Yes, I'm a Cloth Diaper Freak. And I Like It.

I remember lunch with a friend from high school. We were ‘all grown up’ and had our first children, who are almost the exact same age. We hadn’t seen each other in years. I remember going to the restroom with her so we could each change our kiddos before getting back on the road. She changed her little girl and it was a CLOTH diaper. I remember what I thought…"FREAK". I didn’t think she was crazy, I KNEW it.

Fast-forward six months and my son started suffering from a re-occurring rash that would. not. go. away. We were using THE major disposable brand…top notch for my kiddo, right? WRONG. His rash got so bad, the skin peeled away. I remember crying because he was crying. It hurt him so much when I changed him. But I slathered him up with some more Desitin and fastened on another disposable, thinking it would surely clear up like the doctor said. I was clueless. The doctor was baffled. Then I caught wind of the ‘major disposable diaper company’ in the news…other folks were having burn-like rashes…and it CLICKED. I remember thinking, “it’s the diaper”... switching to different disposible brands, and feeling like I failed.

Things are much different now. I’m a ‘freak’. I’m happy to declare that we are full-time cloth-diapering folks. I have a mystical diaper sprayer hanging on the side of my toilet. I’m talking tea tree oil. I know the difference between flats, pre-folds, AIO’s, and pockets. I ENJOY doing diaper laundry. I discovered CJ’s BUTTer (love it). And, I’m completely bewildered that I didn’t ‘get it’ in time for my first son…in fact, my second son was a year old when we finally went ‘all in’ with a full cloth stash. But more importantly, I realized that I just didn’t have all the facts before, and I simply shouldn’t have knocked it before I tried it.

Here’s the kicker. My husband was NOT on board. He’s a guy who would be happy to pay $2,000 over the course of diapering years to NOT think of poopy in his washer. He’s a toughie and an engineer-analytical-type. He picked apart ALL my facts and figures on whether or not switching to cloth would save us money. But when it came down to it, you can’t argue with the health of our little guys. He remembers the rash. So, we compromised. He will change cloth diapers, if I will spray them out and wash the loads. I’ve caught him wringing them out and hanging them to dry, so he’s getting into it (don’t tell him I said so). This week, I’m taking the plunge and adding cloth wipes to the mix. I really want to cut out as much exposure to chemicals I can’t pronounce as possible. I’m going to be really ‘crunchy’ here, and make my own wipes solution (water, olive oil, Burt’s Bees baby wash, drop of tea tree oil – EASY). I even started making my own diaper detergent on the CHEAP.

If being a cloth diaper ‘freak’ means doing everything I possibly can to care for my babies, then I’m ALL IN. Late, but I’m in.

Ariel Eldridge is a former art teacher-turned-stay-at-home-momma of two boys, 4 years and 16 mos, living in rural Indiana. “Crunchy” is no longer a meanie term at her house, because it turns out that natural is pretty stinkin’ cool.