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BR: I've turned to the Cloth'd side!
I went to the Pregnancy, Babies & Children's Expo today (I go every year, it's awesome!) and there were a lot of cloth diaper companies there but there was one particular cloth diaper brand I heard of last week on the babyology website that I was interested in. They had a booth there! They're called Pea Pods:
So, I convinced hubby to outlay $200 and bought 12 small cloth diapers (to start). They were selling 10 for $160 with 2 bonus overnight inserts. We bought the extra two diapers and two more overnight inserts.
Ideally, we should have about 20-25 diapers in the small, the same amount in the medium sizes and maybe about 15 large. I'm just gonna pick up more smalls soon and wait a little on getting the mediums. The large size, I can just wait until the expo next year and get the big discount again on them there.
I was actually quite excited! It feels good even just to know we'll be saving close to $2,000 in this coming baby's first two years (what we would have spent extra for disposables). They feel really soft and comfy for bubby too.
Re: BR: I've turned to the Cloth'd side!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Well, we did an approx calculation on what we've spent on disposables over the past two years with Maya and, from memory, it came close to $2,400 or so.
So far, we've spent $200 on 12 cloth diapers. We'll get about 8 more in the small so that will be an extra $128.
Then we're looking at the same price for 20 mediums (around $330). So, $660 there.
EDIT: Seeing as Maya is still in diapers and probably will be until she's almost 3 (even if it is just diapers overnight for the last few months before she turns 3) then I'm still looking at spending around $600 over the next 10 mths or so. So...
Maya from 0 - 3 years disposable diapers: $ 3,000 approx
20 small, 20 medium, 15 large cloth diapers for baby #2: $900
Savings: $ 2,100 approx.
Me too..I am just so confused as to where even start with these things. I really want to do the BG organic one size all in ones, but they are $25 each and the way Ashton poo's I'll need at least 40 diapers to get though two days.
Ditto to the confusion part! I will be a SAHM for a while, so am considering CDing at home during the day (probably using disposables for nighttime and going out). What are the various CDing options? Any good websites we can check out for tips?
I figure even if I don't go all out, I might still be doing a small part to help the envt and help our wallets. It's cool that so many of you are doing it!
Lisa, they got a great write-up on the Babyology website so that's what caught my attention initially. I did go around and feel/look at a couple of the other cloth diaper company booths and they felt just as soft and comfy etc but the stand-out for me re. Pea Pods was that they come with a pocket where you slip the absorber cloth into (it's a soft white cloth that is easily folded as it has folded lines in it already).
Ditto for the Night Booster cloth. When you're putting bubs down for the night, you place this on top of the Absorber inside the pocket. Super simple.
Also, I liked the way you can loosen/tighten the diaper around the waist as needed, using the varying levels of buttons.
Not saying that the other Aussie cloth diapers don;t have a pocket or adjustable waist but the other ones that I actually looked at didn't have these features. Pea Pods was also cheaper.
They just seem a lot like regular underpants and comfier than disposables, which is cool!
Sarah, oh absolutely! That's why I held back a little on buying more at the show. I'll wait until Nugget is born and see how I like these ones first.
Renee and Lola, I just found this and it seems informative:
http://www.diaperpin.com/forum09/
For the mums-to-be and mama's thinking of switching, as Sarah said, if you find a cloth diaper that looks like it'll work for you, buy about 12 or so and wait until your baby is born. If you love them, then it'll be no problem to buy as many more as you need.
All babies are different with how much they poo/wee (see Renee lol!) but, generally, you'll probably go through approx 10 diapers a day with a newborn. So, if you plan on doing a load of laundry every day, 20-24 diapers in a small/medium size (each) will be fine.
For those in the US, I've heard good reviews about Bum Genius diapers. Isn't Lori going to use Thirsties? Not sure which brands you other CD mamas are using..?
Lol, yeah, #2's go straight into the toilet. It's gonna be 'fun' when the baby does really runny poos ooooohhhhh! To the CD mama's: what exactly do you do when your little one does moooshy (for want of a better term lol) #2's?
Oh and I looked at getting cloth wipes too but I have always just used make-up remover pads to wipe Maya. I buy a no-name brand in bulk for cheap. Whenever I need to change Maya's diaper, I just fill up a designated small container with warm water, place it near the changetable and dip the makeup pads in that to moisten them. I always make sure I never dip the same pad into the water after using it on Maya and I use my left hand to dip the make-up pad in the water and use my right hand to use it to wipe her. That way, the water stays clean for that particular diaper change.
I DO have a packet of disposable wipes in my diaper bag when I'm out and about though as I can't always rely on being near a water source when I'm changing her.
those look great!
for the US ladies, diaperpin is a great resouce. I also like this site - it is a store too, but their diapering basics section is awesome.
http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm
they list costs, discuss the different options, give detergent and diaper salve product recomendations etc.
I posted my "stash" a few weeks ago.
cost was definitely a concern of mine. I plan to reuse the diapers for future children. My mom purchased most of the diapers so i can still say I saved a ton of money, but we went with pockets for the after newborn stage - mostly because we can use them at daycare, but they like to see the kind that look most like disposables even though they were more expensive than prefolds+covers.
I'm knitting my own soakers (covers) too. Just finished a newborn one this weekend
Thanks for the tips! Especially the info on frequency of washing and all...
Question: how does the need for frequent loads of laundry offset the environmental benefit of CDing? And how much do you think the extra water and electricity charges will dip into the money I save? (If I do it, I would CD about half time and use disposables the other half)
So much to consider!!!
I know I have seen various people break down their water/energy usage for washing cloth 3/week. Here is the first ones that pops up on google:
http://www.diaperdecisions.com/cost_of_cloth_diapers.htm
of course it's much different if you don't have in-house laundry and pay by load (but I know some people on the EFF board mention going to the apt. laundry/laundromat) and still seem to save money I guess.
The only way you would really know would be to check your own water/energy bills against increased use.
Also, cloth diapers love the sun (helps get out stains) so you could even plan to line/rack dry frequently or even occasionally. In the summer I line dry all my clothes and didn't really notice a big decrease in my energy bill, but my clothes smelled good