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**Overall, cloth diapering has been a wonderful experience
for our family- COMFORT FOR BABY: We have had the best results with a
microfleece or suedecloth next to any of our babies' skin...to keep them dry,
comfortable and no rashes. We have not had a disposable (and we tried all types,
expensive ones AND cheaper ones) that was able to keep our baby feeling dry
after wetting and thus, preventing diaper rash. My son was prone to
yeasty-fungal infections (due to medications when he was an infant), but once we
used cloth with special liners I made he wasn't as susceptible (sp?) to them.
ECONOMY: It has been economical for us, washing our own versus $20-$40/wk in
disposables (I have had 2 babies in diapers quite a bit!). We wash every third
day, so there is really not much extra work or expense involved. With the cloth
diaper market online, we have also been able to turn our 'gently/loved/used'
cloth diapers into $$ for purchasing the next size, or to try others, etc.!!
Now, just TRY to do that with a used disposable!! ROFLOL!!! FUN: We have had fun
doing it too! Fun prints and photo opportunities galore! I think we have
actually taken MORE pictures of our kids at the various ages than we would have
otherwise!! We have also had the opportunity to meet a lot of new people too!
Both in person (on outings, etc) and online with CLOTH DIAPERING as the common
ground.... what a wonderful way to bring others into the cloth diaper community,
by the 'touch and feel' and 'up close and personal' approach! Not to mention the
MANY different people from MANY different countries I have had the opportunity
to meet through my business. ~Kim Keester Kovers Cloth (tm)
Diapers & More...
**My husband was the one
that kept asking me why I would want to use cloth diapers. He said it seemed
harder to deal with than using disposable. Now he thinks they are wonderful and
wonders why we never used them with our other 2! I admit, I thought cloth
diapers seemed harder when a friend of mine was talking about switching. But
that was before I saw how they were made now. I was thinking about how my mom
used to have to put them on my brother!! I am so glad that I started using cloth
diapers. I just wish I had a lot of money to buy more! I started cloth diapering
him around 3 months ago.~*o *~Nessa~*o*~
Momma to my 3 lil guys-
Matthew (10*27*93),Nicholas
(11*16*98) &
Bradley (10*18*02)
**I get this e-newsletter about being frugal and they
always have tips from readers. One day a lady wrote about how she uses cloth
diapers and it really saves her money. I was very intrigued and decided to visit
the cloth diaper company's website that was listed with this lady's article. At
that time I had two children. One who was 3 and potty trained and one who was
just a little over a year. Both used disposable diapers. After I visited the
site a light bulb went off in my head! I thought, "Hey, I could save us a lot of
money!!" So...I bought a BUNCH of fitted diapers (no covers because I was cloth
diaper illiterate and didn't know you needed any, lol! They really ought to tell
the newbies this! I know a lot of people make fun of the ones who don't get this
at first but when you use disposables for 4 years you don't know any better :).
I had never thought about using cloth until I read that lady's article that day.
I'm not quite sure why either because my mom used cloth on my brother and I was
old enough to remember (I was in 7th grade when he was born). I even changed
some of my brother's dipes. My mother used a diaper service. I remember now how
I would lay a diaper in the wrap and velcro it on. I told my husband that I
ordered about $200 worth of cloth diapers and they were on the way. He freaked!!
He could not believe I had spent that much on cloth diapers. His main concern
was that I would not stick with it. Well I started, joined this group, learned
more and more each day and now I LOVE it!! It has been almost a year now. My 2
year old and 5 month old are both cloth diapered. Everyone thinks it is so much
harder to do. I really don't feel that way at all. I already do laundry everyday
anyway with a family of 5 it is kind of hard not too :) And as far as dh
goes...I proved him wrong. I think he's proud of it too because he won't
hesitate to tell someone :) BTW, he uses them too.
Marrisa Brown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Owner of
www.mylittleangels.com and WAHM to my 3 little angels (all girls!) Hannah
(2/99), Kaelyn (5/01) and Avery (11/02)
**I can give you the reasons that we WILL be cloth
diapering with this baby! It’s my second, and DH's first. Everyone in my family
has very sensitive skin and I began changing our household over to as many
natural cleaning products as I could about 2 years ago. When we found out that
we are expecting (due in a few weeks!) I took DH to Wal-Mart and added up the
cost of diapering (using both name brand AND generic diapers) for a month. He
almost passed out! We began talking to my mom about her experiences with cd'ing
when I was a baby, and I started showing him all of the options I have found
around today, from pinned prefolds to AIOs. It took me about 15 minutes to
convince him that it really isn’t any more effort, WAY better for baby's bottom
and the environment and (the part that most appealed to him in the beginning..)
a HUGE savings to our bank account! Now he loves looking at the stacks of dipes
we have bought to try and is almost as excited about giving me feedback on the
ones he likes to use the most, so that I can make them myself! I love the
thought of being able to save money while having only the softest, safest dipes
on my baby-to-be! There are so many new dipes and products to go with them, that
really the only difference is a few loads of laundry, versus taking out the
trash a few times a week, but the advantages to both baby and parents are
wonderful. LOL.. I wont even mention the resale value and many OTHER uses for
cloth dipes once baby is done with them!
