Cloth Diapering

You know how when you think of cloth diapering you think of super cool, hippie, earthy mommas who make their own baby food, breastfeed for years and are impossibly healthy? It's like it's this super awesome mom club that is impossible to get into, much less, to keep up with.

I have a confession to make: I am not super cool. I want to be cool, I try to be cool, I watch what cool people are doing and try to mimic them... but I'm just not cool. What makes me a cloth diaper-er is the fact that I'm super thrifty. I hate spending money.

I am also kind of an environmentalist. I believe that God has given us this earth to rule over it and to take care of it. So, I will recycle as much as I can, I will try to cut down on waste as much as possible, but I'm probably not going to bend over backwards to save the environment. I have a friend who does not use air conditioning and does not drive a car. My hat is off to her and her husband's determination.

So, those are my two reasons why I cloth diaper.

I realized as I was changing Aria this morning that cloth diapering is not that big of a deal to me any more. With Levi it was really a struggle and I think that was because we were always fighting really bad diaper rash. It was the kind with the little red spots that was really painful. I would strip my diapers, we would do diaper free time (he was very much diaper free with our EC'ing) but none of it worked. We would always have to go to the Doctor's and get that strong prescription for our rashes. We might have gone to the Doctor about 3 extra times for this problem. (I wait a looong time before I go see a Doctor).

This is what I have learned with Aria. The beauty of Lavender Essential Oil.

This ugly horrible rash showed up around 4-6 weeks with Aria and I knew it. I recognized it's ugly little face... and I wanted to cry.

I had just gotten into essential oils as a natural remedy and had been reading in a book about how lavender was anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. I read a combination for a diaper cream with lavender in it, but it didn't work. It might have worked to prevent, but to fight it, that was another thing. So, I broke a rule. You're maybe not supposed to put it straight onto the skin with little babies. But I took a deep breath, said a prayer and took a dab and put it on each one of those little spots. The next time I changed her they were down. She was still alive, so I did some more. Just turned the bottle onto my finger and dabbed it on her spots. Within a few days they were gone. Since then if it shows up (which doesn't happen because I use a preventive cream with lavender and tea tree mixed with shea butter and coconut oil) that's all I have to do. We have had almost no rashes.

Cloth diapering just got that much easier.

Maybe I'm just over the grossness of swishing your child's poopy diaper in the toilet. Also, sometimes her poops are so solid that I can just drop them in without having to swish the diaper. We use all-in-one diapers that are pretty much like using a paper diaper only they have velcro or snaps in place of tape. They leak a little more and don't hold as much but usually I can just change her after she wakes up from her nap. The brands I use are Bum Genius and KaWaii (KaWaii is much cheaper and one of them the buttons don't work as well, but overall I have really loved them. I like paying $6 for a diaper instead of $18) We are also still using Levi's old diapers. They are a bit ratty, but I'm really proud of the fact that we have spent much less money on Aria because we have re-used Levi's old ones.

Okay, that's my bit on cloth diapering. Again, just wanted to re-emphasize that I am not cool. Just in case that wasn't clear.