A Day in the Life of a Clueless Cloth Diapering Mama
So I ventured into the world of cloth diapering recently.
I wanted to try it out to see if it’s something I might want to do with baby No. 2 (no, I don’t have any news). Here’s how one of my days went.
7:30 a.m.: Before putting the cloth diaper on my son, I actually took a moment to run it across my cheek. I was surprised by how very soft it was. It was easy to put on too. It was similar to a disposable except I had to stuff a cloth insert into the center. The insert reminded me of a panty liner. A bulky panty liner. He had a definite bubble butt though. But I felt like he must have been thinking, “Ahhhhhhh!” Here’s a picture.
9:30 a.m.: First poop. Oh man. Here goes nothing. I wanted to run far away. Or reach into my box of disposables and forget the whole thing. Instead I found the inner strength to dunk a baby washcloth (finally, something to do with the 1,000 washcloths I got for my baby showers!) into a mixture of warm water and baby wash and clean my baby up before walking into the bathroom and shaking the diaper above the toilet and flushing. Then I rolled up my sleeves and got the laundry detergent out for some scrubbing in the sink (at $18 a pop I only bought 3 diapers to try this all out. This meant I had to hand wash them in order to have enough to get through the day. Perhaps not my brightest idea, I thought, as I put a little elbow grease into it).
11 a.m.: I changed a wet diaper easily, scrubbed it in the sink, and hung it out in the backyard in the sun next to the diaper from the morning. All was humming along and I was feeling pretty proud of myself for putting two less diapers in the local landfill.
1:15 p.m.: Ugh, ugh, triple ugh. Nap was over and I was faced with a double-whammy – a diaper full of poo and pee. I wiped him up and got him into a fresh dipe. Then I faced the whole shaking-out-and-scrubbing routine. Not fun. And that one didn’t shake out, if you know what I mean. After washing the diaper in the sink and hanging it on the line I was so over the cloth thing. But I decided to push on. And omit fruit from his lunch.
3:00 p.m.: We were at a play group. The discussion turned to cloth and some moms expressed interest, some enthusiasm, others horror over the idea of using cloth dipes. I couldn't say I disagreed with any of them because I'd felt all of those things throughout the day. But we’d gotten through almost an entire day at that point without throwing away any diapers and for that I was proud. I also felt good about the fact that Jack was wrapped in such softness. Now if only he could turn to me and say "soft, mama" to give me some sign that he was enjoying it. I was reminded that diaper changing is a thankless job no matter what kind of dipes you use. Then I changed a wet diaper with ease and wrapped the old one in a plastic bag to wash later. I can so do this, I thought.
6:30 p.m.: An unexpected dinner out and Jack was happily eating, bubble butt secure in a restaurant high chair. I was laughing. He was laughing. And then I smelled it. My pulse quickened. While I had mastered the art of public restroom changes in the past 16 months I’d been a mother, I was like a deer in headlights as I thought about dealing with poopy cloth in public. I decided I couldn't deal. I packed him up and hightailed it home.
8 p.m.: Jack was in a fresh dipe and sleeping in his crib, I was done scrubbing dipes for the day and collapsed on the couch. Tomorrow would be a new day.
By day three of cloth diapering, it had become routine. It was similar to how I felt about breastfeeding, actually – scary and nerve-wracking at first and then it became old hat once I got used to it. I realized it would all have been much easier had I actually invested in it. And if I do decide to make the switch, I will buy many more dipes as well as all the accessories a full-time cloth diapering mama needs -- a diaper sprayer to pressure-wash those suckers (because I will never ever swish. I gag just thinking about dipping my fingers into my own toilet) and the odor control drawstring bags for handling poopy dipes in public.
The world of cloth diapering is not what it used to be. My mom talks about the flat pieces of cloth and the folding headaches and the awful pins. Today's cloth diapers are cute and full of snaps and Velcro and have elastic. But make no mistake. You are still going to get more up-close-and-personal with your child’s excrement than you ever wanted to be. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll make the switch. But I'm glad I gave it a whirl because I'm now willing to consider it (even after all that hand washing, which surprises me). My husband, however, made it clear he will not.
TuscMoms.com Editor Kristi Palma is an award-winning journalist with a Master's Degree from Northeastern. But she's first and foremost a stay-at-home mom to Jack, a blue-eyed banana-lovin' little boy born in November '06.
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