I just had a baby! While I am out on maternity leave for a few weeks or so, I have begged some of the bloggers that I stalk most admire to contribute guest posts to this space so it won’t be lonely. The posts are so awesome that I am afraid you won’t want me back.

The goal of these guests posts is to bring new and different insights to this space. Viewpoints that I am unfamiliar with, advice from those who have been where I have not been, and ideas that might seem foreign to myself and my readers but are important to consider.

Today’s guest blogger is Calley, The Eco Chic (@TheEcoChic). I met Calley for the first time in person at BlogHer 2010, after possibly lurking following her blog for quite a while. Calley is a cloth diapers expert, natural parenting green blogger at night and an environmental consultant by day. She can also be found @EcoChicParties.

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It’s no secret that the hubby and I are officially done having babies!  We’re both in our 30’s and have always known that two children would be our limit.  I only wish I had known about the modern cloth diaper with my first child so I could have played with them more.  As we approach the potty learning days (our tot is 2 years old) our cloth diapering days are numbered. 

In honor of Jenny’s newest arrival I thought I would share some things that I would do differently if we had more babies.

1. Our initial investment in cloth diapers would include more of a variety in brand and styles.  We purchased a bulk of one type and style of cloth diapers with the intention that we would use them and sell them and have no need to buy any more along the way.  While this CAN be done and many people can only afford the one time investment I wish we had tried more brands and styles at the beginning.  I would have bought a trial package or starter package like the ones they offer at Kelly’s Closet and would have built a diverse fluffy stash.
    
2. I would have bought some second hand newborn diapers and I would have taken them to the hospital with us.  We didn’t really get a chance to experience cloth diapers with a newborn since our stash was one-sized diapers that didn’t fit our petite baby until almost 8-10 weeks of age.  Then I would have resold them as we outgrew them.  I would have tried a variety of newborn styles and types too – and not just one brand or style. 
    
3. I would have taken more professional photos of our baby in cloth diapers.  Looking back at the first few months of our journey I don’t have a lot of cute cloth diaper pictures.  A newborn picture in cloth diapers would be adorable hanging on our walls and would be a great way to share our passion with friends and family.
    
4. I would have signed up for Twitter before I had a baby and started to talk with other #clothdiapers moms online.  I can honestly say that almost everything I learned about cloth diapers I learned from Twitter – or at least from the connections I made on Twitter.  Most Monday evenings from 9-?? PM ET you can find mom’s online discussing cloth diapers using the #clothdiapers hashtag.  This unsponsored chat was originally hosted by bumGenius and now it’s just a great place to meet up with moms around the world who use cloth diapers.  Some weeks bumGenius will still show up to offer their advice and maybe even a giveaway or two.  Many weeks you can even find me hosting a cloth diaper Twitter Party by various cloth diaper retailers and brands under @EcoChicParties.     
    
5. I would have blogged more about our journey and experiences with cloth diapers in the early days.  Sure, I did some early blog posts but I had no idea how valuable my lessons would be to others.   You can read more about my cloth diapering journey, read my cloth diaper reviews, and enter the occasional contest at The Eco Chic blog.