Lessons Learned...One Oops at a Time

When I researched cloth diapers for our second child, I thought the hardest part would deciding what to buy. After decided on mostly pockets diapers and after using them, I anticipated the worst part would be staying on top of the laundry.
However, the biggest challenges came when both my husband and I were working full tome when our daughter was 6 months old. I've figured out a lot about working full time and cloth diapering, one lesson at time.

Lesson 1 - I didn’t have all day to wash and dry the diapers anymore. I didn’t want to lose time with my family, so just figured I’d do it all after the kids were in bed. But after a couple mornings of inserts still damp and some frantic stuffing after a turn in the dryer made me realize I needed to start the wash a little earlier and finish the process once the kids were asleep. Hang drying the pockets and wraps and throwing the inserts in the dryer helped too.

Lesson 2 - Taking diapers every day instead of a big package of disposables means a little more planning. Rushing to do it in the morning was just adding stress to an already busy time. Putting them in the daycare bag the night before as part of the bedtime routine only takes a minute.

Lesson 3 - Paying attention to my clean diaper stash saves me from the moment of staring at an empty basket while trying to pack that bag at bedtime and then having to rush to stuff the next morning on top of the rest of the morning routine.

Lesson 4 - It’s best to empty the wet bag soon after I get home and a diaper sprayer is a very nice thing to have for that process. Messy diapers do not get better with time and when they’ve been sitting in a wrapped up diaper, a sprayer can be very helpful at making the clean up go much faster.

Lesson 5 - It’s nice to have more than one wet bag. It always seemed to get soiled the first day after I did a diaper load and didn’t have quite enough for another load yet. Now, if that happens, I have a back up. Even when I don’t need the second one, I like alternating them to give them each time to air out.

Lesson 6 - A slightly larger stash than I had when I was home full time really helps save some time now. I can do diaper laundry every three days and still have a day’s diapers ready to go while I’m washing.

Lesson 7 - Leaving the diapers on the drying rack in reach of my darling daughter will result in nice clean diapers on the floor. Now, I try to make sure the rack is not in the room we are during the evening so I can save stuffing until the kids are in bed.

Cloth diapering while working full time outside the home is very doable. More than 6 months in and things are pretty smooth. It’s all about getting a good routine down and saving time where you can. Laughing at the bumps along the way helps too.

By Cari D.

Lessons Learned...One Oops at a Time

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Tight job markets forcing some new moms to return to work

When Jennifer Stephens of Corpus Christi, Texas, was pregnant with her son last year, she dreamed of taking time off to enjoy being a mom. But her husband Michael lost his job a few years back and had been unable to find a new position before their baby’s birth. Stephens’ plan to stay at home with her new son took a detour. Instead of taking some extended time off, Stephens says she returned to work six weeks after giving birth.

“I'm the sole bread winner for my family and without my job we would be living out of our car,” says Stephens, who is a biologist for the state. “I was not ready to return to work. The stress of everything affected me more than I like to admit. Physically I was okay, but emotionally I was a wreck. Everything from my milk supply to my mental psyche was impacted.”

Heather Connor of Lexington, S.C., can relate. Connor’s husband has struggled to find a job since graduating with his master’s degree in August 2008. Connor returned to her post as an assistant department manager of a large book reseller six weeks after giving birth.

“I want to be home because I feel that I am missing out on the mothering of my precious little girl,” says Connor. “But our income depends on my job right now.”

Kelly Wels, the founder of KellysCloset.com, an online cloth diapering boutique, says that returning to work quickly can take its toll on new moms. “Going back to work after having a baby is a physically and emotionally draining process for many women. When women return to work so soon after the birth of a baby, their milk supply may be affected and sometimes they have to partly sacrifice attachment parenting initiatives like cloth diapering and ‘baby wearing’ -- the practice of carrying baby in a sling for a good portion of the day and evening.”

Making it work
Candice Broom of Birmingham, Ala. also found herself at the center of today’s unemployment storm. She says that when she was pregnant with her second baby, she and her husband both lost their teaching positions less than one month before their new baby’s arrival.

“We were scrambling to find work -- any work -- so that we could have an income,” she says. “I wanted to find something that I could do with my baby close by so I ended up getting a job at a daycare center. I worked a few days a week in the last trimester of my pregnancy and then brought the baby with me starting when he was two weeks old.”

Because Broom was able to bring her baby to work, she says she was able to continue breastfeeding, cloth diapering and baby wearing, which she says enabled her to remain close to her baby despite the stress of going back to work.

