"
Whether 'tis nobler in mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them.
Okay, enough of my Shakespeare rant. But I couldn't resist David Tennant as Hamlet. Amazing. Purely amazing.
But seriously, to cloth or not to cloth? That has been the biggest question of my pregnancy and one I have been wrestling with for a while. Do we take the step and attempt to use cloth diapers or do we stick with the traditional disposable diapers. The heaviest weighing factor is the cost effectiveness. Disposable diapers cost a lot of money, around $2000 or more per child. But that cost is spread out over months. The cost of cloth diapers depends on the style of diaper that you buy and how many you buy. This is more of an upfront cost. But you can reuse diapers for each child you have. So it's only a one-time fee depending on how well you care for the diapers.
With the idea of me being a stay-at-home mom after this school year (this is the goal, we'll see if we make it - please pray that we do!), it shouldn't be too much trouble for me to keep up with a stack of cloth diapers and caring for the diapers. The thing would be getting a routine down (which I think I could do).
Everyone of my family members, especially the hubs, is against the idea. But the whole cost thing is really getting to me. I am trying my hardest to save as much money as I can, another thing helping me to get home for good. Of course I know there are coupons and I could coupon for inexpensive diapers, but I just don't know. There's something tugging at my gut that just leans towards the cloth!
Help! Do you lovely moms out there have opinions for me?! Advice? If I do go with cloth diapers, what should we go with? (Side note: I won't start officially cloth diapering until probably around 2 months or after we've established life at home with a new baby)
Any advice will be well taken and would be very much appreciated!
Well, u will find that every step of parenting there are these dilemmas to figure out. The working or stay at home mom(sounds like u have that figured out ); home birth or hospital birth; vaccinate or not or delayed; co-sleeping or crib ; breast or bottle feed ; and then later on homeschool or traditional school !! I am sure that I am leaving some out but that is the high points of big decisions that u make the financial, emotional and spiritual Ones that enhance or detract from ur family life. The important thing is to be passionate but not rigid and know that u can try and change if u need to! I did disposable thru all my kids but I wish I had done cloth. A lot of my friends do cloth at home but disposable when they travel ! Another huge money saver is breastfeeding!! God designed ur milk specifically for ur baby - no two mothers milk is the same, it has huge benefits for their and baby, is always clean, always the perfect tempature and heals inside and out! And it's free! :)
ReplyDeleteWe're definitely taking the breastfeeding route, there was no question about that. With the whole hospital or home birth, I originally wanted home, but the hubs did not feel comfortable.
DeleteThanks for the advice Kristi!
Oops! Not super great on this comment stuff! This is ur second cousin in law - kristi Lanford! Tell ur mom I said hi!!! Love k
ReplyDeleteHey Kristi!! I am glad you are on here for Alli. What an exciting time!!
DeleteThis is something I have been wondering too...and there are SO many opinions out there about it. I've decided to go ahead and try it...couldn't hurt to see if it's worth it and something we will be willing to do. Especially living in Peru where the disposable diapers are even MORE expensive than in the states...uggggh.
ReplyDeleteI know it looks expensive to get started, but ask around. You may have some friends (or someone might know someone) who would be willing to give you used diapers..I know it sounds gross, but the outside is fine to reuse. YOu will just have to buy the inserts!
Again, I have NO experience YET...but who knows. You might love it?!
We started cloth diapering W when he was 8 months old, and we really like it! But the good thing is, you don't have to do cloth 100% of the time. So if someone else besides you is watching your girl, you can use disposables. We still use disposables at night. If you are thinking of trying cloth, I highly recommend you try Sunbaby diapers first - they are pocket diapers, and you have to order them from China, but they only cost $5 a diaper! You have to order 12 at a time, but that only comes out to $60, as opposed to spending $200 or more for 12 diapers of other brands, and 12 diapers is enough to give cloth diapering a try. I like it because you can give cloth a try without making a huge investment, and then if you don't like it you can just sell them - I'm told cloth diapers hold their value and are easy to sell again. I think Sunbaby diapers are probably pretty easy to sell too, because alot of people want to try out just one before they order 12. We use mostly Sunbaby diapers, and they are our favorites, which works out well since they are so affordable! I just ordered another batch for when our girl arrives - we used size 2 on Wyatt, which worked well, so I ordered the size 1's hoping they'd fit a smaller baby a bit better, since we'll start earlier this time. They are all one-size diapers, they just come in a slightly bigger or smaller one-size. Anyway, google them, and let me know if you have any other questions on brands - I've tried quite a few! Sunbaby and Kawaii are our favorites. :-)
ReplyDelete