So this morning, as I was changing my child’s diaper for the third time (once at 5am, poop and pee, once at 8am…because he was actually up for the day, and once at 9am, because he pooped) I wondered: Is this why I’m going through so many more diapers lately? Because I change him so often? For the first time yesterday I opened up a diaper, ascertained that it was actually…really dry…and put it back on. Usually if I go to change him, he gets a change of diaper, no matter how wet or dry he seems to be. I am convinced that they can SEEM dry but really be wet. Because I am crazy.
But no. It’s not that I’m changing him more. My diaper habits have stayed the same since he was younger, which is part of the problem. You see, usually people change their babies LESS as they get older. But I still change him whenever he wakes up, before he goes down to sleep, and whenever he poops or I notice that he’s a little wet.
On top of this, there are LESS DIAPERS IN EACH BOX. The money that used to buy me 122 diapers now buys me 85. Because they are bigger. (My baby skipped the NB size and went straight to 1′s, which is lucky…because that’s what they sell at Costco.) Size 5, to be exact. This ensure that they do not leak. Because I cannot stand leaking.
I’ve tried cheaper diapers, and I didn’t like them. Not one bit. They put elastic marks on his legs and gave him a rash. And with the price of each diaper changing from .19 to .30, and who knows where from there…I think I’m ready to try cloth diapering.
CRAZY, I know. It’s gross. You have to wash them. They actually cost quite a bit. But I don’t think I’m going in for the super-expensive ones, although they are freaking cute. I think that my plan is to get some natural fiber fitted cloth diapers (velcro people) and some reasonably priced covers, as well as some plan old prefolds like back in the day and a snappy to see how I fare. That way I can decide which I like better. From the non-cloth-diaper perspective I have, I think I’ll like the two part systems more because a) they come apart to clean and dry and b) I don’t have to buy 20 $20 diapers.
I will have to buy:
- diapers
- diaper covers
- a diaper bag
- an extra changing mat (one for in the bathroom, where I can change him and have access to the toilet for…um…dumping needs. Haha. I think this may actually help the whole potty training thing, in five million years when it’s time.)
- a diaper bag for when we’re out (smaller place to keep dirty diapers while we are out)
- special soap so that I can clean them well and not use loads of hot water and energy drying. (My current plan is to line dry, and then air dry in the dryer.)
- A small plastic spatula. (Don’t ask)
I will also need to do laundry every other day. (Oh my gosh! I already do that!!) But I don’t think it will impact the bills too much if I can line dry them and use cold water. Water is one price here. Use as much as you want.
Here are my worries:
I am an absolute clean freak. No, you don’t understand. CLEAN FREAKING FREAK. I’m not too bothered by stains, but if there is a smell problem, I won’t be able to use them. I will have wasted money. And lots of it.
I HATE LEAKING. Camper has had THREE (count them) THREE poop blowouts in life. First, in the parking lot of Costco. He was still breastfed at that point, which make the poop watery. Second, Halloween. In his Owl Costume. I think he may have still been nursing at this point, as well. And Three: in bed at about 8 months old, and he was sick. That’s it. And as for pee leaking, I think maybe it’s happened twice. Once at church randomly a few weeks ago…and honestly…that’s all I remember.
HE IS ALL OVER THE FREAKING PLACE. As nice as it all sounds, if I can’t get the stupid things on him, then it’s not going to work. I wasn’t good at swaddling him, so we got a special blanket. This might be the same situation. My Dad said, “Oh, just get the same kinds we used on you guys. It’s easy.” Half of me believes him, the other half of me thinks that my Mom did most of the changing…and that he hasn’t changed Camper. Oh wait, he did that one time. And he was all over the bed.
Yeah.
I’d really like to know what you think, whether you’ve considered this at all or use CD yourselves, and what you you recommend???
Tags: Cloth Diapers
Hi Erin, Hey one good thing about the diapers, is if you do not like them they make excellent cleaning cloths.And one more thing, yes you will adjust to the change,you will need a diaper pail too. Love you lots P
Hey Erin!! I actually considered doing cloth diapers at one time, but a friend pointed out that Zoey might actually get MORE rashes than she alreaady was, which was the whole point of considering the CD in the first place. So we opted for early potty training instead. ;-) But I’m totally all for CD, although like you, I AM A CLEAN FREAK AND CAN NOT STAND FUNKY SMELLS IN MY HOUSE.
You should check out my friend’s blog–www.sexandtheknitty.blogspot.com. She’s an awesome mom of two little boys and she has done the whole CD thing successfully, with no awful smells. It was an investment, but she’ll tell you all about what’s worth the money and what isn’t. (She online shops at Amazon a lot, you’ll love her. She also invested in some sprayer gizmo that goes over the back of the toilet and she swears by it.)
Ugh. As we “speak” my daughter is running around screaming ‘I need to go poo-poo! I need to go poo-poo!!’. You haven’t lived until you’ve scraped big-kid poop out of underpants. Is that what the small scraper would be for?!? ;-)
Good luck!!!
Erin!
My mum swore by our cloth diapers. She absolutely loved them. Like your top commenter, we used them for years afterward. One of them actually became my companion while I was a thumb sucker. I would half suck on the CD and half on my thumb. In fact, when I stopped sucking my thumb, I declared, “I’m done suckin’ diapers!” (My mother wrote this down because she thought I was hysterical.)
We are really careful about our water usage out here in NM because…well you lived in Utah, you know the deal. So I’m careful about when I do laundry and all of that stuff. I only use hot water for the weekly kitchen towel, bath towel, sheets load, because they don’t always smell clean after a cold water wash. Might the same thing work for your CDs?
I have been using cloth diapers on my daughter for almost 2 years. We are just starting to potty train but she still uses the cloth for naps and night time. I cannot say if the prefolds work well or not because we use Bum Genius one size diapers, but I can say that I have LOVED cloth diapering. LOVED it. There can be a a smell while your diapers are washing but it doesn’t stink up your whole house. Honestly I can’t stand the smell of disposable diapers, I hate the chemical smell, especially when they are wet. Bleh.
Planet Wise makes some really cute wet bags that will also come in handy when you are potty training and need a place for wet clothes while out and about. I honestly don’t use a special soap, I just use what we use on the rest of our clothes. Just make sure you can find a soap that doesn’t have any dyes or perfumes in it. I haven’t found the need for a spatula or sprayer for poopy diapers I just shake out the diaper into the toilet and whatever doesn’t come off washes off in the wash.
Good Luck!
He had a poop blowout in his owl costume?!?!?!?