My First Brick and Mortar Diaper Store (and the flip!)

My mother came to visit us this past weekend and we were thrilled to make the trip into St. Louis to pick her up from the airport. She wanted to take the kids to the Halloween party at the St. Louis Zoo, so we decided to spend the night at an airport hotel. We had an interesting night with a fussy baby, but everyone was excited to go explore St. Louis the next day. In addition to the zoo, Tim and I wanted to visit two stores we always skip because the kids will be too tired. He wanted to visit Costco (which we love and miss!) and I wanted to make a trip to Cotton Babies.

Mom thought my enthusiasm for visiting a cloth diaper store was pretty amusing. I have a penchant for getting passionate about things – I tell people I can talk just as enthusiastically about my favorite ice cream flavor as I can about politics. It’s simply my nature. Since I don’t live near a cloth diaper store and I’ve purchased all of my diapers online, I really wanted to walk through one, talk to a salesperson, and touch various products.

Cotton Babies did not disappoint. They had the new flip diapers (although they were out of the multi-pack) and econobum. The salesperson patiently answered so many of my questions about diapers, slings, diaper solution, etc. They even carried a terrific selection of clothing and toys. I only wished they’d also had smartipants to try, but since they’re the makers of Bumgenius, they primarily carry their own products (and who would blame them?).

I happily left with a Ribbit flip and 2 stay-dry inserts, plus some cloth wipes solution. This is silly, but I kept reaching in the bag to touch the soft inserts and talked steadily about cloth diapers for a few minutes. My mom said to me, “If you can get this excited about a cloth diaper…” in a lovingly teasing voice and I realized that maybe I was going a bit overboard. I just don’t go shopping that often right now and I love trying out new things!

Now I just have to wash the cover (6 times by itself!) and the inserts. Once that’s done, I’ll try them out on my little guy and post a review.