I Am Ready To Climb A Mountain
After seven years of preparation, I am finally ready to climb a mountain.
I have the necessary gear assembled and ready to go. I have an assortment of cloth diapers, washable diaper covers, cotton washcloths, a 5-gallon bucket, water, and vinegar for soaking soiled diapers. I also have my washing machine, clothes dryer, the proper detergent and a drying rack for the diaper covers. If I want to make my first climb a little more challenging, I may attempt to hang dry each washed diaper so the sun can bleach any offending stains. And of course, I have a 2-year old bum waiting to be diapered at least six times a day.
As you may have guessed, I am not preparing to climb Mount Everest. I am going to climb my very own mountain of cloth diapers. I tried to make my picture look ominous since that is how cloth diapering feels to me.
I remember having a brief conversation with my sister-in-law about cloth diapering when I was pregnant with my oldest son. Although I did not say it at the time, I am pretty sure my attitude was, “Well, that is nice if you are into that kind of thing but I have more important things to do with my time.” A few years later, when my second son was six months old, I had another cloth diaper conversation with a couple of friends where I said something like, “Okay, let’s take the cloth diaper plunge (or climb) together! I would rather spend my money on a cute shirt at the Gap then on another bag of diapers!” My friends went on to climb the mountain. I was really excited to make the climb until I realized how overwhelmed I was with the task of caring for two little ones while my husband was in school full-time and working. I am sure I bought that cute shirt at the Gap anyway to make me feel better about my failed cloth diaper climb.
But I am ready to try again. I have set aside some extra time. I have a group of friends and family cheering me on and I think I have mustered up the courage I need to face my fears. Cloth diapering is my next Grandma Challenge. I thought about making this my first challenge but I was secretly hoping my daughter would decide to potty train before I had a chance to give it a try. Then I could have written a nice little post about how I should have used cloth diapers but never got around to it. Sigh. No such luck. My daughter recently turned two and shows no interest in the toilet other than flushing it over and over again.
I knew going into my year of trying to live like Grandma that this would be one of my big Grandma Challenges since disposable diapers did not really become popular until the 1960’s and I am looking at how things were done it the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. My Grandma Marlene confirmed that she cloth diapered all 9 of her kids. My own mother used cloth diapers on me and my brother. I recently interviewed my friend Jodie’s grandmother who is 104 years old. I took a moment to describe modern, disposable diapers to her and asked if she would have used them on her kids. She replied, very matter-of-factly, “That would be wasteful!” She went on to say, back in her day, waste was akin to sin. I got the point in more ways than one.
How about you? Do you want to use cloth diapers? Why or why not? Are there barriers that prevent you from trying? Do you have any tips if you already use cloth diapers?
Unless this challenge goes better than expected, I will not be posting again until Tuesday. I want to save all of my time and energy for my cloth mountain climb!
Hi April,
Sorry I have been gone a while so behind on the blog.. but I did use cloth dipaers for Steve ( 36) and Jon (35) Liz (30) I loved them. Ashok and Shanda were potty trained when they joined our family!
Have fun.. and way to go!
YOU CAN DO IT!!! I have so much confidence in you when it comes to this Grandma Challenge. If you give yourself 4 weeks or so, it will start to feel like old hat. And, let me know if you want to know the websites with great deals on rice paper rolls–those are the key to success!!! As my sister in law said, to support me in climbing this mountain, ‘cloth diapering is a part of mothering that shows both submission to the role and empowerment in the care of your child.’
Another benefit to cloth diapers that I didn’t mention when we were chatting is this: your toddler is busy and all over the place and into everything. Because you have to change the cloth more than a disposable, you’ll be “scheduling” more tickle-the-tummy-and-snuggle times with Selah. It’ll be that much harder to ignore her while you are trying to get other “important” things done. Enjoy!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I realize this challenge may not seem like a mountain to others but it is to me. I appreciate your support!
You can do this! Anything new seems overwhelming at first. Give it a month and you’ll probably wonder why you thought it was so difficult in the beginning.
I love the idea the Grandma Challenge! and I will be following your blog to see what other adventures you take on. I would also love to take some of these challenges with you. I am thinking about how my Grandmother used to compost kitchen waste and garden and can and preserve. That generation certainly knew alot that has gotten lost over the years. I am always realizing how much of an impact the Great Depression had on their attitude twords material consumption.
I cloth diapered all 3 of my girls for the most part. I am a little disappointed that these days I am buying disposables though (our washer drain isn’t working and I don’t have a good way to wash them). Once you get into the swing of it, it really isn’t that difficult and I loved not having to figure out how to get to Meijer’s when I realized we were out of diapers.
