cloth diapering giveaway

what better time to try cloth diapering? WindsorMoms.ca is doing a giveaway for a AppleCheeks MiniTest. the winner gets one AppleCheeks Size 1 or 2 envelope cover + 3 inserts in either hemp or bamboo. i love the st lucia colour shown in the photo. i hope i win this giveaway! nate would look so cute in this bright blue diaper! i haven't had a chance to try these diapers yet, but this seems like it'd be a great opportunity. while we've been primarily using fuzzi bunz, what i love about AppleCheeks is that they are a Canadian company and their product is made in Canada rather than overseas.

click on this link to enter the contest:
http://www.windsormoms.ca/applecheeks_giveaway

cloth diapering

we are big on cloth diapering!

there are so many great reasons to cloth diaper your baby:

1. all babies look adorable in cloth diapers! (see above) they come in so many fun patterns and great colours that cloth is simply fun to use!
   
2. they are way cheaper than disposable diapers (especially if you plan on having more than one child). you can save thousands of $$$ by using cloth.
   
3. they are healthier for baby. disposables contain chemicals, toxins, bleaches, etc. also, while we've cloth diapered our son, he hasn't experienced any diaper rash.
4. they are so much better for the environment. did you know that almost 1.5 billion diapers end up in canadian landfills each year?! the numbers for the u.s. are even more staggering at 27.4 billion per year. it is estimated that it takes 250-500 years for disposable diapers to decompose so they're going to be sitting there for a loooooong time to come.
   
5. they are easy to use. this ain't your grandma's cloth diaper. choose between snaps or velcro styles. definitely just as easy as disposables. plus you save yourself time from having to run to the store to buy disposables every couple of weeks.
   
6. believe it or not, they are less messy than disposables. before we made the switch, our lil guy always had "blow-outs". one particularly bad episode happened while we were at the mall! definitely not a good time. but ever since nate's been in cloth, no blow-outs have occurred.
   
7. cloth is more comfortable against baby's bottom.
8. potty training is easier! cloth diapers help kids potty train faster because it makes them more aware of urinating.
   

of course, the inevitable down-side to cloth diapering is the laundering factor, but after cloth diapering our son full-time for the last 10 months, i can honestly tell you that it's not that bad. i cycle between 20-25 cloth diapers and end up doing an extra 1 to 2 loads per week. even if you use disposable diapers, you are still supposed to put the poop down the toilet (rather than in the trash can) so you're only creating the extra step of tossing them in the laundry. i definitely do not regret our decision to cloth diaper and would recommend it to anyone!

a new project

greetings, readers! if you've found your way onto this site, you are either friends of ours or you are also parents hoping to find out about more environmentally-responsible ways to raise your children. we are all in this together! in creating this blog, our hope is that we will be able to learn from each other as we find greener ways to parent.

if you have any comments, questions, or products you want to share, please feel free to contact us at: ecoparentblog AT gmail.com