Cloth Diapers - Part 3

On a brisk November Sunday afternoon we rejoiced as our little one was born, our intense new son Abraham. Soon enough Jonathan suggested starting to use the cloth diapers. Abraham was about two weeks old, I was nervous, felt like I was jumping into a rushing river, and I panicked a bit when I saw a small spot of blood on the diaper. His little cord had rubbed against the diaper just a tiny bit. I felt awful! Change of plans, let's wait until his cord falls off to start. The next night off it fell. Time to jump on in what felt like the Colorado.



My first mistake was staring at all those lovely smooth, soft diapers about right up until it was time to use them. Bad idea. Do not wait until you are 1-2 weeks postpartum, hormonal, tired and just wanting to sleep and snuggle with your newborn to wash your new dipes. Each brand varies, but most require ~5 washings before their first use in order to strip the cotton of its natural oils so that it is absorbent.

Diapers finally washed, here's what we started out using:
Bleached Chinese Prefolds with the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap and Snappi
Kissaluv Fitted Diaper with Bummis Super Whisper Wrap
BumGenius Pocket Diaper

Let me be completely honest with you. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing when I started. I literally had the User's Manual (complete with pictures) from Green Mountain at my side as I placed a prefold around Abraham, then a wrap...Do the sides face in or out once folded - check, inside. The prefold is not supposed to slide under the little fabric panel in the wrap, right? Checking the manual...yup, that's right. Phew! The Snappi is supposed to be a Y-shape, not a T-shape...hmm, okay, I get it now.

The days passed and quickly I began to feel much more confident. Did our diapers have to match the pictures? No, I realized, there are no secret diaper police. I began to relax when curious onlookers watched me change Abraham. Kids had fun questions at church. "What are you doing?" Why was I taking the diaper home and not throwing it away? Adults had lots of questions, too. The most common being, "so how are you liking the cloth diapers?" To this day my answer is the same. "I really enjoy them...actually, I think it's fun!"



And that's where we're at in our cloth diaper journey. Something about it hits us at a pretty deep level. We realize now this really is what's best for Abraham. Plain and simple it's wise stewardship. We feel like we have invested the finances God's given us wisely (reusable on future Shupes!) and are glad to slow down those landfill piles a bit. Not to mention he's comfortable, not had major rash problems, and that as Sarah Z. said, there's an everyday spiritual humility to be experienced in cleaning those diapers.

I think next time I'll wrap up my thoughts with our faves and not-so-faves and a few random thoughts.