And now for a little controversy...

Oh, relax... It's not that controversial...

Tim and I have decide to use cloth diapers... yes, you read that right, cloth diapers! Now before you start raving about folding, pinning and rubber pants, not to mention the sheer eeeewwwww factor, hear me out...

Frugality. It is something I, new to the housewife scene, have been taking very seriously lately. I eat up every Frugal Friday posting I can find in Blogittyville. It has actually been quite fun. So a few weeks ago, I was over at Ladies Against Feminism and there was a great article called Babies On A Budget by Mrs. Tracy Lambert. Mrs. Lambert, a mother of eight, created a list of what is really necessary for baby and where money can and cannot be saved. But it was this comment that got my wheels turning.

We used disposables with the first seven. I wish I could reclaim the money that we spent diapering the first seven! Cloth diapers are not nearly as much trouble as I originally thought and much cheaper than disposables.

As I started reading around, I learned that the a family using disposable diapers, can spend $600 to $1000 per year. But a cloth diapering family (using top of the line diapers) will only spend about $400 per year. Plus, those same diapers will work on baby #2 and #3...

Hmmm... Just thirty years ago, cloth diapers were pretty common. In fact, my mom used cloth on me. Hmmm... Couldn't be that hard, could it? Oh, I'll end up in the ER, after accidentally stabbing Harry with a diaper pin... So I tried to dismiss it.

But my wheels didn't stop turning. Cloth has to be way more comfortable than PAPER! And what is in those disposable diapers anyway? So I did some research. CHEMICALS! Chemicals are in those diapers. Dioxin, Tributyl tin, Sodium Polyacrylate Gel (banned by FDA for use in tampons), not to mention chlorine and chemical fragrances. I challenge you to Google some of these chemicals. Check out the FDA warnings and then tell me why we are sealing them against our babies' skin 24/7.

Now despite my DH's jokes, I do not consider myself a Crunchy Con but when it is estimated that Americans use 18 million disposable diapers per year, I think a case could be made for good stewardship here.

So I started looking for cloth diapers. Guess what I found. No folding, no pinning, no rubber pants. These are not my mother's cloth diapers. They are easy to use and adorable! We have decided on Fuzzi Bunz. These diapers, called All-In-One's, have three parts: a super-soft fleece layer against baby's skin, an absorbent cloth inner layer to pull moisture away and keep baby dry and a waterproof outer layer to keep mommy dry. And did I mention they are adorable?

So, in summary, here are the benefits to cloth diapering:

~big time money savings, especially if you plan to have more babies
~cloth, not paper on baby's skin
~no chemicals on baby's sensitive bits
~significantly lower instance of diaper rash vs. disposables
~a few less diapers sitting in our landfills
~the new cloth diapers are just as easy to put on as disposables
~all diapers are gross, these aren't as gross as you think they are
~very hip, all the celebrities are using cloth now
~and finally, God chose the exact moment in time when His son would be born, so in effect He chose cloth diapers too. :)