IT WAS ALL SO EASY PART 2: My First Stash - A Trip To Sears

So about this very time of year, 18 years ago I was pregnant with my first child. My mom wanted to know if I would use cloth or disposable diapers. I told her cloth.It seemed natural, even my baby dolls growing up had worn cloth.My mom had made some for our dolls out of some old curity care bear prefolds and some Velcro. I've even found a pic online of the very same diapers she used.

So we decided to look in the yellow pages for a diaper service. We were dissapointed there no longer was a local service. We were also dissapointed that so few people used cloth anymore that a small city could no longer support a service (hmm wonder if it does now). We did not go online. There was the internet and all in 1996 but not like it is now. And I didn't even use it at all, didn't see a need. So we did what most people did just 18 years ago. We went to Sears and the local department store S&R, (sadly closed a few years ago, it had maintained itself all this time as an old school department store). Both stores carried the same brand of cloth diapers in a variety of styles. This did not concern us, we expected them to work. We were relieved there was Velcro as I've never been good with a saftey pin despite being a quilter. The brand was Kushies. We loved the feel of the diapers, read all the options and price ranges. We loved the PUL wraps over the plastic pants of my moms day. We bought some of each fitted style to see what we liked. Somehow that was not nearly as stressful as looking at all of today's online choices that you can't touch. Want to know what else I loved? Bringing it home upon purchase to wash and put away. Yeah diaper shopping sure has changed. I know there was the option to order from magazines as well. Ones that specialized in baby products etc. But I didn't feel the need to do that or worry about a multitude of options when there was options locally that I could see and touch. They were pretty adorable too. We decided on the fitted diapers cuz it seemed easier then prefolds which were not Velcro. And no flats as they are some folding work my mom hadn't wanted to use even though she knew how (training in England as a midwife). We didn't need prefolds for stuffing cuz there was packs of liners. I have at this point used every fitted style of kushies. I will do a post all about these later in which I give the pros and cons of each. My friends have also used the same brand because they were sold locally. This did not change till child #4 (2002). The diapers were adorable and the cotton flannel was very soft. Kushies also had nursing pads, baby clothes etc. Everything was very soft with no seams to bug baby. We also.bought the nursing pads and one cute outfit. We got a pail and a drying rack too (so as to save money at the laundry mat).

At my baby shower I was given a roll of disposable liners. Thought that was pretty useful. My mom doesn't see the point of them. I like them but dont stress if I run out. Things to learn from this: 1. store shopping makes it all easier. 2. Relax and trust the diapers will work. 3. Enjoy browsing some options without stressing what will work and instead simply decide what options you think you'll like best. 4. Kushies is a cotton flannel diaper available in all styles from flats to AIO's (all in one's)