Seriously...

Are these not the cutest prints??

Rumparooz Lux Print

The Itti Bitti Tutto that I received free with purchase from Kelly's Closet :-)

I think I've done a fairly reasonable job of buying mostly gender neutral diapers (so we can re-use them if/when we decide to have a second child), but lately I have not been able to resist buying a few adorable girlie diapers!!

I can't wait to see these cute prints on our baby girl's fluffy bottom! 

Speaking of...

Only 10 more weeks to go! 

Monday I had my 30 week appointment (just a few days early). Baby girl sounded amazing...and momma is doing well. Doc said I had a "perfect 30 week belly" - whatever that means! 

I seriously cannot believe that I only have 10 more weeks to go. It is going to be here so soon! I was just thinking through the next few weekends and I realized that time is absolutely about to start flying by. Here's why:

• this weekend = July 4 (lake, family, etc.)
• July 10 = baby shower (for a friend who is due Sept 4)
• July 16 = baby shower (for me, just close friends)
• July 24 = baby shower (for me, in-laws side of the family)
• July 30 = wedding (brother-in-law)
• Aug 7 = baby shower (for me, my side of the family)
• Aug 13 = baby shower (for a friend, who is due Oct 9)

Then it's just a few more weeks until baby girl arrives! And technically she can come any time after August 19th, since 36 weeks is considered full-term. Wow. 

How Many Diapers Do You Need? And How Much Does it Really Cost?

Figuring out how many diapers to buy has been one of the more difficult parts of the process. Basically, it comes down to how often you want to do laundry and how much your baby actually needs changing (the second part of this can be hard to guesstimate)!

If the average newborn needs to be changed 12-18 times a day, and you want to do laundry every 1-1.5 days, then you really only need 18-24 diapers (or the equivalent thereof).But, if you’d like to extend your time between washes to every other day, then you’ll need at least 30-36 diapers.

Older babies don’t need as many diaper changes…so, if you aren’t starting at newborn stage, you shouldn’t need as many diapers.

Because no one really likes doing laundry – myself included – we have been building our stash up to a minimum of 36 diapers, which should be two full days worth of diapers.

Initially, half of those would have been Fuzzibunz (18 diapers) and the other half best bottoms (6 shells and 18 liners). But, since I’ve been utilizing the free diaper codes from Kelly’s Closet (and I’ve branched out and bought a few Happy Heiny’s and Rump-a-Rooz on my own), those numbers have changed a bit.

Our diaper breakdown currently looks like this:

Pocket Diapers (20 total)

8 Fuzzibunz from Kelly’s Closet (8 x $19.95 = $159.60)

2 Fuzzibunz from Zulily.com (2 for $24.99 plus $6.95 shipping = $31.94; retail $39.90)

5 Happy Heinys (5 x $18.95 = $94.75; but, I got 2 of these free, so I only paid $56.85)

5 Rump-a-Rooz (5 x 23.50 = $117.50, but I got 4 of these free, so I only paid $23.50)

Best Bottoms (equivalent of 18 small, 12 medium, and 9 large diapers)

6 Best Bottoms Shells (6 x $16.95 = $101.70)

18 small BB inserts + 2 small overnight inserts (18 x $3.95 + 2 x $6.95 = $85)

12 medium BB inserts + 2 medium overnight inserts (12 x $3.95 + 2 x $6.95 = $61.30)

9 large best bottom insert + 2 large overnight inserts (9 x $3.95 + 2 x $6.95 = $49.45)

So, in all, we will have spent $569.34 ($709.20 retail) on cloth diapers that will last from birth to potty training. (Note: this cost does not include the cost of wipes…we will be doing cloth wipes and I did spend $10.75 for some already. A friend of mine has offered to make the rest of my wipes for me, but even if she didn’t – I could complete my cloth wipes stash for $33 or less buying retail. Cost including retail wipes = $613.09)

Yes, I may have to spend a few dollars here or there if a diaper cover gets ruined or an insert gets lost…but all in all, we are coming out well ahead of what we would have spent in disposables (approx. $2611.80)! We have already saved around $2000 ($2611.80 - $613.09 = $1998.71)…and if we use these cloth diapers for a second child, our savings will more than double!

A Hard Pill to Swallow…

I will admit that it has been difficult to part with the money for all of these diapers and diapering accessories. The fact that almost all of the cost in cloth diapers is totally up-front makes it a hard pill to swallow. In some respects, it would be much easier to buy disposables…if only because you can literally buy them a pack or two at a time and not have to shell out so much money at once. But…whenever I see the savings over the long-run…I feel so much more confident in our decision!!

