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I am a cloth diapering FAILURE!!!

August 9, 2008 by Susan

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

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I wish I were more Green. I hate chemicals and I hate ruining our planet, so I’m trying bit by bit to turn a little greener each day.

And thanks to our new sister site, 5 Minutes for Going Green, I’m getting a little help adding a bit more ‘green’ to each day.

Well, over at Going Green, Jenn is breaking down barriers to cloth diapering.

So I felt compelled to confess my personal failure in this fabulously growing practice.

I think cloth diapering is wonderful. The diapers are adorable. It really wasn’t as icky as I thought it would be. I agree that it costs less. And I especially love the idea of belonging to the cloth diapering crowd.

Julia 1.5 years oldBut I failed.

I tried. I failed. And I gave up. Never to try again.

And it bugs me because I know there were solutions and that I could have made it work, but I gave up.

Here’s my pathetic tale of failure…

When Julia (my first who is now 3.5) was 2 months old, I took a big whiff of a brand new disposable diaper. And yuck… the chemical smell overwhelmed me.

I decided I had to put my busy schedule and my laundry laziness aside and start with cloth. I researched online and then went to a nearby store because I couldn’t wait a single day to begin. In my manic mood, I ended up buying about $500 worth of Mother-Ease diapers… of course I wasn’t smart enough to just buy a few and test it out, because I was convinced I was going to succeed. Failure was not an option.

I took home my car full of diapers and proudly washed them all and embarked on my new adventure as a GREEN, cloth diapering mom. I was soooooo excited!!!

I loved how soft the diapers were, and with great anticipation I put on Julia’s very first cloth diaper. Oh. A bit disappointing… much bulkier than disposable. Julia was lost in them and looked ridiculous.

But no matter. Onward.

My enthusiasm began to wane as I now became aware of how often a 2 month old baby actually wets a diaper. It’s often. I found every hour or so I was changing her diaper only to have her instantly wet the fresh one. And then came the night. I used an extra liner, but she still woke with a wet and sore bottom.

Another day of endless changes and another wet night brought with it Julia’s first (and only) full-blown diaper rash! I had never seen a real diaper rash with sores before.

And with that rash, I quit. I hadn’t intended to quit for ever. I thought I’d just put on her disposables for a few days to get rid of the rash. But a few days turned to weeks and the cloth diapers collected dust.

Soon I admitted defeat as I never could see the bottom of my laundry hamper and I couldn’t bear to use my limited laundry effort on diapers. I gave away some of the diapers and planned to sell the rest… although I never got around to it… which if you witnessed my chaotic life you wouldn’t be surprised.

And now with Sophia, I again sin daily with disposables.

Susan LaundryI think the biggest reason that keeps me from trying again is the laundry. I literally cannot get my regular laundry done… I never have an empty hamper.

I know that I could have solved the diaper rash situation and I know that laundry shouldn’t stop me, but in my unbelievably busy work-at-home life, I just can’t make myself do it.

So, I figure, since I’ve failed at the diaper thing… I’ll try to balance it out a bit. My new challenge to myself is to try to reduce my paper towel consumption. I’m not quitting paper towels completely — I’d have withdrawals — but I’m going to try to use hand cloths and towels as much as possible instead.

Maybe each time I pick up a cloth instead of a paper towel, I can try and let go of a little of my disposable diaper guilt.

But enough of me and my long-winded tale of woe. What about you? Do you use cloth diapers? Why or why not? Have you tried and failed, or tried and won?

Don’t comment here though… click over and join the conversation over at 5 Minutes for Going Green!

Talk to you over there…

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About Susan

Susan Carraretto and her identical twin, Janice Croze, created 5 Minutes for Mom in 2006. Susan loves all social media, but her top addiction these days is Pinterest.

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25 Comments

  1. MagMom says

    August 12, 2008 at 2:31 am

    I was gung-ho about cloth diapering before my little one arrived. I used a diaper service at first so laundry wasn’t the issue. I just couldn’t get those prefolds to look decent. Not to mention, she’d pee right through them and then have a wet outfit or sheet. A couple months later I tried FuzziBunzs, I love them. As much as I love cloth, disposables do hold a lot of pee so we use them at night.

