Monday, September 27, 2010

Insane or thrifty? I'll let you decide!

Here it is, my cloth diapering system. Yes, that is right, I said cloth diapers. For a while now, every time I would go to Costco I would hum and ha and grumble just slightly at the money I had to shell out for disposable diapers. And, for a while now, Matthew has timidly suggested we convert to cloth. I would usually just give him the "easy for you to say, mister goes to work all day" look and he would drop it. But my good friend Carrie, who just happens to cloth diaper herself, finally convinced me to just try it out. She loaned me some diapers, some wipes, and the special laundry soap you wash them with. I was fully prepared to hate every minute of it, but much to my surprise, it wasn't that bad, or that hard. Yes, you have a bit more work involved--but I found that being able to save $100.00 a month on diapers (I currently have two in diapers at the moment) has been well worth it. So, I went on line (there are so many websites now for cloth diapers), bought my diapers(I got two sets to start with), my diaper sprayer, my pail, wipes, and a few accessories, and have been exclusively cloth diapering for a few weeks now. I still have a day here and there where I think "why did I get myself into this?" But most days I am really glad we made the change. The only thing I still buy are wipes for around the house and to keep in the diaper bag for cleaning hands, faces, and the occasional mess. And I will have to buy the laundry soap every few months. But I am still saving much more than I was spending. And I am happy to say that both Olivia and Parker seem to have adjusted to the change as well. I was most worried about Parker, but he does great in them. And for an added bonus, Olivia hasn't had diaper rash since we switched to cloth.

Here is my angel baby sporting her cute new look!

8 comments:

Kelly Ann said...

Some of my friends here use the cloth and they love them. I don't know if I could do it but you never know. It seems like too much work to me but maybe it isn't. I am glad that you like them

Mayhem no longer said...

Do you think your diapers will be reusable after one child? Most of the reviews I've read say not, which to me means they are practically the same price as disposables, just as an upfront cost instead of monthly. What do you think?

Brienne said...

Hey! Let me know how it goes. I may be able to help you with any questions that come up. We have cloth diapered Sadie from the beginning and love it!

Niki said...

Melanie--my friend Carrie has used her cloth diapers for all three of her kids, and a few others I know that cloth diaper have used them on multiple children as well (the same diapers.) I am not sure what reviews you have read, but what I found on line was pretty positive about use on multiple children. It also depends on what brand you buy, regarding expense. My diapers were very reasonable priced (we spent $200 total to get started an will make back what we spent in another month--and we'll be using diapers for another two years or so) and seem very sturdy. Granted, we've only been using them about a month, but so far so good :) There are also lots of washing and stripping techniques that help in extending the life and effectiveness of the diaper, ect. That's just what I think--it's not for everyone and that's ok, too :)

Aaron, Vicki Tunell said...

Way to go! I've always wondered about doing that, and now I'm at the end I kind of wish I had. We've spent so much on diapers :( I love Olivia's little legs with that cute blue diaper. So precious!!!

Vicki

Kristen Crandall said...

I think we are going to give it a try for our next one. Eli is still in diapers...I could buy a few training pants I guess. I thought I would have to convince Spencer, but when I brought it up he was all for it. Let me know how it goes =)

TrishAnderson said...

Wow. I know quite a few people that have done the cloth diaper thing. Glad it is working out for you. I say thrifty - not insane!

Erin Leigh said...

dude, we've totally been doing cloth diapers for about a month now too! we're trying them on june in preparation for olive. she's still too small so i'm waiting another week or so. it's been so overwhelming i have to admit. we do have the sprayer aaron installed and it works great. we do both prefolds and inserts and i totally prefer the prefolds. the laundry aspect is such a headache. i read about how a ton of people have used tide (horror of horrors) on their dipaers and it's worked out great so i just but a small box to try. i'll strip them if i need to if it doesn't work out but i need something for the smell and stains! people really swore by tide. we'll see...
let's talk cloth diapers some more!