Cloth diapering ten years ago was not
as easy as it is today as far as finding cloth diapers or finding
reliable information.
I began my cloth diapering journey a few
months after my son was born when we discovered that no matter what
brand of disposable diapers we were using, he was breaking out in a
rash almost every diaper change. I couldn't stand to look at his
poor red bottom any longer and so I started to look into cloth
diapers.
My first intro to cloth was my neighbor who had a few “old
school” prefold diapers, pins, and a couple of covers that she let me
try, but my son quickly outgrew those so I was then on my own finding
more diapers. Local stores were no help, so I went online looking. I
was able through freecycle to find other cloth diapering moms and
meeting with them to get diapers and advice was the most important
thing for me to get started.
My stash grew in sometimes small
amounts and sometime large amounts depending on if I was buying items
site unseen online or getting them through freecycle or other groups.
Washing was trial and error but was helped by my mother who had
washed cloth diapers and gave me the advice to keep it simple and
just make sure I had enough water and detergent to get them clean.
I
had read online to avoid things that could build up on my diapers
such as fragrances and such. Fortunately, adding things to
detergents back then was not the norm so my generic Costco detergent
worked great.
Rinse, wash, and rinse was my routine and then hang to
dry unless it was raining.
I loved my cloth and was glad to be able
to save money and reduce our environmental impact while improving my
children's health.
I hope that through my classes and
through our store, Enkore Kids, I can provide that word of mouth and one-on-one
personal advice that was the most helpful to me when I was first
trying cloth.
Online stores, blogs, and informational websites have a
place in the cloth diapering world and can help to provide
information and services at odd hours or to families that live far
from brick and mortar stores, but nothing can replace being able to
see and touch a diaper and have a real person be able to show you
how to use and adjust the diaper for your particular child.
Also, being able to talk to other people who live near you with the same
water type and same detergent choices can help cut down the time it takes to find a wash routine
that works for you.
I hope that families that are new to
cloth for whatever reason can find resources to help them make the
best choices for their budgets, babys and lifestyles.
By Susan McCarthy, Co-owner of Enkore Kids
For more information on-line, see:
More questions?- Call us at Enkore Kids at 301-668-0837.
- Facebook us here.
- Sign up for our FREE Classes. (Participants in the month of November can be entered to win one of several cloth diaper stashes valued at $100 each. Details available at the link.)
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