Archive for the ‘frugal’ Category

Cloth Diapering Myths!

I was thinking about all the misconceptions and myths about cloth diapersing and came up with 10 that I think are the most popular ones we have heard.  Maybe some of you all have heard others?

1. In order to Cloth Diaper you must use pins. Yes I do know some parents that use them and wouldn’t do it any differently, but there are so many alternatives for those of us that aren’t that coordinated.  For those that want to secure a flat or prefold with more than a cover, there are snappis- additionally there are so many other types of diaper that velcro and snap closed just as easily as a sposie.

2. Cloth diapers cause diaper rash.  I think if you have a child that is prone to rash then it probably doesn’t matter what type of diaper you use, you have to be sure and change them as often as you can.  Urine and feces both can break down skin and cause irritation…that is a fact.  More often I have heard of babies that are allergic to the things used to make disposable diapers, the chemicals, the gel, the rough paper, the plastics, etc.

3. Once you calculate utilities, there is no cost savings.  This simply is not true.  Most mom’s and dad’s will agree that its only 1-2 extra loads of laundry per week to cloth diaper.  Utility costs vary from region to region but there is just no way this one is true.  I have estimated this myself and it costs me mere cents per load to wash and just a bit more to dry.  Additionally, if this issue bothers you, use a clothes line or a drying rack – that will save over 50% of the utility cost of cloth diapering and also help your diapers last longer.

4. Cloth diapering is so time consuming that in order to be successful you must be a sahm.  Although I personally am a sahm/wahm - I do not agree with this statement and know many, many families of 2 working parents or a single working parent that have successfully cd’ed all of their children.  Like I mentioned above, its generally 1-2 extra loads of laundry a week – so what is that, 5 mins to load, 5 mins to switch over and then 10 to fold or stuff and put on the shelf? Going to the store to buy sposies, taking out extra bags of trash and/or swapping out those diaper genie refills has got to cancel that all out, right?

5. Poopy cloth diapers must be dunked in the toilet before putting in the pail to wash.  EWW – do people really do that?  It is so not necessary, really it isn’t.  Even the nastiest of poops can be scraped or sprayed off and then put into the washing machine.  Our washer never smells like poop or has any residue left in it after washing even the worse load of diapers.  If I ever feel the need to rinse out a really bad diaper, I use the bathroom sink rather than the toilet, then I spray and wipe out the sink…NOT the toilet!

6. You cannot travel or camp with cloth.  We have a previous blog articleabout this and it simply is not the case.  I usually bring 2 large wet bags with me, first half of the trip in one, second half in the other.  Its that simple.  If you are washing dirty diapers that are more than 3-4 days old, do a soak first, then an extra wash or use some biokleen disinfectant if you think you need it.

7. You must have your own washer/dryer.  I can personally attest to this as a myth!  Although it sure makes it easier, cloth diapering while using shared machines or a laundromat it completely do-able.  When I was washing only once a week at the laundromat I used a splash of biokleen disinfectant in the wash just to ward off unwanted bacteria (both from having the diapers sitting around for longer and the fact that other people use the machines) – the only other thing I had to do was strip more often as the shared machines seemed to have more detergent build-up that would end up on my diapers too.

8. Cloth diapers are too bulky and you need to buy larger clothes to fit over them.  I won’t completely disagree with this- I think it all depends on the type of diaper you use and the build of your child.  Some cloth diapers are bulky and if that is what your child is used to then it probably doesn’t bother them at all.  In that case, I would say you probably would need to either size up on bottoms or just buy materials that are stretchy….no big deal.  On the other hand, lots of cloth diapers are known for their trimness, these don’t add anymore bulk than a sposie if they are the correct size and are fastened snugly.

9.  The added bulk between a baby’s legs can damage leg and hip development and it takes longer for a cloth diapered child to learn to walk.  All these things are a definite myth!  Only in the past century have there even been disposable diapers.  Does that mean that humans up until the last 100 years have had messed up legs and hips?  Especially in a time when people were forced to do more physical work to survive?  That is just a silly, made-up misconception.  Also there is no data that supports that cloth diapered children walk later, my daughter certainly didn’t have any issues!

10. Nobody uses cloth anymore.  WRONG!  What a relief that this is so incredibly off too, huh?  Just writing this blog has given me more energy to spread the word about cloth…go on out and do so yourself too!  Pass this blog URL along to your non cloth diapering friends and relatives, lets make it our jobs to help others stop filling the landfills of the world with disposable diaper and dangerous biological waste!

