This post is part of Cloth Diapering Bloggers’ and Dirty Diaper Laundry’s Cloth Diaper Carnival VIII: Cloth Diaper Awareness. Please visit the other bloggers participating by following the links at the end of this post.
I’ve been cloth diapering for nearly 5 months now, and it’s truly been one whopper of an eye-opening learning experience!
I’ve learned a ton about diaper companies, different fabrics, laundry methods, and how to twist and dump a poop with pretty good precision, if I do say so myself. But I’ve learned a lot of other things, too. Like how gratifying it is to make such a positive decision for my family and my baby, and how I shouldn’t doubt my abilities because when I put my mind to something, I CAN accomplish it, even if I don’t know what I’m doing at first.
Perhaps the biggest thing I’ve learned is that I am not alone, in cloth diapering or any other parenting issue, because beyond my family, I have a huge community of like-minded, supportive, experienced mommies out there who are willing to go above and beyond to help me succeed. I am honored to join you all!
But, despite all I’ve learned, I still have questions: Why don’t I know another cloth diapering mom? Why have I not EVER seen another baby in a cloth diaper? Sure, they are online, but where are the fluff lovers in my community? I find box after box of yicky disposables in every store, and I see them in shopping cart after shopping cart, but the closest I’ve seen to cloth is a random pack of Gerber prefolds at Wal-Mart. Um, not exactly what I’m looking for…
I’ve tried to spread the word, but most women I know aren’t biting. I’ve told friends and coworkers how easy cloth is, and how I actually enjoy doing my son’s diaper laundry because it’s just one more way of caring for him in the best way I can. (Most just roll their eyes at me.) The problem is that I don’t know where to find the new mommies who would be open to the idea of cloth, the ones who have questions or don’t know where to start, or even the ones who have never even heard of a pocket or an AIO and have no idea what the world of modern cloth diapers has to offer them.
A free pocket diaper is what snagged me, but getting a free diaper put into all those (useless) bags you get from the doctor or hospital might be just a tad costly. Soooo….today’s carnival topic got my stream of consciousness flowing…I’m here, and I’m ready to talk, help, encourage. But how?
Maybe, I print up business cards that say just that. “I’m Wendy. I don’t sell cloth diapers, but I use them, and you can, too. Call me and we can talk about how easy it is.”
And maybe, they should include facts that people need to know. Like “The disposable diapers you use today will still be in a landfill in 500 years.” or “Cloth Diapers are the best choice for your baby’s health, and our environment.” or “Do you want dioxin on your baby’s bum? Consider cloth!”
I could hand these cards to the folks I see buying disposables. Ok, that might be just a little too forward…. Maybe, I could just leave them all over town! The diaper aisle at Target, community bulletin boards, coffee shops, OBGYN’s offices, the WIC offices… what if we could convince people on the inside to join us? It’s for the babies, after all!
Or, I could leave strategically placed sticky notes, Operation Beautiful style, in places where I know mommies go. But I wouldn’t want my phone number all over town… so maybe I could include a website? If there is, in fact, one definitive website on the topic, maybe they’d be willing to supply such notes?
Or, maybe we CD mommas start a covert website where we plan our world takeover! A website that could spark a whole movement… The “Cloth Diaper Brigade,” “Mommies for Cloth” or whatever we called ourselves could enlighten millions if we joined forces and kept all the details on when, where and how to learn about cloth on a tidy little card in our purses or diaper bags, ready to hand out at a moment’s notice, or casually drop in just the right place… (like the little hole/handle on the side of a big box of sposies… oooh, sneaky! 😈 )
But what else? T-shirts? Maybe an ad in the paper? A sign in my yard? A bumper sticker on my car? A tattoo! Ok, so maybe my ideas are a little on the silly side. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I sure look forward to hearing all the other ideas generated by the carnival, and if anyone needs my help, I’m in!
One thing is for sure: The word is out on the ‘net, but it is not out in my local community, so I’m choosing to lead by example, and hope that I inspire someone once in a while (I have had 2 people ask me for recommendations for friends…so it is working, albeit slowly.) Big advertising a la Pampers and Huggies might sound good, but if it can’t happen for the smaller cloth companies, a grassroots movement should not be underestimated. (Nor should Daddies! Convince them that cloth will save money, then send them out to tell everyone! My husband is ON it!)
