The Cloth Mama Spotlight
Tags: Eco, Motherhood, Cloth Diapering, Mothers, Eco Products

A Monthly Newsletter Celebrating All Cloth Diapering Mamas in Singapore

Inaugural Issue| September 2021

Meet The Mama

Silvia Honggo is no stranger to the Cloth Diapering Singapore (CDSG) community where she has been an active member since August 2020. Affectionately known to many as Sin Sin, this 36-year-old mummy of a 7-month old boy, Nate, is originally from Indonesia. Silvia came to Singapore in 2007 and has since become a Singapore citizen. Married to a Singaporean for 12 years now, Silvia speaks a total of 3 languages: Bahasa Indonesian, English and Mandarin.

As a big animal lover, Silvia currently owns an online pet-store business, Push Pets. She has a 3 year-old Holland Lop rabbit, Zena, which she adopted when it was only 2 years old. Prior to becoming a small business owner, Silvia was a leading air stewardess of Singapore Airlines (yes, she used to don the green uniform) for 12 years before taking a career break to start a family.

The Cloth Diapering Journey

Baby Nate is born in January 2021 and has been in cloth diapers ever since he is a newborn.

Speaking fondly of her little boy, Silvia smiled, “Nate is a God’s gift for us. Ever since 4 months of age, he has been trying to communicate with us with more than just a simple cry. Whenever he is hungry, he would usually give us a few nudges and call out with his signature ‘nggggh ngggh’ sound. It really surprises us that he hardly cries even when he’s needy. He loves doing the ‘downward dog’ pose when we put him on the bed. He can easily self-entertain in this position for quite some time.”

Making the switch to cloth was not that difficult for Silvia. She explained, “My older sister used to cloth-diaper her son and I remembered vividly how adorable the prints were! After Nate was born, my husband and I did a count and was appalled at the number of disposable diapers needed for a newborn in a month!”.

Fortunately for Silvia, the family has been extremely supportive in her decision to try cloth diapering, especially her elder sister and her husband. “First of all, I shared all information with my husband. We calculated how much the disposables cost as compared to the cloth diapers. I’d admit that it doesn’t seem to save a lot for me due to my addiction to cloth diapers. But, I managed to convince him on how easy the process was- spray down the poo and wring; throw them to the dry pail and then the washing machine in the morning. He was skeptical at first but I insisted to give it a try with an open mind of using disposables if cloth diapering didn’t work out for us. And yeah! We did it!”

Overcoming Challenges

However, there was one main challenge to overcome.

“Nate is born with a tiny hole in the heart. While doing a routine check-up when he was 2 months old, the doctor further discovered one more thing- Nate has a rare heart condition called Junctional ectopic tachycardia. This means that his heart beats really fast- as fast as 220 beats per minute (bpm) even when he is sleeping!” An average heart beat for an infant at rest is between 90 to 160bpm.

Silvia continued, “He was quite fussy in the beginning as we were not aware of his heart condition. Changing diapers was a nerve-wrecking affair! We have to change quickly and we find that All-in-Ones (AIO) and Pockets are the most suitable. Prefolds and flats are definitely out of the question.”

The other family members were initially concerned that cloth diapering might be too tiring on top of caring for Nate. Silvia said, “My husband and I only have each other with no additional help since the very beginning.” There were other questions that Silvia had to address. She laughed, “My family is concerned that the washing machine will be very dirty and that we will have to pay a lot for electricity and water. They also think that cloth diapers may feel hot for baby due to layers of inserts.”

She was quick to dispel all these untruth. “Honestly, I didn’t notice any significant increase in the electricity and water bill after cloth diapering and I’ve not had Nate in discomfort from wearing them. I believe in what I am doing and after a while they just stopped saying anything.”

Cloth Diapering Provides A Sense of Comfort

During the stressful period when baby Nate was under observation at the hospital for his heart condition, Silvia found that cloth diapers gave her a huge sense of comfort.

She said, “Believe it or not, cloth diapers give me happiness! When I open my drawers, I will smile and feel really happy to be able to choose which one goes on the bum. IT IS FUN! Like what some mummies in the group mentioned, it is SHOW TIME- like a fashion show!” She also sheepishly admitted, “I’ve counted my cloth diapers just for fun before, let’s just say that I’ve enough cloth diapers for a few bums.”

So, what are some of Silvia’s favourite diaper systems?

“As time goes by, I started to fall in love with Fitteds. So my collection is mainly Pockets, Fitteds and some of the AIOs. I have different reasons for loving each system. For example, for Pockets, I love how fast they dry and this is very helpful during the rainy season. Fitted hybrid diaper brands like Lilly and Frank and Twinkie Tush are my new favourites because I love how gentle the elastics are on the skin and how they look on the bum- so cute and soft! I won’t leave out my AIOs like Blueberry and Totsbots too as they are the easiest system with hardly any preparation needed beforehand.”

Advice to Newbies?

Many of Silvia’s friends think that cloth diapering is hard and time-consuming. “They worry about how ‘leceh’ (tedious) it will be especially the washing part.” She offers her advice, “Try it! They’re not as intimidating as you think. It’s as simple as spraying down the poop, collecting the diapers and washing them 2 times with the main wash at the longest cycle! For those mummies who are unsure about the upfront cost, you can always rent the cloth diapers from The Nappy Nook at an affordable price to see which works before buying. And hey, don’t forget to look at those cute diapers on our baby’s bum!!”

What does she think of the challenges of cloth diapering for newbies?

“I feel that it will work 80% of the time because it’s really about following simple steps! The other 20% probably may not work out if you really can’t handle the pee and poo (literally) in your hands. And yes, cloth diapering definitely requires more time as compared to disposables where you could just throw them into the bin.”

Silvia thinks that cloth diapering is gaining awareness from parents in Singapore. Her enthusiasm is clearly infectious. She enthused, “I think we should share with more people how EASY and FUN this is. Join the Cloth Diapering community! I’ve definitely met many kind mummies and gained new friends here!”