Happy diapering everyone

Tags: camping with cloth diapers, cloth diapering damage hips, cloth diapering is time consuming, cloth diapering misconceptions, cloth diapering myths, cloth diapers and diaper rash, diaper pins, diaper rash, dunking cloth diapers in the toilet, only stay at home mothers cloth diaper, washing and drying cloth diapers, washing cloth diapers
Posted in Uncategorized, basic cloth diapering, cloth diapering, cloth vs disposable, conservation, diaper covers, diaper pins, diaper sprayer, diapers in landfills, environment, frugal, green living, prefold diapers, prefolds, snappies, toddler clothing, traveling with cloth, trim diapers | 1 Comment »

Triumph Over Montessori!

I am so excited that I was able to talk our Montessori into using cloth!!  After researching and writing the article on the gel in disposables, I was kinda freaking out… I had done some research on the Tushies brand of disposables, since they are the ONLY sposie that does not contain the gel – they are quite pricey (especially coming from a woman that has never had to buy sposies period!)  I was looking at probably close to $50 a month for them just for the 3 days a week, 3.5 hrs each day – WOW! 

So I reapproached the school. I decided to talk to her teachers the day of the open house for new students.  I brought with me an old Happy Heiny Pocket that was all worn out and probably too small, since that was the easiest diaper I could find without opening my storage boxes.  I planned to order 6 XL of them if the school agreed, since Amelia is so tall, the LG fit her, but they droop in the front no matter how tight I fasten them since she really needs an extra inch or 2 in the rise.  So the teachers were very receptive – they had never seen anything like it and were surprised how easy cloth diapers actually are!  One of the teachers is young, may not have any of her own kids, the other is older and told me her kids were all grown up, so she probably atleast has seen the old birdseye, plastic headed pin and pull on cover method, even if she never personally used them (not that this is a bad system, just a bit more difficult for the novice!)  They both agreed that it was fine with them. I went out to talk to the owner who seemed to be nowhere around, which surprised me, although I was aware that she had been due to give birth in June I still expected to see her.  I found a frazzled lady with a rather angry disposition in the owner’s office and after asking for the owner I was informed (in a not so nice tone actually) that she wasn’t there and that if I had concerns I could speak with this woman in front of me. 

Well the conversation went a bit like this

me: My daughter gets rashes from disposables (yes I lied) these cloth diapers are quite easy, I spoke with her teachers who are alright with it…

mean woman: Well I don’t know if the state licensure allows this.

me: I have asked around to people that do daycare and they tell me it is.

I think its pretty obvious that she wanted to say no.  I told her I could get a Drs. note (we have the BEST NP that we see at our homeopath’s office) and she told me she would call the person that does their licensure and call me back.  Well Monday I had still not heard from her and managed to get my hands on a document by the state of the childcare/school age rules and regs which made it clear that it was indeed allowed, I emailed it to her with an ”oh-so-super nice” note and PRESTO – cloth at school. 

I had to share my triumph!  Thanks for listening and happy diapering!

Tags: aio, cloth diapering, cloth vs disposable, happy heiny, information on basic cloth diapering, introduction to cloth diapering, montessori, pocket diaper, prefolds, preschool, Sodium Polyacrylate, tushies disposables
Posted in Uncategorized, basic cloth diapering, cloth diapering, cloth vs disposable, diaper pins, diapers in landfills, environment, frugal, green living, pocket diaper, prefold diapers, prefolds, save money | 2 Comments »

No Changing Table?

I was talking to a friend this morning, both of us have a youngster in diapers (cloth to be exact!)  She has had a few annoying experiences lately with being at a place that didn’t have a changing station and we were talking about alternatives and generally griping about how we can’t imagine why a business wouldn’t  think to install one in their restrooms.  Additionally we were talking about how annoying it is that larger places such as malls and amusement parks don’t provide anywhere for a nursing mother to nurse her child although they don’t mind giving us a dirty look when we do it out in the open (I supposed that is a whole other topic though…)

Both she and I are on the lower maintenance side to how we change our kids I would say; out on the grass, back of the car, in mid air, you name it I think we have tried it.  It gets trickier when your child gets heavier (my case) or squirmier (her case!) – you need a safe, clean place to lay your child when out and about and you need to change a diaper.  The car is hot and cramped, there isn’t always a nice grassy piece of land and you don’t always have a friend with you or one that wants to hold your child in the air while you unfasten, wipe and re-fasten!  Several times in the past 2.5 yrs when I have been at places with no changing facilities I say something.  I am not typically rude, but try to be as firm as I can when mentioning to an owner or manager how inconvenient it is for a parent.  Sometimes, if my comments seem to be going unheard I will even add that the inconvenience does stick in my mind and most definitely influences my decision as to whether or not to return or to choose another more family friendly establishment.  Typically though, I feel like the suggestion is usually heard and hopefully considered.

