My husband & I thought about cloth diapering when I was pregnant with Juliet. We visited a store in Ottawa and were there for over an hour thinking about it. I think what deterred us was the off the bat $400-ish commitment and the over-whelming ease of disposable diapers. I don't know what is different this time, for some reason the whole idea of cloth diapering seems really easy & appealing to me now.
I'm sure my husband was diapered in cloth... geez he was raised in the woods with no electricity & boiled hot water on the gas stove to bathe in. Read by candle-light & used the stove elements as a toaster.... peed in a pot by night & in an outhouse by day. Cloth diapers couldn't have been a far cry from that lifestyle. My mom used cloth diapers for me... mostly because were in in Mexico for most of my diapering years and the diapers there my mom described as a 1 ply tissue in a plastic bag. I also spent a lot of time running naked on the beach. Also, if I remember correctly, my Granny (dad's mom) gave my mom the gift of diaper service for when we were back in Canada, which is an awesome gift and a service that should really be more alive today than it is. Or at least more wide spread. Unfortunately we don't have the benefit of a diaper service, but we do have a local company that sells everything we need. SO.... after a quick $300 investment...
We picked up our infant starter kit today. This initial investment should last us the first 6 months... if we don't give up and throw the whole idea (shitty diapers included) out the window. It seems pretty easy though... and there are a lot of accessories today that make it even easier.
In addition to the kit I picked up a dozen preemie sized cloth diapers that are supposed to fit babies from 4-9 lbs. Given that my first 2 were born under 7 lbs... I wasn't going to take any chances.
They're so small!!!!!
Here's the rest of the kit...
In addition to the dozen preemie diapers & 2 covers the kit comes with 24 infant size diapers & 6 covers. It also comes with 300 flushable liners that make for an even easier clean-up!! There's a HUGE wet bag and I bought a smaller one for traveling. The wet bags are like diaper pails. You just put the dirty diapers in the wet bag, zip it up... and throw it all in the wash every 2-3 days. Just turn the bag inside out et voila!
The kit also came with a sample of some bum blam, because traditional diaper creams are a no-no with cloth diapers.... as are regular detergents, fabric softeners & bleach. Who said this was more economical?
I have to pre-wash the diapers AT LEAST 3 times before I use them. I need a special detergent that has...
-no fabric softener
-no bleach
-no natural oils
-no perfumes
-no dyes
-no UV brighteners
-no stain guard ingredients
-no enzymes
Ummm.... ok. That leaves me with something I hope I can find in the organic section of the grocery store, which shouldn't be a problem but will be expensive. The amount of detergent I use is supposed to be quite minimal... less than recommended, so I guess that works in favour of "economical".
Each time I wash the diapers I need to do a cold pre-wash with NO detergent. Then the diapers get washed in hot water & dried in the dryer (or on the line). More work... more money. I guess the extra money spent on special detergent, special bum balm (if needed) & extra water doesn't end up comparing to the money spent on disposable diapers. AND... the satisfaction of using cloth diapers and not contributing to the deterioration of the environment via disposable diapers is a payoff in itself.
I'm getting excited. I hope that it all goes as easy as I think it will go & we don't run into any problems. I'm sure this won't be the first time I write about adventures in diapering....
I'm sure my husband was diapered in cloth... geez he was raised in the woods with no electricity & boiled hot water on the gas stove to bathe in. Read by candle-light & used the stove elements as a toaster.... peed in a pot by night & in an outhouse by day. Cloth diapers couldn't have been a far cry from that lifestyle. My mom used cloth diapers for me... mostly because were in in Mexico for most of my diapering years and the diapers there my mom described as a 1 ply tissue in a plastic bag. I also spent a lot of time running naked on the beach. Also, if I remember correctly, my Granny (dad's mom) gave my mom the gift of diaper service for when we were back in Canada, which is an awesome gift and a service that should really be more alive today than it is. Or at least more wide spread. Unfortunately we don't have the benefit of a diaper service, but we do have a local company that sells everything we need. SO.... after a quick $300 investment...
We picked up our infant starter kit today. This initial investment should last us the first 6 months... if we don't give up and throw the whole idea (shitty diapers included) out the window. It seems pretty easy though... and there are a lot of accessories today that make it even easier.
In addition to the kit I picked up a dozen preemie sized cloth diapers that are supposed to fit babies from 4-9 lbs. Given that my first 2 were born under 7 lbs... I wasn't going to take any chances.
They're so small!!!!!
Here's the rest of the kit...
In addition to the dozen preemie diapers & 2 covers the kit comes with 24 infant size diapers & 6 covers. It also comes with 300 flushable liners that make for an even easier clean-up!! There's a HUGE wet bag and I bought a smaller one for traveling. The wet bags are like diaper pails. You just put the dirty diapers in the wet bag, zip it up... and throw it all in the wash every 2-3 days. Just turn the bag inside out et voila!
The kit also came with a sample of some bum blam, because traditional diaper creams are a no-no with cloth diapers.... as are regular detergents, fabric softeners & bleach. Who said this was more economical?
I have to pre-wash the diapers AT LEAST 3 times before I use them. I need a special detergent that has...
-no fabric softener
-no bleach
-no natural oils
-no perfumes
-no dyes
-no UV brighteners
-no stain guard ingredients
-no enzymes
Ummm.... ok. That leaves me with something I hope I can find in the organic section of the grocery store, which shouldn't be a problem but will be expensive. The amount of detergent I use is supposed to be quite minimal... less than recommended, so I guess that works in favour of "economical".
Each time I wash the diapers I need to do a cold pre-wash with NO detergent. Then the diapers get washed in hot water & dried in the dryer (or on the line). More work... more money. I guess the extra money spent on special detergent, special bum balm (if needed) & extra water doesn't end up comparing to the money spent on disposable diapers. AND... the satisfaction of using cloth diapers and not contributing to the deterioration of the environment via disposable diapers is a payoff in itself.
I'm getting excited. I hope that it all goes as easy as I think it will go & we don't run into any problems. I'm sure this won't be the first time I write about adventures in diapering....
No enzymes? I swear by bio-kleen for when the pee smell won't wash out anymore.
ReplyDeletegood luck!!! hope you don't get bummied out!!
ReplyDeleteI was a cloth baby too!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you know the blog A Cup of Jo? On mondays she does a series called motherhood mondays - lots of fun and interesting stuff gets discussed. Maybe you'd be interested - I think you would have a lot to bring to the conversation - diaper stuff, placenta stuff ;)
Xx.