What I Wish I Had Known from Jess @ Top to Bottom Baby

As with most things in life, everyone has an opinion about cloth diapering.  Even my non-cloth diapering friends had opinions about using cloth.  I spent a lot of time researching cloth diapers and listening to everyone's opinions when I was pregnant with our second child Z.  We had started with a cloth diapering service when C was born, but by that time we were beginning to have leaks and fit issues.  At this point, I have to mention our babies were only 15 months apart, so by that point we were actually pretty new in the cloth diapering scene anyway.

No matter how many opinions I heard, blogs I read, or information I gathered, I still distinctly remember times when I thought to myself "Wow, I wish someone would have told me that".  So, for all of the new moms or the new-to-cloth moms, here is all of the things I wish someone would have told me:

1)  Switching from disposables to cloth diapers, especially prefolds, will have challenging moments.  Heck, there are probably even going to be moments when you think to yourself "Why in the world did I think this was a good idea?".

2)  No matter how many of the above mentioned moments you have, there is no way you are going to tell hubs about those moments because, most of the time, hubs already thought you were crazy for trying it and there is no way he gets to think he is right if even for a minute.

3)  Diaper laundry isn't big, bad, or scary.  I remember reading all of the blogs, posting on discussion boards, and spending hours "reviewing" the perfect way to wash diapers.  I've decided simpler is better.  My word of wise, get a good soap and keep it simple.  We do a rinse, a wash, and pop in the dryer.  I have heard a hundred ways to wash diapers and I think sometimes the more complicated routines do more harm than good (that is only my opinion after trying a million different ways).

4)  This one I actually just heard recently from another retailer (Thanks Julie):  Diapers are like jeans.  When you buy jeans you have different choices, you can buy the $8 jean, $25 jeans, or $100 jeans.  The $100 jeans won't last longer but they do fit better than most.  The $8 jeans will fall apart in the wash after a couple months.  Finally, the $25 jeans will last long enough and will fit well enough for most people.

5)  Another great point from Julie:  If you wash anything every day it is going to wear out a lot more quickly than something you wash a couple of times a week.  This will hold true with clothes and cloth diapers.  We can't expect a diaper to survive what we wouldn't expect a shirt or pair of jeans to survive.

6) Last, but definitely not least, diaper is an addiction....wait, I'm sure you've heard that.  But, then comes the obsession.  I remember keeping my computer next to my bed so I could check the diaper websites when I was up nursing in the middle of the night.  I heard of a friend who would hide her new diapers in the wash so hubby wouldn't "notice".  I can't advocate the hiding, but I definitely know that obsession exists.  Just so you know...you've been warned!

Jess and her husband Justin are the co-owners of Top to Bottom Baby in Omaha Nebraska.  Top to Bottom Baby grew out of the need for diapers after their second child was born a month early.  During her master's program, Jess had to write a business plan.  As graduation approached, Top to Bottom was born.  Nowadays, Justin runs the business, while Jess and partner Robyn, get to spend their weekends playing with diapers and spend time educating moms and dads about natural parenting options.