So, why do you do it?

I've used cloth diapers with all four of our kids, from birth. It was something I knew I would do before I was a mother. I can still remember my own mother cloth diapering my younger brother, she used good ol' terry flats and pins, it was retro all the way, baby! Of course, that was almost thirty years ago, and things have changed considerably (for the better, I might add!).


I signed up for a diaper service before Maddy, now nine years old, was born. At the time, I chose cloth diapers for environmental reasons. You don't have to be a genius to figure out that using and washing something over, and over, and over again is better for the environment than using something once, and throwing it away. Considering the average baby will pee and poop her way through approximately 8,000 -10,000 disposable diapers, the amount of waste generated by disposable diapers is mind-boggling -- they take 250-500 years to decompose, is this really the legacy we want to leave our children?





I missed the diaper service drop-off one week (seriously, will I ever be on time for anything?), so I had to wash the cloth diapers myself. It was a load of laundry -- a simple load of laundry! I did a little research and realized I could buy and wash my own cloth diapers for a fraction of the price of the diaper service, so we cancelled our contract (it was an introductory package) and the rest, as they say, is history.



Since my love affair with cloth diapering began, I've tried many different types of diapers, as many of our customers note, cloth diapers are fun. I can only imagine how boring it must be to put the same paper diaper on your baby every. single. day. To call your diaper stash a wardrobe for your baby's bum isn't far off from the truth, from leopard minky to bamboo flats to alpaca wool, the combinations are endless. Of course, I keep coming back to old faithful, cotton prefold diapers. Yes, despite the fact I have access to pretty much whatever my little heart desires, I ♥ prefolds!





In the eight years we've been in business, we have turned thousands of parents onto cloth diapers through our workshops and our loan program. Our customers have also been really great at spreading the cloth diaper love, it's fun to watch them come in with expecting friends, taking them on a tour of the different styles of diapers, explaining what they like and dislike about certain diapers (like Ruffles potato chips, betcha can't have just one!).





We held a photo contest in November that resulted in a fabulous gallery of babywearing pics posted to our Facebook page. We'd like to create a new gallery featuring pics of your babies wearing cloth diapers, please e-mail me your pics, and answer the following questions:


1) why did you choose cloth diapers over single-use diapers?

2) what's your absolute favourite cloth diaper?

3) any advice you'd like to share (OK, so you're not really answering a question here, details, details!)



Please keep your answers (somewhat) brief, contest ends on January 25th (Robbie Burns day, why not?). So, what's the give here? What am I offering you in return for your participation, on top of my (obviously) undying gratitude? The three (yes, three!) pictures that garner the most comments will receive a 50% off coupon that can be applied towards a purchase up to $500.00. Do you have a friend who wants to get set up with cloth diapers? You can give it to her! Do you need to move junior up to the next size of Fuzzibunz? Has that Beco been calling your name, keeping you awake at night? Keep it for yourself! We all know how cute fluffy butts can be, let's see what you've got!