Well, I guess its never too late to get started,
right?! I really wanted to start with our third child, but it just never
happened. Then, I was determined to start after our fourth child was over the
whole meconium nastiness. But, again…it just never happened. And for several
really good reasons, money being the biggest. And, the increased laundry being
another.
So, we settled into disposable diapers – again.
Granted there are perks to using disposable diapers: quick change on-the-go, no
wet bag to carry around, the mess folds up inside of itself and throws away, no
extra laundry…
I must say, those perks are what kept me buying
disposable diapers for the past 3 years!! They were quick and easy. I was
honestly scared to death of cloth diapers. As a teenager I babysat for a family
that used cloth diapers. You know the old pre-folds that went into that icky
plastic liner? They were confusing, nasty and I could never see myself using those!
Then, I started seeing many of my friends posting
about their cloth diapers on facebook and raving about them. So, I decided I
should check them out. No harm in checking, right? Oh. My. Word. Can I just
tell you how overwhelming it was to see all the options now available? I immediately
closed the browser and walked away. I forgot about them for quite a while
simply because of all the new styles, types, options – it was too much!
Finally, I got up the nerve to try again. This time I
employed The Hubster to help out so it wouldn’t be too overwhelming. He
actually got quite into the research and did a lot of the reading. In fact, he
was the one that found the type of diaper he thought would fit us well. What a
relief!
Then came the issue of cost. We would have to save
for months in order to be able to afford anything. We didn’t have the extra
cash lying around to just up and buy a supply of cloth diapers. I mean, we’re
talking close to $200 or more, at least! So, I began looking into the online
resale shops and watching for ones I wanted. But, that was taking a long time
and I was getting impatient. Actually, I thought the longer I waited, the less
likely I would be to actually start using them.
 |
| Our Charlie Banana girl diapers - aren't they so cute?! |
Then, about a month ago I saw a cloth diapering
system at Target and fell in love with them!!! They were very similar to the
style we’d decided on using and they were reasonably priced too!! But, still
the money was not there. I knew going to cloth diapers would save us a ton of money each month (approx $150).
So, I began to pray and ask God to provide. And, He did!!! (Duh, right?!) We
were blessed with a set of 6 cloth diapers and 12 inserts from Target!!! They
are the one-size
Charlie Banana brand, and I love them!! I love how we can adjust the leg size to fit whomever wears them!!
 |
| My oldest daughter wearing her Fuzzibunz |
Oh wait…it gets even better! I found some Fuzzi-bunz cloth
diapers at a garage sale one weekend and snatched them suckers up in a hurry!
They were $5/set, which included the cover and two inserts!!! I got 6 covers
total and 12 inserts for a whopping $30!!!! WA-HOO!!!!
I was so excited that I just stared at them for days
– literally! Well, that and I didn’t know how to wash them just yet. So, I
employed The Hubster yet again to do some research for me. I really wanted a
homemade mix that we could do ourselves, rather than spending tons of money on
one that had to be shipped.
After some research and lots of reading, we finally
found one we were comfortable with and pleased with the ratings. And, so it’s
begun…
So, here are some things I’ve learned along this crazy
journey. I hope they are helpful to some of you out there too!
1. Do your research! Start early so you don’t get
overwhelmed and read, read, read. Read anything you can about the diapers
you’re interested in; reviews, facebook pages, blogs, whatever you can find.
2. If you have a friend that uses cloth diapers, I
highly recommend having a Q&A with them! I had a friend bring over some of
the diapers she uses and we talked about why she uses this one at night and why
she likes this one during the winter, etc. Seeing them in person made it less
overwhelming and I was able to see
which type I might like to try.
3. If your husband is on-board with this adventure,
which I also highly recommend he be 100%, ask his opinion. You want him to feel
just as comfortable changing the diapers as you are!! If they intimidate him,
he might be less likely to help…and we sure don’t want to give them another
excuse to get out of diaper duty! Haha
4. If you’re still not completely sure which diapers
to go with, there are quite a few diaper re-sale shops online that you can find
some on the cheap(er) and try them out. Buy a couple of different brands to try
and just do some “testing” on your “subject.” Then, when you find the one you
want you know you’ll love it and won’t feel as apprehensive!!
5. Don’t forget…just because the diapers come with
inserts doesn’t mean you can’t use pre-folds with them too!!! It’s a GREAT
inexpensive way to add more “diapers” to your stash! Plus, they’re great as a
double-up layer!! Win-Win!!!
Here
is the detergent recipe we decided to use. After much research, the Hubster
decided that using Baking Soda was much safer than using the Borax. So, that’s
why we chose this one over some of the others. And so far, so good. We mix up a
small batch and put it in an old sour cream container and just use about ½ a
scoop per load. You also want to make sure you follow the instructions for
washing your particular brand of diaper/insert. Some of them vary. We wash our
soiled ones in a cold wash/rinse first with no detergent and then add the others and run a regular hot wash
with the detergent. Our hot wash has a cold rinse, which is what most of them
want. So, if yours doesn’t you’ll need to run it through a cold rinse cycle
again before drying them. And, don’t use a dryer sheet!!
But, you need to do your own research and decide for
yourself. You may a friend who’s used borax on all her cloth diapers over the
past 5 years and they’re still great. Then, go with it!
The point is…don’t get overwhelmed by all the
research out there. Read what you can (want) and then ask questions, that’s
where you’ll really get the answers you want.
Well, I hope that helps you!
Blessings,
Annette
My new blog site is up and semi-running. We're still working out all the technicalities. It will officially become my only site on Sunday. So be sure to visit me over there this week and subscribe via email, "Like" my facebook page and just browse around. I will double post here and there this week just to give everyone a chance to transition over! Thanks for your support!!! And let me know what you think of the new site!
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