An Invaluable Resource

As I was reading through the comments some people left on my blog (sorry I couldn't reply...my cell phone doesn't like to cooperate) I was reminded of something that COMPLETELY slipped my mind.  The very first thing you should do when thinking about cloth diapering is check to see whether or not you have a store near you.  When I was entertaining the thought of cloth diapering Trace I dropped in my local store (Green Baby Diapers - http://www.greenbabybiz.com/ ) and left with my diaper service registration sheet in hand!  Over the rest of my pregnancy, as I researched, I did decide to try my hand at doing them all myself.  Had I been more squeamish I would have for sure signed up for a cloth diaper service.  Basically the only thing I would have had to do is change Trace and throw the diapers in a bag.  When the pickup day rolled around I would just set the bag outside and wait for my nice clean bag of diapers to be dropped off.  Doesn't get any easier than that!!  If you are worried about the price it will actually run you about the same as disposables (or less). 


To put it in perspective, if you do a cloth diaper service you will not have to:

1. Wash Diapers
2. Buy diapers
3. Run out at bath time to pick up a bag of diapers because you didn't realize you were out
4. Pile a ton of garbage in a landfill for 500 years
5. Put for any diapering effort aside from wiping and re-clothing

Sounds pretty easy right?  That's because it is...and there's no catch.  Diaper services are becoming increasingly popular so check it out!


Oh, and an added benefit (especially if you decide to take on everything yourself...because you get addicted to cloth diapers...not that I'm speaking from personal experience ha ha) is that the people who run cloth diaper services/stores are EXPERTS!  Most likely they are offering the service because they believe in it and they can be more help than any online how-to (or blog!) that you can find. 


The wonderful ladies at Green Baby Diaper showed me folds, answered a ton of questions and let my daughter pull out every toy she could find.  Not only will you find cloth diapers in these stores but you will also find accessories and in many many cases a large variety of useful (and locally made) products like clothes, bags, pillows, hairbands and on and on.


So do your research and check out local stores around you.  They are by far the best resource you will find!