A Diaper Circus cover made by Addie Barnett, Super Mom.
When I met Addie (now my wife) we really hit it off. I was 17, a senior in (homeschool) high school, She was a freshman at Howard Payne University. We talked on AOL Instant Messenger as often as we could, and mostly we talked about what we imagined life to be like as adults. We weren’t specifically talking as if we would end up married, but it was probably in the back of our minds while we spoke.
At some point I was talking about how my mom had used cloth diapers on us. The kind from Walmart that she had to pin, and then cover with plastic pants. How mom hung out the laundry to dry, because we didn’t have a dryer. Probably this topic came about because I was talking about how I had never considered myself to be poor growing up.
After we were married, Addie made sure to tell me that she was not a Super Mom, and she didn’t know how my mom did it, but she was NOT going to use those nasty, gross, time consuming, and extra work cloth diapers!
Soon afterwards, we had the opportunity to go to Seattle, WA, for a school trip to study the Emerging Church. where, because we were married, our professor set us up to stay with a couple there, instead of having to stay in separate hotel rooms. Mitch and Rochelle owned a coffee house there called Three Trees, where they did ministry, and hosted Bible Studies, Worship times, soup suppers, tutoring, and just a place for people to be and feel like they were loved. Mitch and Rochelle also had a little boy named after Jonathan Edwards, who resembled a viking. It was also the case, that little Jonathan was cloth diapered.
We learned a great deal about being the Church, and serving our community on this trip. We even have dreamed about opening a coffee shop and mimicking the ministry that Mitch and Rochelle did near Seattle. However, when we had children the one thing that has shaped our life the most from that trip has been the simple fact that Rochelle used cloth diapers. She didn’t act like they were hard work, or gross. They didn’t invade the house in a horrible poopie aroma. and they genuinely seemed like a good thing to do. Addie, the Not Super Mom, began to research cloth diapers, and to this day she hasn’t stopped researching. She found loads of reasons to use cloth, from our original reason of saving money, to having safer fabrics on our babies’ bottoms, to using fewer resources from our environment, and the list goes on.
Our first attempt at cloth diapering was not a success. We started using gDiapers, which at the time seemed like they were the best, but looking back at how they actually worked with the knowledge that Addie now has, they were a ridiculous plan. gDiapers were just starting out at the time, and i’ve been told that they have fixed a lot of the problems that we had with them, though I haven’t tried their newer designs.
Cute, but I don’t recommend them.
After our failed attempt with gDiapers, Addie started researching more. She found a lot of other brands and styles. We’ve tried one sized diapers with snap down rises. We’ve tried Pockets and All in Ones. Different patterns and designs from many many places, but Addie was never satisfied. They were too bulky, or they sagged. Even the smallest setting was too large for our middle of the range sized baby. How could these possibly fit an 8lb. to 40lb. baby if they were too large for our 16 lb. baby?
On Smallest setting. Look at all of those snaps. They are kind of like zip off pants from the 90′s. Maybe a good concept, but they weren’t comfortable, nor did they look good, and you probably shouldn’t bring up that you actually wore them.
An older version of Addie’s Diapers. Not the best fit yet, and the insert was huge! not as trim as we were looking for. Still, it’s a cute print for a diaper.
So Addie bought some fabric (she’s explored many types of fabric as well) and bought a pattern. She tweaked it here and there to make it fit just right. Adding curved lines where the patterned called for straight lines, allowing the diaper to fit better around the curves of a babies legs, bottom and belly. She made the pattern smaller to be more trim, and to stay up better. She found the most absorbent and trimmest fabric for the insides. She decided that inserts really are easiest, even if they are in two pieces. She discovered which pattern was the best for washing and drying. She’s been studying diapers full time for the better part of two years, and finally she is satisfied with a diaper that works. It is easy to clean and to dry. It fits every shape of baby who has tried it, trimly and without falling down or leaking, from newborn to 35 lbs, long skinny babies and short chubby babies. Her two sized system is really the best diaper i’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen (and paid for) a lot of diapers.
Now, my Not Super Mom wife not only uses cloth on her own children, but has designed a superb diaper and has started a business to help other Not Super Moms do their part to care for their family, use their money more wisely, give their babies the best, and to help save the world!
I am a proud member of the Diaper Circus team. I would be very happy to help get you started with cloth diapering, just leave me a comment, or check out our website.
I am proud of my Not Super Mom, and extremely proud of my wife, who is without a doubt a Not Super Mom!
