Why I Chose Cloth

Before I even found out I was pregnant- before I even thought about getting pregnant- I knew I wanted to cloth diaper. I have a great friend, Meg, who cloth diapers both of her boys and I just thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. Cut to three years later and I find out my husband and I are going to be parents. The second thing I did- after telling my husband I was pregnant- was start looking into cloth diapering. I heard of the website Kelly’s Closet from Meg and haven’t looked back since. I was on the website daily looking at all the different options and colors and, to be honest, it got a bit overwhelming. I sent many a frenzied text to my friend about which brands I should go with, and whether or not I should use cloth wipes (that’s another story), and she helped me every step of the way.

After my husband and I told both of our families that we were having a baby, the advice began. My sister-in-law (who has two boys) began asking about doctors’ visits and whether I had chosen doctors or midwives. My mother began asking me whether I was planning on continuing to work after the baby was born. And then, my mother-in-law said “You know, you should start stocking up on diapers now. Those things aren’t cheap and you’ll be glad you did.” I told her we were planning on cloth diapering. I believe her exact words were, “What are you going to do in three months when you decide you don’t want to do that anymore?” I was stunned. I didn’t realize that making the decision to use cloth automatically meant I’d be banned from buying disposables. I pictured a security guard manning a velvet rope saying, “Sorry ma’am, I can’t let you buy disposables, you chose cloth.” So I simply said, “Well. I guess we’ll cross that bridge if we get there.”

Cut to 6 months later, we have brought our beautiful baby girl home (in disposables). I have 15 BumGenius newborn diapers all prepped and ready, and about 20 BumGenius One-Size 4.0’s for when she outgrows the newborns. After her cord fell off our cloth diapering journey began. I didn’t know how small she’d be so the 15 newborns I had were just enough for me to wash diapers basically every day and a half. With a newborn that’s not exactly ideal. I was lucky if I was able to wash myself, let alone step outside to do laundry. So those first few weeks in cloth were pretty relaxed (I was able to sneak past that security guard and buy a pack or two of disposables for when the laundry wasn’t quite done). Then once my girl started sleeping longer at night, the newborns were starting to leak, so she graduated to her One-Sizes. I had never been so excited to try out a fancy print my friend had sent and took (way too many) pictures and sent them to everyone (including my mother-in-law).

It has been almost 3 months since our daughter was born and about 6-8 weeks since we began our journey into the cloth diapering world, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bio: My name is CJ. I am a first-time mom to a beautiful little girl named Elliott. My husband and I have been together for almost 4-years and married for a little over a year. I am a stay-at-home mom thanks to my wonderful husband.

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