    Reply
  2. Christine says

    August 11, 2008 at 11:55 pm

    I have used disposables for my oldest two children. I used Fuzzi Bunz on my now 13 month old. They worked great, but hubby asked me to switch back to disposables because of those stinky poopy diapers. Once they are heavy solids eaters, it is pretty scary!lol 🙂

    Reply
  3. samara says

    August 11, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    sometimes cloth diapers aren’t worth the work, there are so many other places to save time and work so you can spend more time with baby.

    this article helped me figure out where to let go of convention and go with convenience: http://hrbaby.com/page.php?go=336

    Reply
  4. Amber Stevens says

    August 10, 2008 at 9:49 pm

    I wish I were a CD’er!!

    Reply
  5. Alexia says

    August 10, 2008 at 5:06 pm

    I’m glad to hear others have “failed”. I cd’d both of my boys for almost 6 months and then gave up. No matter what people say, cloth is not as easy as they *say* it is. You can’t just dump poopy dipes into the wash unless baby is exclusively breastfed. And poop doesn’t just shake off into the toilet either. And diaper sprayers? They do make things easier, but not as easy as it sounds. I ended up spending a buttload of time trying to get poop out of diapers and then I ended up with smelly diapers because I couldn’t find the right detergent to use.

    All that to say…I didn’t mind using cloth diapers and, even though my boys are in sposies now, if I had another I would cloth diaper, but this time it would be because I’m prepared and I’m not expecting it to be a walk in the park.

    Reply
  6. tanyetta says

    August 10, 2008 at 3:23 am

    I never realized disposables had a chemical smell. Goes to show I am clueless on certain things like that 😉

    I used cloth diapers briefly. The day he had a massive blow out, I knew I couldn’t deal with rinsing and all the ‘fun’ stuff that goes into cloth diapering.

    I loved your story! Thank you for sharing 😉

    Reply
  7. Faerylandmom says

    August 9, 2008 at 11:20 pm

    If you really ever want to try again, I highly recommend looking into a diaper delivery service…they are often almost as cheap as buying them – and you don’t have to wash them. You hand over your diaper pail with a week’s worth, and they hand you a nice, fresh pile of clean diapers.

    As for the rash…it was probably your detergent. So, having the delivery service would probably solve that issue as well. 🙂

    Don’t feel like a failure though…cloth diapering isn’t for everyone in our crazy fast-food world! It’s comforting to know that there are some more eco-friendly disposable options out there too – albeit they are more expensive.

    Remember – what diapers you use has NOTHING to do with how good of a mom you are!!! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Jaime says

    August 9, 2008 at 9:46 pm

    I’ve tried too and what a nightmare. They sell really stylish ones with velcro on Etsy.com

    Reply
  9. Michelle says

    August 9, 2008 at 9:01 pm

    I use Nature Baby and Seventh Generation disposables. We can’t do it all. Don’t stress about it.

    Reply
  10. onemotherslove says

    August 9, 2008 at 6:12 pm

    I spend one month’s worth of disposable diapers on cloth diapers & committed to try it for the full month. I’ve never regreted it or gone back, but I do have exceptions. I keep disposables in the diaper bag for outings (I had trouble remembering to get the used cloth ones out of the diaper bag when we got home! YUCK!), the church nursery, and baby sitters. And I use disposables at night. I should work harder to get over the night time thing, but…

    Reply
  11. Tammy and Parker says

    August 9, 2008 at 4:55 pm

    We cloth diaper and love it. But I’ll let you in on a secret, we use a disposable at night. 😀

    Parker is on continuous feeds and night and that means continuous pee-ing.

    But we use cloth for day and when we go out to the doctor appointments or the hospital.

    I think going green should fit into your life style though. Cause I can promise you that I won’t be giving up my air conditioning any time in the near future.

    BTW, Mother Ease diapers ROCK! You went for the best of the best, eh?

    Reply
  12. Doll Clothes Gal says

    August 9, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    Great comment on modern life actually! Yes, it may be more work but I think that if you can its the right thing to do.

    Reply
  13. MaryBeth I says

    August 9, 2008 at 12:10 pm

    I used a diaper service. It was more expensive than doing it yourself but more economical than disposable. I only did that with my first. Looking back I really wish I committed to do this with my 2nd two kids.

