The other moms were definitely a little crunchier than me. They're into some things that just aren't for me, like homebirth and cloth diapering (except - now I'm kinda thinking about that!) and some things that I actively disagree with, like unschooling and not vaccinating. But that doesn't really bother me if people are friendly and kind and non-judgmental, which they seemed to be. We had good conversation and ninety minutes totally flew by. Then everyone's nap time rolled around and we dispersed. The next meetup is going to be at a wildlife preserve and people are going to share tips and info on babywearing. I mentioned that I have some issues with my ring sling (it slips a little) and the group leader said she will give me hers if I like it!
They tend to get together on Thursday mornings which doesn't work for me if I have a job going, but often enough I don't, so hopefully I can make some friends in that group.
So... now I am thinking about cloth diapering. My initial resistance to it had to do with the startup costs and the laundry. I will also confess that some of the CDing fanatics online kind of turned me off to it because I perceived them as smug and/or obsessed with buying diapers, neither of which I aspire to be.
I've heard all the pro-CD arguments before and even so I read an article about it in Mothering the other day. I will say, I'm not convinced that disposables are so horribly toxic or that trace amounts of dioxins are going to poison my child. In fact the vast majority of dioxins that make their way into the human body get there by consuming animals.
I also giggled at the article's claim that disposables are "really loud" if you co-sleep. Um, no. I co-sleep and I've never even heard my baby's diaper at night, let alone been unable to sleep because of the sound. Lolz.
I'm not convinced by the argument that disposables give babies horrid diaper rashes and CDs don't, because Miles has never had diaper rash in any brand of disposable and we've tried them all.
As usual with me and my skinflinty ways, it's ultimately the financial argument that sways me. Somewhat ironically, since money was one of the reasons we didn't buy them in the first place. But now with Mr I.'s new job we can more feasibly build up a stash and save money in the long run. So far we've only bought two or three packs of diapers, because we were given so many (in three sizes) before Miles was born and my mother-in-law also insists on buying us more now and then. But that bounty will run out soon and then the full cost of diaper buying is going to smack us in the face.
That leaves me with the laundry problem. I would like to hear from a working mother whose baby is already born and who is already back to work - I'd like to hear that she's keeping up with the laundry, because so far all the advocates I know are either still pregnant, still on maternity leave, or stay at home moms. I don't work a ton of hours, but with Mr. I out of town three nights a week I am very busy. I can barely keep up with the laundry we already have, plus washing bottles, making dinner, prepping for work... I don't even think I've cleaned the house since Miles was born. Maybe I swept the floor once (Mr. I pitches in a lot there thank goodness.) I just don't know if I can either take on 3-4 more loads of laundry per week, or buy enough diapers to do fewer loads (and I don't want to pay a service). Your thoughts welcome as always!
2 comments:
I'm back to work full-time (have been for a month now). I do a load of diaper laundry every other night (any longer and the stains set). We have a combination of Bum Genius 3.0s and Kissaluv fitteds with covers. We use cloth wipes in a wipes warmer, which is much easier because you just throw the wipes in with the dirty diapers. We also have prefold diapers as a backup in case we run out! Here's how much time I spend on laundry:
5 min- change pail liner, throw bag of dirty diapers and liner into washer, start cold cycle
1 min- add more detergent, start hot cycle + extra rinse
5 min- hang covers to dry, transfer inserts to dryer
10 min- pre-stuff covers with inserts, put away in dresser drawer
I'm planning on cloth diapering and I am no longer a vegetarian... gasp! My diet is actually much more eco friendly now that I have incorporated meat into it. I'm not eating nearly the amounts of processed foods that I was. I do however eat only small amounts of organic, grass fed meats. I realize that your argument was probably about conventional meats, I was just being contrary.
What has really convinced me to cloth diaper is the price. The initial expense is definitely more, but in the long run I think it will be much more economical. Well, at least I hope so.
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