The Pump Station & Nurtury Blog: July 2017

Diapers were definitely one of the questions I've never considered before my pregnancy. Pregnancy is a new chapter for every woman, an opportunity to see herself in a different role, to embrace new experiences. Still, new blessings usually bring new challenges and this is part of the learning journey.

I am now 7 months into my pregnancy and can't wait to have this baby! However, I haven't thought about the diapers until a few weeks ago, when I started reading a parent's guide book. Learning more has already changed my mind on a few preconceived ideas, one of them being diapering.

I have always imagined that we would “simply buy a package of disposable diapers” and dispose of them after use just like I see so many other parents do. But that was before I learned about the real-honest-truth about disposable diapers.

Here is what I've learnt:

I will use 6000 disposable diapers during the first 24 months for my baby
I will spend a little fortune buying those weekly. Literally throwing money into the landfill.
It's approximatively 1 ton of diaper trash only just for my child (not counting diaper genie bag, trip to the store to refill etc…)
It will take around 500 years for diapers to decompose.
The term “Diaper rash” started appearing when disposable diapers came into the market.
My baby will most likely potty train later as it will not establish a connection of wetness when he pees. The disposable diaper tends to always make him/her feel instantly dry.
Disposable diapers do not contain blow outs.
and there is so much more...

Each person must find their own answers. Mine is cloth diapers. And I mean the whole cloth diapering system. Here we don’t have services for washing dirty diapers, so I’ll have to do it myself, but it does not look very complicated. If it turns out to be too difficult, I can always change my plan, but I’m sure of one thing - that this is the right decision. When I made up my mind about using cloth diapers, I was curious to hear about my friends and other families' cloth diapering experiences.

The final result is that disposable diapers are simply bad news... I speak of it now, because the aggressive marketing of convenience bears huge costs on our environment. Disposable diapers are very expensive. We've counted on spending that money, but what if that is not a necessary expense? What if there is a healthier, eco friendlier and cheaper option? I started asking more questions about diapers than I've ever imagined I would. I suppose there isn’t a universal solution for everyone.

I talked with a few women from a previous generation to see their perspective on diapering. I talked to my mother, my mother-in-law, my aunt and my granny. Neither of them saw anything wrong with washing diapers, they pointed out how practical they are to get the job done, how quickly it is to wash and to dry them and you never run out of them. They all wished they had the choice of the quality of modern cloth diapers. I guess cloth diapers it is then. After this personal research, I’m putting the diapers on a long list of subjects I changed my mind about. Cloth diapers are a traditional choice, not as popular as it should be, but clearly a very important choice.

I bought a few brands to try and I Love some brands better than others. Each parent can find their favorite design. I’ll do my best to make it work with my baby.

Sponsored by Charlie Banana®

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