Crunchy Tuesday-

Cloth diapers-

I hesitated putting the title in the title bar because knew it would instantly turn people off from reading this post- but I assure you that if you do read to the end, maybe something I have to say will change your mind!

I decided to cloth diaper my baby before I even knew what we were having. My MIL bought me 3 packages of the plain white Gerber diapers, and I thought I was set!

(Fastened with a snappi- not pins)

We could NOT for the life of us, find a pair of plastic pants that were under size 18 M, so I took my search to the internet and almost instantly got pulled into the wonderful world of cloth diapering! Cloth diapers are NOT a big white towel folded oragami style and held on by pins with a crunchy paur of plastic pants. The cloth diapers I made and use look exactly like disposibles- let me scratch that and they they are a million times CUTER than disposibles! (Who wouldnt rather have a princess or football diaper rather than a plain white crunchy one....) They are fastened with snaps or velcro and can be washed and dryed in about an hour and a half- no more running out in the middle of the night to buy more!

When my Ray Ray was about 2 1/2-3 months old we moved to a new town and a house that was- well, not the greatest. I had her in disposibles while I was trying to get things settled and set up, and that kid ruined at least 3 outfits a day! I couldnt keep anything inside those diapers! I would put on one of my homemade diapers and she was fine! That was when I vowed that I would get that washer hooked up and start using cloth full time- and I must say, I have done a pretty darn good job at it! lol. One of my favorate things was to take all the newly washed, itty, bitty, diapers outside and hanging them on my clothesline to dry!

Let me start off by saying- have you ever read the back of a package of disposable diapers? Along with all of the terribly irritating and downright scary chemicals they use it clearly states that you should dump all solid waste into a toilet before throwing it out. Did you know that it take 500 years to decompose a diaper complete with poop in out landfills? I bet that is something you never though about!

The other day my husband and I sat down and were talking about how many diapers 1 baby uses in a year, and how much those diapers cost. We came to the conclusion that an average baby uses about 6 diapers a day. One pack of diapers holds about 40 diapers and costs about $12. So an average baby uses about a pack of diapers a week, making it about 4 ½ packs a month. So at $12 a pack, that equals $54 a month, or $648 a year- and 6 diapers a day is minimal for a baby! So when an average child is in diapers for 3 years, that means you are spending at least $2,000 on diapers PER child! Now imagine being able to buy a whole “stash” of diapers, lets say 15 per size (so about $150-$200 per size) which means about $500 for the entire time your child is in diapers- PLUS they can be used by multiple children! That is only paying ¼ of what is the norm for diapers, and that is for just one child! How could you pass up a deal like that! So all you “deal seeking mama’s” out there need to take a chance and use cloth!

Even if you just get cloth diapers to be worn at home, while you are just hanging out, you will be more than going green. Not to mention that switching out just 2 of your diapers with CD’s would save you hundreds of dollars! How could you go wrong with saving the environment AND saving money!

People pretend like it isnt work the extra cost of washing the diapers- that is just rediculous! All I do when I wash diapers is put them in a cold soak with a spoonfull of oxy clean, a splash of viniger and if they are REALLY stinky, a little capfull of bleach. Then when they have been on the soak I put them in a hot wash cycle with a little bit of arm and hammer laundry soap- 1/8 as much as you would normally use) and let them go and just run an extra rinse cycle. Then they can go in the dryer or be dryed outside. It is no more work or more energy that a regular wash cycle! You will NOT be scrubbing out poop stains all day, that is just rediculous! Newborn stuff and any stuff that wont come off in the toilet with a little shaking can be thrown right into the washing machine!

Cloth diapers can be made out of flannel or any kind of fabric, but they will need a cover. I am getting more into the AI1's which dont need anything- I hope to get some PUL for my birthday! Anyway, I urge you to give cloth diapering a try. Even if you just had 3-5 and used them once or twice a day you would save SO much money in a year! They are so easy to use, and so fun! To prove my point, I am giving a 20% discount to any mama who wants to try cloth diapers! That comes out to be like $5 a diaper- you will NEVER find a deal like that on brand new AI1's! So send me an email and leave me comments and let me know what you think!

ANd check out my website for more frequently asked questions and to see some of my stuff!
http://myclothaddiction.blogspot.com/2009/01/faq.html