Pack Leader :: Brooke Myung,
Modesto, CA
"I've always been a bit of an
environmentalist. Not really an activist, although I sign petitions and
vote liberally to save spotted owls and wetlands, I could identify with
the radical activists. Although I won't sabotage an oil line or live in a tree,
I can see why and how they would. And I would help them if I could.
Cloth gives me a great way to help the environment and myself at the same time."
Initial 'experiment' with cloth:
Brooke first experimented with cloth when her daughter was
about 16 months old. At the time, an online friend with
twins of the same age was using cloth and loving it.
Brooke figured she'd 'give it a whirl' and
pulled out the Gerber prefolds and pins given as a gift at her
baby's shower. Not too thrilled with the outcome she
explained, "At the end of the day there were wet spots all
over my living room!! I asked Sarah how her diapers didn't get everything wet and she asked me what
kind of cover I was using . . . cover? I didn't know I needed one..."
Well, that started Brooke's foray into cloth, and several months later she
decided to give it a try again. "I bought some vinyl pull up covers, and
went to work, figuring out how to fold the diapers so they would fit on my 20
month old and changing her constantly, dunking and soaking, washing every
night... It was hard work, and I only made it through cause no one thought
I would."
The Great Dilemma:
"When we started back with cloth we really had no
alternative, it was cancel our ISP or stop buying diapers, so to cloth we
went!! LOL sounds funny, but that was the priority." Once
Brooke finally purchased some quality diapers, she came to the
realization that it wasn't much more work than disposables.
She found that she was actually enjoying folding the diapers
and that the cloth diapers looked and
felt so much better than the disposable alternative. "I hated cleaning gel beads off
my daughters skin and from between her labia every day. It made me wonder
where else they were getting too, and knowing that they were considered unsafe
to use in tampons made me worry about how they might affect her."
Part time to full time cloth diapering:
Three months ago Brooke and her family went 100% cloth in
their diapering system. Until then, they were only using one
disposable a day for night diapers on their son. "When we went on vacation, I noticed a couple of things
that sealed the fate of sposies in this house. Our trash stunk
badly. I had constant headaches from perfumes. We filled two hotel
trash cans every day, one of them was all diapers. It was
disgusting." Brooke also discovered that the disposables leaked more often than
the cloth diapers, usually leaving a
bigger mess to clean up than when her cloth diapers leaked. "My husband, who got
out of changing dipes by vehemently refusing to use cloth, only changed a few
dipes anyway the entire 10 days. I had to pack up the kids to walk 3
blocks just to buy dipes twice. It sucked, and I was never so happy
to put cloth on my son as I was when we got home." |
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Taking Cloth Diapering into the community at large:
With that experience behind her, Brooke has spent the last 6
months educating her community with regards to cloth
diapering. "Most of
what I am doing I'm doing because there is a demand here. Our childbirth
educators want to have cloth diapers in their classes, they want to show
different kinds of diapers off to their students in their baby care
classes. My doula clients have questions about cloth diapers, and so I
show them samples. I always bring cloth samples to health and baby fairs
I do to show moms how cute and easy they are now." Though there isn't
a diaper service in the area and Brooke states that there is a
lack of any education regarding cloth diapering, there are
still about 6-7 cloth diapering families within her community. "I am forming a
cloth diapering group in our mother's group, just for us to meet once a month
and talk and learn about new stuff. We have done a 'show and tell' already
and it was so much fun!"
Converting those around her indirectly:
"When I take my DS out, I almost always change him
in plain view, where I can show off his dipes and give people the opportunity
to ask about them." Brooke keeps a bag full of samples and written curriculum
for a cloth diapering class she is planning to submit to the local community
college. "I have seen families convert and tried to be helpful and answer
questions for them. I wish someone could have done it for me."
Environmentalist at heart:
"I've always been a bit of an
environmentalist. Not really an activist, although I sign petitions and
vote liberally to save spotted owls and wetlands, I could identify with
the radical activists. Although I won't sabotage an oil line or live in a tree,
I can see why and how they would. And I would help them if I could. Cloth gives me a great way to help the environment and myself at the same
time. I can sun my dipes to keep them fresh and clean smelling, and they
look wonderful out on the drying rack. My kitchen doesn't stink like a
half trash can of disposable dipes anymore (of course, the diaper pail is
outside next to the washer now ~LOL). My husband only takes trash out twice
a week instead of 3-4 times. I get the satisfaction of knowing that I am
not contributing any longer to the masses of diaper-bombs in our landfills, or
to the pockets of a diaper company. I also get to see my son wear diapers
that are not full of chemicals with unknown long term effects, that look comfy
and cool and natural and treat him the way I want him to be treated."
Brooke Myung is married with two children. Along
with her love for educating about cloth diapering, she
nurtures mommas as a doula and brings understanding and
knowledge to them and their families as a childbirth educator.
She is a member of her local birth professionals network, the
Central Valley Birth and Family Network, an active member of
La Leche League and Nurturing Moms (both mother's
organizations that support families). She is in the
process of certifying as a Childbirth Educator through CAPPA
(Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association), of
which she is also a member. When she is not on call she
says she enjoys traveling to Renaissance Fairs and Highland
Games. When she is on call, you can find her in a local
bookstore or park with her family.
Visit her website at:
Mother-Birth
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