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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Using Cloth Diapers While Working Full Time

We began using cloth diapers on LoveBug before our stash of newborn sized disposables that people had given to us as gifts even ran out. It was a decision that I carefully researched and knew would be the BEST decision for the health of our baby and our sanity (who really wants stinky, oily diapers sitting in a can? Not to mention the cost...). Her grandmothers would be the primary caretakers of LoveBug during the day and when we mentioned using cloth diapers, we were met with a look of horror and a comment of "well, you can just buy disposables for me! I'm not using cloth!" from one of them. Yikes.

Day care and family providers both may show resistance to cloth diapering your child. On top of that, there are a lot of logistical factors to figure out when your child is watched outside of the home during the week. Here is a list of things that can help you make the transition to or maintaining your use of cloth while still working outside of the home:

1) Educate your provider. Instead of telling her that your child will be using cloth diapers, bring a diaper to show her when you approach the topic. Most people still envision prefolds, pins, and Gerber rubber pants when they think of cloth diapers! Showing them a ready-to-go, cute, and easy to use diaper may make the entire difference. It wasn't until my mother-in-law actually saw one of our pocket diapers that she decided she could try it.

2) Only send easy-to-use diapers with your child. The easiest diapers would be an all-in-one, sized diaper (not a one-size which requires more snapping), that uses aplix (Velcro) to keep it on. That way, your provider doesn't have to stuff anything, doesn't have to Snappi or pin anything, and doesn't have to try to remember which snap setting works best for your child. An AOI aplix diaper is as close to the convenience of putt on a disposable that you can get! If you want to keep using pockets or something (like we do), pre-assemble everything for the provider. Make it easy.

3) Be educated yourself. A provider may still have reservations if she doesn't know about the benefits or ease of cloth diapering. Bring a wet bag to show her about storage and come prepared with a list of benefits to using cloth. A little information can go a long way as long as you don't come across as rude!

4) Have a big wet bag on hand. If your child is going to need 7 diaper changes, your regular sized wet bag that holds 4 diapers may not do the trick. For any size, I recommend using a bag from Monkey Foot Designs. They're the best made bag I've used and come in a variety of prints and sizes. You certainly don't want a leaky bag or one that isn't big enough. Should your provider ever run out though, tell her to just use a plastic grocery bag for used diapers!

5) Consider using disposable liners. The Diaper Junction offers a variety of liners that you just lay on top of your diaper like usual, but then can throw into the toilet, taking any solids with it. Biodegradable and easy to use...and you won't have to deal with 8-hour-old poo.

6) Buy a diaper sprayer. There will be times where your dirty-diaper bag sits for a few days before you can get to them (embarrassing to admit, I know). In those moments, a diaper sprayer will make your life a lot easier. My top recommendation is the bumGenius Diaper Sprayer.

That's it! Continuing to cloth diaper while working is not only easy (with planning), but affordable, better for your baby, and better for the environment. More questions? Shoot me an email!

6 comments:

  1. I don't know much about babies or diapers but I really enjoyed this post because my sister is about to have a baby in April and would love to hear great ideas! Thanks for the tip!!

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  2. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that whether it was a large daycare center or an in home provider, everyone we talked to was very open to cloth diapers. And we use the "old style" of prefolds and covers. We currently use a daycare center and it took 30 minutes of teaching and they have been doing fine with it ever since.
    Your tips are great, just know that not everyone is afraid of cloth.

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  3. This is a really great post for all of the parents who think that they could only use cloth diapers if they didn't have to work. Also, the tip about bringing in a cloth diaper before you say "cloth diaper" is a really great idea. Thanks!

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  4. I'm impressed. I dont see very many working moms using cloth diapers.

    I have always hated Bum Genius bc I paid so much for them and the elastics and the tabs wore out after only one child.

    Well I gave one to a friend at church to see if she could fix. HOLY COW> they are better than ever. LOL>..jsut thought I'd share. LOL

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  5. Michelle--I know ONE other person who works pt/ft (waitress) and uses cloth for her kids! I've tried to share my experience with all of my coworkers who have babies, but they're still scared of trying. :-\

    We only have one BumGenius and haven't had the elastic go yet, but Pocket Change diapers are our favorite, so we use those a lot. I've found that the Fuzzi Bunz we have seem to go the soonest for elastic and leaking...? For the people who generally watch my daughter, Velcro enclosures seem to be the easiest. Otherwise, they always snap the diapers too loose and every outfit we sent her with comes back wet!

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  6. All the day care providers I called said they would not take a baby who used cloth diapers. Granted, we have no day care centers here, just home providers, so maybe that makes a difference. And I only called the five that would accept six-week-old infants within a driveable distance, so my poll is in no way scientific. And, also, we have no intention of cloth diapering due to the laundry time(even that extra 20 minutes for washing, drying and putting away is too much for me this year)--but do you have any idea or alternatives for those who cannot find providers who will accept cloth diapers? (Just a curious question)

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incredibly interesting comments!