Puget Sound Placenta is thrilled to get a chance to interview Carolyn Janisch, owner of Baby Diaper Service which has been serving the Puget Sound Region since 1946.
Cloth diapering has experienced quite the revolution of interest over the last decade. With lots of options, sometimes it’s hard to know what to choose. Many parents want to cloth diaper but can’t wash their own diapers. We are so fortunate in our area to have a service that will deliver fresh clean diapers to your door each week for an affordable price. Baby Diaper Service is the easiest way to cloth diaper and they are even more eco-friendly than home washing! Plus they deliver from Olympia to Bellingham so that most of the Puget Sound can get service even if they are rural.
Here is the scoop on how Carolyn came to own Baby Diaper Service and what you can expect as a customer.
Why did you choose to get into cloth diapering?
Each month I teach BDS101 cloth diapering classes in several locations. I love being able to connect with expectant parents, it is such a special time. I often start by telling these expectant parents that I was in their shoes, a while back, 23 years ago to be exact.
My husband and I were expecting our first child and we were making many similar decisions that they are making – which is the best and safest crib, car seat, stroller, carrier, high chair. As we did our research, we also included diapers; what is the best and safest diaper option for our child. Based on the long list of chemicals in disposable diapers, we determined that the healthiest option for our baby was cloth diapers. We also discovered it was the healthiest option for the environment, which was important to us. However, we knew we didn’t want to wash the diapers ourselves.
My sister had used Baby Diaper Service for all 4 of her children. To this day she says it is one of the best decisions she made for her babies. I took her advice and we signed up for Baby Diaper Service. What a treat! Freshly laundered diapers delivered to our front door! We loved using Baby Diaper Service!
Eventually, we had three sons and we were Baby Diaper Service customers over a span of about 8 years!
I loved how simple and convenient it was to make such a healthy choice for each of our boys. We were thankful to avoid diaper rashes during our many diapering years. Plus the statistics are true – children do potty train 6-12 months earlier when they are cloth diapered. It is one of the best decisions I made for our 3 baby boys! I don’t remember what crib we chose or what car seat or stroller we chose – but I remember choosing cloth diapers for our boys!
After our youngest child was potty trained, I remember being excited that we were diaper free, but I was sad to cancel our diaper service. For a short period, I did actually miss our diaper delivery man and the weekly magical deliveries. I would set the bag of soiled diapers out early in the morning and by mid day that bag would be replaced with fluffy freshly laundered diapers for the week. I am often reminded of that by our current customers. The cancellation notices we receive are similar – our customers are sad to cancel their cloth diaper delivery service, but happy to be diaper free! We have had customers continue for several weeks and then tell us they just postponed cancelling because they weren’t ready to cancel.
How did you come to own Baby Diaper Service?
Just over 3 years ago, I found myself back in full time diaper duty, however this time in a much different role – as the new owner of Baby Diaper Service! My husband and I decided to purchase Baby Diaper Service for many of the same reasons we chose it for our children. It was an opportunity to help other families choose the healthiest option for their baby and for the environment. With more emphasis for people to choose natural, healthier products and services for their families, homes and environment combined with a service we treasured as new parents, we were excited to step in to this business and continue the tradition and commitment of providing this wonderful service to families! When we used cloth diapers, we used pins and rubber pants. We were excited to see that cloth diapering is more modern. No more pins and no more poking baby – or your own finger, yeah! You get adorable cloth diaper covers that fit snug on baby to hold the diaper in place! Healthy, affordable, convenient… and adorable!
Tell us about the typical service, what do parents get for a month of service?
Baby Diaper Service is proud to provide weekly service of cloth diapers as this allows parents to choose cloth diapers, but spend their time and energy on other things – rather than laundry! We are honored that they are choosing BDS to do the dirty work!
Most of our customers set up their diaper service account one to six months in advance. We deliver the pre-birth delivery to their home approximately 2 weeks prior to their due date. This includes the diaper pail, a pail liner, their first set of cloth diapers, a deodorizer disc and any accessories they have purchased.
We return with their second set of diapers once they notify us with the exciting news that baby has arrived! Then we begin regular weekly delivery.
Using our service is so simple. Parents simply change baby’s wet or soiled diaper and drop it in the diaper pail that we provide. There is no rinsing, soaking or dumping from birth to potty training!
On their service day, they set the soiled diapers outside their front door. Our drivers remove the bag of soiled diapers and replace it with a bag of freshly laundered cloth diapers.
How do you connect with and support families interested in using cloth diapers?
Baby Diaper Service prides ourselves on our customer service – our entire team works hard every day for our customers. We really are with our customer for their cloth diapering journey; from birth to potty training and often for multiple children. There can be a bit of a learning curve with the cloth diapers. A new parent just reminded me during a home visit – if that was the only thing that was new and they were just learning how to diaper, that would be one thing. But there are so many things that are new during those first few days, weeks. Mom is recovering from childbirth, mom and baby may be working to figure out breastfeeding, everyone is sleep deprived! On top of that…we are learning how to diaper our baby.
We understand, we listen, we help with cloth diaper troubleshooting. But we also understand and empathize with everything that comes with being a new parent, a parent of a toddler, a parent welcoming a sibling. We have an amazing team, we are parents, we care and we celebrate each milestone right along side our families. Yes, we provide an amazing service delivering cloth diapers each week, but we also are a family and a community. Wrap your baby in BDS cotton and love.
As always, we would love to answer any questions you have about placenta encapsulation. Don’t hesitate to send us a quick note!