Going Green: A Mom's Journey to Cloth Diapering

Three weeks ago, I've decided to give cloth diapering a try. 

Is this a step back to the dark age?  I don't know.  But I need to do something about the persistent redness  on my one and a half-month old son's bottom. Not to mention the leaks at night despite using one of the more popular brands of disposable diapers (more popular, therefore, more expensive) and changing diapers every two hours.  Now, that's what I call "sunk cost". Literally. 

Most important of all, I'm trying to raise "green kids"--children who know how to care for their environment.  Using disposables that will end up in a landfill goes against the 3Rs--reuse, reduce and recycle.  It's time to up the ante.  The mom has to walk the talk.

Thanks to an iPhone and a wifi at home, I was able to browse the internet for available alternatives to disposable diapers.  This I did while breastfeeding my baby (my third, by the way).  Since my baby was still into cluster feeding, I had all the time in the world to search the internet.  And this was where I learned about "cloth diapers".

No, I'm not talking about the traditional lampin, the kind which tells you that it's time to change the baby's lampin because it's also time for you to change your shirt.  I'm talking about cloth diapers that are like disposable diapers in terms of the "stay-dry" feel, absorbency and supposedly leak-proof quality.  And unlike the traditional lampin, these "new generation" cloth diapers are soooo cute.

(Baby Basti wearing a FuzziBunz)

Who says floral prints look good only on girls?

There's a barrage of information on cloth diapers.  And honestly, I don't know what to use -- prefolds, contoured, fitted, all-in-ones or pocket diapers.  And since I personally do not know anyone who has tried these new CDs, I had to rely once again on the internet for the reviews on these products. 

If there's one thing I learned from the mixed reviews, it is that each baby is different.  What works for one may not work for the other.  So I've decided to buy different cloth diapers to see what fits my tester extraordinaire best.

These were the cloth diapers that I initially bought online:

12 Chinese unbleached prefolds                        P 1,300

3 Happy Heinys one size (OS) diaper covers            750 each

1 FuzziBunz OS pocket diaper                              1,100

1 Rocky Mountain OS pocket diaper                      1,100

1 Wahmies OS pocket diaper                               1,020

1 Bumgenius 3.0 OS pocket diaper                        880 (discounted price) 

With these, I and my baby are ready to start our journey into cloth diapering.

Next:  I'll try to write about my experience in using each of these diapers.  


***Update: Here's a review on the different pocket diapers that Basti has been using for the past 7 months.

A DAD TO WOULD-BE BALLERINAS

Being a Dad to two would-be ballerinas is tough, as my husband has recently learned.  He not only has to wake up early on Saturdays, he also has to start learning the language. 

This is an account of some of his experiences (yes, published without his permission but no, he wouldn't dare sue me) which earned a lot of guffaws.

While Ina, our 5-year old, was getting dressed for her ballet class, Ina blurted out, "But Dad, you forgot my tutu!"  My poor husband, with his face clearly showing his bewilderment, asked me, "What's a tutu?"

After the girls' first class in their new ballet school, my husband commented that he likes this new school better.  And what did he say exactly?  "You know Babe, I like this new school more than Katrina Halili's School of Ballet.  For one, there are fewer students in a class."  You guess it right, I could hardly breathe because I was too busy laughing.  Hanggang sa ballet, si Katrina Halili ang naiisip.

Ballet started in France and this is the reason why ballet terms are in French.  Since the girls wanted to practice some of the ballet steps they learned, my husband, proud to have remembered a new ballet term, said, "Ok, why don't you show me 'salta'?" "What do you mean," Fran asked him.  "Jump," he answered.  Uh, uh, that's not salta.  That's 'saute'.  And I couldn't resist adding that "salta" was used by Dora the Explorer.  And no, it's not French.

But what the heck.  He may not know the terms.  He may not know the correct name of the school.  But he's always there to say, "Good job, girls," after every ballet class. 

And that is more than good enough for Fran and Ina.

Fran

Ina

WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME?

"Will you still love me," Ina asked me a couple of months ago when she first learned that I'm pregnant with my third child.

Ina--my second daughter, the baby whom I breastfed for two years despite working full time and attending out-of-town hearings, the girl who is the mirror-image of her Dad but vehemently argues that she looks like me--turns five years old today.

 

Will I still love you?

How can I not love the little girl who keeps on telling me, "Mom, I love you with all my heart."

How can my heart not melt for the little girl who gives me her very own special drawings every night without fail and sheepishly apologizes because they're not perfect.

How can I not be amazed by this smart and funny girl who dares me to go hang-gliding with her and who, with a twinkle in her eyes, asks, "What do you call a snail that lives in a ship?  A snailor!"

How can I not smile when I remember you agreeing with me that I'm fat but telling me two days later that I look great.

How can I not look forward to seeing you all grown-up and embarking on adventures on your own when I heard you tell your Ate that you need a flashlight so that you can look at the hieroglyphics on the wall.

How can I not be astonished to hear you, at age 3, used the words "exasperating", "compromise" and "hibernate" in our daily conversation.

And how can I not thank God for this wonderful little girl who has touched my life in so many ways.

Yes, Ina, I will always love you.

I will love you even if there MAY come a time when you'll...

       forget to say that you love me with all your heart

       get tired of making your special drawings for me

       fail to crack your jokes

       candidly tell me that I'm huge

       stop inviting me in your adventures

       just use simple words, or worse, not talk to me at all.

And this is a promise from me to you -- I will never stop telling and showing you how much I love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY INA!