Toasty Baby at the Indy Kids Sale!

Once upon a time (about a year and a half ago), I bought my very first diapers. I was at a consignment sale with a friend, and rustled through the small selection in the cloth diaper bin at the sale, and came away with a few contour diapers, a few Snappis, and a couple diapers that appeared like they might be homemade, and I wasn't sure if they were fitteds or fleece covers. Oh my, how far I've come since then!

The consignment sale I was attending was the Indy Kids Consignment Sale, held twice a year at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. I was able to attend the presale as an expectant mom, and it was crazy! The energy, the crowds, and the enthusiasm for the sale blew me away! I returned later in the weekend with my mom on Saturday when everything was half-priced, and we managed to get great deals on a huge bag of clothes for the first baby in the family!

When trying to find an event for Toasty Baby to partner with, to get the word out about cloth diapers locally, the IKC Sale was the first place I thought of. So many moms look forward to this sale every year- I knew this would be the place to connect with local families. The year the sale runs March 8-10- check out their Shopping Tips page for the hours..

Want to be one of the first to check out the IKC Sale? We've graciously been offered a pair of presale passes to give away for our fans, to attend the sale on March 7 before it is open to the public! The drawing for the giveaway will be open through Friday. Enter below!

Even if you don't win, stop by our booth at the sale and say hi, sign up for a free Cloth Diapering 101 class, or pick up some new diapers! We'd love to meet you!

All or Nothing? 'Sposie confessions

Does cloth diapering have to be an all or nothing affair? Not at all!

Most families who choose to cloth diaper do so for a combination of reasons- trying to save money, produce less trash, and expose their child to fewer chemicals. Disposables seem to be the antithesis of these goals, so why would a cloth-diapering family ever reach for the 'sposies?

Babysitters
Pocket diapers and all-in-ones seem to be "babysitter-proof," but when you don't have time to explain to the teenager what to do with poop, or overwhelm Great-Aunt Edna with something new, disposables are forgivable. (Confession: even our Toasty Baby's grandma refused to use cloth when he was a little baby, even going so far as to buy her own 'sposies to use at her house! We gave in because we were thankful for the free babysitting.)

Travel
When our baby went on his first-ever plane ride right after he turned 1, we weren't keen on checking a bag just for the diapers while we were away (and paying to check a bag of dirty diapers on the way back!). We packed a few disposables and bought a pack while we were at our destination, and left the diapers we didn't use with a family member with a toddler, who would be able to use them. Every time I travel, I cringe at the cost and smell of disposables, though!

Sickness
We just finished weathering a chicken pox infection at our house! We were unsure as to whether cloth or disposables were better on the spots as they healed on his bottom. We went back and forth, and finally decided the disposable diapers were lighter weight and used them for just a couple days. As the trash started to pile up, I was glad he got better! During diaper rashes, disposables can be a good choice if you have to slather on conventional diaper cream and don't have a disposable liner or fleece liner to protect your diapers.

Behind on laundry
This is doesn't happen too often, but when we reach for the last prefold and haven't started diaper laundry yet, I kind of panic. We'll end up using one or two disposables while the washer and dryer finish the cycles and we can get everything clean and dry again. Even the pros get behind on laundry!

Whatever the reason, it's OK to do both cloth and disposable diapering in the same family. Do what works for you and your family and situation. Every cloth diaper you use saves a 'sposie from the trash and saves you money- whether you're using cloth full time, all the time or just changing 3 cloth diapers a day.

The Myth of the "Daddy Diaper"

Sleeping against Daddy
in a Bummis SuperBrite and prefold

Around Toasty Baby, we don't say "Daddy diaper".

We'll say "Grandma diaper", "Daycare diaper" and "Babysitter diaper", but NOT "Daddy diaper". Why?

First, there's the philosophical reason. Dads are 100% parents, and we don't want downplay their 100% capability of caring for their children. Dads are just as smart as moms. There's no reason they can't use prefolds or snap closures just as well as Mom can. Diapering is a basic baby-care task, and to imply that Dad isn't capable or willing is kind of insulting.

Then there's our personal-experience reason. In the Toasty Baby household, for the first year of our baby's life, it was Dad who changed most the diapers. Josh stayed home as a full-time dad with Elliott while Joanna continues to work as a software engineer. In our house, there were no "Daddy diapers"!

When we first went through the Cloth Diaper 101 class, I (Joanna) had done lots of research about cloth diapers. I had talked to friends who used all sorts of diapering systems. I warned Josh- the prefolds and covers system is the most economical, but may be too hard to use, so it's up to you. You'll be changing the most diapers, so you get the final say. After the class, the first comment Josh made was, "Prefolds don't look that hard!" (and they aren't!) That was the last time I underestimated a father. The few pocket diapers we have are reserved for Grandmas and babysitters, who aren't full-time caregivers, so don't have the same motivation to deal with prefolds.

Daddies do diapers, too! Let's not insult them by downplaying their parenting abilities.

If you happen by the Fishers store on a weekday, you'll get to meet Josh, the Dad of Toasty Baby. He's a rare, heroic breed of stay-at-home, cloth-diapering dad. :) Ask him about it!

Friday Fun - Philosotoddler

So, apparently this cute, quizzical-looking toddler is a thing now. This meme has spread on Buzzfeed, reddit & Slacktory and I'm just now seeing it- I thought I'd add a few more to the mix, cloth-diaper style.

Make your own and link to them in the comments or on our wall! What's your philosophical toddler wondering about?