Daddy changing Abel's diaper
We cloth diaper.
And I LOVE it!
Before we were even pregnant, I began noticing that many of the mom blogs I read talked about cloth diapering. I didn't know anyone personally who did it, and I thought I'd stumbled on a small little group of weird women in my blog searches. The idea kind of sparked a 'hm' in my head, but I didn't give it much more thought than that for a few months. But by the time we were trying to get pregnant, I knew we'd be using cloth. I was intimidated, and knew I'd be less nervous if Reed was on board, too. We researched the different kinds together, and even before we knew if we were having a boy or girl, Reed was showing off our (already purchased!) diapers at dinner parties. Really!
2 month old Abel taking a nap in cloth
We decided to do cloth because of the money we'd be saving. And it's a good thing, too- we often joke that if we'd not done cloth, Abel wouldn't be wearing diapers at all :) The average family spend between 2,500 and 4,000 dollars on diapers, per child. (You can google this, but one site that does the math is here) We spent $326 on diapers that will last for probably 3 children, from 8-35 lbs. Now, Abel was a little guy when he was first born and didn't fit them for the first 2 months or so, but we'd been given some disposables and didn't have to buy many.
If we'd spent an average amount on disposables, $3,250, just for Abel we will have saved almost $3,ooo. THREE THOUSAND! Say he potty trains when he's 2.5. That's like making $23 a week just for cloth diapering! We'll save more with the next kid because we already own the diapers.
3 month old Abel in cloth
I honestly don't understand how women can call themselves frugal and not use cloth. Sure it's extra work, but isn't the frugal thing always more work? Couponing? Searching ads and waiting for items to go on sale? Breastfeeding? Cooking at home rather than going out? Why do so many women do these things, but think cloth is too much work?
Snoozing in cloth at an Easter Egg Hunt--- I promise he has tons of shirts, can't believe he's wearing the same one in all these cloth pictures I had! :)
I think that preconceived notions about how cloth diapering works is scaring too many women away. Diapers are nothing like the ones our grandmothers used! (Unless you want them to be, of course, they still make them.) We use a brand called SmartiPants that are one piece pocket diapers. They have a sleeve on the inside (a 'pocket') that you stuff with an insert that comes with it. The sleeve is opened at both ends, so that the insert agitates out in the wash-- no pulling it out when it's soaked and soiled!
The diaper, opened. I pulled the insert out a little on the right so you could see it.
The material that lines the inside is designed to wick away moisture, which makes them easier to clean when the baby starts eating solids. The poop doesn't stick, because the side of it becomes dry! That way, you can just roll it off into the toilet! Whatever doesn't fall off on it's own will dissolve away in the washer. This means that grandma's days of dunking diapers into the toilet are over. Before baby eats solids, you can just toss the whole thing in the wash. We keep a dry pail on our porch, and I just toss 'em in there until I do laundry- about every other day, but I have enough diapers to go 3+ days.
The outside of the diapers are waterproof, and have snaps around the waist and on the rise to customize the fit. This works the best for us! We didn't have to spend more to buy diapers for each new size. Most diapers that work like the ones we have are about $17-19 a piece, but ours were $13. You still save money with the other brands, but not as much as we did!
The outside of our SmartiPants-- looks more complicated than it is!
I have 2 small wetbags that I take with me for diapers on the go. I carry one wetbag with a clean diaper, and just trade it for the soiled one if he needs a change. I also have made my own cloth wipes, which we found more convenient than using disposable (we can just toss the whole thing in the pail vs. having to fish out a disposable wipe from the diaper after a change- yuck!) I also spent about $10 on all the material we needed for wipes, which is about one month's supply of disposable wipes.
We are very happy with our diapering system. Of course, that is largely based on the brand of diaper we use.. there are many more out there more complicated than ours. Now that we've had Abel, I know 3 other moms that use cloth too, so I don't feel like it's very strange. I've noticed that recently even the disposable companies are coming out with patterned diapers, which look suspiciously like cute cloth diapers!
Whether you make a lot or a little, every family has to make decisions concerning their money. I believe it is my job as a wife to make Reed's paycheck go as far as possible. Even if he made 3 times what he does, I do believe we would still use cloth, just like I would still cook our meals, and buy items on sale. I just cannot justify the 'luxury' of literally throwing away money so that I don't have to do 2 extra loads of laundry a week.
Basket of clean diapers :)
