The rules for posting/linking to Cloth Diaper Me Monday are changing next week.  I will have a calendar of topics up by Thursday for the month of November along with the new rules.  Each week in November, I will select one winner from the links and comments to win a $10 gift certificate to my online cloth diaper store.

The Real Diaper Association is holding their 2nd Annual 100% Reusable Cloth Diaper Photo Contest.  I hope you will find the cutest photo of your child wearing his/her cloth diaper and submit the photo before November 3rd. I am excited sponsoring this event.

I will share a quote from The Real Diaper Association website that explains the RDA

The Real Diaper Association, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, provides support and education to parents all across North America for the use of simple, reusable cloth diapers. The goal of the Real Diaper Association is to put more babies in cloth diapers. To do this we aim to create a cultural shift in understanding cloth diapers-their environmental impact, their ease of use, their accessibility, and their acceptability. The Association will help parents understand that cloth diapers are real diapers.

The RDA has a very helpful cloth diaper fact sheet, a Cloth-Diaper-Friendly Daycare List, and trains leaders (Real Diaper Circle Leaders) to share cloth diaper in their own community by creating their own Real Diaper Circle.  I am at the very early stage of becoming a Real Diaper Circle Leader.

I receive calls and emails now almost weekly from expectant parents wanting to touch and see the cloth diapers before they make a large purchase.  I was in their shoes 2 years ago when my third child was born and I could not find anything within a 2 hour drive (and that store just had bumGenius OS diapers).  I had no idea what I needed so I blindly ordered a few Bummis covers from one online store and one bumGenius Organic AIO from another.  I also bought a few other random diapers including some Potty Patty training pants in the XS size and Gerber prefolds.  I wish I had more pictures of the diapers I used at first.  It was quite funny!

After several months of this, I started Suburban Tree Hugger.

As an internet only retailer, it is very hard to find ways to share cloth diapers in person without paying a large fee to set up a booth.  My own church will not even allow me to hold a meeting in our building (which I looked into long before I learned about RDA) because I am a business.  The meeting setting is very important for me because my time is very limited.  As a wife, mom (who homeschools and also has a toddler), and a WAHM, it is very hard for me to visit people in their homes to share and explain cloth diapers.  It take a minimum of 3 hours to prepare for an in home visit, conduct the visit, then return all the inventory to its proper state.  In a home setting, I can only reach one family (or two when they invite a friend).  As a Circle Leader, I will have the chance to reach many families each month and that is exciting for me to think about.  You see, I am very passionate about using cloth diapers and cloth wipes 100% of the time.

Let’s show The Real Diaper Association some love and join their facebook page, follow @RealDiapers, and become RDA Member today.

Today, you are still free to link up anything related to cloth diapers that you would like to share.

• Are you a WAHM that makes cloth diapers? You can link up your HyenaCart or Etsy store.
• Do you have a personal blog and just posted your little one in a cute cloth diaper? Link up.
• Do you have a section on your blog with cloth diaper resources? Post a link.
• Have you reviewed a product and are now offering a cloth diaper giveaway? Share your link.

Please make sure you link goes directly to your cloth diaper post, not your main page, unless your entire blog is about cloth diapers, or you are a cloth diaper store.

I had planned to go to the ABC trade show in Vegas today but life got in the way.  Our original plan was for my husband to take off today and keep the kids.  I was going to arrive last night, find a place to work through the night, and then attend the show today.  I would catch the red eye home and meet him at the MARTA station near his office on his way to work tomorrow morning.  I was going to meet all the cloth diaper company reps and see all the new products.  The trip was going to be free (Skymiles ticket) since I was not going to get a hotel room.  It was a great plan.

Then Brian ended up with several open jobs (he’s a CPA) and could not take a day off.  The grandparents could juggle the big kids but the baby would have to go with me.  She conveniently turned 2 a week ago so she can no longer fly for free.  I was not about to “find a place to work through the night” nor take the red eye home with her so the free trip turned into a $500+ trip.  Therefore I am at home today .  Life happens.

So Vegas baby here I come – next year that is!