Michelle, Mom to Gavin (2/18/97) & Ella (EDD 5/20/03)
**I first started thinking about using cloth diapers
before my daughter was born. I talked with co-workers about their experiences.
Everyone had a totally negative experience. They told me horror stories of how
my whole house would smell like urine. That I'd have to stick my hands into a
toilet to swish out poopy diapers. I was totally discouraged about cloth
diapering. I wanted to give it a try, but no one around me actually used cloth
diapers successfully. Well, my daughter came nearly 3 months prematurely, so, we
were concentrating on getting her well enough to leave the NICU and come home.
Cloth didn't cross my mind again until Jordan was about 6 months old. Since we
had made the decision that I would stay home with Jordan, we really needed to
find ways to trim our budget. Throw away diapers were taking a big chunk of that
budget. I did a quick search at Yahoo Groups and discovered a whole new world! A
place where women used cloth diapers...and loved it! I was so excited! I read
everything I could get my hands on. Cloth diapering became somewhat of an
addiction. Who knew it could be so fun?! LOL! At first, my computer programmer
hubby was a little squeamish about the whole cloth diapering thing. But, he soon
overcame it. Now, he doesn't have nearly the fun with cloth diapering that I do,
but he's very supportive. :o) Blessings,
Michelle in CA
**I started cloth diapering my 1st dd when she was 3 mo
old (although we had planned to from the beginning but waited while we were out
of the country in the process of moving back). Anyway, although the cost of
cloth diapers and covers was a little intimidating at first, especially since we
were buying about a dozen all in ones for my hubby to learn with, the price
overall has been a tremendous savings. And we're using the same diapers for my
new baby so the savings are increasing even more! I find that when I cloth
diaper my baby (and my first dd) we have nearly zero diaper rashes but would
have a rash about 75% of the time if we used disposables. And, I find that it's
really only two extra loads of laundry (one for dipes and one for covers) a week
for me to do (we have lots of dipes). I honestly love the so, so cute cloth
diapers and covers and less trash (and no stinky trash) since disposables aren't
in there all the time and love that cloth diapers are now as easy to put on &
off as disposables. I like knowing that I'm helping the environment even though
that wasn't the reason for doing cloth. Anyway, that's just my opinion on cloth
diapering. Love it! Shelly, SAHM to Piper
(10/30/99) and Emma (12/16/02)
**I am the ultimate CD convert! Before my son was born, DH
and I decided we agreed with everything about AP/natural parenting, except cloth
diapering. I thought it was absolutely disgusting, and that anyone who would do
that was not only insane, but also fairly gross. After Shannen was born, we
started with disposables, and when he was 4 days old he proceeded to get a
gigantic, terrible, red, blistered, bum rash. We had him on every kind of diaper
cream, Aquaphor, you name it. Our pediatrician just shrugged, like it was
something normal to have acidic burns (which is what they were by the time he
was 2 weeks old) all over your butt. I was horrified, and Shannen wasn't too
comfortable either. I kept hearing about cloth diapers from other crunchy/AP
mommas online, and read about them in some baby books. When he was a month old,
I decided I would try them, though I was convinced that I would just turn around
and give the Prefolds and covers I bought to Goodwill. Even using basic Prefolds
and velcro covers, DH and I were in love within a week (yes, my husband loved
cloth diapers - he even offers to change him when he's home). Shannen's bum was
clear, and we began to think CDS were 'cool'. :) Now we own every kind of diaper
made, and I'm making our own. I use cloth mamma pads, and even make my own
laundry soap. Both of our families think we're insane, but we happily change,
and wash diapers. It's so much more fun to see the gorgeous workmanship of
cloth; my son has diapers that are nicer than my clothes! We have favorite dipes,
favorite covers, and use AIOs for going out. Cute character dipes are an
opportunity to teach language development as well. Gone are the days of dreading
diaper changes and middle-of-the-night diaper runs to Wal-Mart. Besides saving
money, the planet, and preventing dangerous chemicals from going into my son's
body, diaper changing is a joy - and that is something I never thought I'd be
able to say. -Ashley
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