The sun is setting on diaper days...

Could it be?  Really, truly?  I can't even believe we have reached the point where diapers are becoming obsolete in our house.  Potty training is going great.  We're not quite done yet, but we are much closer than we've ever been.  Check one more thing off my son's master list that he no longer needs Mommy or Daddy for.  But there is no sadness with me of this part of parenting going away.  More time for trains and trucks, I say.

Once the diapers are packed away, I feel like a small part of my credibility and influence in the cloth vs. disposable discussion will be lost.  I'll just be another mom talking about how we used to do things in the good ol' days.  So I want to share my experience one more time while I’m still “current.”

I’ll start this with a disclaimer.  Everyone has very strong opinions, whether a parent or not, about what is or would be the best way to do anything and everything for a child.  And once you are a parent, you will hear them all.  So I know that just because I think today’s cloth diaper opportunities are the swellest of the swell does not mean it is so for everyone.  So therefore I only present to you the reasons why they were the best choice for us.  And sorry, but there are many.

1.     I know at least five other Moms, and I’m sure at the moment I’m just forgetting a few more, with children close in age to mine who L-O-V-E using cloth diapers.  So for my small scientific data set of acquaintances, 100% of the people who use them had a positive experience.

2.     Diaper rash. Or should I say, the lack thereof.  My son may just be blessed with very tough skin, but  I doubt that.  His daycare wouldn’t let us use cloth diapers, and he got more diaper rash with disposables than he ever did with cloth.

3.     Money savings.  Yes, it is costly to buy your full set to start.  If you make the decision to use cloth before your first child and can register or request them for shower gifts, then money becomes less of a factor.  Even if we had to buy them all ourselves, and even though we had to buy disposables in addition for daycare, I am positive we still saved ourselves quite a bit of money. And if it is in God's plan for another baby to ever grace our home, the start-up costs are, yep, free.

4.     They are not gross.  They really aren’t.  You have a kid, you are going to be dealing with bodily fluids no matter what.  And these are built so well and are so user friendly, they are no more gross than dirty disposables.

5.     Laundry.  Again, you have a kid, you are going to be doing a lot more laundry no matter what.  An extra load every two-three-seven days, depending on how many diapers you have and what stage of life your diaper-wearer is in, is easy.  And yes, you have to buy special detergent.  We bought a six-pack before our son was born on Amazon.com, and it lasted 2.5 years.  Not a big deal.

6.     They are easy.  No more diaper pins, no more plastic pants (though those kind are still available, just not my cup of tea), no saggy elastic.  We used BumGenius All-In-Ones, and if you put the liner in the shell right out of the dryer, then putting them on is exactly the same as putting on a disposable.

7.  I am proud of reducing our contribution to the landfill.

   I welcome any comments, questions, testimonials you would like to share.  I could keep going on and on, and on, about this topic, but I will save the keystrokes for another day.  In the meantime, I am off to happily wash some new tiny child underwear.