Clive and Cloth

Today I hope to begin using cloth diapers with baby Clive. I've been so disorganized with him up to this point; I'm ansy to get a diapering system going with him.

Most of you know that I did cloth diapers with Chloe until about age 2. Since she's so tall and big for her age, I had a difficult time finding diapers to fit her after her 2nd birthday. So we've been going disposable with her ever since. Thankfully she's mostly potty trained so we don't fork out too much dinero for her diapers these days.

Our diapering system with Chloe was the old-fashioned traditional way of cloth diapers. Pins, diapers, liners and then plastic pants over top. It took a little getting used to but once we got in the groove of our system, it wasn't bad at all. I've always been envious of those fancy schmancy all-in-one cloth diapers though. They look so easy to use and to clean!

I had all the diapers, plastic pants and various other supplies washed and ready to use when Clive arrived on the scene. Unfortunately, he was too small for the diapers I have! Arrrggh.

My mom generously bought Clive a supply of brand new all-in-one diap-ees! Thanks, grandma! The best part is she got them way cheap since she bought a brand manufactured and sold out of China. The brand is called YuYun and charges only $3-$5 per diaper. You can buy them from their website or on ebay.

Seems like cloth diapering is becoming popular as folks become "greener" and more money conscious.

What are your thoughts? Have any of you seriously considered going cloth?

For those of you that do use cloth, what brand do you prefer? Do you find using cloth to be worth the extra time?

The good, the bad, the messy, and the impatient

And so begins the saga of our potty training adventure.

I decided over the weekend that we'd dive in to potty training this week. My gym's pool is closed for cleaning all week so this week was opportune. I decided to keep the calendar free of play-dates and outings so we could focus hard core on potty training.

Full of naive excitement and hopeful expectation, we began our potty quest on Tuesday morning. I let Chloe play sans-diaper and I watched her like a hawk. I put her on the potty seat every 20-30 minutes and tried to make it a fun time for her. We read books, sang songs, played games, did crafts, colored, you name it we did it on the potty! After 2 accidents, Chloe finally did her business on the potty right before naptime. I made a huge deal of her success and explained at length what she was accomplishing. We've been watching a dvd from the library called Potty Power so Chloe knew just what to do after going potty. She waved at her production, flushed, and then we washed our hands.

After this initial success, I put her in undies after she woke from her nap. She proudly styled her Nemo undies and kept lifting her shirt to look at him. It was so cute! She held her potty in until bedtime and then it was diaper time again.

Day #2 was not so successful or rewarding. In fact, it was really really hard. Seemed like everything wasn't going our way today. I gave Chloe a bit more "freedom" from the potty seat, put her in undies, and instructed her to tell me when she had to go. BAD IDEA. She proved to me she's not got enough control over her bodily functions to move to that step yet. Five accidents later (some very messy), I was in tears and ready to throw in the potty towel. It was obviously a frustrating day for Chloe as well. She did a lot of crying and whining when she had an accident or had to sit on the potty. Did I mention I was thoroughly exhausted, frustrated, and empty of patience by the end of the day?

Looking back on the days events, I can see now that Chloe is certainly ready for potty training. Several times she'd tell me she had to go potty and then as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she'd go. So, I had little or no time to get her to the potty chair. But, the step forward here is that after only one day, she's recognizing that she has to go or is going. I think that's a step in the right direction! Even though it was a frustrating and messy day, that is a definite positive.

Tomorrow I'm going back to my plan for day 1: naked bottom and regular potty sitting intervals. The undies were just too hard to get off in time. And hopefully with more potty sitting, Chloe will have more success than accident (notice I did not say failure). :)

My, oh my, this is hard work! I'm not giving up yet. I'm one stubborn cookie and I'm convinced that Chloe can do this with the proper encouragement and consistency on my part. Am I being a bit too naive here?

The pros and cons of cloth swim diapers

Since we are cloth diaper advocates, you'd be right in assuming we use a cloth swim diaper for Chloe.

I LOVE Chloe's swim diaper! It's so easy to use and saves us scads of money since we don't have to buy the overpriced disposable swim diapers.

Here's how it works, she wears a cloth swim diaper for her bathing suit bottom and when she's done, I throw it in the washing machine. I found the diaper pictured here at a thrift store but I've also found them at yard sales. You can buy them new at any online cloth diaper store (cotton babies, diaperaps, punkinbutt, even target sold them last year). I bought her a matching top at a children's store outlet for a mere 99 cents. All in all this suit cost us $1.50.

Don't get me wrong though, there are some cons to using cloth. But I think the pros far outweigh the cons. Judge for yourself . . .




Pros

1. HUGE cost savings! Disposable swim diapers cost anywhere from $7-12 bucks a pop and have you noticed how small the packages are?
   
2. Easy to use. Just rinse them and throw them in the washing machine.
3. Do you see how cute Chloe looks in one? :) Sorry, I'm biased.
4. You're saving the environment from more unneeded un-biodegradable material in our landfills.
5. Chloe is unhindered and un-bulky (forgive me if that's not a word) in her cloth diaper. She can swim around easily and without a huge diapery bottom to weigh her down.
   

Cons

1. If you are not swimming at home, you'll have to take the used cloth diaper home in a plastic bag. Rinsing a poopy diaper away from home is never fun either.
2. I've been able to find at least 3 pairs of cloth swim diapers cheaply but you may not be able to. If you pay retail for them you'll pay at least $10.
3. Cloth swim diapers don't last for unlimited hours as most disposable diapers do. Disposables pull the liquid away from your baby's bum so that she can wear them for a long time before feeling wet. Not so with cloth diapeys!
4. Some public swimming pools have strict rules about what babies/toddlers must wear in the pool. Some mandate disposable diapers.

Cost is a huge factor for us so it outweighs everything else. Please don't think I'm one-sided in this debate either; I realize that every family and home have very different factors to consider.

So, there you have it. Let the debate rage! What do you use for your child?