My Decision To Use Cloth Diapers

To cloth diaper or not to cloth diaper…that is the question!!! Craig and I have decided that it is best, on so many levels, for me to be a “stay-at-home-mom” for one year. So, the first fear that rips through our mind is…$$. How can I save it? How can I make it? My main course of action is to look at our budget and figure out all of the ways that we can save money, and with a baby on the way…I have to look at upcoming expenses that will be ADDED to our budget.

Two years ago, I had one of the most amazing student teachers with me from PLU. She has blessed me in so many ways (more than she will ever know) one of which was introducing me to the “ease” of cloth diapers. She has a sister who uses cloth diapers full time (you can find her AMAZING blog at: www.thatmamagretchen.com) and so she would share with me how great and easy they are. When I found out we were pregnant…I was so intrigued to look further into the cloth diapering system. Does it really save you money? It seems so disgusting!!! How easy could it really be?

I did a lot of research, read a TON of reviews, and talked to a handful of friends who were already cloth diapering their little ones. Personally, I know that money wasn’t my ultimate priority for the simple fact that it is a nice lump sum up front to cloth diaper and if I didn’t think I would actually keep it up…it would be a huge waste of time and money. Now, cloth diapers have come a long way from the time my mom cloth diapered me! Cloth diapers, first of all, are SUPER CUTE…cute colors, and cute fabrics. (Yes, that’s important to me!!!). In all of the reviews that I read, it seems that most all “first-timers” had the same fears as I do/did about cloth diapering and they were ALL relieved of their fears and weren’t thinking twice about turning back to disposables. Everyone that I have talked to said that it is super easy, not as gross as you think it might be, and a huge money saver…all of my requirements in order to commit to this new lifestyle.

So…with research out of the way…it’s time to commit and start making some purchases. If I start looking for diapers early, then I have time to be patient and wait for sales. I also looked a lot on craigslist, and found a lot of great deals for diapers that have been barely used, if at all. From the reviews that I read, I felt that I would be most happy with the bumGenius 4.0, and the Flips diapers. Honestly though, I’m not 100% sure about the pocket system (bumGenius) but it has the best reviews by far…so clearly there is something about it that everyone loves, and since I haven’t a clue about cloth diapering, I’m going to put a lot of trust into these reviews. Now, as for the Flips diapers, I love the idea of using inserts in the diaper and when they get wet…I don’t have change the entire diaper, just the insert. I am thinking that these will be the diapers that I will use when I go out of the house, that way I don’t have to pack my diaper bag with a handful of cloth diapers…just my Flips inserts.

Now, remember, I haven’t used these, and so my thoughts are just that…thoughts. Who knows what my opinion will be once I start using them.

So, to start my cloth diaper stash…I really don’t want to have to do laundry everyday. I would love to be able to stretch it to every 2-3 days if I could. With that said, they say that a newborn needs to get changed an average of 10 times a day. So I found a GREAT deal on bumGenius 4.0’s on craigslist. A mother was trying a few different brands, bought stashes of each brand, and favored one brand over the other…so she sold all 12 of her bumGemius 4.0’s, along with the two inserts that came with them, at a great used price…even though a handful of them were never truly used. As for my Flips stash, cottonbabies.com was having an amazing sale on those (buy 2 get 1 free) so I bought a handful of those as well. Then I have some randomly purchased diapers (staying with the two brands that I have previously purchased…I just like some of the fancy fabric options), and inserts (I bought about 10 used Flip inserts from craigslist, and then a two different brands of organic inserts from cottonbabies.com). So my final stash is as follows:

13 - bumGenius 4.0

     13 - 4.0 Newborn Inserts

     13 - 4.0 Regular Inserts

11 - Flips

     19 - Flip Inserts

     6 - Flip Organic Inserts 

     6- Econobum Inserts

1- Mustache Pocket Diaper (Gift from Etsy)

1- Bummis Bio Soft Liners (100)BiodegradableInserts

In addition to the "diapers", I also have 2 "Planet Wise" diaper pail liners. I just bought a regular trash can from Target with a lid that flips up by pushing a button. When it's laundry day, the liner goes in the washing machine along with all the diapers, so I don't have to reach in and handle all of the dirty diapers.  The last thing to get me started...are the "Planet Wise" wet bags. I purchased three bags to rotate in my diaper bag: 2 mediums and 1 small.

There you have it...we shall see how this all works out once baby Andrew arrives. I so hope it is as easy and basic as everyone says it is. I have a lot of convincing to do for my husband to be sold on this...because Lord knows I will never hear the end of it from him if he doesn't have a change of heart once we start putting all of this into practice.