Money Saving Wednesday-Official Cloth Diaper Review

So as I have posted before, we started using cloth diapers.  I was pretty reluctant at first due to MANY comments from friends and family that using them would be the most. disgusting. thing. ever.  However, that is not what I have discovered.  Here is my final post and official review of all things cloth diapers.

First off, you should know that before cloth I was a die hard Pampers fan.  I have talked about how to save on disposables in this post and considered myself pretty savvy in the diaper saving arena.  Still, we were spending about $80-$100 every four to six weeks on diapers.  That was after we got Belle potty trained, we were spending MUCH more when we had both girls in diapers.

The cloth diapers I purchased come from a company called Green Bees.  I met the owner at a Just Between Friends sale where she entered a MK drawing.  Before her, I literally knew nothing about cloth diapers other than what I knew from my mom who cloth diapered decades ago.  So I could not have told you about prefolds or pocket diapers or all in ones or anything else.  She showed me her diapers, I liked them and I (eventually) decided to try them.  In total I spent $280 for 30 diapers, two pail liners, 36 cloth wipes and 2 wet bags (think what you would put in a diaper bag to hold dirty diapers when out and about).  You should also know to score all these great things I took advantage of a sale and a package deal Green Bees was offering.  Buying individually would be more expensive.  I was able to justify the cost considering Molly will be in diapers at the minimum for 4-6 months more and using them just for her would already be a savings. 

The breakdown on cost is that just using them for Molly until she is potty trained will save me anywhere from $120 to $320, assuming I am lucky enough to have Molly out of diapers at 24 months.  Once you add in the savings for Baby J, (assuming a boy will only be in diapers for 24 months also...HA) will be between $2500-$2700.  Neither of those figures take into account the savings from using cloth wipes!!!  Talk about a money saver.

Are you a mom?  Could you stand to save thousands during the first two years of your baby's life?  Think of all the massages and pedicures you could afford?

Anyway.....now let me address the concerns (or at least what my concerns were)

1.  Gross out factor...mainly poop on the diapers.  What do you do and how gross is it? 

If you have a baby you have already dealt with poop.  Probably at least one blowout.  That is gross, right?  Cloth diapers aren't any worse.  In fact from what I have heard, cloth are like totally blowout proof.  I will confirm that with Baby J.  If you are worried about how to get the poo off the diaper (Molly's just usually falls right off into the toilet), you can get a diaper sprayer, or if you are handy, you can make your own.  Problem solved.

2.  The smell. 

We keep the diaper pail in the garage where we kept the disposable dirty diapers so we really notice no difference.  Yes, you do have to bring them in to wash them, so that is something, but I have learned to start the washer before bringing them in so I can just dump in and go.  I do a cold rinse cycle, and then a hot wash with an extra rinse.  I also use homemade laundry detergent to save even more money.  You can find the recipe on Green Bees page also.

3.  Leaking. 

We have had a leak or two, but it was not the diapers fault.  It was human error with the insert and we have learned our lesson.  Once you put on one or two you get the hang of it and leaks should not be a problem.  We also learned that with Molly we have to use two inserts during nap and bedtime so she doesn't soak through.

4.  Church, Bible Study, Grandparents.

I am still trying to navigate outings for church and Bible study.  I have not yet put her in a cloth diaper for either of those and am not sure if I will.  I am concerned they won't put the new on one correctly, won't change her due to fear of what to do or not wanting to handle it....so I am using up my stash of disposables at the moment.  Same for when grandparents visit.  The grandparents will eventually have to learn, but not sure how I am going to handle church and Bible study yet.  I will keep you posted.

Overall, I love them.  I wish I had done this sooner and can't believe how much money I am going to save.  If you are 'green' then you appreciate that I am not filling up landfills with disposables either.  Jason doesn't even mind them.  He still changes just as many diapers as he did before.  He still doesn't complain.  I have a great husband.

The cloth wipes are great also.  You can used cut up t-shirts or baby washcloths.  Put the wipes in a container and then pour the mixture over the wipes.  The recipe for the mixture for the wipes comes from Green Bees also. 

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp baby wash
2 c water

Mix together, pour mixture over wipes, shake container and you are good to go. 

I was going to get a wipe warmer to keep them in and still might, but for now they are in a Tupperware and are working out just great.

If you are looking for ways to save money, or if you are looking for ways to be more earth friendly, I encourage you to try cloth diapers.  If you are reluctant, buy a few (I started with five) and try them out during the day when you are home to see how easy they are.  Yes, you will be doing laundry often with a small load, but at least you can decide if it is for you or not.  Worst case scenario?  You hate them and can resell them on craigslist.  Yes, people buy used cloth diapers.

