Getting Your Husband On Board With Cloth Diapering

Do to the fact that there are no photos of men cloth diapering, I had to create my own.

So you've decided you want to cloth diaper your baby. You've done your research and you're totally sold on the idea. If you're like I was then you'd probably go as far as to say you're excited to put some fluffy cuteness on your baby's bum. There's only one last obstacle before you start taking the big plunge and make those first purchases. It's time to break the news to your husband and convince him that cloth is the way to go.

If you're anything like me (of course you are because you're reading this), and your husband is anything like mine (aren't all men?), then you already know this is going to take a little research, a little persuasion, and a little kick in the nuts to show him you mean business. Yes, convincing men to use cloth is no easy business. Convincing men to change diapers at all takes a lot of convincing. Why is that? It must be that whole "Women are from Venus and Men are from Mars" thing. Maybe I should read that book one day so I'll understand. It probably would make this process a whole lot easier.

So how did I convince my husband to cloth diaper? That's a funny question because I'm still working on it. My husband is one tough cookie. Although I finally got him to agree to cloth diaper, getting him to like it is a whole other beast. It seems as though everytime I make progress something happens to set us two steps back. We're getting there though. 4-1/2 months in and he's warming up to it... Even if it is just luke warm. Listed below are the tactics I used and how they worked out for me. Just know your results will vary depending on what's important to your husband. Where one tactic might fail for me, it might be the golden ticket for you.

#1 - Money Talks

This was my first tactic to convince Brian. I thought it would for sure work. I made out a super detailed spreadsheet showing what I was going to buy and what disposables would cost. I was even realistic. I knew I was going to go overboard and I showed I would still save money.  You can see my spreadsheet on my post "Cloth vs Disposables: A Real Life Cost Study".  It was a no go. Brian didn't care about the money. He'd rather use disposables. Strike 1 for me. Boo! Don't let that stop you though. Money talks for a lot of men. If you think money talks for your guy then you have to check out this Cloth Diaper Savings Calculator developed by the blog Empowering Ellie.

#2 It's All About The Look

This tactic started working for me AFTER we started cloth diapering. Although there are a lot of cute prints that I get because I like them, there are also a lot of prints I get because I know my husband will like them. It could be sports diapers, guitar and skull diapers, pinstripe diapers, camo diapers, or how about a diaper in honor of your hubby's profession (cop, fireman, etc)? For my husband it's Linc's Ragababe Money print diaper. We call it his Vegas diaper and it's always the diaper Brian shows off to his friends.

#3 Red Cheeks

We used disposable diapers on both our girls and they had diaper rash all the time. When I heard that cloth resulted in less diaper rash that sold me! When cost savings wasn't reeling Brian in on the idea of cloth I moved on to the topic of saving our baby from red buns. This sparked his attention a little. Not enough to get him to say yes, but I swear his ears pricked up. At least he was listening now.

#4 It's Easy!

I can bet you anything that the main reason that your husband is resistant to do cloth is because he thinks that it's way harder than disposables. Let him know this simply isn't true. Show him an All In One diaper. Better yet, show him an All In One diaper with hook and loop closure. These diapers are pretty much exactly the same as putting on and taking off a disposable. The only difference is that instead of shoving the diaper in a Diaper Genie (or other diaper pail system) and taking your long sausage train of diapers out to the trash, you put it in a diaper pail (or wet bag) and then throw it in the wash. Easy peasie, fresh and squeezie. If he's still not buying it, let him know you'll do the laundry and spray the poo off. Better yet, don't even mention the poo. That might set you two steps back again. That surprise can come later on. *wink* 

#5 Puppy Dog Eyes ... And Tears

Ok, when nothing else was working I had to resort to the kill shot... The lowest of the low... Playing down and dirty. I gave him the puppy dog face with just the slight hint of a tear and said, "This is what would make me happy". Who's going to say no to that??? 

#6 Swift Kick To The Nuts

I didn't have to resort to this, but I was close. If your hubby turns down every attempt you make to convince him that cloth is the way to go (even the puppy dog eyes), then rear that foot back and give him a swift kick to the balls and say "This is what's best for the baby and we're doing it!". That should do the trick.

So there you have it. Follow this plan and you're sure to get your man on board with the fluffy love... whether it be the easy way... or the hard way. To be honest our road was hard and bumpy, and we're still bumping along, but we're getting there. Here's how our adventure has gone.

Me: "Let's cloth diaper!"

Brian: "Hell no!"

Me: "We'll save a ton of money."

Brian: "I don't care."

Me: "Babies in cloth have less diaper rash."

Brian: "Oh yeah?"

Me: [took hubby to a cloth diaper store] "Look how easy they are!"

Brian: "I can do that."

Store Customer: "My diapers are leaking."

Brian: [gives me the eye and walks out of the store]

Me: "Crap!"

Me: [give Brian the puppy dog look and say it would make me really happy]

Brian: "Ok"

Me: [buy the diapers... and they leak] "Crap!"

Brian: "Told you so. Cloth sucks."

Me: [put Linc in bigger diapers and they stop leaking] "Whoot!"

Brian: [no comment]

Me: [buy super cute manly diapers and show hubby] "Look how cute they are!"

Brian: [opens credit card bill] "What the freak!"

Me: "Ooops"

Me: [sell Linc's small diapers for close to what I bought them for] "Whoot!"

Brian: "Awesome!"

Brian: [shows his friend Linc's diaper] "Look at Linc's Money diaper."

Me: "Victory!!!"

Sorry for the long post, but it's been a long road. Let's hope we keep moving forward and don't hit another bump. Solid food's coming soon. Eeek! Fingers crossed.