I hated cloth diapers and admire anyone who uses them willingly. I am wastefully happy with our disposables now that we’ve switched back…which was a decision we made as we weighed the Sanity Challenge. As much as it hurts to say this, I still think cloth is the way to go if values trump.
Thanks for introducing me to your site April! It’s a great idea and wish you the best!!!
I too have decided to use cloth diapers with our third. Since she is only 10 weeks old, it is not too bad, but I dread cleaning the diapers when she is eating solids! I have heard that rice paper is the key, and if you line every diaper with them and your daughter doesn’t poop, you can wash the paper with the diapers and reuse!
I think the trick is to forget about the disposables and the convenience. We had to use disposables for the move and it took me about 2 days back on cloth to stop questioning why I was using cloth instead of disposables…however, now it’s no big deal.
Best of luck! You can do whatever you put your mind to.
Why not try Elimination Communication? That way the mountain is much less. :o) Part time EC works. It cuts diapering down, so maybe only half a mountain instead?
Climb on!
We used cloth for our 2 girls and it really helps with toilet training because they know when they’re wet!
I know this seems insurmountable right now… I was there not so long ago! The bigger the challenge, the greater the satisfaction in the end.
I was given 6 weeks of diaper service w/my first and wanted to continue but was clueless on what was available. I couldn’t find cd’s in any stores and no one to explain what to do. I revisited the subject a number of times and finally decided in March that it was time. One of the best resources I found was this blog: http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/
I’m cheering you on April. This was a huge mountain for us to climb too, but we’ve summited and are now enjoying the view ;0) (and saving $100 a month!)
GOOD FOR YOU APRIL! I have no doubt you can do this. Be gracious with yourself as you learn the tricks of the trade. I agree with all the others above…once you get into the groove and get your own diapering routine down, you just might be surprised at how little extra work it actually is. It is more work than throwing a disposable in the trash, but once I got into my own groove and once it became part of my routine, I didn’t really think about it.
We switched to disposables in the village this last month due to rainy season. Mango worm eggs are planted in wet cloth. Without the assurance of the diapers completely drying because of rainy season, i wasn’t too keen on picking hatched mango worms out of Nico’s little hinder. Without a garbage system, I was reminded daily as we drove out of our hotel that the mounting scene of diapers was not going anywhere. It is one thing to know you are getting rid of this waste in a dump; it’s entirely different to actually see it every day. Thankfully, we potty trained mid-way…but it reminded me as I viewed the nasty pile of how wasteful diapers and pull-ups are.
I want to support you in this endeavor! I’ll be checking in on you soon!
I hope it’s going well for you April! Once you get into a routine, it really does get easier.
In 6 years of cloth diapering though I have never soaked dirty diapers in vinegar or anything. I just dump (swish if necessary) poo into the potty and then store the wets and dirties in a wetbag (a nylon laundry bag lining a garbage pail works too) until it’s time to wash — then dump the diapers and the bag into the wash.
When we’ve gone back to disposables for periods of time it’s always shocking to me how much more garbage we have. Yuck!
Hi April! I agree with Leah-you don’t need to soak the diapers. And if you hang dry them, the sun will help bleach them too:) Are you going to hand wash them? That would take so much time! Maybe grandma did everything by hand, but I don’t:) We use the cheap, plastic diaper covers that are extremely low maintenance and you only need to let them air dry.
Have fun on your new endeavor!
Betsy
Hi April,
When I read your challenge on cloth diapering I had a number of thoughts pop into my head that relate to the economics of using cloth vs disposable.
1. additional use of water for flushing the toilet (assuming one poo a day equals one additional flush of the toilet)
2. additional water AND electricity for laundering the cloth diapers
3. additional maintenance cost on washing machine
4. additional use of detergents (some not so environmentally friendly)
5. cost for rice paper liners
Once you add all the costs for these items, are disposables that much more expensive? It’s a matter of using the additional water, electricity and detergents (chemicals) that the manufacturer of disposables would otherwise use. It could be an equal trade. In that case, is it just the landfill duration that will be alleviated which could be offset by using the new biodegradeable disposables.
By the way, I never used a cloth diaper for either of our two boys so I have alot of admiration for you and those that have/do use cloth.
I find that the way my parents (in their 80’s) did things was not necessarily the most environmentally friendly. They grew up in the depression and were used to doing without. They did not question the environmental aspects because that was not an issue then. America believed that there would always be a new frontier, a new motherlode of resources to fuel their basic needs for cooking and heating, so long as they had the money. It was a matter of economics for them. Waste equaled lost financial ability, not waste equals pollution.
Just some thoughts to ponder. Good luck on this challenge. I am sure that once you get the routine sorted out, you’ll do fine as other women have noted.