Cloth Diapering (Preparations)

Baby #2's imminent arrival has sparked a disposable diaper crisis. When Caia was a baby I tried 2 different diaper delivery services, tried G diapers and eventually gave up because of severe rashes. Despite very frequent diaper changes she would get a horrible rash and she never got used to them. I tried all different creams too. Nothing helped. So I gave up. I can't remember when but it would have been after 3 months or so.

I would like to do cloth diapers this time. But am wary to invest too much and have the same problems.

I was also lucky enough to recently acquire 4 brand new bamboo one size fits all diapers worth $100 from a friend. That plus some Bummi covers is incentive enough to try it all out. I wasn't sure whether to go for prefolds with the covers like they offer with the service or fancy all in ones (much more of an investment).

Did you know a newborn can easily go through 12 or more diapers a day at first? They have little feeds and little pees and poos. This will settle down to 8 and then less once they have bigger bladders. So that's a lot of diapers/ washing at first.

Also, I think prefolds are great at first when the baby really doesn't move too much. But a prefold on a crawler seems a little awkward to me.

And confession: I think I will use disposables from time to time, maybe even most nights.

What's my solution then?

Since there is a diaper service in Vancouver I could use it for the first 3 months. This means I only need to invest in a few more covers. I will also get biodegradable liners to help wick the moisture away. And some bum cream. After 3 months if all is going well then I could switch to all in ones and launder myself.

Here are the costs for the first 3 months:

• 3 newborn Bummi covers (have these but around $10 or 3 for the price of 2 with 4 week service)
• 4-6 small Bummi covers (need 4)
• $16 a week for 70 diapers and $1 for each 10 additional prefolds
• $4 a week if I want 50 cloth wipes
• diaper liners $20 for 300 (can cut in 2 for little ones)
• $8 diaper salve
• pail (I have 1 already)

So that's

1. $86 a month for the wipe and prefolds= $258
2. $30 for additional covers
3. $8 salve
4. $20 for liners (may last 3 months)

TOTAL: $316 plus taxes

Disposables would be $200 or so at the cheapest. Same or more for chlorine free ones.

Possible diapers saved from the trash: 903

Also: only need to launder the covers

Another option would be to invest right away in 1 size all in ones. These average around $25. But I see some on sale right now for $20! I think I would eventually need around 16 to last 2 days. Obviously at first this would not be enough. That's a $400 investment if I didn't have 4 to start me off. With the risk this baby is allergic too... I would still purchase the liners and the salve. And also I would get a bag to dump them in.

Other expenses include the detergent.

Wow, so the laundry service is a real treat when you think it is $300 I can't recover. Hmm, the jury is still out.

What about a compromise? $300 to buy my additional one size ones. I will have 16 all in ones. And then use the disposables to round it out just until babycakes gets his bladder up to speed?

Of course the other option is to get some used ones. That would make it even cheaper.

Wish me luck. I better decide soon. And I will post an update after I get into a routine.

Stop the press: I just found Hipkiddo Cloth Diapers. They have regular microfibre cloth diapers for only $8. Wow. And the bamboo/ organic cotton ones are $16. Since I didn't have much luck with microfibre and my daughter's delicate skin, I am tempted to go with the more expensive ones. And they are local! Hmmm.

What motivates you?

It has been a long winter. Much of it spent daydreaming about Spring's arrival and planning my garden. A bunch of it has been spent dealing with a variety of pregnancy quirks like nausea, exhaustion, weeks of a strange cold, acid reflux, you name it. And my work is at its busiest September through March. I have made due with planning, RSS feeds, reading gardening and gardening inspired books (fiction), twitter, and most recently Pinterest.

Lucky me work quiets down April through August and I can turn my attention somewhat elsewhere... to my family, home and garden. This is also baby's due date (end of March).

Spring is so close I can almost taste it. I am just itching to get outside but the sunny days are still chilly. And the rain is still relentless in Vancouver.

As I plan for this shift in my attention I can't help but think of what motivates me. For a while I was obsessed with frugal or simple living blogs. But I will be honest these aren't quite up my alley. While I embrace some of their philosophies it isn't what motivates me. It has influenced me though. I don't need to have lots of stuff, but I don't want my goal to be 100 personal items. Frugal sites influence how I shop, but I don't want to limit myself in this way all the time.

