cloth diapering: the old-school way

When I had my babies (8 1/2 and 6 1/2 years ago) cloth diapering wasn't as big of a thing as it is now. Or at least it wasn't something I had heard about a lot. But my sister had cloth diapered her 2 oldest children by this point and she had me convinced that it was the way to go.

Her mother-in-law had made her 36 cloth diapers and she had offered to make some for me as well. So after talking it over with my hubby, we decided that we would give cloth diapering a go. I was nervous about starting the experience, but once I actually went ahead with it (after baby was a few weeks old) it really didn't take long to get into the swing of things and I found it actually quite simple.

[picture taken from here but these are what mine looked like]
I was grateful for my sister's mother-in-law for making me my 3 dozen diapers - but now seeing all of the delightful colors & patterns that are available...it makes me feel like I missed out a little bit! I didn't have the REALLY old-school ones that I had to fold myself and use safety pins or anything. But they were all just plain white. They did have 3 different velcro strips though, which was really handy since I could use them right from birth until potty training. And I used them for both of my girls so we really saved a boat load of money!

Another thing that I missed out on with the cloth diapers that Tiny TreeHugger stocks is that I had to buy separate plastic covers to go over top of the actual diapers. It was an extra step every diaper change, and the plastic sure didn't feel very soft or comfortable. I like the way cloth diapers these days can be an all-in-one sort of thing!

For those of you who are still debating on if cloth diapering is something you can take on - let me assure you that you absolutely can! Some people might try to make you think that it's taking on a bunch of extra work that is unnecessary; that Moms are busy enough without having to worry about cloth diapers on top of everything else.

But here's the beauty of it all: The work is really quite minimal. With the type of [old school] cloth diapers that I used, I purchased disposable liners to place on the inside of the diaper so no matter if the diaper was just wet or...well, d.i.r.t.y. through-and-through, I just tossed the liner away and the diaper itself went into my diaper pail to soak until it was time to do a laundry load. Now the new-fangled diapers have re-usable liners which continues to lessen the amount of waste but also doesn't really increase the work at all. A quick swish in the toilet water to get the worst of things off and voila! It's ready for the washing machine. [Pam here - we don't even suggest SOAKING pails anymore, just throw it into the waterproof bag until wash day and that first warm wash without soap will rinse away the yuckies!]

Now, if you're anything like me - laundry is my downfall. I cringe everytime there's another load [or two, or SIX] waiting to be done. The whole process just sounds like a lot of work, regardless of what type of load it is. But the reality of it is that once I actually just get started it's not so bad. I mean really, the machines do the actual work! So when it came down to washing my cloth diapers, I thought that would be the part that would do me in. But it was a pleasant surprise to realize that it really was no big deal. Toss them into the washing machine, then go have a nap until they're done and then hang them to dry on my clotheshorse [or sometimes line-drying outside in the warm sunshine!].

It really was as simple as that.

So whether you have the old-school cloth diapers, or the adorable 'newer generation' kind - it's all a very do-able process. I encourage all of you who may be on the fence to plant your feet on the cloth-diapering side of the fence. And just go for it!

Those of you who are cloth diaper veterans - what would be one tip you could give someone just starting out, or to someone who is still debating going this route?