Clothcapades

Years ago I worked in a maternity store. I was a retail pee-on. I can't say that I advanced my career, became financially independant, or learned very much about running a business there, but one great thing my experiences brought me was some new ideas about cloth diapers. I did a little research. Everything I found out about cloth was just so much better than disposable. Environmentally, health wise for the baby, economically, everything just seemed better. There weren't any really convincing arguments not to use cloth. I tried to talk my older sister into using cloth, who was pregnant at the time. I bought her some fancy schmancy diapers, and begged her to just try it. I was so sure that once she saw how easy it was and how much money she could save I would be the hero that showed her the light. She tried it. She put the thick, soft diaper in the washing machine, and then hung it up to dry. Living in the mountains, at a really high altitude, and hanging out in her dark windowless laundry room, the diaper took forever to dry, and my cause was lost. I made a few mistakes- first of all, she didn't even want to use cloth to begin with. As much as I whined about how many tons of disposable diapers end up in the landfills, and how many thousands of dollars she could save, and how disposable diapers often contain harmful chemicals, she just wasn't interested. My second mistake was thinking that the "all-in-one" diaper would be the right fit for her. Diapers are kind of like cars- it really depends a lot on the needs and priorities of the drivers. A BMW wouldn't be the perfect car for someone who likes 4-wheeling on rocky dirt roads. If I could re-do my efforts to convert my sister, I would get her different types of cloth diapers, and maybe, just maybe she'd find one that she liked enough to use occasionally.
I'm so happy that I learned some lessons with my older sister, because now my little sister is pregnant, and actually wants to use cloth! I would love to set her up with some FuzziBunz. I've gotten the chance to use FuzziBunz with a few kids I've babysat, and they are GREAT! I love how adjustable they are.
If my little sister doesn't end up being a cloth-convert, well, at least I can make that decision for my children.