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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

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My Cloth Diapering Man

This post is a little shout-out to my hubby, the father of my two precious girls and my cloth diapering partner in crime. There are plenty of husbands out there whom completely resist cloth diapering or go along with it because they have no choice. Yes, my husband “went along” with it, but he was also a large part of the decision-making process. When I first sheepishly mentioned that I wanted to try cloth diapers, he encouraged me. When I complained that I couldn’t give it a true try without buying a couple, okay several, well, let’s just say many different styles and brands, he was on board. Whenever I have been frustrated to the point that I’m almost ready to throw in the towel, he tells me he’s hooked and there’s no way we can go back to disposables. This guy is the real-deal, true CDD (that’s Cloth Diapering Dad).
How do we know he’s a true CDD?

Let’s ask the tough questions…

Does he change diapers? Pah-lease! I don’t even think he asked for a tutorial. He just went for it. No whining, no issues. He’ll use any diaper, any time. I will say he prefers Velcro over snaps, but that’s only because his big, strong hands (you’re welcome, Sweetie) have a tough time with the delicate little snaps. He changes the baby, rinses the inserts and even secures the laundry tabs before putting them in the hamper.

Okay, but does he change poops? Heck yeah. And it gets better…he has been known to walk in when I’m changing a poop and offered to dump it and spray it off with the diaper sprayer, which he installed, by the way. Ya drooling yet ladies?!?

Let’s take it a step further.

Does he color-coordinate? This guy goes out of his way to dress the baby in his own, unique styles and the diapers always match the outfits. In fact, he has been known to suffer through the awkward snapping if a certain diaper is required to complete the look.
Does he do the laundry? This is a tough one. The question is more, do I allow him to do the laundry? In general, I just can’t relinquish control of the laundry room. It’s not really a trust thing; it’s more about my control issues. I’m working on it. However, I have left him in charge of running a couple of cycles and he handles it perfectly. He wouldn’t hesitate to tackle the laundry, but I think there’s a little fear and apprehension…of me! He knows the cloth diapers will be forgiving, but his wife? Not so much.

Does he make purchases? Technically, no. But, he has waded through incessant research with me to determine the next fluff buys based on colors, styles and needs. He may not be the one to press the “place this order” button, but he is the one that says “let’s buy both” when making a tough decision. That’s when I fall in love with him all over again!

By Jennifer G.

26 comments:

Andrea Kruse said...

Fabulous post and what a keeper! My DH wasn't so sold from the begining, but has recently told me that now he sees why I decided to try it... I guess he just thought I was a loon earlier..?

Michelle said...

Go you lucky lady you!

Skippin' Rope said...

High five to your hubby! He totally is up for Husband of the Year award in my book.

My hubby is still very stand off-ish about cloth diapers. Every time I talk about it now he says "Go for it, just means I never have to change a diaper."

I would love to know what advice your hubby would pass on to other husband's who aren't excited about cloth diapering and aren't on board [yet], like mine.

Thanks for this post!

Jill said...

Wait, why weren't you in the on the CD'ing carnival last week that was about hubby's tackling cloth diapers or not? This would have been perfect. Anyway, glad yours is so gung ho. Mine is still a bit squeamish about poo, but does the rest happily. We're waiting for our new house to get a diaper sprayer installed!

Jen C. said...

I hear ya! I've got one of those guys - well almost... he changes the diapers, has his favorites and will never put a disposable on her tushie again. As for the matching outfit department, he could use a little help there, but in exchange, I let him do the laundry while I manage the outfits. Gotta love these guys!! Maybe the cloth diapering world needs to change the marketing creed and expand to the manly demographic department!!

Jen C. said...

I agree! I have one of those guys too... no ladies, I am not sharing mine either! :-) But, how about it? - he is a convert and would never use a disposable again on her tushie. Why is the cloth diapering world not marketing to the male demographic .... those dads will do ANYTHING that is best for their little girls!

Megan said...

Sounds like you've got great support from your hubby. Mine is great too. The buying part is tougher though. He's usually saying, "Do we really need any more diapers?" rather than "Let's buy both."

UberFilipi said...

He sounds so wonderful. I would be remiss if I didn't pat my hubby on the back and say that my entire foray into the CD world was at the behest of my hubby. I wouldn't have even considered cloth if he hadn't asked me to.

Mindy said...

