So here's the thing, we want to use cloth diapers. Not because it's inherently wrong to use disposables, but for our lives, we believe cloth is best. The choices each parent makes for the best of their child are for good reasons. We all have different priorities and opportunities and as J and I enter this new phase of life, we are recognising how our priorities and opportunities impact the baby choices we need to make.
We believe that a principle of our Christian faith includes being good stewards of the earth that we are blessed to live on. We recycle, we compost our food waste, we make an effort to use natural, organic products when possible. We make sacrifices to be able to be make these consumer choices but for us they are important. When we started to consider the ways we could care for our baby in a 'green' way, one of the most obvious things to us was using cloth diapers instead of disposables.
It's a slightly daunting prospect but I hope that I can follow in the footsteps of many friends who have walked the cloth diaper route before me! I figure, the whole motherhood thing is going to be new and overwhelming so what difference will a few more loads of laundry really going to make? (Please don't answer that, I like my island of ignorant bliss)
The money saving aspect is also very appealing. We hope to have other children one day, biological or otherwise, and if we would be able to re-use the shells that we purchase now it would continue to be a sound investment beyond our son.
In 'the eco-nomical baby guide' by Joy Hatch and Rebecca Kelley, (which has sort of become my baby buying Bible), they do a break down of diaper cost. I consider my self a bit of a Princess when it comes to certain items. Organic/natural is important to me, so if our child is in disposables for ease during travel, or for some other reason they will probably be organic. In cost comparison, generic store brand diapers cost about 11-19cents each, which for a lifetime of 6000 diapers is about $900, Huggies cost 19-31 cents, and $1500 for a lifetime, and Seventh Generation (the organic, fancy princess type diapers we would likely end up using) cost about 28-43 cents each which is an astonishing $2100 for a diaper lifetime. Holy Moley!
Using cloth diapers we will shell out about $275 in supplies and we will have to pay for a few more laundry loads a week, but once we have the supplies, we have the supplies. If we have another baby in the future, all we will pay for is the water for laundry. That is a giant saving. Cloth diapers are not just for hippies people, they are a sound financial investment.
J had been all for using a local diaper service, but they use a specific kind of cloth diaper and outer wrap. I see there could be huge upsides to this because it would take the diaper laundry off my list. However, if we ever end up with more than one little one in diapers in the future it would suddenly get much more expensive and not be saving us much money in the end. From many, many sources who are cloth diaper-ers, I have been reassured that the laundry really is not that big of a deal. Truthfully, I am not intimidated by the laundry. Plus, they make a great sprahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifyer attachment that you can connect to the water flow of your toilet to help remove some of the 'material' once they start eating real food and dirty diapers get really substantial. The sprayer is certainly something that my poopy-diaper-aversion hubby has decided it's a must have baby item!
We have decided to use the BumGenius brand diapers. Lots of advice from cloth-diapering mums as well as my own experience with them lead us to make this choice.
Looking at all the cute colours is a great distraction to what might be inside of them once they are on our little boy's bottom!
So this is the plan. We know that some little bottoms don't fit snugly into cloth diaper wraps so we will have a few organic diapers on hand for the beginning but will transfer to the BumGenius diapers as soon as he is big enough.
Whose life is this? Picking our diapers and planning for a baby boy. Loving it all. And feeling incredible grateful for the life I have today.
You are heading in the right direction :) Making choices for you and your baby. Don't let others impose their ideas and opinons and preferences on you. You are the mommy and this is your (and your husband's) baby :)
ReplyDeleteCloth diapering is something i would have loved to try. I've read blogs and watched videos and most mothers love cloth diapering. I think once you have a system going, it will be easy. I think you are making sound choices for your little ones future (lucky him!).
ReplyDeletelaundry is nothing...but the smell that it makes.......... ;) my husband tries to stay out of the house while i load the washing machine. :) Mary from Kyrgyzstan
ReplyDeleteThe laundry isn't a big deal, get a good wet-bag & you don't have to touch anything. Our original plan was to use disposables on Parker for the first month or two, after a week (and three packages of disposables), we were ready for the cloth, it's pretty easy. Just be prepared for leaks the first few months until their little legs fill-out a little. It's a small price to pay to save $2,000 (and tons of garbage).
ReplyDelete