Selling Reluctant Caregivers on Cloth Diapering

I am Liz, mom to Jujubee, who just turned a year old last week! My partner, R, and I have been cloth diapering Jujubee since birth. For me, cloth diapers were an easy decision. My mom cloth diapered me and my brother, it's cheaper, better for the environment, etc., etc. R was a little harder to convince! She went with it, though she told me I'd have to be in charge of washing. (Now she is one of cloth diapering's biggest supporters! All it takes is experience and a look at our baby in her cute dipes to change someone's mind.) My next hurdle was convincing R's dad, Jujubee's grandpa, who became her caregiver when I went back to work.

Grandpa was not thrilled about the idea of cloth diapers. Like most people out there he remembers prefolds and pins and plastic pants and dunking them in the toilet. Education about how much cloth diapers have changed is definitely the first step in convincing a caregiver!

We changed Grandpa's mind with the help of a few different tools:

1. We bought a dozen Kawaii velcro. Velcro diapers are so much easier for caregivers! Later we bought another dozen bumGenius velcro. At home we use bumGenius and Fuzzi bunz snaps, but velcro is best and easiest for sitters.
2. We bought disposable liners for Grandpa to use. He loves these! They definitely make cleanup a breeze.
3. We bought a Planet Wise wet/dry bag to send the diapers to Grandpa's house each day. He just puts the dirty diapers in the wet pocket and sends them back to us. I put the dirties in our diaper pail and refill the bag for the next day. Super easy!
4. Grandpa uses disposable wipes. At home we use cheapo washcloths and homemade wipe solution, but Grandpa found disposable wipes to be easier and more convenient.

Convincing Grandpa was really a matter of making cloth diapers as close to the disposables he was familiar with as possible! With the addition of velcro, disposable liners, and disposable wipes the process of cloth diapering Jujubee is no more complicated than using disposables, and it's cheaper and cuter, too. We have had to remind Grandpa a couple of times not to use traditional rash cream on Jujubee. We bought a GroVia Magic Stick for his house and haven't had any more problems. Grandpa has come a long way! We were out for breakfast last week when a friend asked about Jujubee's cute bumGenius diaper. I told her about how pocket diapers work and Grandpa chimed in, "Oh yeah, I use cloth diapers when I babysit her and they're great." Score one for cloth diapering!

Bio: Liz is mom to 12 month old Jujubee and partner to R. She lives in Alaska. She is an elementary school teacher and loves her classroom kids, though she is thrilled to come home to Jujubee and her super cute fluffy butt each afternoon.