What a cool hubby! Mine is great about cding too. So often, we love to joke about how inept men are. I love seeing a positive post about a terrific husband and father!

Kippy said...

Sounds like my husband! Isn't it wonderful to have a partner in crime, so to speak? Just the other day he said to me, "Sometimes, I still can't believe we use cloth. I'm so glad!" Sweet man loves that we're saving so much money not buying 'sposies and he just thinks our daughter looks so cute in her cloth dipes. He often says how he wishes we had started with cloth when we had our first child and even encourages others to try cloth. Love him!

lindsayandandy@hotmail.com said...

I am so glad to see I am not the only one that is a control freak over the laundey room :)

rocketgurl said...

Wow! What an awesome man!

Hey, where do i sign up to reserve him to visit my house for a week in... let's say, maybe end of May/early June???

Arizona Girl said...

Props to your hubby. My hubby too is awesome. Husbands who like doing cloth diapers ROCK.

Shana said...

Ironically, it was my hubby that sold me on cloth diapering! As the stay at home dad he does changes A LOT of diapers, and is way better at keeping up with the diaper laundry than I would be.

Shana said...

Like UberAuntie, I would never have considered cloth diapers if it weren't for my hubby. As the stay at home dad, he changes A LOT of diapers and is great about keeping up with the laundry!

JCF said...

He sounds just like my husband! When he's home, he'll change diapers, spray off the dirty ones, etc. I do all the laundry, only because I'm home all day and he's not. He'll help if I ask in the evenings, though. I didn't realize how lucky I am though, until I had a few friends interested in CDing whose husbands wouldn't let them try!

Savannah said...

Love it! My husband sounds a lot like yours! Recently my DD had to go on antiobiotics for an ear infection, and the medicine gives her AWFUL diaper rash. The Doctor told us to slather her in diaper rash creams before we even started on the medicine to keep the rash away...which meant I need to do sposies (as I don't have barriers for my CD). Anyway, it was a rough 10 days of using the stinky things and the whole time my DH kept asking when we could switch back. The day before I switched back he said "Can we PLEASE put her in cloth now? I love her big fluffy bum so much more!" It was so sweet!!

Alesha @ Full Time Mama said...

Love to hear about supportive cloth diapering dads/husbands!! Hopefully mine will be as on board as yours is!

Minnie said...

Hahaha! What a great post! I'm there with you!!! My hubby got on board w/out any hesitation and started bragging about our daughters fluffy little bum to everyone. And he also changes poopies & if I'm changing one and he is there he ALSO takes it away dose the dirty work for me. Sweeeeeet!!!!

And I have to say...I'm also on the same page as you w/ the laundry thing...but, I really don't mind doing them myself anyways. (Then I ALWAYS know it's done right! LOL)

Amanda G.

Alicia W said...

So sweet! My hubby is pretty awesome with cloth too. I told him early on that it was important to me and it's becoming an obsession! (I never thought I'd join the realm of cloth obsessed moms and even teased. I'm eating my words now). Eric has a few horror stories of cloth spraying mishaps. That might be a funny post topic.

austinmomtr said...

My DH also color coordinates - even more than I do. I love it! I usually do the Diaper laundry, too - and it is a control issue. I have detailed instructions typed out, but he doesn't like to read them - it is easier to wait for me.

begabe85 said...

You are so lucky!!! I just want Dad to fold over the tabs... there is no way I could get him to clean them off!!! But I have heard him trying to convince others to use cloth!!

DiscoverHope7 said...

o wow! what an awesome husband.. I am totally going to read this to my husband when he gets home tonight! hehehe

Hannah said...

Thanks for the positive story! My husband is pretty good with cloth diapers (he even assumed that I would use them while traveling by plane for Christmas). But he's not always too excited about the dirty diapers!

Melody Mom said...

Yay for cloth diapering dads! My husband was the one who originally suggested cloth diapers, and he's 100% supportive. I do all the laundry, mostly because I'm a control freak too, but also because when I started explaining it to him, he covered his ears and said "I don't need to know!" But it's essential to have dad on board to make cloth diapering work, and even better if he's excited about it too!

CindyD said...

What a great catch you have. My husband likes to CD we have recently crossed over from the other side (the disposable side). He refuses to pick out outfits because he says we have too many choices and he will do the wrong one. But I can totally see him matching her diapers to her already on outfits!