Why Cloth Diaper?

When I tell my friends and family that we are planning to cloth diaper when our baby arrives in September, they generally react with one of two responses: “Why in the world would you do that?” or “Wow, good luck with THAT!”

Our decision to go the cloth diaper route was multi-faceted. Many people assume that we chose cloth diapers because they are supposed to be more environmentally friendly. Yes, cloth diapers are better for the environment, at least from a landfill perspective. Some quick facts:

• The average baby uses somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 disposable diapers between birth and potty training (jilliansdiapers.com estimates 9,000 based on 12 diapers a day for the first 3 months and then 8 diapers a day until the age of 3; I’ve also seen estimates of 8,000 on other websites).

• No one knows how long it takes for disposable diapers to decompose. A quick internet search will show you that the most common answer given is that it takes 500 years for one diaper to break down completely. But, since diapers haven’t been around for 500 years (nor have landfills), we obviously can’t know this – it is a projection based on the rate of plastic decomposition under ideal conditions (that is, with adequate ultraviolet exposure from the sun – which pretty much never happens in today’s landfills). (see http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/disposable-diapers-in-landfills/ or http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_diaperdrama4.asp for more information)

• Technically, it is against the “rules” (set forth by the World Health Organization) to dispose of human waste in a landfill – yes that includes disposable diapers (filled with pee and poo)! Though I didn’t see it on the pack of Newborn Huggies I have stashed away under the bed, I keep reading that disposable diapers packages contain requests that users “rinse away” human feces before disposing of the diapers (whether this is on your diaper package may depend on the specific laws in your state) – to prevent human waste from getting into our landfills and potentially seeping into the groundwater (that is, if the plastic bags surrounding the diapers ever decompose enough to allow it). Does any disposable diapering parent actually do this?? Doubtful. But, I actually wish people did. It’s bad enough thinking about all of the chemicals in disposables leeching out into the ground and water supply without adding poop on top of it! (see http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_diaperdrama4.asp for more references on this topic)

On the other hand, some people will argue (rather convincingly) that the increased cost of laundering those cloth diapers on a regular basis (water and electricity) cancels out the other environmental benefits. A study funded by Proctor and Gamble (major diaper manufacturing company) comparing the effects of both cloth and disposable diapers on the environment came back inconclusive – that there were no apparent benefits of one over the other from an environmental standpoint (when you factor in increased energy expenditure of cloth diaper maintenance). That finding is a bit surprising. I wish I could find more information on the original study – to find out exactly how it was funded and completed. I wonder if the third party company that carried out the comparison might have felt pressure to find “no fault” with the disposables, given that a major disposable diaper manufacturer was signing their paycheck?

Honestly, I have no idea if cloth diapers are less wasteful than disposables in their production and maintenance. Even though they are “cleaner” (in that there is no chance of poo and chemicals leeching into the water supply), the environmental factor  wasn’t one that we really considered in our decision to cloth diaper. It’s my gut feeling that there is a definite benefit to using cloth. I just can’t imagine that doing a couple of hot water washes a week is all that detrimental to environment (especially since all of our other laundry is washed in cold water) – but what do I know?

In many ways, our decision to cloth diaper was made from a financial perspective. My husband and I are both still in graduate school, living on teaching stipends and financial aid. We manage to pay our bills and we feel confident that we can provide for a little one, but it is definitely not a life of luxury. (Trust me, we will both breathe easier once Jason graduates and finds a “real job.”)

Drop by your local diaper retailer (Sams, Costco, Wal-mart, Target) and check out prices on diapers and wipes…and some quick math will send your head to spinning. For illustration purposes, I’ll just use some numbers that I got from jilliansdrawers.com (http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/newtocloth):

• The average baby uses 9,000 diapers between birth and potty training. Consumer reports estimates that the average cost of a disposable diaper is 26.5 cents. $0.265 x 9000 = $2385. If you add in the cost of disposable wipes (1 wipe per diaper at 3 cents per wipe), that’s an additional $226.80 – for a total cost of $2611.80 (not including diaper genie refills if you go that route).

