diapering on :)

Its no secret I am a huge advocate for cloth diapering. I get questions on it almost dailly. While I believe cloth diapering is best for baby and budgets I rarely share the best benefit with strangers. Its joy!! Yes i know, its hard to believe but diapers can bring joy its true!

When diapering with regular diapers (sposies we call em ) you know exactly what you are going to get each time you reach into the package. After years of diapering my first 3 kiddos i found myself buying different brands each time just to break up the monotony, but with an eclectic cloth diaper stash there is fun to be had with each change :) i might choose a tye dyed prefold ( be careful to make sure and rinse all dye first, church nursery ladies are quite startled by blue/green baby bums) or sometimes I go for a Texas orange fuzzi bun. When Im feeling silly i grab our puppy diaper with floppy ears hangin on the sides or maybe a pastel reversible kiss a luv in a hue to match my mood. Diapers have to be changed, there is no avoiding it, why not make it fun kwim !

Then there are covers, available in even more funness than the diapers. There are even covers that double as pants. These are called woolies or longies and are like a sweater for your legs. Long ago someone figured out if you lightly soak wool in lanolin it becomes practically waterproof allowing for some gorgeous pants/diaper covers that start numerous grocery store conversations and have lead to many cloth diaper converts for me :) A friend of mine (Abby at knitterknots) made our latest and most fabulous pair currentlly awaiting the perfect day out. Like "jeans diapers" they dont require pants, but i find them much more attractive with alot more class lol

Part of the joy is the conversation that inevitably begins when a stranger or mom to be notices your childs big bum. I admit it, a cloth diaper creates a little extra junk in the trunk! but after doing it awhile you find it endearing and with the invention of adjustable waist pants its no prob at all. I love sharing the origin of the bum with other moms who had 60s inspired visions of flat bleached diapers secured with pins. Its exciting to learn how the practice has evolved. The day of pins are long gone ladies!! Recently my 4yo Piper found a safety pin. She informed me that I needed it for Pikes diaper. I tried explaining to her that we dont use those and showing her a snappi, but she insisted that spongebob wore a diaper with pins and so we should use them lol.

These joyful conversations that typically end in laughter and mom to mom bonding, almost allways include the biggest cloth diaper question of all. Whats up with the poop? When a breastfeeding mom asks i love to answer because breastfed poop is nothing. it just dissappears in the wash, doesnt really smell and is no big deal. When a formula feeding mama or worse, a solid food eating baby's mama asks, I employ all avoidance techniques, complimenting shoes, carriers, magic stayput hairbows on bald infants, but alas, i have to answer. Those babies have real poop that requires a real conversation. Plop it in the potty :( there is no other way, unless you want to dunk, which i do not recommend. lol but truly, to plop it in the potty is no big deal and whats left on the dipe dissappears in a hot wash with an extra rinse never to be thought of again. they even have diaper sprayers (think kitchen sink sprayer) that are low cost and attach easily to your tank. Ive never had one, but friends swear by them.

So , while i love cloth diapers for the economic and environmental benefits I have to admit its the friendship and fashion statements that keep me going :)