Modern Mama Musings

Introducing Ivy, my third baby girl!  She arrived (right on schedule, it was a planned c-section) on February 12!  She was 6lbs 6oz and is growing fast.

Now you’re telling me I have to go through another 5,000-7,000 bum changes over the next two years?  Groan.  I was just giddy a couple weeks ago that my 3 year old no longer needs pull-ups at night!  Sheesh.  Yes … we all do, when your adorable little newborn comes out, diaper changes start immediately and well, they don’t stop for years.  Years. 

So, I did cloth diaper-service (in a different city) with my first daughter, Pampers with my second, and decided to do cloth diaper service again this time.  I chose Happy Nappy Diaper Service, so if you try them out – tell them I sent you!

I realized this week though, that there are going to be times when I doubt my choice, teeter about going exclusively back to Pampers, and maybe just start using Pampers more often than the cloth without realizing it.  I know that Pampers are ‘easier’, I’ve been there, I’ve done both.  Little things like bum changes downstairs instead of up in the nursery next to the diaper pail, diapers in the diaper bag and out at a restaurant, and let’s face it, a Pampers newborn is about 1/4 the size of a cloth fitted (storage, transport, etc.).  So I decided to make myself a little list of reasons to print out and make visible about why I have chosen to go cloth again this time.  So here goes …

1 – It’s better for baby.  Disposable diapers contain things like dyes, sodium polyacrylate crystals and dioxin.  These types of chemicals have been linked to increased diaper rashes at the very mild end of concern all the way up to fertility issues, liver and other organ damage, fever, vomitting, staph infections, and toxic shock syndrome.  There’s more scary stuff out there on this topic if you google any of this.  Ick!

2 – It’s better for the environment.  A disposable diaper sits in a landfill for approximately 450 years and FOUR Million diapers end up in a Canadian landfill DAILY.  They also require huge resources to produce (trees, water, polution).  You may argue that it requires similar resources to clean cloth diapers, but the delivery trucks used by Happy Nappy require less fuel than that of what you’d use to drive to pickup disposables at the grocery store weekly and the water used is much less than even loads done at home.  (Washing your own supply of cloth diapers at home is equal only to about flushing the toilet about 5 times daily for a week, so it’s not a lot.)

3 – If I can stick with cloth for 2 years, she’ll potty train earlier than she would if I switch to Pampers!

I feel I should mention there are other options too – gDiapers offer flushable liners and cotton covers – I tried them for a bit with my second daughter and didn’t enjoy using them for various reasons.  You can purchase a starter kit to try them out at eChildren and Planet Organic.  Seventh Generation (sold at Planet Organic) offers chlorine-free disposable diapers - keeping some of those nasty chemicals out of the diaper.

Modern Mama events will resume shortly!  We’re currently working on a cupcake class, meet a nanny event, bootcamp and more of ‘I want my Body Back’, plus Sephora and more (even a cooking class!)!  Watch here for details!   Watch this week for details on another exclusive Gap 30% off event the weekend of March 15.