Cloth Diapers (Month 3.5)

We got quite a bit of flack for our potential use of cloth diapers.  It was like we were using shards of glass to put our baby in.  I mean when I was child we use clothe diapers.  They looked like hand towels (hopefully they were never mistaken for them) and they came with giant safety pins to keep them tight.  I think they also involved a complicated folding process to pin them just right.  I just remember thinking "Sweet Moses beard, please don't let my mother stick me with that thing."

Well clothe diapers have come a looooong way since that time and so when my wife presented the new and improved clothes diapers I felt better.

Practical:
Thankfully I wasn't able to find the photo of me in cloth diapers circa 1980 as it was a special time.  Usually it was just this clothe draped over you then a plastic bag like thing covered it in case of any blow outs.  So just imagine a little kid with a huge wash rag and then a plastic white trash bag over it.  It was practical for the early 80's but these new ones are pretty amazing.  They come with two layers of cloth in the middle to help with absorption and as you wash them this cloth gets softer (so to not irritate your kids tush).  They've also done studies that show that using cloth diapers gives you less risk for diaper rash (and for us we haven't had a single incident of it).  As a first time dad I am okay with this as I don't want to spend too much time down there anyway (see Bombs Away blog post).

Buttons
First they come with buttons instead of pins.  This ensures that when your baby has a blow out or a minor problem it stays in there (since using them this is 99.8% true).  The buttons are easy to use and you can adjust the size of the diaper with the growth of the baby.  If you can't use buttons, then I feel sorry for you.

Colorful

When I was baby cloth diapers came in the standard off white color.  They really did look dingy and something you found outside, but the new and improved ones come with bright colors, designs and animals (or trains, or cars).  Our baby loves color so this has made changing her diaper more fun as she looks forward to seeing all the colors.  

Cheaper

I don't need to write too much here.  I always love saving a buck and my wife didn't have to make much of a case here for me to say yes to cloth diapers.  They are just cheaper.

Washing

Another reason why I love the cloth diapers is for the first 4-5 months you just toss them into the washer.  No special treatment, nothing.  You just toss the whole lot with some specialized baby detergent and your done.  To answer the typical dudes question: no you do not wash them with your clothes.  Anyways, after 5 months the process does include one or two more steps as your baby goes to solids (imagine having one of those "solids" rolling around in your washer with your clothes).  

Harder to Take Off

One great thing about these diapers is that they are much harder to take off.  I don't know about you, but I value a clean house.  Last thing I need is my daughter flinging her diaper off and running around in free form(as funny as that would be).  But just do a google image search of babies who take their diapers off and see the results.  Yeah didn't think so.  Then consider clothe diapers my friend.   

My wife had me with no bags, no mess, they are cheaper, easy to use, and colorful.  I can't ask for much more.

So if you are thinking about cloth diapers just know that it isn't as hard or crazy as it sounds.  It isn't some organic hipster way of caring for babies, it really works and is really easy.  

The End~