No, I'm Not Pregnant. Obviously.

Cute butt.

Call me old fashioned.

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Others have. I don’t mind. I take it in the Mother-Earth News context, so I consider “old fashioned” a down-to earth, wholesome sort of neo-retro compliment.

Besides, I’m in my 50’s. It was bound to happen.

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It’s been a long time since I lit out on my own and started my family from scratch…and then started it again. And again. It’s been a long time since I thought about the down and dirty details of baby-raising and other brand-new family considerations, though I do occasionally read the shiny new ramblings of expectant moms on the various green blogs I follow. I have even encountered discussions about the cloth vs. disposable diaper dilemma, and other “green baby” debates. So yesterday, when I was shopping for cloth diapers for an expectant family I know, I wasn’t entirely surprised to have to buy them online. But what I WAS surprised about was the nearly complete absence of something I used to be able to buy at the grocery store…or the drug store…or K-Mart, or any other store that had a baby-supply aisle.

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Do you know that “diaper covers” (formerly known as rubber pants) have gone the way of the dinosaurs? Oh, I found a few upscale, trendy Cadillac versions out there, retailing for more that $10 a pair. $10 a PAIR? That’s insane! I used to be able to but a three pack of the little stinkers for about $2. I was tempted to buy a roll of Saran Wrap to include in the gift box, but didn’t give in. And here’s the other injustice: none of these things were available anywhere offline. Not one. I did finally find an online, simple “diaper cover” set offered by Gerber for a more reasonable price, and some cute little woolen “soakers”, but honestly, why was this baby-technology “improved upon”?

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I am admittedly WAY out of the baby-making game, and when I WAS participating, I wasn’t using disposables very often because my daughter had a sensitivity to the materials used in the archaic disposables we had on hand in the late ‘70’s. I diapered. I washed diapers. I used rubber pants. And my daughter grew up just fine. We didn’t create our own personal landfill, though I do admit to wishing she was a little less sensitive at times, because cloth diapers were an entire new hobby in an already busy life…but we got by. And $10+ for a pair of rubber pants would have been half of my grocery money for a week. And yes, I breast fed. Another great savings; Mother-Earth News healthy and handily packaged.

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So I want to know: what are you young mothers out there doing to keep those wet bottoms from ruining your furniture? Are your babies green, chic, or just plain disposably-diapered? Do you have strong feelings about any of this? An inquiring old-fashioned dinosaur wants to know.

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Update: Here's a FREE set of instructions for baby SOAKERS from the Craft Yarn Council of America: http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/nov98_crochproject.html