You are free to link up anything related to cloth diapers that you would like to share.

• Are you a WAHM that makes cloth diapers? You can link up your HyenaCart or Etsy store.
• Do you have a personal blog and just posted your little one in a cute cloth diaper? Link up.
• Do you have a section on your blog with cloth diaper resources? Post a link.
• Have you reviewed a product and are now offering a cloth diaper giveaway? Share your link.

Please make sure you link goes directly to your cloth diaper post, not your main page, unless your entire blog is about cloth diapers, or you are a cloth diaper store.

Tuesday morning, I will select a winner from the comments and Mister Linky links below. I will offer the winner a discount code for my online cloth diaper store. The link will be valid through the next Monday. BumGenius and gift certificates will always be excluded.

I am going to take a couple minutes to brag on my husband.  From day one, he has supported me using cloth diapers on our daughter.  When I wanted to open a store, he not only supported the idea, he bankrolled it.  When we started using cloth diapers, I still had disposables on hand at all times.  As we have grown, we are now to the point where we use cloth diaper and cloth wipes 100% of the time.  Occasionally I get behind on the laundry and need to buy a package of Flips from the store but normally, our daughter is in cloth 100% of the time.

At first, when I decided I really wanted to use cloth all the time, I would put the prefolds in the covers or stuff the pockets so he could grab a diaper that was ready to go if an all-in-one was not available.  Now, the covers are in a box and the prefolds are stacked on the shelf.  I think the gradual shift helped.

While he is not at the point of doing the laundry (I bought Huggies when I traveled 4 days this summer), he will now use the diaper sprayer to clean off the dirty diapers:)!  This is a huge step!  I am not away from the kids that often but when I am, knowing I am not going to come home to a dirty diaper on the counter is kind of nice.  I like to clean off the dirty diapers before they go into the pail – not all at once before I wash.

I would love to know what steps other parents have taken to ease their spouse into cloth diapers.

You are free to link up anything related to cloth diapers that you would like to share.

• Are you a WAHM that makes cloth diapers? You can link up your HyenaCart or Etsy store.
• Do you have a personal blog and just posted your little one in a cute cloth diaper? Link up.
• Do you have a section on your blog with cloth diaper resources? Post a link.
• Have you reviewed a product and are now offering a cloth diaper giveaway? Share your link.

Please make sure you link goes directly to your cloth diaper post, not your main page, unless your entire blog is about cloth diapers, or you are a cloth diaper store.

If I am not holding a Cloth Diaper Me Monday giveaway, I will select one winner from the comments and Mister Linky links below each Tuesday morning. I will offer that winner a discount code for my online cloth diaper store. The link will be valid through the next Monday.  BumGenius and gift certificates will always be excluded.

The contest is over and the winner is The Domestic Princess!

I love, love, love Fluffy Mail!  Don’t you feel sorry for those who only get boxes of Huggies and Pampers in their mail (or at the store)?  B-O-R-I-N-G!

This week, I want you to think of someone you know that has never tried cloth diapers.  Consider showing them just how easy cloth diapers are to work with, store, and wash.  Tell them how much money you are saving.  You could also share how little waste you are generating, how your diapers will still have resale value when your little one is potty learned, and how you love knowing exactly what is on your little one’s body!

Link up your blog, or leave a comment below, following the Cloth Diaper Me Monday guidelines for a chance to win some fluffy mail!  One winner will receive 2 One-Size diapers – one for you and one to share with a friend.

The contest will end Friday, October 1st at Midnight PST.

You are free to link up anything related to cloth diapers that you would like to share.

• Are you a WAHM that makes cloth diapers? You can link up your HyenaCart or Esty store.
• Do you have a personal blog and just posted your little one in a cute cloth diaper? Link up.
• Do you have a section on your blog with cloth diaper resources? Post a link.
• Have you reviewed a product and are now offering a cloth diaper giveaway? Share your link.

Please make sure you link goes directly to your cloth diaper post, not your main page, unless your entire blog is about cloth diapers, or you are a cloth diaper store.