I was the first child (and for several years, the only). My mom shared her pregnancy with a friend who was due around the same time. Her friend, also expecting her first, had decided to cloth diaper and breastfeed her baby and expected my mom to do the same. Unfortunately, things did not work out the way she had hoped.

I was born with jaundice and needed to stay in the hospital a few extra days. Sugar water, anyone? After two weeks of trying (without much support from anyone), my mom stopped  breastfeeding me because, from what I gather, I had a bad case of nipple confusion. And then there were the cloth diapers. My mom used prefolds, pins, and plastic pants…and I cried every time I felt wet. To save her sanity and our relationship, my mom started using disposables at 6 weeks. The good news is that she breastfed both my sisters successfully and even had my baby sister naturally. The bad news is that her experience with cloth diapers left a bad taste in her mouth, and she never tried them again.

Fast forward twenty years. I had just married my college sweetheart after my sophomore year, and my sister-in-law was expecting her third baby. She started talking about cloth diapers. Huh, I thought. My mom used cloth on me for a while. Wonder what cloth diapers are like? I was intrigued. Then there were all of the extremely cute prints, and who knew that you could use them like disposables now? No folding? Awesome! (Let me pause here to say that Melissa did a great job of showing me the cute part of cloth. She’s a great marketer!) And then the X-Small Thirsties for Isaiah came in. I was hooked!! Who could resist that amount of cuteness? Especially after Isaiah was born when she actually put them on him!

Thankfully, I was able to watch time and time again as Melissa folded her flats origami style. I had that one down pat, even though I had never actually done it myself! And, of course, after Isaiah was born, my desire to have kids quadrupled. (Being a newlywed at a baby shower didn’t really help much…) Meanwhile, my knowledge of modern cloth increased as I played a month of Great Cloth Diaper Hunt at diaperdecisions.com. Modern cloth was my goal, of course. Flats were fine for Melissa, but I wanted something cuter and easier.

By November, I was ready to do away with my birth control and start our family! But it wasn’t until late April that I finally saw that digital readout: pregnant. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was elated! I was on cloud nine…for about a week. Sadly, I lost that baby. And then I lost another in September. I was shaken to the core, hurt beyond reason, and angry. (Read here for more about that time.) Finally, just over a year since I had lost my first baby, I became pregnant again. By that point, I had graduated college, but since I was pregnant, I decided to start my stay-at-home gig early. And by this time, I had realized that a whole stash of modern cloth was not in our budget. I could, however, use flats and possibly a couple of more modern options. Again I was thankful for Melissa’s experience!

Being pregnant with Abby opened up a new world for me. See, I knew a few things already. I knew that I was going to homeschool. I knew that I was going to try breastfeeding for as long as possible. I knew that I wanted to cloth diaper. And babywearing made sense, so that was an option too. And the more that I explored this world of living eco-friendly, the more that it made sense.

Drying Flats During the Flats Challenge

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Abby has never, ever worn a disposable. Or that all-of-a-sudden, my husband is 100% with me. Or even that we have stopped using paper products. Because Abby spent much of her time that first [hard] month in disposables. And I wanted to give up breastfeeding because, for a while, it hurt. Something about big boobs and a smaller mouth? But since then, we’ve both been doing better. Abby has spent more and more time each day in cloth, and we’ve never used formula with her these four months. It really helped when I learned how to handwash my flats during the flats challenge! (The cold water in the washer wasn’t cutting it.) My husband, though he understands why I’m using cloth, definitely hasn’t gotten past the gross factor. I have started using my small stash of mama cloth, even if I haven’t gone completely paperless. And the more that I hear, the more that I learn, the more that I want to change my lifestyle.

For me, this is just a way of implementing a heart change into my daily life. The more that I study my Bible, the more that I abhor the idea of American materialism, the more that I understand stewardship in a new light. This, for me, is a way of honoring God and His creation. The less I use, the more I take care of the world He has given us. And it doesn’t hurt that I’m saving money. Or that it’s cute.