Diaper redux

Since there seemed to be sufficient interest in cloth diapering out there, I thought I'd offer a brief update on our experience so far, in case it might be of use as an additional data point for ALZ, Holly, or any others considering taking the plunge in the near future. Those who have already read far too much about fecal matters on this blog can skip to the next post.

The short version is that it's going great, despite our initial concerns, and now seems very doable. In fact, it's going to be hard to go back to disposables, with all the leakage out the leg holes and the cost and the waste, when we enter the daycare stage.

Having been introduced to the world of cloth diapering by the loan of secondhand pre-folds from a friend, I then did internet research on this unfamiliar arena of baby care and baby goods and as a result, spent awhile in the beginning looking longingly at the all-in-one diaper options. Nothing like an innovative gift to prompt further consumer desires. Fortunately, I got over it before hitting "Purchase" on any attractive online diapering sites. While all-in-ones still look great, after a few weeks we figured out that the pre-folds really are pretty easy, too, and that they even seem to have a number of potential advantages. For one thing, they dry quickly, on the same medium heat and in the same time frame as normal laundry. No 90-minute dryer loads on high heat needed. The cotton is also very easy to clean and doesn't retain odor.

In fact, while our laundry has undeniably increased with the addition of diapers, this is laundry that I find I enjoy doing. There is something innately satisfying about taking visibly soiled items and turning them into fresh, gleaming white, soft, fluffy squares once more. Much more satisfying than ordinary laundry that you know is dirty but doesn't look especially dirty when you throw it in. And since my least favorite parts of laundry are lugging heavy baskets up and downstairs and matching/folding/putting away, it is no problem at all to run up and down with just a couple dozen diapers, then take them all out of the dryer and stack them up, no matching or folding or separating into different piles for different room and different drawers.

We're still using disposables at night, since Alice seems to wake up with diaper rash when she sleeps for twelve hours in a cloth diaper. But otherwise it's nice to feel that our family has taken one modest step toward a smaller carbon footprint. We'll see what we can manage next.