Our guest blogger this week, Brandon Laws, is coming to us from www.ParkerLaws.com. Brandon is one of the increasing number of dads that has changed his perspective on how babies should be diapered.
Dads on Diapers
A Cloth Diaper Experience from an Open-minded Daddy
Months before my son,
Parker, was born, my wife and I decided
to use cloth diapers. In reality, my wife, Angela, coerced me into using
them. Truth be told, in hindsight, I am glad she made that decision for our
family. Before we began using cloth, I could care less about diapers; however,
I have since developed a strong opinion about them. Regular diapers are ugly,
hard to get rid of, loosely fit and hang really low when there's a nice present
for mom and dad (that present is poop, by the way!). Cloth diapers are cute,
soft, easy to use and cost-effective for our family.
I admit, as skeptical as
I was about cloth diapers at first, I still remained open to using them.
Particularly because my wife spent, oh, about 10 hours a week researching them
via Facebook groups, blogs, videos and other forums probably found by search
engine. I'm not being hyperbolic, mind you; she developed an obsession around
cloth diapers that was sort of frightening from a man's perspective. Perhaps
some of you can relate to this! That funny tidbit aside, I am fiscally
conservative and I couldn't bring myself to purchase disposable diapers on a
regular basis only for them to be peed on once and thrown away. I think that's why
cloth was intriguing to me, they seemed to be cost-effective if you did all the
washing yourself, of which, I rarely do! :-)
What I couldn't stand
about using cloth diapers wasn't so much about the product itself, it was the opinionated
people around us who thought we were crazy for using cloth diapers. We got
asked a lot about diaper services and pins holding the cloth together, as if
cloth diapers are the same now as they were in the 60's. It is comical that
people would still think that, but, in truth, cloth diapers have come a long
way, and even I had no idea what they had become until my wife began
researching what they are-high
quality cloth with varying patterns, buttons, Velcro and interchangeable
inserts.
The biggest hurdle for
me to get over was understanding how to get rid of the clumps of poo stuck to
the diaper after an explosion. The handy sprayer installed and attached to the
toilet, I was told, will get the job done; that is, if I somehow spray it into
the toilet and not onto my hands, the walls, or the floor (which I have done
plenty of times). In reality, it's actually really easy to do once you get the
process down. It has since been a non-issue for me.
Up until a few months
ago, Angela had washed every dirty diaper load. So panic set in for me when
there was a week she traveled to Florida and I was responsible for the boy and keeping
the house clean-meaning
I was I charge of washing diapers, too! I was anxious about what I was
going to experience, no doubt. The most
challenging aspect of unloading the dirty diapers into the wash was the awful
smell. Through this first experience, I found that it is much easier to put the
entire pail liner full of diapers in the washing machine and fold it inside out
so I don't have to take in the big whiff of poop remains or touch the soiled
diapers. Oh the things you learn while your wife is away... As it turns out, I
am very capable of helping with the entire process (but don't tell her that!).
At home we now have an
efficient system in place, and I can honestly say I love using cloth diapers. I
much prefer them over disposable, and we will continue to use them for our son,
and daughter when she is born in a few months. Like I mentioned earlier, the styles
are unique and we think our son looks so cute in the different colors and
patterns of diapers. Oh, yeah, and we've saved hundreds of dollars in the
process. Perhaps I will save that discussion for another time!
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