Get on the Cloth Diaper Train!

I like thinking back and remembering things.  This action is not to be confused with introspection, thinking about what you felt at a time.  I don't like introspection.  That might be a failing on my part, but that's the brass tacks.  But I do like to remember.  As I was talking to some friends this weekend, they brought up the whole "how are the washable diapers going?" thing.  And I remembered.

I remembered when cloth diapering was weird.  And scary.  And sort of terrifying.  And gross.  And weird.  And "crunchy", like, granola-crunchy.  And a mystery.  And weird.

Now, though?  Ha.  Puhleeze.  The choice to cloth diaper has been one of my favorite decisions so far, right up there with choosing to not leave the baby on the steps of a fire department

.  First of all, we're savin' dollas (hey-oh!).  I know, the diapers themselves cost more than disposables.  Yes.  And then you have the cost to wash & dry them.  Yes.  Still?  Here's the breakdown:

• $250 on diapers
• $30 on disposable liners
• $11 on special detergent

I'm ignoring the water bill, because it has increased roughly $6/month, but we're now washing baby clothes as well, and we have a 3rd adult living with us, so it feels negligible.  The electricity?  Right about where it was last year.  [Its the amazing dryer balls, I tell ya!]  So that's a bill of $291.  I did some math, and if RG had worn disposables, she would have cost us $379 in diapers alone right now. (379-291=89)  And that number would keep increasing, since you have to keep buying the disposables.  If you're not convinced, that's fine.  But me?  I'm happy with my choice.

Second of all, RG has never had diaper rash, save for trips home to PA where we have used some disposables.  Without getting too icky, the cloth diapers keep a lot of the mess off of her skin, while I've found that the disposables do not.  By the time we're done traveling, I find that I'm ready to get back home so we can get her bottom back into cloth.  I don't use cloth while we're traveling, however, because our families often have water scarcity issues, and I'd rather not use up everyone's last hope of a shower on my baby girl's diapers.

Third: They're ridic cute.  Its hard, especially if you travel to the land of amazing things (i.e.- Etsy), to not just buy up all of the uber-cute diapers.  I've restrained, but only because I'm cheap.  But even her ole' run-o-the-mill ones that she rocks every day are so cute.  This summer, it's practically been here uniform: a diaper and a smile.

Want to know more?  How do we do it?  How hard/weird/icky/complicated is it?  Let me know if you're interested, I can go into detail.  Just ask Handsome.  I can talk for days about baby stuff ;)

<3 M.