Earnest Parenting.com logo

Encouraging Heroes. You can be one too.

“If I had my life to live over, instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.” – Erma Bombeck

The moment I shared the news that I was pregnant with my family it was like I had given them the best news in the world. My mother immediately began crocheting blankets, my father building a crib, my sister picking paint colors. Seeing everyone so excited to welcome a new family member was fantastic.

What Items Are Actually Useful?

In our culture we are conditioned to believe we need thousands upon thousands of things for a new baby. In my opinion, I think a lot of this is done so that more people can feel included in the preparation for the baby. Most first time mothers are given a shower at which they are given a large number of items for the new baby- some of which are entirely frivolous.
.
When my shower was being planned I was expected to register for the things that I would need, for the baby. There was a problem with that though- how was I supposed to know what I would need? What were the essentials and what was just something to take up space.

Everyone P**ps

Realistically, what a baby needs is pretty minimal. Most of what stores tell us we need is completely unnecessary and sometimes even more of a pain. Your baby will need diapers though. Like taxes and death, going to the bathroom is somewhat of a guarantee in life.

Cloth diapers are coming back into fashion now, which I love. For once, I am ahead of the trends. Because they are back in style, there are a ton of new kinds to choose from.

When I decided I was going to use cloth diapers for my baby my family looked at me like I had lost my mind. Why would I want to do that? Cloth diapers are so much work! Cloth diapers are a pain!

Disposable diapers are better! Is what I was told- thankfully, I stuck to my decision.

Through research and a lot of trial and error found that cloth diapers are actually more cost effective than disposables, more environmentally friendly, cuter, and really not that hard.

Using Cloth Diapers

I ended up loving my cloth diapers. How to use them is not really any more difficult than changing a paper diaper.

If you read the fine print on disposable diapers parents and caregivers are told to rinse the solid waste off in the toilet before throwing them away anyway. So if people were going to follow directions, they would be rising the poop off- then throwing the diapers in the trash.

Realistically- who rinses the poop off of disposable diapers? Every person who I have seen change a disposable diaper just tosses it in the garbage.

There Are More than Just Plastic Pants These days!

In the beginning pre-folds are typically the best bet. Newborns go to the bathroom so often you’ll need a lot of them, but the volume is not that great so they do not need to hold a huge amount volume wise.

Pre-folds are inexpensive and easy to customize to your baby so they are a great option for newborns. As your baby grows- you may want to investigate other types of cloth diapers.

Charlie Banana Diapers are a hybrid diaper- which is a form of pocket diaper that can be stuffed with an insert (for absorbency) that is either cloth or disposable.

I love this option because when traveling I just do not want to have to deal with toting a sack of wet diapers around. This way I can get the best of both worlds.

There are many types of cloth diapers to try, one will work for you.

About Christobel:

A loving grandmother, Christobel lives in London. She is very concerned with leaving the world in the best condition possible. Christobel enjoys learning about all sorts of ways to be ‘green’; including using cloth diapers for babies. When she is not learning about eco-conscious living. Christobel enjoys helping others incorporate environmentally friendly options into their lives.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents who are considering cloth diapers.