Great Cloth Diaper Change 2014

Ava and I were very proud to be among the 33 participants in mid-Michigan's Great Cloth Diaper Change on Saturday, April 26, 2014.  Founded by the Real Diaper Association, the Great Cloth Diaper Change is an annual event that is an opportunity for similarly thinking moms to get together and share their love of cloth diapering and break the Guinness World Record for most cloth diapers changed at one time.  With nearly 300 sites participating world wide, we are all crossing our fingers that last year's record of 8,301 will be broken.
There were much larger events held in Ann Arbor and Lansing, but since I'm in the final weeks of pregnancy, it is much easier for me and my little sugar muffin to drive to Grand Blanc, about twenty minutes away.  While the crowd was small, it was still amazing to be in the company of so many parents who think like I do; the room was full of baby wearers and breast feeders, swapping stories about what works for their families.  Of course, I was wearing my "Crunchy Disney Ma" t-shirt, encouraging many families to continue cloth diapering, even while on vacation.  I was surprised at the number of people who buy disposables on vacation or avoid vacation all together because they assumed continuing cloth away from home was too difficult.

Shortly before 11:00 am, we all lined up and held up our diaper of choice.  It had to be a completely reusable diaper that was commercially available.  At 11:00 am, sharp, the bell rung and we all began changing diapers.  The chaos that ensued was expected as babies squirmed about.  I could not imagine how some larger events, with over 100 babies, worked out!

While there, I was happy to make a donation to Ava's Cloth Diaper Share, a program aimed at getting cloth diapers in the hands of families who want to cloth diaper, but cannot afford the initial investment.  It's a loaner program that also gives information on how to care for them and has a community of people to help support a family's decision to cloth diaper.

There were vendors there sharing information on topics from hypnobirthing and home births to cloth diapering, teething necklaces, and lots of other natural products.  If you were lucky enough to be in the first group of participants registered, you received a gift bag at the door that included all sorts of wonderful products, several of which I've been interested in trying.  The swag bag included:

Re-Play spoon & fork set, made from recycled milk jugs
Scarlet Natural's Lip Honey
Sample cookie (created to boost breast milk production) and refrigerator magnet from Milkin' Cookies
Montherlove Diaper rash & thrush cream
Allens Naturally starter pack with laundry detergent, "Stink Out," and Fruit & Veggie Wash
Boob Ease, organic nipple balm
All of it was in a reusable Target shopping bag and also included various coupons, including one for my favorite cloth diaper detergent, Eco Nuts.

Photo by Jake May, Mlive.com

Will I return next year? Yes!  I just wish there were more people to bring with me.  The mid-Michigan cloth diapering community is pretty small, so it's always a joy to be around so many like minded parents and I'm always interested in bringing more into the fold.  Stay tuned to find out if last year's record was broken!

Click here for the Flint Journal's coverage of the event...