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Couples aim to break cloth diaper world record

Two Bedford couples participated in the Real Diaper Association’s attempt to break the Guinness world record for most cloth diapers changed at one time. The event took place worldwide at some 300 locations, including one station at Elliot Hospital in Manchester. According to Three Monkeys Cloth Diaper owner Stacy McGowan, the event broke the Guinness world record for most cloth diapers changed at one time, with 8,251.

Three Monkeys Cloth Diapers and Green Earth Baby Works hosted the event at Elliot Hospital on Saturday, April 21. Three Monkeys Cloth Diapers is a cloth diaper boutique store in Manchester, and Green Earth Baby Works is a cloth diaper-changing service in Epping.

“The event consisted of lots of mom and dads changing cloth diapers at one time,” said Kim Leo, founder of Green Earth Baby Works. “The Great Cloth Diaper Change is an event to raise awareness. Cloth diapers are not your grandmother’s diapers. There is no dunking and swashing, and no plastic and pins. The changing process is so much easier.”

Leo also said the event tries to spur people on to the idea that disposable diapers are exposing kids to chemicals and health risks, such as rashes and allergic reactions.

“My oldest had the worst diaper rash because of an allergic reaction to the disposables. I wanted to do a lot of research about cloth diapers before I gave birth, but my husband had his mother and grandparents filling his ear with the hassles of cloth diapers,” Leo said. “The wash is so much better now. There are so many different kinds of cloth diapers: flats, pre-folds, pockets and all-in-ones.”

There are more than 232 locations and counting and sites in 13 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Chile, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Japan, Brazil and Estonia, that attempted to break last year’s Guinness world record of 5,026 cloth diapers changed simultaneously at 127 locations in five countries.

The Manchester event had 41 participant couples and, as of press time, the unofficial total count worldwide was more than 7,000 changed.

Leo runs a small business of about 18 clients. She drops off cloth diapers to couples throughout New Hampshire, primarily in the Seacoast and Manchester areas. She then collects the dirty diapers, washes them and returns them to the couples. She estimates that, through her methods, she uses about 40 gallons per load, 15 gallons per couple, versus 80-100 gallons Americans use per load of diapers on their own.

Leo plans to open up a Green Earth Baby Works retail store in Epping on June 1.