Recently I made, what I believe, is a responsible choice to try out cloth diapering. I’ve been wanting to cloth diaper even while I was still pregnant, but the thought of doing laundry, and, all this information are.. overwhelming. Flats? prefolds? Pockets, AIO, AI2. (WHAT?) Then, there are inserts, hemp, microfiber, bamboo, stay dri, natural, organic.. ARGH!!!

The first switch I made was switching to cloth nursing pads. Previously I was using disposables nursing pads and they are so expensive! It’s about RM30/week. So, my husband suggested the washable ones and I cringed everytime he suggested it, thinking about the extra laundry + overwhelming new baby. Then, I found a good deal, 8 pairs for RM32, I didn’t think twice and grabbed them. It turned out to be extremely comfortable (no wonder I was so cranky before, my breasts were uncomfortable! haha) and the laundry wasn’t that much at all!

Now, fast foward. When Sara was barely 5 months, I got brave and bought some pocket CDs (that’s cloth diapers) from Teddy Genius. Since they were on clearence, no harm.

My logic: I can do washable nursing pads. That means I can do CD, too.

I initially got three. And now I’ve increased my stash to, to, well, a few of various brands. Now, I’ve been CD-ing (let’s keep up with the lingo, folks!) for a month and I have to say that it’s a wonderful experience, I enjoy it and I’m definitely ready to CD full time.

There are four reasons why I PERSONALLY  love cloth diapering; cost efficient, environment, comfort and health.

1. ENVIRONMENT

I am, by no means a hardcore green person. I do try when I can, to recycle. (I don’t know if Malaysia has pickup services for recyclables). However, the amount of disposables we’re throwing away is crazy! During Sara’s first 3 months of life, we have thrown away about 1000 disposable diapers into the landfill. That is an awful lot of diapers, it’s INSANE! Now, imagine that average babies are on diapers for 2.5 to 3 years. That’s almost 8,000 diapers for just ONE baby!

To give you the visual, it’s probably equivalent to a full rack at the store.

According to Real Diaper Association, it takes approximately 250-300 years for a diaper to decompose! Whoaaaa

When you think about the mountains of landfill, it’s kinda irresponsible of us humans to do that to our own environment for the sake of “convenience” of taking care of our offsprings. Don’t you think? There are people who genuinely believe human shouldn’t procreate for environment’s sake.

Sure, disposables come in handy during overseas trip and such, but on day-to-day basis, it makes sense to use cloth. Here’s some light on our landfill situation. Now that my perspective has changed, I will consider switching to cloth pads too, once I get my period back. 

Before I had Sara, I always had my own ideas about parenting. What I’m gonna do, how am I gonna deal with her fussiness or whatever, and that includes the kind of baby gears that I might like.

For example, when it comes to carrying Sara while we’re out an about. We bought a nice Bumbleride stroller which we love. I never thought about buying a baby carrier whatsoever because I thought it’s not ‘cool’. (what is cool anyway?)

Then, when Sara was around 6 weeks, she started to become fussy. She wanted to be held, and she wanted comfort nursing almost ALL the time. She nursed for up to 1 hour and a half at one time. Day or night. Everyday felt like a battle. I was stressed out because I felt constrained.  So I started to make a research on how to cope with this. I read an article which suggested babywearing.

I had never considered babywearing before, and I was overwhelmed by the many types of baby carrier. There are ring slings, wraps,soft structured carriers and few others. I did tons of research. Finally, I rented a linen Jumpsac ring sling from SentuhanBayu. Once I got it, I practiced wearing it for a week, with help from youtube and the facebook babywearing support group. Oh, once I got it right, things started to get easier. I was able to put my fussy baby to sleep in just a few minutes, and let me add -handsfree! Of course I love that!

After 2 weeks of wearing her, she fussed a lot less. A LOT. Nursing time gradually reduced to 45 minutes,  30minutes, then 20, and now only 10 minutes. Any longer, she’d puke the excess milk. And then I realized one thing, she wanted comfort nursing because well, she wanted to comfort herself. Also, all she wanted was to be close to me!  With the ring sling, I was able to provide her just that, while still going on with my life, chores or whatever needs to be done. Surely I won’t be able to do heavy chores with baby in front of me, (ironing is a risky task, unless if I pop her at the back!).

So, once my ring sling rental was over, I went ahead and made my own right sling. Of course!

lightly padded shoulder ring sling

I used cotton drill (the fabric used to make uniforms or men’s shirt). It’s sturdy because it has additional diagonal weave, I wasn’t able to rip it apart. Since it’s that sturdy, I only have to use one layer of it. Linen might be a better option because it gets stronger over time, but it’s not my favourite because I find it too warm on me. I made two, one with gathered shoulder and one lightly padded. I’m surprised to find the simple gathered shoulder is more comfy! Perhaps that’s just my preference.

 simple gathered shoulder ring sling

Oh also, the sling rings are made especially for this purpose. It’s unwelded aluminum rings, and weight tested and made in US. I bought them from Snuggbaby.com

Before I knew it, ring sling is a staple wherever we go, even with our stroller. Whenever she’s awake or doesn’t wanna be alone in the stroller, I just pop her right in and she doze off. Now she enjoys looking around at eye’s level. One of the best thing about it, I don’t have to keep an eye on the stroller during shopping, because she’s literally right under my nose. haha! Babywearing is so practical and serves as a useful tool for parents. I can’t imagine caring for Sara without it.

date with my best gal

breakfast with ze hubster

Makan-makan with family

working outside

Babywearing is a mutual. My baby gets the love and security she needs and I get my hands free. WIN-WIN. Period.

Contrary to my misconception about babywearing, it doesn’t make my baby clingy at all, if anything, it made her less clingy because she’s so secure and she knows that I’ll always be there for her. Plus, it makes me feel like a supermom, being able to ‘wear’ her and make morning coffee for my husband. 😉

Oh, a bonus. I learned how to nurse her in the ring sling! Yep, I can NIP on the go!  It’s such an achievement and it brought babywearing to the next level. I can now walk around while nursing her in the ring sling! No need to find a seat anymore. I even shopped while she’s nursing discreetly! woot! *dances like a monkey* It certainly makes my life 100 times easier and Sara is a happy baby Alhamdulillah!

Who knew I would be so into natural parenting. I enjoy it so much! Next up: cloth diapering. yeah, you heard me. CLOTH DIAPERING.

P.s, I’m putting her to sleep in my ring sling as I’m writing this.

p.p.s, NIP = nursing in public

*IMPORTANT NOTE*

Before babywearing, ensure that you do enough research to make sure that you are pacticing safe babywearing. Using suitable carriers for baby’s age and using it correctly is very important as safety is vital. These list should get you started on your reasech.

Babywearing Reasources:

• Ergonomic carrier vs crotch carrier
• TICKS rule for safe babywearing
•  Babywearing 101
• Benefits of Babywearing
• More benefits
• Malaysian Babywearers support group