I
am absolutely committed to cloth diapering our child.
There
are tons of reasons to do it – long term reduction in cost
(especially over multiple children), being less wasteful, avoiding
chemical exposure to
sensitive baby skin,
faster toilet learning when that time comes... it
just makes sense. Plus we're going whole-hog Montessori, and cloth
diapering is part of that, mostly for the last two reasons.
Of
course there are going to be barriers – such as the high start up
cost of cloth and the fact that although we have our
own
washer and dryer in our apartment, they are coin operated. Which
means I can't control the cycles or the wash time, and it makes it a
lot more expensive unless I plan to wash them by hand, which
I don't.
(Here's
a great resource for apartment laundering options, by the way.)
But
those factors
are not my main concern, despite the anxiety dreams I recently had
about drying all those diapers. What I'm concerned about is the bulk
of cloth
diapers inhibiting movement. Another blogger wrote about the same
concern here
and a lot of people got kind
of
angry about it.
Let
me be clear, I have not read ANY research to validate my concern, and
Montessorians definitely advocate for both cloth diapering and
freedom of movement. No one in my training or Montessori experience
has expressed any concerns about one inhibiting the other, although
my trainer did recommend switching to cloth underwear around the time
an infant begins crawling to reduce bulk.
It
really came up for me when I
saw
standard
prefolds used on toddlers, and they looked bulky even on those big
two-year-olds. What might
that do to delay a
baby's
development?
There
is absolutely evidence that children
whose movement is frequently
inhibited by “containers” reach basic milestones later,
and this is not so different, in my opinion.
You
might think that
my
concern about possibly delaying milestones is
misplaced – after all, what harm does it do for a child to start
rolling over a few weeks later? Well, actually, since cognitive
development depends in large part on exploration of the environment,
it could make it harder for the baby to reach his or her full
capacity of intelligence. Although new research shows that neural
plasticity allows for some brain development even in adulthood,
infancy and early childhood is when it comes most easily.
So
what's
the solution? Not disposables, I know that –
not for us. Please note that I'm not judging you if you use 'sposies!
I just know that it's not the right route for our family... or at
least that it's important to me
to use cloth, despite the extra work and my movement concerns, for
all those reasons I listed at the beginning of the post.
So
I'm
starting with the premise that trim and well fitting diapers are a
necessity, planning to add in plenty of naked time, and practicing
elimination
communication (EC)
as much as possible. And,
for the record, I do plan to switch to thick underwear around six
months or so, so we won't be using the diapers as long as most people
do.
Please
note that this does not mean forcing our child to potty train at six
months old – I am hoping that EC and cloth will have a positive
effect on toilet learning but the switch is intended solely to aid
the development of movement.
Unfortunately,
we won't be able to see how any of the diapers fit on our little one
until I actually give birth, so we have to depend on
trial
and error while we're actually in the trenches.
Since
cost is a major factor for our budget, I'm planning to make some
newborn sized prefolds and flats out of my flannel stash. I imagine
the sheer quantity of fabric in the regular ones is what causes the
bulk, and I'm hoping a newborn won't need as much absorbency as an
older baby since a newborn stomach has such a small capacity. Making
them smaller should address the bulk without compromising
functionality... at least, that's my goal and my hope.
I'm also researching which diapers are the trimmest, for when the
newborn diapers no longer fit, and those are the ones I'll be adding
to our registry.
So
hopefully I'll update you all on which diapers worked for us and
which didn't... but I don't have a great track record on keeping up
with blog posts now, and I'm sure you all know how busy parents of
newborns are. I'll do my best; wish me luck!
P.S.
- I also write about my personal life a little more freely on my
other blog, Megan's Nest, and reserve this one for information
specifically relating to Montessori and child care/development. If
you're interested in hearing about our quirky apartment and other
stuff, feel free to head on over and check it out!
