I will get challenged this weekend with CDs....

LilLee11

So we leave tonight to go home for Christmas....Im sure I will get challenged about the whole "CD" thing. I know that disposables have been linked to infertility, theres chlorine and other harsh chemicals (some that are banned in other countries but not the US) etc. Theres also the whole Pampers Drymax and chemical burns....and I can reference videos that Ive seen.

Im 99% sure the question will be "How is Pampers still able to use these chemicals then if theyre harming children or known to cause cancer".  Aside from the environmental, money saving and cute factor, how do I argue with that question? I have to say Ive wondered it myself! If its THAT bad, how can companies still put these harsh chemicals in diapers.....I just know Ill get slammed with these questions! Thoughts?

emsrdh03

I got tired of defending my choice.  Now I just say it's MY baby and I will do what I want.  I just don't get why people care so much how I catch my baby's poop....

Good luck!  I hope it isn't as bad as you're anticipating!

VABride2008

The same question could go for cigarettes.  We know they are harmful, cause cancer, etc. but they are still sold.  What's the difference?

monkeyqueen

Why can't you just shrug your shoulders, say 'meh', and talk about something else?    

It's really no one elses business.   Why bother arguing and defending?   Do any of your family members use disposables?    If you start references links to infertility, then you run the nearly guaranteed risk that someone will be offended.       You could always just say - 'I like them, they are cute' and move on.

 

monkeyqueen

Why can't you just shrug your shoulds, say 'meh', and talk about something else?    

It's really no one elses business.   Why bother arguing and defending?   Do any of your family members use disposables?    If you start references links to infertility, then you run the nearly guaranteed risk that someone will be offended.       You could always just say - 'I like them, they are cute' and move on.

 

LilLee11

VABride....great point!

Monkeyqueen...thats part of the problem! My brother in law and his fiance (which no one in the fam can stand) have a 7 month old in disposables. As much as I dont like either one of them, I really worry about offending them. I just know theyre going to be the ones to start asking questions though. I will definitely try my hardest to just say theyre cute and move on! Id rather not have the discussion with them. Theyre uneducated as it is so talking about this could just be bad.

I wish I could just say whatever and shrug it off. Ill try my hardest to do that though. Ah! Wish me luck.

VABride2008

LilLee11:

VABride....great point!

Monkeyqueen...thats part of the problem! My brother in law and his fiance (which no one in the fam can stand) have a 7 month old in disposables. As much as I dont like either one of them, I really worry about offending them. I just know theyre going to be the ones to start asking questions though. I will definitely try my hardest to just say theyre cute and move on! Id rather not have the discussion with them. Theyre uneducated as it is so talking about this could just be bad.

I wish I could just say whatever and shrug it off. Ill try my hardest to do that though. Ah! Wish me luck.

Just tell them that cloth is what works for your family and leave it at that.  Once my husband's family (who gave me a lot of sh!t before I had the baby) saw how easy they were and that I stuck to using them, their comments magically stopped.  People fear the unknown and tend to make quick judgments on things they don't understand. 

LilLee11

VABride2008:

LilLee11:

VABride....great point!

Monkeyqueen...thats part of the problem! My brother in law and his fiance (which no one in the fam can stand) have a 7 month old in disposables. As much as I dont like either one of them, I really worry about offending them. I just know theyre going to be the ones to start asking questions though. I will definitely try my hardest to just say theyre cute and move on! Id rather not have the discussion with them. Theyre uneducated as it is so talking about this could just be bad.

I wish I could just say whatever and shrug it off. Ill try my hardest to do that though. Ah! Wish me luck.

Just tell them that cloth is what works for your family and leave it at that.  Once my husband's family (who gave me a lot of sh!t before I had the baby) saw how easy they were and that I stuck to using them, their comments magically stopped.  People fear the unknown and tend to make quick judgments on things they don't understand. 

Ill admit, I judged when I first starting researching it. Youre right, people fear the unknown. They think CDing is harder and scarier than it really is. We're only 2 weeks in and both my husband and I were nervous but now we laugh at how nervous we were! Thanks for the advice.

