At least once a week I read about others struggling to convince their day care provider to use cloth diapers on various diaper forums. When I wanted to enroll Allie in Connor's school two mornings this school year a BIG concern was that she would be able to wear her cloth diapers.
When I asked the Director she immediately said yes - no hesitation. WOW! Did she hear me correctly when I said cloth diapers? I didn't even mention how easy our diapers are to use! I think she was expecting prefolds with pins and covers. Of course, she would not be the one changing Allie each day she was there. ;)
When we went to the Open House in August I mentioned it to her teachers and they were on board as well! I showed them the
Thirsties Pocket All In One just so they could see that they
were not going to struggle with pins to diaper Allie. Thirsties are designed to go on just like a disposable diaper, but are of course better! They are trim fitting, have velcro tabs and leg gussets. The optional pocket opening allows us to add extra absorbency. I typically add
Just Hemp,
Thirsties Hemp, or a
Fab Doubler when we need to boost the absorbency of Thirsties.
Perhaps I lucked out in that this is a small Church preschool and she is only there for 3 hours two mornings per week. If your provider says no to cloth diapers before seeing them I would recommend doing a quick intro to the new age of cloth. I have not had a single complaint from Allie's teachers on her diapers. The Director substituted in her class one day and even commented on how nice "Allie's britches were!"
The diapers I pack in Allie's preschool bag are those that fit her best, offer good absorbency and are simple for those not used to cloth diapers to use. I avoid the one size diapers, just because if you are not familiar with them you might wonder what you are doing with all the extra snaps! I want this to be easy on her teachers.
Mums Bums are a super absorbent All In One diaper and those tend to end up in her school bag as well as
Thirsties Pocket All In Ones and
Knickernappies. I read about those who think they need to send All In Ones and only velcro diapers to daycare. As long as your pockets are stuffed, the provider will not need to do anything differently so I see now reason not to use pockets too. There is at least one Knickernappies to choose from in her bag each school day. That is often the diaper they change her into even with other options being velcro. She may end up with a different diaper in her bag on occasion, but I do tend to stick with these three. Allie has every diaper at
Two Little Whales in her stash, but these three diapers are in the top 3 as far as quantity per brand.
When we leave the house I put a hemp doubler in if she is wearing a pocket and usually stuff
hemp in the extras as well since the morning is her heavy wetting/power wetting time. I also pack two regular size
wet bags. She really only needs to be changed once her 3 hours at school, but just in case she has a messy diaper I want them to have a separate bag to put it in because I don't think they would appreciate having to do back into a stinky wet bag with the next diaper (and it makes unloading the bag after school less of a mess).
I have often read how providers want individual wet bags for each diaper. That can get to be quite expensive, so I would try for one large wet bag and then maybe a few small ones like
Wahmies Small Wet Bag (suitable for one diaper) for those diapers needing special containment. ;) For those daycares that claim this is unsanitary, I recommend bringing up the point of how this is no more unsanitary then when a child has an accident or a disposable diaper blowout or leakage. Allie has not once had to have her clothing changed due to a diaper leaking at preschool.
I started sending cloth wipes as well (premoistened in a mini or small
Wahmies wet bag), but the preschool provides wipes and the teacher's seem to prefer those. I'm just glad they were open to cloth and if she has gets wiped with 4 disposable wipe a week I really can't complain.
If your day care allows cloth diapers and you have input that can help others please feel free to comment!
Sometimes I wish I could just stick my little peeps in a bubble (an organic cloth bubble of course) to keep them safe from the ever going list of dangerous products they are exposed to.
