When I was pregnant I knew I wanted to cloth diaper. Jarrod was not excited at all. He didn't know anything about cloth diapering except what he'd heard from people the age of our parents. He hadn't scoured hundreds of blogs about different cloth diapering options, the money we'd save by not buying disposable diapers, and how turbo cute cloth diapers are. I did my best to give him the needed information about cloth diapering without overwhelming him. Most of all, I told him we'd just give it a try and see how it goes.
When Wesley was about 6 weeks old, we made the jump to cloth diapers. We started slowly - when Jarrod was home I gave him a pass to use disposables. One day I came home from an errand and Wesley was in a cloth diaper - Jarrod had made the jump over to cloth diapers! From that day we've been completely devoted to cloth diapering.
My first week back at work I came home to a drying rack of diapers. Jarrod had not only washed the diapers, but he hung them in the sun to dry. He's now the primary diaper-washer in our house. It's awesome!
I've heard from several dads who, like Jarrod, are reluctant to take the leap to cloth diapering. In order to help other dads discover the wonder of cloth diapering today we're going to hear from Jarrod. I'd asked Jarrod to write a blog post about cloth diapering a few months ago. When it didn't happen, I decided I should take things into my own hands and just write it myself.
Q. What were you most afraid of when we started cloth diapering?
Cleaning. Keeping the diapers clean and dealing with that nasty. I wasn't sure what they were and 20 years ago they were pre-fold diapers with plastic covers and safety pins. I didn't know it would be as simple as it is.
Q. What is the easiest part of cloth diapering?
I hate taking out the garbage and there's a lot less of that than there would be. (Plus the saved money and benefit of saving the planet)
Q. What is the hardest part of cloth diapering?
For whatever reason, sometimes they just don't seem to work. We go through phases where one kind of diaper won't work for a week or two and then they are great again. It might be fit, but it's very frustrating. It makes me glad we have more than one kind. I imagine that happens with disposables too, though.
Q. How much time do you spend cloth diapering a week that you wouldn't spend with disposables? (cleaning, stuffing, etc)
I'm sure it's more time-consuming when you add in laundering them. You have to launder them with the right process so they are sanitary and don't stink or stain. I wouldn't call it a hassle or anything though. We split the time pretty evenly and I probably do a load or two a week - depending on the week. It's hard to quantify time.
Q. What's your favorite part of cloth diapering?
I don't know, I guess we just have fun changing diapers, so that's always fun. Wesley has fun and we have time to chat. It's not the quickest process so I make the best of it by hanging out with my boy. The biggest benefit of cloth diapering is the financial aspect. It's all about the family budget. Disposable diapers are easier, but knowing that we've already saved several hundred dollars is a huge selling point for me. The environmental benefit is also awesome.
Q. Is it really as gross as it seems?
No, I don't think it's anymore gross than it would be with disposables. It's all gross. But it's your kid and that makes it less gross.
Jarrod's final words: Just give it a shot. It may or may not work for your family. Ask your friends if they are using them and for help with questions. It's really not a big deal.
There you have it! I hoped to have this be a vlog (because it's about time we did one of those!) but Jarrod vetoed that idea. Jarrod is standing by to answer your toughest cloth diapering questions! Share this with your hubby and let him see that real men do cloth diaper!
Leave your questions here so I can answer them on day 5 of cloth diaper week!
Yes! My hubby was the same way, except he was never really opposed to them in the first place since he knew how much disposables cost. He's done a great job with using them, but I haven't worried about teaching him how to wash them since he's not here during the day.
ReplyDeleteJarrod and Wesley should enter the CAN Challenge!! I think there are several retailers in Dallas doing it, and it goes through August 4th!
ReplyDeleteMy funny story about my husband and cloth diapers happened when Matthew was about a week old and we had just started using them. The first time he pooped in the cloth diaper, Phil was home and wanted to watch how I would change it. I'll never forget the look on Phil's face when he saw me remove that diaper full of the gooey, liquidy, breastfed-newborn kind of poo. As my hand reached to put the diaper in the pail, a look of horror crossed Phil's face and he said, "Where I come from, we call that TRASH!" I promised him that it would completely wash away and the diaper would look brand-new again, and he was highly skeptical about it. Thankfully he was convinced when I pulled a load of soft, clean, fluffy, non-smelling diapers out of the dryer the next day, and he has never again complained about cloth diapers!!!