Other than helping to raise awareness for those in charge of these public establishments, the only other advice I can think of to offer would be to invest in a traveling changing system.  We have a nice one at the store made by Ergo that holds all the components needed for an impromptu change and can be laid on the floor, the beach, someones bed or couch and even right on top of the typical plastic changing table we all hope to find in the ladies/gentleman’s room!  The Ergo changing pad works either with your current ergo carrier/backpack system or on its own with a convenient shoulder strap.

Good luck everyone – oh and happy diapering!

Tags: changing facility, changing station, changing table, cloth diaper, diaper changing, ergo baby carrier, ergo changing pad, family friendly
Posted in Uncategorized, changing facilities, changing pad, changing station, changing table, cloth diapering, ergo baby carrier, ergo changing pad, family friendly, frugal, green living, mothering, save money, traveling with cloth | No Comments »

Cloth diapering on a dime….when money is tight!

Everyone has their own set of reasons for cloth diapering their kiddies, including but not limited to – environmental conservation, cutting back on chemical exposure, vanity and increasingly ever-popular SAVING MONEY!! Over the life of a child, cloth diapering can save thousands upon thousands of dollars, and as many of us can attest to, every penny counts. As a seasoned cloth diapering parent will tell you, there are so many routes one can go when building a cloth diaper stash for either a new baby or as a switchover from disposables. I am going to talk about the most frugal ways that families can cloth diaper on a bare bones budget.

Having many mom and dad friends myself, I can say their personalities and skill sets vary as much as one can imagine and while it would be great to have the skills to sew up your own stash of diapers, many of us just don’t have the time or the sewing experience. For those of us who don’t want to go that route, our best friend in the frugal cloth diapering world would have to be the cotton prefold! They are by far the budget diaperer’s best choice. For around $70 you can have 3 dozen infant size unbleached Indian cotton prefolds which is right around the amount that one would need to successfully diaper a newborn, washing a load of diapers twice a week (give or take of course – as a child gets older the number of diaper you need decreases as a general rule).

Paired with the prefold, one will need some type of cover ranging from wool, to plastic or vinyl – the least expensive being the old fashion Gerber rubber pants that many of our own mothers used diapering us and our siblings (which now have a softer lined leg casing and are chlorine free!) These are a simple pull on style with elastic waist and legs and come in 5 sizes from 8-35 lbs. One step up in my opinion in both ease and cost would be the Prorap wrap style covers with either snap or aplix – they add another element of ease in that they are more like the basic design of disposable diapers where you fasten them on either side with the child laying down without the help of pins or a Snappi to close the prefold since the cover holds it tightly in place when fastened correctly. We recommend having a minimum of 4 covers, depending on your washing preference. When my daughter (now 2) was a small infant I got along fine with 3-4 covers which I rotated hanging on a hook over my changing table (we didn’t go out much). When one either became soiled or very smelly, I would take it into the bathroom and wash it out in the sink with a tiny squirt of soap, wring it out in a hand towel and hang it over my shower to dry. Simple as that – if it was very dirty I might let it soak or even throw it in the diaper pail with the prefolds to go in the washer. Of course the more covers you have, the less you wash – many people like having 6-8 covers allowing them to be washed right in with the prefolds every time.

Other add-ons that are helpful, but not required:
• A small water resistant bag for outings (or you can use a grocery bag, but these are so cute!)
• Wipe solution and flannel/fleece squares (this will save a ton of money in the long run)
• Washable liner bags for the pail (I recommend 2, one in the wash, one in the pail)
• Some type of doubler (micro fiber is usually sufficient for a smaller child, while something more absorbent like hemp or bamboo is better for older children or heavy wetters). I would use the doublers for night diapering or if I was taking a longer car ride and hoped the baby would sleep the whole way without wetting through the clothes onto the car seat cover

We have some ready made systems available that make this whole process effortless. Our basic MCDC infant, baby and toddler packages include the prefolds, covers, wipes, solution and bag. We also have an ultra basic preemie package which is simply the preemie prefolds and the preemie covers. Lastly we have the mother of all packages which will take you from birth to potty training – our MCDC Complete package. Of course these are all customizable and we encourage you to contact us if you would like to build your own package or have questions or concerns.

Oh and as always…happy diapering!

Posted in basic cloth diapering, conservation, diapering packages, environment, frugal, recession, save money | No Comments »