And just like that, our little Lucas is one year old. That time certainly flew by.

I’ve been back to work for quite some time already, but have been lucky enough to split my time between home and the office with my sister watching Lucas at our house a couple of days a week. This was so ideal as she would, of course, use cloth diapers on him because that’s what we have.

But now it’s time for this mama to get back to the office full-time which means daycare for our little guy.

I don’t know how it is where you live, but here in the Niagara Region of Ontario, cloth diapering is not mainstream. The process of finding a daycare for your child – at least in my brief experience – is stressful enough let alone narrowing your search options by whether or not they will accept cloth diapers. And buying disposable diapers just for daycare was the last thing I wanted to do. Aside from the health benefits (Lucas tends to react to disposable diapers), the environmental impact and the fact that I prefer to “practice what I preach”, it would be an expense that we have not had to incur thus far.

I can see how cloth diapering could be daunting for the working mom.

However, I was determined to make this work and we ended up getting Lucas into a rather sought-after home daycare around the corner from our house – score! We chose her because we know a few people who have sent their kids to her and we found that comforting. But I had no idea if she would be willing to use cloth diapers, and as far as I knew, no other child there wore cloth.

Alex and I went to meet her, armed with a Wizard Uno and prepared to give the best “Cloth 101” demonstration we could. To my surprise, she saw the diaper and was impressed with the simplicity of it. Once I explained that there would be no work on her part (poop, pee, just toss it all in the wet bag and I’ll deal with it afterward) she was convinced it would be no problem. (YES!)

I’ve been sending Lucas there with cloth diapers for 2 weeks now and it has been a breeze. I did mark the snap settings for her with a Sharpie so she would have no trouble fitting them (yes, you read that right, I marked up Wizard Unos with permanent marker in the interest of cloth diapering!). She even sends them back to me in the wet bag all rolled up and snapped over so it all stays clean.

So, if you’re a working mom who will need to at some point send your child to daycare, don’t fret! Don’t make assumptions, don’t be afraid to ask. Educate those around you. Asking “do you accept cloth diapers?” may not be the best question if they are not familiar with modern cloth diapers. Show your daycare provider your cloth diapers. Teach them how to use them. Make it easy for them! Choose a cloth diapering system that is convenient.

The Wizard Uno is the perfect cloth diaper for daycare. Simple, reliable, trim. It’s the closest you will get to a disposable diaper in terms of ease of use.

Written by: Melissa Froese