    Reply
  14. Tanna says

    August 9, 2008 at 11:59 am

    I’ve never tried using cloth diapers but I do have an idea for paper towels. We stopped using them 2 years ago. I had all of these baby wash cloths that I didn’t use anymore so I put them in the kitchen, now I use them for everything I would have used a paper towel for. I throw them in the wash after we use them. They are just the right size. I don’t even think about paper towels until someone comes over and asks for one.

    Reply
  15. Tara R says

    August 9, 2008 at 11:31 am

    oh AMEN!!! I totally can’t get to the bottom of my laundry pile, never mind adding disgustingly soiled cloth diapers to the pile!! I did read once that with the increased use of detergent, water and electricity that it doesn’t make as MUCH of a difference as one could hope. That made me feel a bit better!

    Reply
  16. Kisha says

    August 9, 2008 at 10:37 am

    I never used cloth but that was mostly because I didn’t know anything about them. I think if I was to have another one (but I’m not) I would at least try the cloth.

    Reply
  17. casual friday everyday says

    August 9, 2008 at 10:22 am

    I wouldn’t feel like a failure, Susan. There are many things I try and let go of because they just won’t work with our lifestyle or baby or whatever. I’m impressed you even tried. Many people don’t even try. I’m going totry cloth this baby, but I’m not going to give myself high expectations because it might not go as I hoped.

    :–) Nell

    Reply
  18. Donielle says

    August 9, 2008 at 8:50 am

    It took me 2 years to finally try using cloth diapers. Hopefully I can start from birth with the next one. 🙂 For me it’s all about saving money. hey, I’m on a budget here! I just couldn’t justify spending money on something that got so little use before it was thrown away. I can imagine I’ll use disposables at night with an infant though. I like my sleep!!

    Reply
  19. Adventures In Babywearing says

    August 9, 2008 at 8:50 am

    Well, most know I am a greenie but I have never used cloth. We do use Seventh Generation products so I HOPE that counts a little bit! : )

    Steph

    Reply
  20. Kim says

    August 9, 2008 at 8:37 am

    Ok, I need to speak up here.

    Just because a mom does not use cloth diapers doesn’t mean she’s ruining the planet for goodness sake. I don’t use cloth diapers and I refuse to be guilted into using them. They would make my life significantly more stressful and I am not interested in adding more stress to my already packed life. Besides, newspapers take up significantly more space in land fills than diapers. This is just an attempt by environmentalists to manipulate moms, who are easily guilted into doing things because they are more emotional thinkers than men, into altering their behavior.

    My 2 cents.

    Reply
  21. Jennifer, Snapshot says

    August 9, 2008 at 7:50 am

    I read that post at Green yesterday and commented there! I never tried cloth, but my kids are a bit older, and I feel like it’s just become more popular in the last 2 years. If I had one now (which I’m not going to!), I would definitely give it a try.

    Reply
  22. Rebekah at babiesabroad says

    August 9, 2008 at 6:17 am

    I know you said don’t comment here but I was never very good at following directions, it seems to run in the family with my daughter too:D Anyway, thanks for sharing and don’t feel bad! I didn’t even try cloth diapers, they scare me but I try to do my part for the environment in other ways. Especially since we only have 3 days of water a week right now 🙁

    Reply
  23. Renee says

    August 9, 2008 at 5:44 am

    Just want to say thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  24. Kim says

    August 9, 2008 at 5:12 am

    Don’t feel bad. I never even tried. If disposable wasn’t an option at the time I had kids I would have started potty training them as soon as they were born lol. I’m as green as the next person but there are some things that I just couldn’t do lol. Blessings,
    Kim

    Reply
  25. Pamela D. says

    August 9, 2008 at 4:33 am

    I was trying to remember why the laundry aspect of cloth diapers was not such a big deal for me 30 years ago with my kids. Though I did much of the rest of the laundry, my dear hubby took on the responsibility of the diaper washing. Also, disposables weren’t filled with those ultra absorbent chemicals then, so we had to change disposables often too. I found my kids did BETTER with cloth diapers because the disposables actually led to more wet clothes and bedding.

    Reply

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