It's Nice to Have an Ecologically-Friendly Baby

(After yesterday's post concerning my leaving-much-to-be-desired mothering skills, I thought I'd post about how great a mom I am. You know, just to keep up my street cred.)

I had lots of fun and colorful things to look forward to in the mail this week, and they all arrived! What, you may ask, did I order?

Why, cloth diapers for Miss Charlotte!

We have been talking about this for awhile, and we finally took the (initial) plunge. I ordered six Fuzzi Bunz contour diapers, a wet bag for said diapers to hang out in between washings, and two wool diaper covers made from recycled sweaters, both of which were from Etsy. I really need a couple dozen diapers before I can call Charlotte completely switched over, but we'll have to be happy getting them in half-dozen increments for now. You see, these suckers are expensive. As in, "Oh, that was a third of our entire month's diaper budget...for six diapers"-expensive.

I just keep reminding myself that they will last for a very long time.

So for now we can get through almost a full day without disposables, and Charlotte has taken to the whole adventure with her usual sunny disposition. And yes, that is a fresh diaper she is wearing in this picture. The cloth insert makes her bottom look huge.

Miss Fat Bottom, indeed.

If you are at all interested in cloth diapering, I would suggest perusing MckMama's recent cloth diapering 101 post. She does a good job of summing up the supplies needed, as well as offering some names of good brands. And truth be told, there are a lot of options out there. This isn't the realm of cloth diapering that my mother experienced when I was a baby; things are very different, very fashionable, and very fun.

And yes, a little pricey. But when you consider that we budget about $300 a month on diapers for all three children, then what money it initially takes to outfit one child with cloth diapers becomes negligible, especially if you consider the long-term benefits. Benefits like much less waste, fewer chemicals on baby's bottom, much less money spent each month, and the fact that future children will be able to use these diapers, too.

I mean, future children of mine. And possibly of my sisters'. I don't mean all future children. I think I'm having trouble writing right now.

Anyway, I've had questions about why I got wool diaper covers. Or diaper covers at all.

Here is Charlotte admiring one of them.

First, diaper covers are necessary when cloth diapering because, well, the diapers are cloth. They aren't designed, like disposables, to keep the moisture in. I mean, they are--the Fuzzi Bunz have PUL waterproof fabric--but cloth just can't hold up like disposables can. It's just a fact of life. Therefore, yet another layer is necessary, at least when you want to ensure ultimate protection. This is when I turn to the wool diaper covers.

Wool is really a pretty amazing material. It is antimicrobial (read: it cleans itself), it can hold up to 40% of its own weight in moisture before it feels wet, and it is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. So it only makes sense to use it for a diaper cover. I only need to wash a wool diaper cover every week or so, and besides that, the only other upkeep required is a little lanolin wash every two or three weeks to keep up its miraculous properties.

I'm actually in the process of learning how to knit a wool diaper cover myself. I'll let you know how this goes. Oh, and in case you're wondering, Stephen got that yarn snarl sorted out. Hooray!

Anyway, I don't pretend to be the expert at cloth diapering. We just got started, and despite all my research and best intentions, I know I'll learn more along the way. For now, I'll just sit back and admire Princess C in her diaper.

Ohmygoodness, those thighs. They just make me melt.

And in case you had been lulled into a false sense of security, reassured of my mad mothering skillz, then I present to you this picture:

She crawled backward, lodged herself underneath the chair, and cried. I grabbed the camera and snapped several pictures before extricating her from her prison.

So there.