Know your rights
While the job market is tight, many moms have to return to work quickly after having a baby because they fear losing their health benefits.

Andrea Lee of Lincoln, Neb. says she went back to work just two weeks after having her baby. Her husband’s job didn’t offer insurance and she says her employer, a small nonprofit organization, wouldn’t give her more than two weeks off. She adds that small companies with less than 50 employees aren’t protected by the Family Medical Leave Act. If Lee didn’t return to work after her two weeks vacation, she would have lost her job and her family’s health insurance plan.

“The job market around my hometown is abysmal. My husband and I both have bachelor’s degrees with high GPAs and good references and we can’t find any better jobs,” she says.

Wels says that unfortunately Lee’s struggle is like so many other new moms’ struggles these days with a difficult economy and tight job market. “It’s important for women to know their legal rights, although, in Andrea’s case, the time off a new mom needs is different than that what she is legally allowed. In an ideal world, women would be able to take as much time off as they need to fully recover physically and to have time to bond with their babies emotionally without fear of losing their jobs or health benefits,” says Wels.

The upside to tough times
Broom says that while she and her family were under tremendous pressures, everything worked out in the end. After 14 months, Broom's husband found a new teaching position with “great benefits.” Plus, she learned to be more frugal by using reusable cloth diapers and wipes, which she estimates has saved her family hundreds of dollars annually.

Plus, Broom says she started combing the newspaper for sales and coupons, has learned to cook simple meals with few ingredients, became a frequent yard sale shopper, and has even won some online blog contests.

Connor says that knowing her husband is home with their baby isn’t so bad because he’s a “wonderful dad.” Plus, her husband has learned to cloth diaper their baby, which she says has saved her family a bundle during these tight financial times.

“Every little bit counts,” she says.

- By: Jenny L.

Tight job markets forcing some new moms to return to work

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Did You Go Back to Work Shortly After Having Kids? If so, we want to hear from you.

Dear Readers:

We're working on project and need help. Where else do we turn but to our wonderful customers and blog readers!! We're looking for women who have had to go back to work quickly after having her baby because her family depended on it. Maybe your husband lost his job and you had to go back quickly in order to pay the bills? Or you needed to both be working to make ends meet and couldn't afford a maternity leave? Please email Jenny@diapershops.com if you think you can help with our project. Thank you!!

Sincerely,


Kelly, The Cloth Diaper Whisperer

Did You Go Back to Work Shortly After Having Kids? If so, we want to hear from you.

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Back to Work I Go

My little man was 5 months old when I went back to work and I was not ready to leave him. At the time, I was questioning how to manage cloth diapers and washing them myself (along with the pressures and requirements of working full time and being a mom). When he started in day care I had 22 pocket diapers in use, while on maternity leave this was plenty. I washed them every other day and had the schedule down pat. While interviewing day care provides, I always asked the very important question, "Do you mind using cloth diapers?" The woman that we chose was so excited to learn that we were using mainly BumGenius because that's what she was thinking about using for her baby (due in July). She was excited to have a "trial run" with cloth on our baby. After a week back at work, and continuing to wash diapers every other day, I was exhausted. My husband suggested that we get new diapers and I was able to get 6 new BumGenius! It was such a relief.

Our routine is as follows: at night I pack the baby's bag for day care, he get 5 or 6 diapers and multiple flannel wipes. In the morning, my husband or I change the incredibly full nighttime diaper (typically it is a Fuzzi Bunz stuffed with a prefold wrapped around an insert). During the day he wears BumGenius, Haute Pockets, and Happy Heinys with only one insert.

When I realize that there are 6 or less diapers in the closet, I start the laundry. I generally start the diapers in the afternoon/evening. I do two loads, (one cold, one hot) and then put all of the inserts and wipes in the dryer. The diapers are hung to dry on a rack in the laundry room. When everything is dry, we put everything on a chair in the living room and in the morning or at some free point during the next day we re-stuff the diapers and start the process over again.

This has worked out well for us, we currently have 33 diapers in use and are able to wash them every 2-3 days. I thought that I would have more of a schedule (such as every Sunday and Wednesday), but it hasn't worked out that way. We have found that some days he needs to be changed more frequently than others and that there isn't really a true pattern to this. I also realized that although the task seemed daunting (washing diapers and working full time), I could do it (with the help of hubby) and that it is well worthwhile.


- by Becky D.

Back to Work I Go

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