I asked my little monkey to show off his new cloth diaper, and this is the pose he chose:
After almost five straight years of diapering, I finally had the guts to research cloth diapers. Yep, I had never even looked into it. It seemed like unnecessary work; something that a busy mom of little ones does not need!
Nevertheless, I have a couple of close friends who love their cloth diapers, so I started asking them questions and was intrigued. Once I really started researching, I found out that from birth until potty training, most people spend about 2.5K on disposable diapers. A quick look at my budget definitely confirms this fact!
How much did I spend on my full-time set, wet bag, diaper sprayer and detergent? $370 total (and this includes some beautiful, upgraded diapers-- you can do it for much less). This means that with just a toddler, we would make up the cost in under 10 months, but since we are expecting a newborn in February (and will likely still have a toddler in diapers), we will make up our cost in roughly 6 or 7 months. And then within three years I will have an extra two-thousand dollars (!) in my household budget. Why did it take me so long to figure this out!
We have had our diapers for less than a week, so I am still very much a novice, but my husband and I have been very surprised with how simple and efficient the cleaning process is. It isn't gross, even with a toddler, and it feels good to be making less trips out to the trash can. All it really requires an extra load of laundry every other day. Also, since our two-year-old is a very good communicator, it is reassuring to hear him tell us that he prefers his new diapers, because they are "soft and cozy".
So here is to my new baby-rearing adventure...
3 comments:
You may have inspired me to convert Lukas to cloth, even though he's close to potty training. He's been complaining about his diapers, even pull ups, bothering him but just isn't physically there yet where he's ready to kiss them goodbye, and I'm not big on cleaning toddler poop out of underwear ;-)
The diapers I bought for G are for "once size" (8-30lbs), so they will work for future babies as well. Made the investment much more worth it! :)
Welcome to the cloth diaper sub-culture! We use them half time (paper at night and when we go out) and still love it after 3 kids.
Also, Jackie - I had my first in pull-ups when potty training, and it didn't really take until I changed her back into cloth. So, my experience is that it can help with potty training.
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