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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

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Cloth Diapering Dad Interview

After the bragging, boasting (embarrassing) post about how great my husband is with cloth diapering I received some questions about how he might be able to help bring some other, more reluctant, dads over to our side. So I decided to set up a little interview to get his perspective, in his words, about cloth diapering. Once we got over the initial awkwardness of “wife interviewing husband” it was actually pretty fun. I was able to hear answers from him that I otherwise wouldn’t have known. Some questions he answered as expected, but others kind of surprised me.

What convinced you, other than your wife, that you should cloth diaper?
I was very open to giving them a try when you first mentioned buying some, but reading the environmental impact information about disposables that was included in our first order was eye-opening. That sealed the deal for me.

Were you intimidated? Is there anything that still intimidates you?
I was definitely intimidated at first, but quickly figured out that bumGenius were my friends! They eased me into it. Prefolds still frighten me! (Side Note: wife not all that psyched about prefolds either!)

Why do you prefer cloth diapers over disposables?
First and foremost they’re soft and cozy and so cute on her! Seriously though, they’re the responsible choice, environmentally.

I think I know how you will answer this, but what’s your favorite brand and why?
Hands down, bumGenius. Best combination of ease of use and functionality. They’re easy to put on; there’s nothing complicated about them. As far as functionality, they go a long time without leaking. A close second is Blueberry, but the snaps still get me sometimes! (Note from wife: despite his quick answer of bumGenius I’ve noticed that whenever he changes her diaper he almost always uses Blueberries! My theory? It’s the cute patterns!)

What would you tell a dad who’s skeptical of cloth diapering?
It’s much easier than anticipated, there really is no mess, wet diapers are no-brainers and cleaning poops is simple. As long as you have a good laundering wife (I’ll take that as a compliment, I think?) there’s not much mess. I will say clean-up is easy, especially with a sprayer. In my opinion it’s so much better than a trash can full of smelly disposables.

What’s the best part about cloth diapering?
How happy it makes my wife! And using them as her “pants” in the summer. She just looks so cute!

Do you find them harder, easier or the same to use as compared to disposables?
About the same from my end. You (meaning me) do more work with the laundry than with disposables, but as far as changing the baby they’re the same.

If you could design a new diaper what features would it have?
Oh, come on, I don’t know!
Hey, you agreed to this! You have to give me something.
Okay, definitely velcro, a pocket diaper and it has to be soft inside like Blueberry.

Would you do it all over again?
Absolutely!

By Jennifer G. (and hubby Ben)

13 comments:

Beccalynn said...

That's so funny! I did a cloth diaper interview with my husband and posted it over at The Cloth Diaper Blog a month or two ago! There's nothing like Daddy input!

barbie said...

love it!

Megan said...

I just met with a friend who said her husband is reluctant to try cloth. I'm going to share this post with her. Thanks.

Crystal said...

I love this interview! It makes me want to sit down and do one with my DH to see what he says! I especially want to know about what features would be included in a cloth diaper he could design....
aboverubies15 at yahoo dot com

Laura W. said...

That's great that your husband is so supportive. Mine was the one who suggested we cloth diaper, and I was reluctant at first because he doesn't do the laundry (we agreed on this when I began staying home). However, if I really need him to, he'll do it. He also really likes the bumGenius diapers. I'll have to give Blueberry diapers a try!

Trailmixy said...

What kind of carrier is your husband wearing in the picture?

I loved the interview. (Thanks to your hubby for doing it! :) ) My husband has been on the same page as me since the beginning when it comes to cloth diapers. We have planned to cloth diaper since way before we even thought about having kids. We thought we'd be using the old school ones with pins, and were ok with that. Boy are we glad that we now know that there are much better products out there!

My husband said something the other day that I want to share. He said that he hates putting our daughter's clothes away becuase unless things obviously go together, he has no idea what clothes are part of an outfit. On the otherhand, he loves putting away the diapers...Pockets are easy to stuff, folding is just 1 fold for most things, and it is easy to figure out what kind of diaper/ cover/ liner goes where. No guessing! :)

Alesha @ Full Time Mama said...

I am definitely showing this to my husband. He seems on board so far, but I think mostly because I said that's what we're doing with this one. LOL! This may help him a bit. =) I'll also have to remember to pick up some bumGenius diapers for him! =)

Mindy said...

I think I'll share this with my hubby, who is a little afraid of the whole thing.

Melody Mom said...

Supportive, cloth diapering dads are the best. I know I couldn't do it without my husband being on board!

Minnie said...

Cuteness! What a great idea. We should collect even more daddy interviews. My hubby would gladly share his love of cloth. :)

Sheena said...

Love this...I am new to cloth daipering and initally hubby was kind of holding me back saying it was gross...I'm slowly getting him to see it differently. It's great to see things like this :)Thanks!

Stacey Ho said...

My husband does the laundry and has come to love cloth too - but at first he thought I was crazy. He is so into the money savings now though (yea, the environmental thing too).

BUT, he HATEs velcro - it would be live nails on a chalkboard to him at night... so he made me switch entirely to fuzzi bunz - buy I wasn't complaining :)

Megan Beckham said...

This is great! After almost two years, my husband is still wondering why I do this! We're having a new baby in October, and our twins will be 2 1/2, and more than likely still in diapers! He doesn't really have any issues changing, but he's never really been "on board."