I love my cloth!

I have always wanted to do what was best for my kids and the environment. That's why I always knew I would breastfeed, and make my own baby food. But one thing I said I absolutely never would do is cloth diaper. I mean, eww. What do you do with the poop? And a stinky, poopy bucket of water? And pins? Near my baby's nether regions? No freakin' way!!

Boy was I wrong! I am an active member on www.babycenter.com/communities and decided, on a whim one day while I was pregnant with Rosy to visit the cloth diapering board, just to see what all these modern women were thinking. Well, I got a reality check, and a new perspective. So for anyone wondering what on earth I'm thinking, here it is:

• No bucket, no soaking. No kidding. I have a rolling hamper that came with my crib. I have a waterproof pail liner in the hamper. Toss in diapers (and cloth wipes), roll hamper back under crib shelf. 
• No stink! A breastfed baby has poop that is actually not stinky, believe it or not. You would never know that I have a hamper of poopy diapers right there in my living room.
• No touching poop. Ever. I just lift up the pail liner, carry it into the laundry room, and dump it into the washer. Which leads me to my next point:
• A breastfed baby's poop is water-soluble. That means, it just washes away. There is no need to swish diapers in the toilet before you wash them, like I had heard before. There are no chunks of poo in my washer, or in anyone's clothes.
• I wash diapers every other day, but you could do less often if you have enough diapers to get you through. A baby=more laundry anyway, so this is really no big deal.
• Pins are almost obsolete now. There are cloth diapers with velcro (also known as aplix), snaps, or you can use a Snappi, which is a "Y" shaped rubber piece with little plastic teeth on each of the three ends that grip the diaper and pull it together.
• No more plastic pants, either. Now there are diapers with a waterproof layer built right in, and also diaper covers made of polyurethane laminate (PUL) which is super-breathable, and won't cause baby's skin to become waterlogged and break out.

I really wish I had known more about cloth diapers with my other children. I would never have used a disposable. To learn more, you can visit http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a16235/cloth_diapering. And to see all the different types of diapers available, go to www.kellyscloset.com You will never look back. I promise :)