Modern Natural Baby Hosts Guinness World Records Attempt

A room full of mostly docile babies and their parents participated in a Guinness World Records attempt Saturday at Modern Natural Baby in Ferndale.

Approximately 40 adults took part in The Great Cloth Diaper Change, an event held at locations around the world in an effort to break last year's record of 8,251 cloth diapers changed simultaneously, Modern Natural Baby owner Emily Murray said.

A whistle blew promptly at 11 a.m. and the participants got to work changing their babies, who cast curious glances at each other as the sounds of Velcro and cooing filled the air.

"It's just great to be able to bring more awareness about cloth diapers and to be around other like-minded parents," said Ferndale resident Libbie Rutherford, who participated with her son Gavin.

In recognition of the world record attempt, Ferndale designated April 20 as Cloth Diaper Day in the city and wished Modern Natural Baby good luck with a formal proclamation.

"The fact is that each year 25 billion disposable diapers go into landfills and those diapers take hundreds of years to decompose," the proclamation reads. "That means one baby will contribute 2 tons of garbage into a landfill in just disposable diapers alone."

Door prizes – including a baby carrier, toys and teethers – were distributed before and after the The Great Cloth Diaper Change.

"It's a lot of fun to see all the babies," said City Councilwoman Melanie Piana, who served as the official Guinness World Records witness to the event for the third year. "But, it's also fun to see a business owner growing and being successful."