LilLee11

VABride2008:

LilLee11:

VABride....great point!

Monkeyqueen...thats part of the problem! My brother in law and his fiance (which no one in the fam can stand) have a 7 month old in disposables. As much as I dont like either one of them, I really worry about offending them. I just know theyre going to be the ones to start asking questions though. I will definitely try my hardest to just say theyre cute and move on! Id rather not have the discussion with them. Theyre uneducated as it is so talking about this could just be bad.

I wish I could just say whatever and shrug it off. Ill try my hardest to do that though. Ah! Wish me luck.

Just tell them that cloth is what works for your family and leave it at that.  Once my husband's family (who gave me a lot of sh!t before I had the baby) saw how easy they were and that I stuck to using them, their comments magically stopped.  People fear the unknown and tend to make quick judgments on things they don't understand. 

Ill admit, I judged when I first starting researching it. Youre right, people fear the unknown. They think CDing is harder and scarier than it really is. We're only 2 weeks in and both my husband and I were nervous but now we laugh at how nervous we were! Thanks for the advice.

monkeyqueen

GL!    I know it can be hard to shrug it off, but you can just talk about the points that won't offend:  cost savings and cute factor. 

Or, you could reply with 'one liners.'  

Potty training is coming up, so I might as well get used to cleaning poop off of underwear.   

The smell isn't any worse than when my husband using the washroom.  (btw:  I find the smell way less than when I used to use disposables....)

If I come up with anymore, I'll post them in this thread...... 

You could always offer to show them your cloth diapers - I've done that with a few people, and they thought they were pretty neat......didn't always convert them, but they stopped making dumb comments:)

LilLee11

VABride2008:

LilLee11:

VABride....great point!

Monkeyqueen...thats part of the problem! My brother in law and his fiance (which no one in the fam can stand) have a 7 month old in disposables. As much as I dont like either one of them, I really worry about offending them. I just know theyre going to be the ones to start asking questions though. I will definitely try my hardest to just say theyre cute and move on! Id rather not have the discussion with them. Theyre uneducated as it is so talking about this could just be bad.

I wish I could just say whatever and shrug it off. Ill try my hardest to do that though. Ah! Wish me luck.

Just tell them that cloth is what works for your family and leave it at that.  Once my husband's family (who gave me a lot of sh!t before I had the baby) saw how easy they were and that I stuck to using them, their comments magically stopped.  People fear the unknown and tend to make quick judgments on things they don't understand. 

Ill admit, I judged when I first starting researching it. Youre right, people fear the unknown. They think CDing is harder and scarier than it really is. We're only 2 weeks in and both my husband and I were nervous but now we laugh at how nervous we were! Thanks for the advice.

LilLee11

Monkeyqueen, love you! Please do post if you think of more. Those are great!

LilLee11

Monkeyqueen, love you! Please do post if you think of others. Those are great!

monkeyqueen

Here's one that I use every so often:

I'm much too lazy to go to the store when I run out of disposables, it's so much easier for me to toss the cloth in the wash.

Or, this one:

Cloth diapering is an addiction, please help.   (this one must only be used when poking fun at yourself......it can come across as funny, and it's a decent way to laugh about the conversation - I find that I can easily move from this to an entirely different conversation.......but, I generally talk really really fast.)

Allie30

"this is what works for our family" and then just leave it.

if you don't come across as judgmental of their diapering choices, i'm sure they won't be offended. don't judge how they catch their baby's poop either. i know i'd get defensive if i was home for the holidays and my sil started telling me i was giving my baby infertility and cancer!

kaswanson

Yes, I would try not to talk about the negatives of disposables around the other parents because they might get defensive.  I like people's positive suggestions, great idea!  I will do this myself as my baby isn't even born yet and I'm dealing with some of the same issues.

Positives: natural, affordable, SO cute, works for us   

MWoodside

I wouldn't argue it at all.  I'd just say "we love using cloth & it works for us".  The end.

smilelari

Do you really have to argue?  I just say something along the lines of "it's cheaper, better for baby and just as easy" and then let it drop