For now, the best tools I have are a friendly voice and a willingness to share with anyone who wants to listen…(and a smiley baby wearing some super cute fluff doesn’t hurt, either!!)
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In the spirit of sharing and helping new CD mommies out there, I’d like to share what’s in my stash, just in case you might have any questions about the brands/styles/products listed below. It’s been quite a while since I posted a cloth diaper update, so here’s the scoop on the latest poop-catchers in the ABCGP household!
Every diaper change is a mix-and-match experiment using the following. (I’m not listing products we’ve sold off or aren’t using.) These are the ones that are working for us:
- 7 Fuzzibunz OS Pocket Diapers
- One Marvels by Kissaluvs OS
- One BumGenius 4.0 OS with Hook & Loop closures
- One Kawaii Minky OS Pocket
- One Kawaii Minky Bamboo OS Pocket
- One Flip cover
- One Imse Vimse cover
- 3 GroBaby OS shells
- 6 extra GroBaby soakers
- One Ecobumz OS pocket
- One handmade diaper cover from ClothBaby.org – (The softest one we have, and so cute! See, the bum says it all…)
- 8 organic cotton prefolds
- 6 gCloth inserts
- a few packs of biodegradable gLiners
- 3 extra BumGenius microfiber inserts
- one Knickernappies SuperDo
- 3 bags Lulu’s in the Fluff detergent
- One shaker of Lulu’s pail sprinkles in Dimpled Booty
- One lidded garbage pail
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the diapers I’ve been using. I’m no expert, but I’m happy to help where I can!
As for the future of cloth in our house, I’m considering venturing into the land of fitteds instead of relying solely on pockets. If you have any advice or suggestions, please share! I need to get the kinks worked out in case we are lucky enough to find ourselves expecting #2!
Thanks, and happy diapering everyone!
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So I had to laugh at your sneaky idea about putting the card in the disposables box. I actually think that is brilliant!
RDA (www.realdiaperassociation.org) does have pamphlets and things to hand out. But sticky notes sounds great!
I have a business card with my website and email in case anyone wants to talk fluff locally! You have a million good ideas!
Kim
http://www.dirtydiaperlaundry.com
Thanks Kim! Just a bunch of random thoughts, really, but isn’t that where all good ideas start?
I figured there must be some kind of hand-out available out there. I’ll have to be proactive about actually getting some and having on me for the times when opportunity knocks. Until then, maybe a pad of Post-its! 🙂
oohh i think i’ve seen the cloth diaper in one of the baby’s magazines. i’ll have to tell my brother about it, he has a 1 yo son!!! thanks for posting this!
Though it’s not time for me to start thinking about diapers quite yet, I hope to someday use cloth for my children. I remember how one family whose kids I babysat when I was younger used cloth diapers, and I would always grumble about having to change them. Now I look back and kind of admire those parents :]
I love the idea of having little cards to leave everywhere–especially inside the package of disposables! Too funny.
thats gotta be the best one! “ITS ALL ABOUT ME” haha wayyy too cute!
ever since uve decided to test out cloth diapers ive been excited to follow the journey and im still impressed with how some of them have held up! i hope u get some recognition out of this, maybe some compensation for your reviews, theyre probably the best and most informative out there!
xoxo
Thanks so much, Kelsey! They are holding up very well, considering I wash every other day. It’s been a fun journey so far…
I’ve caught some pretty good sales on the diapers, so I can’t complain too much. I’d be happy if I knew I just helped further the cause!
Although a freebie now and then would be fun! Oops…did I say that?? lol 😉
You are doing exactly what you should!! Look for attached parenting groups in your area, maybe through meetup.com. That is where I found many local cloth diapering mamas! But keep talking about it with your non cloth diapering friends- they will either do it themselves or tell someone else!
melissa
http://www.homegrownfamilies.blogspot.com
Thanks, Melissa…I haven’t found any groups yet, but I’m not giving up!
Great ideas…. I wish i was as intuitive as you… did i spell that right? I too don’t see any other CD moms in my area. Hope we can get that solved in the next few years!
CJR
Thanks! Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had a support group close by? Maybe someday 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Stopping by from Hop Along Friday! Thanks for linking up! I’m already following! 🙂
Stephanie
http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com
Welcome! 🙂