I guess my very first blog entry will be about how we like cloth diapering as a family. Now before I even got pregnant I new I wanted to go the route of cloth diapering, because it would not only save us money in the long run but also save on the environment which is important to me and for my child(ren)'s future. I new the benefits, made a budget and saved up enough money to buy our first stash/essentials. I even made a vlog on my youtube channel talking about why we chose to go with cloth diapers compared to disposables and all the benefits to come a long with cloth.
I remember while I was pregnant I had quite a few people tell me that its probably not a good idea, that it will take up too much time and its a pain in the ass to follow through with and last but not least cleaning off the poo every time they had a bowel movement wouldn't be too pleasant and would make you want to run the other way. I will admit it did make me question our decision we had made, but it also made me more determined to do it and stick to it.
Our cloth diapering plan was to start off with using disosables to begin with, because I have heard the meconium poo is hard to get out and also I didn't want to have to worry about washing cloth diapers the first two weeks of having a newborn especially with eveyrthing being so new and myself trying to heal from birth. I am glad I made that plan, because Dagney was in the nicu the first week of his life and I had a bad episiotomy and tail bone pain, which I think I broke during child birth I would like to add. We had bought 9 diapers, different brands and wanted to try those out first and see which we liked best than we would buy the rest of our stash. We figured we liked the bum genius 3.0's but at that time had changed into the 4.0's. So we bought more bum genius and 2 happy heiny's. Keep in mind all of these are pockets and one size fits all. We bought about 22 to add to our other 9 which was making 31, obviously. haha But the reason we went with more is because at the time Dagney was peeing SO much that we wanted enough so we could do the laundry that day and still have some in his stash to last him while we were washing them and letting them line dry. Glad we did. However now that he doesn't go through that many diapers we can get away with washing every two days which is nice I will admit.
Washing and using are so easy! I mean they are a tiny bit more work then disposables, but not by vary much at all. We bought one of those diaper sprayers that hooks up to your toilet and can spray off the poo right into the toilet and that had helped tons! We use the Arm & Hammer liquid soap that's free of everything and our diapers come out smelling fresh and no stinkies at all. We were using the Rockin' Green detergent but I found it didn't work at all and was just leaving our diapers smelling after each wash, even with me letting them soak and putting them through an extra rinse so we switched and thank goodness we did. I mean I am sure the Rockin' Green works wonders for others but for us it just didn't rock our cloth diapers! lol Plus Arm&Hammer is so much cheaper too which is a bonus.
Anyways, We have had to use disposables here and there because of bum rashes that have required medical creams for, but other than that we use cloth most of the time. I just recently bought some awesome Kawaii diapers that have some awesome prints to them and my favourite a tiger print one which I have been waiting a month to be restoked and I got it! Wooo! Dagney is going to have the cutest bum ever this summer.
So with the new order of Kawaii's and our other diapers we will have a grand total of 40! Yes, I know so many, but thats okay. We can re-use them with our following child and maybe our third if we decide to have more then two children so I think it was money well spent.
So all in all cltoh diapering hasn't been such a pain at all! Not by the least. So anyone that might be interested in going the cloth diapering route I would really recomend it. :)
We love cloth diapering!
Hey Megan great post! I had considered cloth diapering before my daughter was born. However as we got closet to the big date the financial cost of it seemed so overwhelming. Now I admit that disposables can be costly too the start up cost of the cloth was enough to make me run for the hills. So I use disposables. And I am happy with my choice now that I have raised a child threw baby hood and into toddler years. However thew the course of this last two years I have seen that cloth diapering has become more of a trend then an Eco-smart thing to do. I must admit it seems a bit like just what the cool kids are doing and with that comes negative opinions about disposable using mommies. I have to admit that I cringe a bit when people talk about their cloth diapers non stop. I am glad that more people are becoming aware of different options but sometimes wonder if it is a trend. I would be interested to know your opinion. Do you think that some mothers use cloth diapering as a way to stand out among other mothers? Do you think that cloth diapering is a fashion phase that will soon go out of style for most mommies?
ReplyDeleteHey Megan great post! I had considered cloth diapering before my daughter was born. However as we got closet to the big date the financial cost of it seemed so overwhelming. Now I admit that disposables can be costly too the start up cost of the cloth was enough to make me run for the hills. So I use disposables. And I am happy with my choice now that I have raised a child threw baby hood and into toddler years. However thew the course of this last two years I have seen that cloth diapering has become more of a trend then an Eco-smart thing to do. I must admit it seems a bit like just what the cool kids are doing and with that comes negative opinions about disposable using mommies. I have to admit that I cringe a bit when people talk about their cloth diapers non stop. I am glad that more people are becoming aware of different options but sometimes wonder if it is a trend. I would be interested to know your opinion. Do you think that some mothers use cloth diapering as a way to stand out among other mothers? Do you think that cloth diapering is a fashion phase that will soon go out of style for most mommies?
ReplyDeleteGood question youmightseeher(not quite sure you real name?) I have heard a lot of people mention that cloth diapering has seemed to take a huge trend and is becoming very popular. I am sure there are some mothers that will join onto the cloth diapering band wagon to look "cool" or be excepted, but I think that is with everything now a days. Teenager and children seem to do it a lot more than adults tend to do. I think that it might die not it might not, but I will say even if it is a trend to stand out or look cool to others its a great way to get the word out about cloth diapering. I have nothing against any mother that uses disposables full time on their children. Hey I would be a hypocrite if I did, because we have and probably still will use disposables with my son. Now a days though you can get more affordable cloth diapers that don't cost a fortune. I think if I had bought ALL of my cloth diapers not name brand and went with Kawaii ones we would have saved a lot! I am all about saving too, but stupid me at the time didn't even know there was the option of getting good cloth diapers just not brand name or even second hand ones. One Kawaii diaper is approx. 10 compared to a name brand which can range anywhere from 22-30 dollars! Ouch! Hope that answers your question. :)
ReplyDeleteI have to add what a great post! and to add into the comments below..
ReplyDeletei dont think its really a trend. I think people that see others on youtube see that it is still around and its not that hard and time consuming! and if it is a trend, what a good one to start! I think if it is and people stillt try it they will find that they LIKE it and keep it up and so then they and the environment are benefiting from a trend. So whether it is or not, its bettering our environment and lowering the cost of diapers that people have to buy!
Kailin
Awesome post Meg!
ReplyDeleteI want to switch to cloth and am looking into it right now to see if the diaper service here actaully will clean them for you cuz with only having technically one day a week for laundry its not enough to do diapers, if we have a diaper service i am definitely switching!
Exactly, Kailin! Took the words right out of my mouth. Its a good trend.
ReplyDeleteThanksKaitlin! If you can, you totally should. The only way we were at all able to make cloth diapering work is with us having our own personal washing machine in our place, if that wasn't the case we wouldn't of been able to I don't think. :)
YES YES YES Keep Blogin lady! cant wait to journey with you:D
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Meg! Keep passing the word on CD! What an easy step to take in ensuring a healthy earth for the future generations.
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