Diapers 1,2,3,4

Today we went to the pediatrician for Jonah's very first doctor appointment. I got him up and changed his DIAPER #1 and Hallie began to feed him. He finished feeding and I changed him again DIAPER #2. We got him into the car seat and into the vehicle for the ride over. After filling out 15 forms with the EXACT same information on them as we have been filling out for the past 9 months, we were brought into the room by the nurse. She asked that I strip him down so he could be weighed. DIAPER #3. He weighed in at 7 ounces over his birth weight, which really shocked the nurse as it usually takes about two weeks to regain their birth weight as they use up to 10% of their weight a day or two after birth. So, I put on another diaper and begin to put back on his clothes. "Wow!!! He is smiling at me with a funny little smile." I think to myself. Nope. Not a smile, just a little indication that I needed to change DIAPER #4. That made 4 diapers in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. These were the last of the diapers given to us by the hospital. I got to thinking, that if our baby did nothing else in his life but what he did during this past one and a quarter hours, then the rate at which the diaper decomposes will mean that he has between a 500 and 1000 year legacy beyond his natural life. At an average of 8000 diapers for the life of a child from birth to potty trained (not including Depends for the later years) that is one hell of a depressing legacy we are leaving in our landfills.

As of today, we are using only cloth and compostable diapers called G Diapers. They compost in 150 days and are also flushable. Pretty cool and not much more, if not a bit less, financially then disposables over the diaper wearing life of the little one.