I remember when Evelyn was a baby or even before she was born, I had quite a few folks ask me if we were going to cloth diaper or use disposables. In my head I thought cloth diapering —ewwwww. Also I knew that the time required to wash and care for cloth diapers was a lot and as a family with both parents working outside the home, I wasn’t sure how I’d find the time for that kind of commitment. I definitely like the idea from an environmental aspect and the fact cloth uses a lot less crazy chemicals.
Fast forward to Isaac being born. We spent the first 8 months of his life trying to find a disposable that would not break him out in a weird rash. I think I tried 5-6 different brands over that time period. It would be fine for a week, maybe two, then the rash would be back. It didn’t matter how often we changed him, if we used a cream, etc. Just always there.
Finally my pediatrician suggested trying out cloth diapers to see if that helped at all. I went to my nearest FB mom’s group of reasonable and level-headed mommas to ask about cloth diapers. Let’s say the opinions were vast and far reaching. So many kinds – pocket, prefold, All-in-ones, all-in-twos, etc. My head just about exploded really.
I ended up opting to try the pocket variety and some all-in-twos that were recommended. I found the pocket variety to not really work for us. I hated stuffing the pocket and the inserts just seemed “cheap” (and honestly they weren’t the top of the line variety).
Enter Lil Helpers. This was one of many brands recommended to me by a few individuals in this FB group. I checked out their website. I liked the humorous Youtube videos they posted about their company and products. I mean really, poop jokes. It sucked me in. A small business that didn’t take itself too seriously and could appreciate the funny moments in life when it comes to kids.
In short, the switch to cloth happened in May and I can honestly say we haven’t had that pesky rash come back except for the 2 times we have used disposables due to me not getting cloth diapers washed and dried in time. Honestly the washing aspect isn’t as awful as I had in my head. Yes, you have to swish the poo out in the toilet and sometimes that is super gross, but you do that, wash your hands and move on. I do diaper laundry twice a week now that I have a big enough stack of diapers and inserts. It’s much easier than I anticipated.
I do find myself wondering why I didn’t switch sooner to cloth. I’m eager to keep going with this in the future and there is something super adorable about a fluff butt.
Until next time…
-AMU
Chronicles of a Fiber Engineer 