconvenient is it?
Honestly, I pictured the process as an ancient task with a washboard by a river. It is so much simpler than I had imagined. The true pattern of soil, wash, and dry is simple with minimal work. The diapers are excellent quality and wash in their own load in the washing machine.
Pros
-Great for sensitive skin
-Absorbency is high quality
-Adjustable fitting snaps for growth
-Lessing out waste
-Super chic with sustainability in mind
Cons
-Don’t serve well as an overnight option
-Difficult to travel with (No washing machine)
-Can be difficult in worst case scenario in a public restroom
-Hill
Photography by Shelley Foster