• Cloth diapers, on the other hand, are likely to cost you somewhere between $372 and $931 (depending on the options you choose) over the same time. Add in accessories (diaper pail liners, wet bags, diaper sprayer, cloth wipes, etc.), and jilliansdiapers.com estimates you’ll spend another $154. Plus the cost of laundering the diapers (approximately 50 cents per load, plus 8 cents for laundry soap, washing every 1.5 days for 3 years) at approximately $423 and you get a total cloth diapering cost (birth to potty training) of somewhere between $949 and $1508. 

• That’s an estimated savings of at least $1103.80...money that we could use to buy other things we need! (Not to mention that the savings increase if you use the diapers for multiple babies!) So really, we looked at the decreased waste in landfills as sort of an “added bonus.

Of course, these numbers are just estimates from a website…the actual costs (or savings, depending on whether you are a glass half-full or half-empty kind of person) depend on a wide variety of factors, including the style of cloth diaper you choose and how many you buy (which, also affects how often you have to do laundry).

“But…it’s so much work…”

Yes, it’s true that cloth diapering takes more effort. You have to wash and dry the diapers on a regular basis (usually every day or every other day, depending on how many you have). But, you know what? You have to wash your baby’s laundry relatively often as well. Apparently they poop, and pee, and spit up all over their clothes…a lot…and if you don’t wash often, stains set in and (even worse) your laundry starts to STINK. In my mind, if you’re already doing laundry every other day…what is the difference between one load and two? Really?

One Last Selling Point… 

A final benefit that cloth diapers have over disposables is the CUTENESS FACTOR. 

There are tons of adorable prints and bright colors out there! It wasn’t an original selling point for us, but I’m finding that as we build our stash of cloth diapers, I am getting more and more excited about the colors and patterns that are available. I’ll admit that my stash is mostly solid colored (though there are some gorgeous reds and blues in there), but I do have a cute little cow print (“moo-licious”) and some adorable pink giraffes from Best Bottoms and a glow-in-the-dark skull print from Happy Heiny’s – and more prints on the way! (Seriously, when it comes to prints, it seems like the options are limitless!)

Best Bottoms Pink Giraffe Print Shell

So much cuter than disposables, right??

Huggies Little Snugglers Disposable

Yay! My Fluff Arrived!!

So, Saturday was a big day for me.

1. I finally managed to sleep the entire night Friday, only waking up to pee and blow my nose a couple of times. This was huge for me. Apparently, pregnancy messes with you in more ways than you can imagine, and difficulty sleeping has been at the top of my pregnancy "complaint list" since somewhere around week 11 or 12 (though luckily, I haven't really had many other problems so far). It was awesome to get almost 9 hours of sleep...seriously.

2. My mom and I were able to finalize my baby registry at Target. I had been working on it online for the most part, and it was mostly finished, but I still needed to get into a store to add some of the smaller items - receiving blankets, booties, bottles, sleep n plays, and the like. The selection on those things vary so much from store to store that I wanted to make sure I added things that would be available here locally. I have to admit, it was pretty fun!!

So, I am officially registered now. Most of our registry is at Target, but we have some cloth diapering essentials that we still need on a registry at Kellys Closet (kellyscloset.com).

3. Finally - last but definitely not least - my "fluff" (cloth diapers) arrived in the mail! Today, I received some cloth wipes (yes, we are going with reusable wipes - they are way less expensive over the course of several years, work equally as well as disposables - if not better, and can just be thrown in with all your other cloth diaper laundry), our diaper sprayer (for hosing poo into the toilet - without the risk of getting it on your hands),some cloth diaper friendly rash cream (CJ's BUTT-er), and of course - some cloth diapers!! I had ordered Fuzzibunz in Kumquat (orange) and Buttercream (light yellow) along with a "very cherry" (red) Best Bottoms shell and a Happy Heiny's pocket diaper in a glow-in-the-dark Skull Print!!

I generally buy my cloth diapers and accessories from Kelly's Closet (kellyscloset.com) because they offer promotions from time to time, where if you spend a certain amount of money, you get a free one-size diaper with your order. This time, I got two Rump-a-Rooz. The colors (bright yellow and bright orange) wouldn't have been my first choice, and I probably would have chosen snaps over aplix (velcro) fasteners, but I've heard great things about Rump-a-Rooz!! They are a bit on the pricey side (starting at $23.50 each) compared to our Fuzzibunz and Best Bottoms (more about that later), and I haven't been able to make myself shell out the money for them. So, I am super excited to get to try them out (for free)!!

So, all-in-all, Saturday was a great day! Let's hope that Sunday brings more great things! :-)