Cloth Diapers: What the Hell am I thinking?
After I’d had some time to get used to the fact that I was pregnant, I started thinking about the monumental costs associated with a baby. Ever the planner, I started crunching some numbers to see what our little bundle of joy was going to set us back in the first year. With both my husband and I working full time, our baby would be in some type of child care for three days a week (for about $1,000 a month). I knew childcare was going to be a huge cost, but I was shocked when I started looking into nannies and centers and saw exactly how much it was going to be.
My husband and I were very fortunate because we were able to cover the cost of her care without living paycheck to paycheck, though it was still tight. But since I was breastfeeding, the only cost we had aside from childcare was diapers. Our childcare arrangements didn’t allow for reusable diapers, so we chose to use disposable. And again, since we were both working, it’s not like we had incredible amounts of time to put into the reusable diaper route. We found a brand of diapers that we LOVED (You have my heart, Babyganics.), and aside from the guilt over the environmental damage they were causing, I had no desire to change something that was working very well for us.
Enter life change. Since I’m currently staying at home for a few months, and we’re living off of one paycheck, I decided to look into a few ways to save some $$$. I went back to my reusable diaper idea and did a TON of research.
I’m NOT a hippie mom…but…
The most important things for me regarding reusable diapers were 1. safe for baby, 2. based AND made in the USA (as much as possible), 3. organic/natural materials used. (And they might as well be cute.)
Which led me to Best Bottoms, Blueberry, and Buttons. I liked Best Bottoms best (hehe), so I decided to invest in their products for the majority of my needs. In total, I purchased six covers (four Best Bottoms, one each of the others), 12 large hemp/organic cotton inserts, four overnight inserts (all from Best Bottoms), and 120 gDiaper disposable (compostable!!!) inserts. I also plan on using my incredible Babyganics disposable diapers for her afternoon nap and bedtime (I’ve never had a leak!!!!).
So I’m at the end of week two and here’re my thoughts in chronological order.
- THESE ARE SO CUTE.
- Of course the first time I use these things she takes a massive poop.
- AND PEES EVERYWHERE. Why do people do this to themselves? Everything’s going to be covered in pee forever!
- Are they just supposed to sit in her diaper pail full of poop for three-ish days?
- I have to do what with the poop????
- WTH have I done? This is AWFUL. They leak, I have to clean her poo off of them, they are gross. Ugh. And it was so expensive to get started. What if this fails and I’m out 100’s of dollars when the whole point of this was to save money?
- Oh. I put them on incorrectly. (I should have paid more attention to that video.)
- Wait… how do I wash these things again?????
- These take forever to hang dry. How am I going to do this every three days?
- I guess I could just throw them in the dryer…for three dryer cycles.
- “Child, please, please stop moving all over the place. I’m trying to get this damn thing on you!”
- These are soooooo bulky. Look at her saggy bum! I guess if a saggy bum doesn’t bother her, it shouldn’t bother me…
- BUT these are super cute and I can’t stop taking pictures of her saggy bum!
- God, I’m shallow.
- Hey, these actually work pretty good.
- Still bulky as hell.
- Her babyganics diapers never felt this wet after hours of usage… I think I’ll have to change these more often.
- I don’t even mind the poop.
- OMG WHY DID I SAY THAT? THIS IS THE BIGGEST, MESSIEST POOP IN THE HISTORY OF POOP.
- I do feel really good about my garbage output right now, though.
- Her skin feels so smooth after wearing these.
- I’m starting to get the hang of these things. And so is my husband!
- Ok… I think this might be worth it.
Stay tuned!