This journey of self exploration (started when my daughter was born over 3 years ago) has led me to a few priorities. One is "quality of life" and the other is "respect for the world we live in." They actually fit together very nicely. When you choose quality in your day to day living you can easily match it to a greater respect for the world around us (both people and the environment). This can but may not be the most frugal way to live.

It influences my life in a variety of ways. One is to buy quality items and take the time to maintain them so they last. This can be as simple as getting a pair of favourite shoes resoled and making sure they are kept in good condition. It has also included how I purchase or acquire household items. I love hand me downs from my mom- most recently homemade Christmas stockings (from my youth) my children can use and a flour canister I adapted for the cat food. I also found a classic single spindle bed for my daughter on craigslist. We will be repainting it in low VOC paint and hope it will last another lifetime. Unfortunately the organic mattress to go with it will be at least $500 in Canada.

Quite possibly though the biggest influence is on how my family chooses to eat. We have taken some steps but I feel we have a ways to go. I am just so tired of the plastic that goes in our garbage and the recycling bin. I admit I have had tried some home made replacements that have failed- soy milk being one of them (unfortunately my daughter and I react to milk). But there are some constants in our diet we can control and a home garden will be a big part of that. The added bonus is homemade is always tastier.

This is entirely dependent on the eating habits of your family. So planning will vary depending on what you like to eat.

What are some things we do and can do better in my family?

1) Continue to buy flour, rice, oats, granola, pasta, grains, nuts, dried fruit, chia, etc. in bulk. And bring the bulk plastic bags back to reuse. Transfer purchases to our glass jars.

2) Make pizza at home.

3) Make special pasta (like ravioli) at home.

4) Make bread more often (to cut back on plastic recycling waste).

5) Start making yoghurt again (to cut back on plastic recycling waste).

6) Plan more berries to freeze. We froze blueberries this year but it was not enough. This summer we will add raspberries, black berries and strawberries. And store them in our yoghurt containers.

7) Can other fruit and make applesauce this year (daughter is into again and baby coming!).

8) Buy fair trade organic tropical fruit (my trip to Costa Rica for work taught me that pesticides for bananas and pineapples (etc) are a nightmare for their ecology). And if you buy produce that travelled far then make sure it is fair trade and organic (my work trip to Guatemala taught me about the horrendous conditions typical farm workers live in).

9) Buy coffee from Ethical Bean in Vancouver because I know they are true to their word and I can take their bags back for recycling.

10) Find a dark chocolate bulk source.

11) Make sprouts again.

12) Find a source of free range, happy meat with less packaging. Cut back on meat consumption.

13) Get chickens for a home egg source!

14) Cut back on sugar consumption and look at more local alternatives like honey.

15) Continue to recycle soymilk and almond milk cartons at local depot.

16) Make our own juice.

17) Continue to make and eat home made jam.

18) Grow our favorite vegetables: lettuce, kale, spinach, arugula, green beans, runner beans, shelling peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, radishes, carrots, beets, and corn. And try some new ones like broccoli, fennel, asparagus, leeks, potatoes, garlic, onions, and celery.

19) Grow favorite fruit if we have space- like a few fruit trees (cherry, pear, apple, maybe fig). And raspberries and strawberries. Maybe melons?

20) Grow our favorite herbs: basil, cilantro, thyme, parsley, rosemary, chives, and mint.

21) Can tomatoes (as sauce and blanched and whole).

22) Start using dried beans and lentils. We are not that good at this!

23) Oh, I need to make some more produce bags for what I do buy. I reuse the plastic ones a lot, but they still ultimately end up in the garbage.

24) Buy larger pieces of daily cheese- to cut back on cost and packaging. And make sure it is good quality and tasty. And buy specialty cheese from cheese stores to keep packaging to a minimum.

25) Buy deli food with minimal packaging.

26) Finally, meal plan to avoid food waste. And have 1 meal a week that uses up leftover produce (soup or salad).

Next post: How much should we plan to grow or purchase in season?