Moms going for cloth diaper world record
SALEM – A bunch of young Salem-area mothers are going for a world record – in diaper changing, that is.
Katy Hening and Nicole Mutter use cloth diapers on their babies, 7-month-old George and Mutter’s 3-month-old Daniel and his big brother, 2-1/2-year-old Lucas. To encourage other families to try reusable diapers and to celebrate Earth Day, the two moms are coordinating the Salem “Great Cloth Diaper Change.”
"Great Cloth Diaper Change" local organizers are Katie Hening, left, and Nicole Mutter. Their babies George, Daniel and toddler Lucas wear snap-on diaper covers over cloth diapers. Photo by Meg Hibbert
The April 21 event will take place at the same time as similar events across the United States and eight other countries – so far. Participants will be trying to set a new Guinness World Record for simultaneously changing cloth diapers on the most babies.
Honest. There really is a Guinness World Record for that. Last year, the record was set with 5,026 participants at 127 locations in five countries. Mutter and Lucas were among those, when they participated in Lynchburg at the Best Start Parenting Center. Seventy-five babies were changed, she said. This year Mutter decided to start one closer to her Roanoke home.
In addition to promoting the idea of reusing and reducing the number of disposable diapers going to landfills, families can save money with cloth diapers, the two friends said. According to the Real Diaper Industry Association, families can save an average of $2,000 by using cloth diapers instead of disposable ones for one baby.
Until recently, Mutter was the only person Hening knew in the whole Roanoke Valley who used cloth diapers and snap-on diaper covers, she said.
The two friends are hoping the Great Cloth Diaper Change will change that.
In the challenge, moms, dads, grandparents and caregivers are pledging to change babies’ diapers at exactly 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 21.
Hening and Mutter’s goal is to have 50 babies all being changed at once in the social hall of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salem. “We already have 25 signed up,” said Hening.
There’s no charge to take part in the world record attempt, but participants do have to sign up. People can do that at http://www.facebook.com/diaperchange.roanoke.
On the day of the event in Salem, the first 50 people arriving get goodie bags with all kinds of items to make life with babies easier. Hening said there are 34 sponsors, seven who will be exhibitors at the diaper changing challenge.
This is the way the event in Salem and the rest of the world will work, according to event rules from Guinness:
• Each participant must be paired with one child 39 inches or shorter.
• Each child must be changed into a cloth, reusable diaper that can be purchased online, at store or from a diaper service. (It does not matter what diaper the child arrives in.)
• At the sound of a bell or other loud signal all participants must remove their child’s existing diaper;
• When the bell rings, each participant will hold up a clean diaper high in the air;
• Change their child’s diaper, and then,
• Hold up their child wearing the clean diaper.
There are even instructions on when photographers can take pictures: No photos or videos of the babies while they’re naked.
The Great Cloth Diaper Change website – http://greatclothdiaperchange.com/ – explains the world record attempt is a way to “show the world how many people are already choosing and using reusable cloth diapers successfully.”
The site says a total of 124 hosts in nine countries have completed their applications to be a part of the world record challenge. In addition to the United States, people will be changing diapers as part of the challenge in Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Chile, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Spain.
In Salem, participants will be able to start registering at 10:30 a.m. Only those people signed in by noon will be able to take part in the diaper challenge, Mutter emphasized.
Both moms have enlisted the aid of their families, including Mutter’s husband, Corey; Hening’s husband Ross, who will be doing registration, and her parents, Randy and Betsy Hanson, who will be “doing whatever I’m told,” Randy Hanson said.
A new cloth diaper service, Wombat Wash in Christiansburg, paid the entry fee for the Salem event, the two moms said. “Thanks to a generous donation by Wombat Wash, there will be a raffle with tickets for sale,” said Hening. Proceeds from the raffle will go to the Real Diaper Association, which is a 501 c 3 non-profit.
After the diaper changing, Melody Makers will provide music.
We used cloth diapers on our youngest who is now five. They are wonderful!! Kudos to these moms for going the cloth route!!