Good afternoon.
I think it's good. The weather is beautiful. Sun shining. Perfect temperatures. Pretty leaves. And so on. The boys and I even went out to rake leaves and play in them for about 45 minutes before nap. The only thing is I'm feeling nauseaous to the gills for the last couple of hours. So, if this post seems a little bizarre it's because my mind is elsewhere(in my stomach to be exact).
Last night I dreamed one of those weird pregnancy dreams. The last few weeks my night-time brain has been filled with spiders and billions of baby boys but last night it was all about cloth diapers. I had my precious baby to hold, although it never made an appearance, and disposable diapers just would not do! This was very strange as I have never used cloth diapers on my own children. In my dream the baby needed a diaper and I was seriously in a panic because we had no cloth ones. I absolutely refused to put a disposable on it.
Anyway, this got me to thinking about cloth diapers and I researched it somewhat when I got up this morning. I have to say, other than the long-run money issue, I don't understand why people use them. The idea of scraping or rinsing goopy-poopy off of a cloth 11tybillion times a week is just not appealing to me. I once threw away a pair of underwear that Adam pooed in simply because I refuse to wash them.(After the penny incident the underwear don't seem that awful) Plus, I've heard that you can't really bleach them and this bothers me almost more. I like my whites to be as white as possible and bodily fluid stains are yucky. The initial cost of them is much much more than disposables as well. Of course this is a one-time price for each size but it is still kinda spendy to start with.
The good things that I've heard are, like I said before, they are much cheaper in the long run, they are softer for baby to wear, and children seem to be easier to potty train when wearing cloth diapers.
I don't know, I am kicking around the idea of trying it this time. Rowan goes through about $40-$50 a month in diapers right now. I do plan on having him trained by June but he'll probably still need them at night. The real problem for me is that I don't think Jay will really be keen on the cloth diaper thing. He likes to wrap it all up and get rid of it! Also, I know that I won't be using them the first few weeks because of that delightful tar-like stuff and lack of energy to do extra washing. Nor will I be likely to use them while out and about.
I'm just thinking out loud and kicking around the idea of it.
A little funny:
Earlier today, Adam was looking at a photo album and telling Rowan who everybody was. Well, they stumbled across a picture of Jay's sister and Adam said, "That's Aunt Deanna, Ro." Rowan then began chanting, "An' Banana, An' Banana." I've tried correcting him a few times but she is just his An' Banana as far as he's concerned. =)
6 comments:
hmmm... I think you're CRAZY! If you don't have too, why? Are you turning green on us girlie??! I think that's the biggest reason people do it that way these days, to save the planet, or cause they want everything natural. Not good enough reasons for me! Although the easier potty training would be nice, but I don't think worth it! Summer uses diapers on Jadelyn, but they're really weird, they're all brown, they're "natural" well like paper instead of plastic or something, I never have asked how much those "stinkers" cost!
I love watching your guys babies growing, they're looking more human the last few days. :)
That's a cute story about Rowan.
Well, I guess I'm "crazy" :)
I will readily admit cloth diapering is not for everyone. It has it's pros and cons and everyone has their own reason for doing it. I don't do cloth because I'm trying to save the planet. Although I have always been a little concerned for whatever chemicals might be lurking in the super absorbent disposables. We just have a big enough family now that disposable diapers became a "disposable" item in our budget. When we were first married, we couldn't afford disposables after Tyson was about 3 months old. It was necessary. And I figured since I did it once, I could do it again.
I learned a lot of tricks between the first time around and this time. Plus there are lots of cool helps available now that were unheard of 12 years ago. I'd be happy to share if you have specific questions.
Our biggest problem with cloth is that we have hard water and a high efficiency washer--which doesn't use quite enough water to get the diapers well rinsed during the first load. Usually, I have to use a water softener additive and run the dipes through 2 more soapless loads in order to remove all the soap residue. If you have a normal tub washer, you shouldn't have this problem, though.
I know that the diaper sites say to not use bleach. Bleach can be really hard on clothing fibers--plus, if not rinsed well, can give baby a rash. And some of the sites are done by people who are anti-anything "modern". If they had their way, we would be beating the diapers clean on a rock by a stream and then hanging them on a bush to dry (never mind its the middle of January) But I like fresh smelling clothes and I hate unwhite whites. So I compromise with about a tablespoon of bleach (don't need more for an HE machine) in the first wash-through. As long as I don't let it soak a long time and rinse well, we don't have any problems with rashes. The dipes will probably wear out sooner, but I can accept that trade-off.
If you arent sure you would like it, you could try "sampling" by getting a half dozen or so good quality cloth diapers, a couple different brands of covers and a bucket with a fitting lid. I line my bucket with a kitchen sized garbage bag and then lift out everything for dumping into the washer. If you decide you wouldn't like it, you could always use the diapers for burp rags, changing pads, dust cloths, grease rags, etc. The covers wouldn't need to be wasted, either as they can be used over disposables as extra insurance when sleeping or on a car trip. HOnestly, the worst diaper blow outs we have had were with disposables.
I really considered this with the twins, but it's just not something to subject your in-laws to when they're kind enough to let you stay with them while you're building your house. (:
We had 3 in diapers for a good 2 years. That's at least $100 a month! We could have saved a LOT of money, which I think is why many people do it. Most people who've tried it really seem to like it...
The cost and the easier potty training would be my biggest reasons for doing it. I'm not much of an environmentalist I'm afraid. I probably wouldn't have even considered it so much if not for that silly dream.
Thanks Heather, for all your input. My mom used cloth diapers with my brother because we were poor and I remember Terah and I changing them. They had the safety pins and plastic pants and they were HUGE looking. I realize that these days they aren't like that. Whew!
yeah, I thought I said about the *cheaper* reason, but I guess the reason why I didn't is cause people I know have the diaper trucks bring them more and grab the old, and it really doesn't cost much less. Also my mom had to use them on me and my brother and she always had stories about those experiences and I thought, if I don't have too, then why??
Terah, you say that now, but I have a feeling you wouldn't have done that, expecially the time issue!
wow.... I couldn't do it.... good luck if you try!
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