...to my world. World of cloth diapers, that is.
I decided to start this blog for various reasons. I know there's a ton of other websites and blogs that are dedicated to cloth diapering. There's alot of great info out there, for sure. Heck, I know alot of what I know because of the websites like All About Cloth Diapers, The Cloth Diaper Whisperer, etc. But what I didn't find too much info on (when I first started researching) was cloth diapers that were available in Canada. And on top of that, cloth diapers that I could buy without a credit card. That's right, my husband and I don't have credit cards and never have. We don't do much (any) online shopping because of this. I've only recently set up a paypal account, but I still prefer to shop in brick and mortar stores.
Back in January of this year, when I was about 3 months pregnant with our first baby, I started talking about cloth diapering. My husband wasn't exactly on board. I heard, "that's gross" and "won't that get poop in the washing machine?". I laughed, but humoured him and looked into the cloth diaper service in our area. Well, I came up with not so favorable information. It cost $20 per week and only included the fitted diaper itself, not the covers. I'll explain more about fitted diapers later - all you need to know for now is that $80 a month plus the initial cost of 4-6 waterproof covers (around $75) wasn't exactly within our budget. It wasn't only about the money for us, though. And using a diaper service is still alot cheaper than disposables, I assume. And the diaper service drops off clean diapers and picks up the dirty ones. Definitely handy in that aspect. But it just wasn't for us. I liked the idea of buying my own diapers (and washing them myself) much better. I just had to get Paul on board.
In March, we went to a Cloth Diaper Seminar at one of the local baby shops, Diapers 'N More. I had already done tons of research and knew a bit about the different types, etc. The seminar was for Paul. I knew it would either make or break the deal for him. Luckily for me, he was on board after that. And we made our first diaper purchase that day as well - 3 Monkey Doodlez Tuck N Gos. They are now my go-to diapers for when we leave the house. (I hope to be reviewing them in the near future, so watch out for that).
Shortly after that, I found my love of Kijiji. It's a buy/sell site, like craigslist. From the moment I typed in "cloth diapers", that was it. Half of my current stash are used diapers from Kijiji. That may sound weird/gross to some, but I've had nothing but great experiences buying off this site. Moms selling cloth diapers just want: 1. For someone else to enjoy the diapers as much as she did, and 2. To get some of the money she spent on the diaper back. It's win/win for the buyer and seller. Up until Noah was born I had calculated that I'd spent around $400 in cloth diapers and accessories (wet bags, pail, pail liner - we will get to these things in the next post). So, over approximately 6 months, I'd spent $400. Technically (had I stopped buying diapers at this point), that's all I would have spent on diapers for Noah's entire 2.5 years in them (approx.). If we compare that to buying disposable diapers, it is estimated about $2000 -$2500 for each child who wears them from birth to potty training. If we have two kids, that could around $5000, just spent on diapers. That thought makes me feel like tossing my cookies. And that's not even bringing the environmental impact into consideration. That will be another post entirely.
So, there I was, nine month pregnant and counting, sorting through the many diapers I had purchased "blindly". I say that because I had no way of knowing which type/brand of diaper would work with my soon-to-be-born baby. I wondered, as I looked at these tiny diapers on a daily basis, which would fit him best, which would be easiest, which would be most comfortable for him. I never wondered, though, if I'd be able to stick it out, keep with it. I had many people wondering that for me, of course. My neighbour, when I mentioned we'd be cloth diapering, laughed, "we will see how long that lasts". My mother-in-law said she'd keep disposables at her house, "just in case". I didn't let these things get to me, but it did make me irritated. I just knew I'd had to prove them wrong (and I have).
Noah was finally born, a week late, in mid July. I had a planned homebirth with my midwives, my husband Paul, my mom and Paul's sister in attendance. It was a long (35 hours from early labour til his birth) day, but the best, most amazing one of my life. And after the midwife did his check and declared him healthy, she asked for a diaper to put on him. And my mom brought her the diaper I had picked out to be his "first". It was a tri-folded prefold diaper, tucked into a Bummis Super Brite, green, cover - newborn size. I'll never forget it. I'm proud to say that Noah is 2.5 months old and has never been in a disposable diaper.
He's now long outgrown his stash of about 20 newborn/extra small diapers. I did diaper laundry every other day for the first month - now usually every 3rd day. I way more than enough diapers to get through 3 days, but I still wash that often because I hate the idea of dirty diapers sitting there for any longer than that. I also decide which day to wash diapers depending on the weather - if it's a sunny day I do them, if it's going to rain I wait til the next day. The sun is the most amazing thing for getting diapers back to their beautiful whites. Plus I hate running my dryer in the summer, unless absolutely necessary.
I've also recently began selling some diapers that don't work as well for us. I have listed some on Kijiji myself, as well as a Cloth Diaper Swap group on Facebook. I've only sold a few so far, since I'm planning on keeping the ones he's outgrown for a future baby. But the money I've got from selling has gone back into the cause - either more diapers we love, a new wet bag, etc. It's definitely a vicious cycle, an addiction of sorts, but I love it.
Check back soon (tomorrow, hopefully) for my first "information" post!
