Daddies and Cloth

He may be far from verbose, but Hubby has an opinion or too about cloth diapering. I did my best to extract these opinions from him over a cup of tea, after the kids had gone to bed…

Me: So, tell me. What were your initial thoughts when I told you I wanted to cloth diaper?

Him: Uh… Oh boy? It seemed like it would be a lot of effort. I thought you meant those fluffy, old fashioned, white ones, which seem kind of scary. And there would be poo.

Me: What won you over, then?

Him: Well, you reminded me that there would be poo even with disposables; but probably it was the money thing. You explained how much money we would save, and that convinced me. When you showed me pictures of these pocket diapers, I realised that there wouldn’t be any pinning involved… Oh, and I also love you and genuinely delight in pleasing you!

Me: Good answer. After nearly 16 months using cloth diapers, what have your impressions been?

Him: Actually, they have been way easier than I expected. They don’t seem to be any harder to use than disposables. They look pretty cool and seem like they are good for the baby; I don’t really remember him ever getting a rash or anything.

Me: Do you think cloth diapers are Daddy-proof?

Him: Amazingly, yes. I mean, you just clip them on and you’re good to go! I’m still a bit scared of the pin-on ones, but the pocket diapers we use are pretty easy. I’ve even figured out how to stuff them!

Me: I am very proud.

Him: Thank you (blushes slightly).

Me: Have you ever chatted to other dad’s about them?

Him: A few times. To be honest, most guys don’t hang around the water cooler desperately wanting to talk about diapers, so the topic doesn’t naturally come about too often, but whenever the other guys talk about how much they spend on all the baby stuff, I tell them how we are saving all this money by cloth diapering. Most of them end up being interested, actually.

Me: This last time around we didn’t try newborn diapers on our son. Now, if I were to tell you I was pregnant….

Him: Are you?!

Me: (dramatic pause)

Him: Seriously – are you pregnant?

Me: (sigh) No. But if I were…

Him: (interjecting)…please don’t tease me like that…

Me: …if I were to tell you I was pregnant, do you think we could try newborn diapers this time around?

Him: I’m going to guess it would be cheaper than disposables, so I say yes.

Me: Yay! Okay, last question. You’ve admitted cloth diapers are way easier to use than you expected, a thrifty option and even cute. Does that mean I can go order some more?

Him: Why do I get the feeling I’ve been played?...

Bio: Belinda Lamprecht currently lives in Africa with her husband, working for an international missions agency and raising her two kiddos, one who joined the family through adoption and one…ahem…the old-fashioned way. You can read more about their experiences at www.reaboka.wordpress.com