New To Bum Essentials Winning Essay

New to Bum Essentials

I have two sons (ages nine months-i.e “Little Man,” and almost three- .i.e. “Big Boy”). I first started exploring the idea of cloth diapering when “Big Boy” was born, however, when he was nine months old (the same age “Little Man” is today), we got the heart-wrenching news that he has Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy, and cloth-diapering fell by the wayside. Although his disability is mild, it affects his motor control thus making it hard for him to potty train.

Fast-forward to Little Man’s birth, and EVERY kind of disposable was giving him rashes. This was just the push I needed to get BOTH of my boys in cloth! Currently, we use primarily pocket diapers for Little Man and Big Boy has some Gro-Via as well as cloth trainers, however, we are looking to try something more absorbent for when he starts preschool. I LOVE how absorbent pocket diapers are, but they can get quite bulky. I LOVE the trimness of the Gro-Via products, however, I’m not sure that they will be absorbent enough to get him through his two and a half hour preschool sessions (after drinking his morning breakfast orange juice). It seems that the Bumbino will be a perfect match for him- trim, yet absorbent, with the front gussets being especially awesome for boys, and also organic which is an added bonus as I try to keep his life as natural as possible. It seems like when your child has special needs natural living often is pushed aside by doctors that only know the medical model and how to prescribe medication. My feeling is that children with special needs can benefit the most from not adding any chemicals into their everyday life!

About six months ago (before we made the total switch to cloth), we were at a playdate with one of Big Boy’s friends. The friend innocently commented that Big Boy was still wearing a diaper (he was already potty-trained). I could tell it really embarrassed my son. Although is motor control is affected, he is a bright and sensitive boy, and really took that comment to heart. He immediately came home and wanted to try to use the “Big Boy Potty.” God love him, we have been trying for the last few months , but although he is willing, he just doesn’t have the ability to potty train at this time. This was another jab at me to get him into cloth full-time. We told him that his Gro-Via diapers are his “big boy pants,” and since they are cloth, they don’t stand out like disposables. I LOVE the solid, bright colors of the Bumbinos and think that Big Boy would be proud to strut around in them.

Finally, the Velcro closure on the Bumbinos will allow Big Boy to be able to remove his own diaper to be able to try to sit on the potty (he lacks the fine motor ability to undo snaps). And the user-friendly AI2 diaper will be acceptable by his preschool teachers.

If we were to win, I would have enough Bumbinos to put Big Boy in full-time until he is able to potty train (and for overnight with the great ability to snap on more bum pads as needed for absorbency) and then I could hand them down to Little Man! I love that they are One-size and able to be shared between children of different ages!

New to Cloth Winning Essay

"Well, are you going to have time to clean up the world?"

On April 22, 2010, my daughter came bursting through the door after her morning kindergarten class jumping with excitement. She had a reusable grocery bag that her teacher had given her in honor of EARTH DAY and an "assignment" to figure out ways we could help to make our world a cleaner place. Oh, this was going to be fun! So I packed a picnic lunch for my 6 year old daughter, my 4 year old son, and my 8 month old baby girl. We headed to the nearby park to eat, with my 6 year old toting a notepad and pencil, soo excited to begin! We got to work on our list: From now on we would bring our reusable grocery bags along every time we shopped, we would replace our weekly case of Ice Mountain bottled water with reusable aluminum water bottles, get books from library more often than from the bookstore, and a few other ideas when my little one pooped in her disposable diaper! I pulled another disposable out from the bag along with disposable wipes and a plastic bag to throw it all away in, when I realized that THIS was where we could really change our ways. And so began my research into cloth diapers...

It took about a month for me to research and save up the money for the initial investment required in converting to cloth diapers and wipes. During this month my children, husband and I were astounded at some of the facts we came across. For instance 7.6 billion pounds of diapers are thrown away each year in the US and they take up to 500 years to biodegrade. Yikes. That was enough to make our stomachs churn. I felt so guilty for all those diapers I had thrown away throughout the years. But washing diapers? Was I going to be able to do that? I was super excited to learn that the days of soaking dirty diapers in a bucket of water were gone, along with pins and rubber pants. I started getting very excited! I got my first batch of cloth diapers about a month ago. I was nervous! I went with some all-in-2s, since these seemed the most economical, and easiest to wash in my HE washer. Oh My Gosh, I am so happy we made this switch! I feel great that we are reducing our carbon footprints, saving money, educating my children, and I just cannot resist the cuteness of a fluffy butt!

My beautiful 6 year old daughter inspired me to switch to cloth diapers, and together we try to inspire others! We are constantly telling our friends and neighbors with babies why cloth is the easy and sensible choice. We have gotten three friends to make the switch!! A couple weeks ago we were at a wedding and my daughter came to the bathroom with me to change my baby's diaper when a woman approached and began asking questions about "that kind" of diaper. I explained that they were cloth, along with the wipes, and she smugly replied that she would NEVER have the time to wash diapers, to which my 6 year old responded, "Well, are you going to find time to clean up the world?"

And the Winners Are

I would like to thank everyone who participated in our “Saving the Planet” contest. We had a great response and wonderful essays. I would say they were all wonderful for some reason. It is great that so many of you are new to cloth diapering and sticking with it even with the many obstacles that were shared. Keep it up the benefits long outweigh the challenges. For those of you who already cloth diapering and want to try Bum Essentials I can’t wait for you to get a chance. Everybody that wrote about wanting to try Bum Essentials needs to write our ads. J It is great how you have paid such close attention to the details we feel are important and set our diaper apart from others.

What makes us all winners. We are making a donation to the Cloth Diaper Foundation as a part of the contest. In the past few weeks the Cloth Diaper Foundation has been experiencing a lack in funds and donations. The Cloth Diapering community pulled together and they are able to get by another few months. This is a great organization and we want to be a part of their success. I hope you have learned more about them because of our contest. If you or someone you know is not financially able to get started cloth diapering this is the organization that can help. We are making a donation of 10 BumBinos and 20 BumPads.

Here are the winners

New to Cloth

1- Kristen Huss - "Are you going to have time to clean up the world"

2- Julie Kieras - "There was a time when the only diapering was cloth diapering."

New to Bum Essentials

1-Robin Sayers- Big Boy and Little Man

2-Shelly Smith - I first heard of Bum Essentials a couple of months ago.....

Later this week we will post the First place winning essays. Once again thanks so much for participating.

Please look for more contests. Help spread the word about Cloth Diapering and Bum Essentials.