Hey. Are you just hanging on the edge of your seats for today's "Is She Still Doing That?: Clloth diapering edition?" Yeah. So, let's ask: Is she still doing that?

West helps unpack the groceries - completely unrelated photos to accompany a post about diapers

Nope.

Yeah, I mean, that pretty much sums it up. If you happen to have read my cloth diapering post, you know that I was full-on martyr about it. I was using the same cloth diapers I’d used on Lou’s little butt, plus some second-hand ones I’d bought on the online classifieds, and I really, really liked the idea of being not just disposable-diaper-free, but reusing, at that. Oh, I was also using cloth wipes, which I don’t think we discussed last time. (Just those cheapie baby washcloths and plain boiled-then-cooled water). So I felt all around pretty great about the system – you can read that as smug, if you like - until Monday, which was laundry day, would roll around.

It’s not worth going into here again, but the details are all laid out for ya in that first post.

In the end, spending an entire day at a laundromat, plus $20 or so, plus feeling pretty sure that the Tide and the hot water washes were not, on balance, that much better for the environment, was not sufficient motivation to outweigh the incredible pain in the tookus to rinse, wash and stuff the darn things. (Really. I think, in the end, my biggest problem was the stuffing the inserts into the pocket in the pocket diapers. After a day of schlepping and folding and laundering, I would be almost done, except for this huge pile of un-stuffed diapers just mocking me from the corner).

But, truly, I was sad to throw in the towel. It felt like giving up, and like my investment in the diapers wasn’t being realized.

In times like these, I turn to Disney for Wisdom.

I turn also to the principle of ignoring sunk costs. It just wasn’t worth it to keep going with the diapers, even if I had sunk another $100 or so into them for Westley, on top of the $225 + investment for Lou (which doesn’t even include the gifted diapers from our family).

I came home from our spring break vacation, when we’d been using disposable diapers, and just decided not to go back to cloth. I packed those babies up into their wetbags and stuffed them into the giant monstrosity that is our hall closet.

The other thing about cloth diapers? Look how much crap that is!!! (No pun intended). I mean, c’mon. I had a huuuuuuge stash, because I’d bought in bulk from the classifieds and because I needed a lot to last a full week between washes. It was silly. It’s still silly. Immediately after posting this, I’m going to go through it and sell, like, half of them.

Which is itself a pain, of course.

The other half? I’ll save for a theoretical baby number three, who will likely grow up in an even smaller and less well-endowed (laundry-wise) apartment than our current apartment. More on that likely development (the apartment, not the theoretical baby – which is still just an idea) in another post.

Is that just nuts? Should I try to confirm the existence of an actual child and the feasibility of cloth diapering first, and re-buy (or maybe sign up for a service) accordingly, rather than holding onto these? One factor might be the willingness of my amazing in-laws to keep these for us. I try really hard to keep all of our belongings in our apartment – no storage units or anything – but, er, maybe the diapers and nursing materials can be relegated to a corner of their garage for a bit. Oh and my maternity clothes. (Please?) In exchange for a third baby? That could be a fair trade.

Overall, even though a part of me is sad to have given up on the cloth diapers, a part of me is proud of myself for making a decision that is the better one for us for now. Disposable diapering is making all of our lives much, much easier. I have Amazon deliver a box of diapers and wipes every month (I am using Pampers, which work, though they have an appalling baby powder smell), so we don’t have any schlepping to do at all. Just diapering.

But I do want to note a couple things for any of you who are waffling about cloth diapering. If I didn't have to do it at the laundromat, I would have, unequivocally, stuck with it. Either by washing them in my own machine, or by using a service, like Diaperkind, the Brooklyn service I mentioned in my last post on the topic. Diaperkind, by the way, super-sweetly invited to me to check out their facilities after I mentioned them. I learned a lot, including about the strides cloth diapers have made since I first started with Louisa five years ago. Those liners I recommended in my first post? I was wrong - you don't have to break them down or anything. You just dump in the toilet and move on with your life. Game changer. So, a service like them would be lovely as well, for those who are starting out and wondering if they can hack cloth diapering. While services are pricey, I can't think of a better use for a baby registry! So buy or borrow your own baby bouncer when your baby's actually old enough, and ask friends and fam to chip into the real work and money of parenting!

Okay, so is everyone relieved that I stopped cloth diapering? And has anyone else given themselves permission to just get rid of a monkey on their back and do something to make their lives actually easier? I’d love, love, love to hear about it.