The Straight Poop About Cloth Diapers...

We cloth diaper. It used to be that an announcement like this would not surprise anyone. I like to think that it's going back in that direction. The fact is, there are some stereotypes that are associated with people who cloth diaper, and without naming those stereotypes (which I really think are a) bogus, and b) nothing more than a set of standards that people can use to either categorize themselves or not categorize themselves as "the kind of person who would use cloth diapers" whatever that means.) I will tell you that the Lindstrom family falls into very few of those stereotypes.  We are as concerned about our environment as we can comfortably be (that is to say that we don't go to great lengths, but we definitely try not to be wasteful), but really we do the cloth diaper thing more for the cost saving aspect.  You may think that it has something to do with the fact that we are raising twins, however, we cloth diapered with our four-year-old too. I like to think that the thousands of dollars we have saved over the years will go toward a trip to Disney someday, but I think that's crazy talk.

It started as an experiment, and turned into something I'm quite passionate about. I am not passionate necessarily about converting disposable diaper users to cloth diaper users, I don't think that's my business.  Whatever floats your boat is good for me. I am passionate about educating those who are considering the use of cloth diapers on how very easy it is.

I didn't really do any homework at all when we started cloth diapering. I had opened a Land of Nod catalogue (a catalogue that I love to look at, but rarely think about affording anything out of) and saw that they were listing a kit of Bum Genius diapers (what's funny about this now is that I really didn't realize that there were stores that carried cloth diapers.  I thought it was such an uncommon thing that you could only buy from catalogues or websites).  I am easily marketed to. The pitch said that they were just as easy as disposables, and that got me thinking.  I talked to Mr. Lindstrom (incidentally, I am astounded at how many people are impressed that Mr. Lindstrom is as passionate about cloth diapering as I am. Last I checked, he was there when we made these little poop factories, and he is as concerned with where they do it as I am) and we decided to give it a go. We ordered just three diapers.  We thought that would be enough to give us a feel for what it might be like to do it full time.  Well, those three diapers turned into 12 in no time, and that was our magic number when we were diapering just one.  Many people explore different brands, I'm all for that, but we fell deeply in love with our One Size Bum Genius diapers that go from newborn to potty trained pretty seamlessly.  If you are wanting to check out different types, Teeny Greenies is a great resource. They are a free diaper lending service that will allow you to try out a number of different types of cloth diapers to see what you like before you invest.

We are not exclusive cloth diaperers.  Which is to say that we use disposables at night, and sometimes when we're on the go. We have a small wet bag that we can bring with us should we be cloth diapering on the go, but sometimes we just get lazy.  The point being; you don't have to go whole hog into cloth. You can dabble.  It's okay. In fact, there is a whole entire language of cloth diapering that I don't even know.  There are dozens of types, flats, prefolds, all in ones, etc. I don't know one from the other, I just know what we use and that it keeps stuff where it needs to be. So, you don't even have to be able to talk the talk with other cloth diaperers to make it work.  You'll still get to keep your cloth diapering street cred.

Here's the part you have been waiting for. THIS IS HOW EASY IT IS:  Our Bum Genius diapers operate exactly the same as disposables. So, we put them on the kiddo. We are on a pretty strict 2 hour or poop routine (whichever comes first), so when it comes time to change the kid, we change them just like we do with disposables, and then if there is any solid (POOP, for goodness sake) in the diaper, we tip it into the toilet, and flush (because that's the polite thing to do) and then pull the microfiber insert out of the diaper before dumping the diaper and the insert in our wet bag.  We do that all day, sometimes for two days, and then we wash the diapers.  Yep. You read that right. We wash them all by ourselves.  We put them in our washing machine, add detergent (1/4 of what you would use for a normal load), do a cold cycle, a hot cycle, and an extra rinse, and then throw in the dryer.  When they are dry, we take about 15 minutes to stuff the diapers with the inserts so they are ready to go the next day.  That is it.  About once every couple of months, I strip the diapers.  This is a technique of rinsing the diapers over and over to get rid of the detergent build up which compromises the absorbency, but beyond that there is very little maintenance.

For us, this beats the notion that when we buy disposables we feel like our children are literally peeing and pooping on our money.  If you have any questions, put them in the comments section, I'll answer them in Thursdays post.  Like I said, I am mostly passionate about educating people on the ease of using cloth diapers.  I think that people write it off frequently because they are concerned about the "work" of it. I want to stress that diapering is just work. Cloth diapering is another load of laundry.