Toodles!

Updates on Cloth

My apologies if you could care less about cloth diapers.  Frankly, they are all I think about these days.  I. Am. Obsessed.  I have used them for a couple of days now, but not full time because I only have five diapers.  Here is what I think so far.

First, they are so easy to put on and snap up and we have had no leaks.  This was one of my major concerns since the diaper is a one size fits all.  I was sure they would leak.  Nope, not even during nap time.

Second, they aren't as bulky as I expected.  I won't say that they are the same as disposables, because they aren't.  However, Molly didn't have as humongous of a butt as I thought she would.

They are also not hard to change.  Molly is a toddler, so really if she poops, I just plop it out in the toilet.  No craziness involved.  I am actually thinking I need cloth wipes since now I am left with the problem of still having to take out my wipes, when before I would just wrap them up in the diaper.  I could still do that if I had cloth wipes.

My house doesn't stink, but that was never a concern.  My garage door is right by my laundry room, so we keep dirty diapers in the same place where we were taking the disposables.  When I am ready I just get them out of the garage.

That's where the only gross part has come in.  With disposables, I never have to bring dirty, stinky diapers back in the house.  So yes, it was smelly for like one minute while I dumped them in the washer.   But really that wasn't that big of a deal.

Overall I am very pleased with my diapers.  I wish I had more actually to be able to see what a full day in cloth looks like and what a full load of diapers is like to launder.  Right now I will be waiting to purchase more just because of cash flow, but I am closer to making a total switch to cloth than I thought I would be after trying them out.  I really feel like an idiot that I didn't try this sooner!  

Are you considering cloth?  What would it take to make you switch?

I did it

I bought the diapers.  Only five though.  I am going to try them out on Molly first.  I figure if I can handle them on a toddler, I can handle them on a baby.  Maybe that is not exactly logical, but in my brain it makes sense.  Want to see what they look like?

http://www.facebook.com/#!/greenbeesdiapers

Here is the facebook page of the company I ordered from.  She doesn't have a direct website yet, so this is all I've got.

I have not yet begun my experiment.  I feel I must wash them all first and right now I don't have the right detergent.  You can't use detergent with dyes or perfumes or brighteners.  So I am making my own. 

I think I may have turned into a hippie momma.  Oh well.  If hippies are saving money, I want to be a hippie.

Lastly, I thought I would show you some funny pics of Belle.  She has been cracking me up lately. 

 I have a very hard time getting this girl to put on clothes.  She is usually in pj's or naked.  Hopefully this will change when it gets cold outside!  And fyi, that is actually a minimal amount of toys on the floor.

 Again, just underwear and sunglasses.  Classy.

She decided it would be fun to wrap a bracelet around her nose and mouth.  This was the result.  And yes, she is wearing pj's.

Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Going Off the Deep End

So, I had an MK appointment last night and the woman I met sells cloth diapers.  She does diaper parties and shows parents how to make it work, and well, I think she might have me convinced.

Before you go saying how gross it is (isn't all poop gross?) or how I can save money using coupons on disposables (which I do and I am pretty sure I am the most savvy diaper shopper on the planet), consider the savings with me for a minute.  For 24 diapers (which is enough to diaper your child the entire time they are wearing diapers) it is $240.  Disposables are about $50-$80 a month.  If you only keep your kid in diapers for two years you would spend $1200-$1920 a year.  Only $240 for cloth.  I realize I will be spending more in water to launder said diapers, but also consider that when I am done using cloth, I can sell them.  You can't resell disposables.  I could likely save my family at least $1000 by using cloth diapers.

HOWEVER, I don't know that I am ready to pull the trigger quite yet.  I want to hear from moms who have tried cloth diapers and can tell me their experience.  My mom used cloth, but as you can probably guess, they have come along way since the days of safety pins and plastic pants.  I want to hear from parents who have used diapers like fuzzi bunz, or other snap type of diapers with inserts and such.

The thing is, I am a little intimidated by the idea of switching to cloth.  I have used disposable with both Belle and Molly and truthfully those are gross also, but it is a gross I am used to.  Diapers are gross. 

The upside besides savings is the no diaper rash thing.  Belle and Molly both suffered with diaper rash and supposedly cloth diapered babies don't, or so I have heard.

So what do you think?  Good idea worth trying, horrible idea that I will regret (which I still maintain that if I hate it I can just resell them!).

And lastly, while saving the earth may be a benefit of using cloth, that IS NOT at all part of my decision.  Sorry if I offend any green mommies.  I am just more concerned about the real green....$$$$$.