March 24, 2010

Cloth Diapering

This week marks 33 weeks. Only two months to go from here. In the last week or so the back achey-ness has turned a corner to frequent back soreness and the baby movements in my belly have turned from a delightful little flutter to full on twisting, kicking and punching. It's cute and fun during the day and then slightly annoying as I lie down to go to sleep at night.

I'm very much enjoying pregnancy. I even told Jesse the other day that I think I'm going to miss it. There is something about carrying this little guy and feeling his movements - stuff that only I get to experience - that is really special. I love these weeks of anticipating what he will look like, what his personality will be like, and how it will change Jesse and my life together. This is such a wonderful season to be in. Ahhh.

Wow . . . okay . . . let's transition from that sentimental mommy-to-be sugar-coated thoughts to cloth diapers, shall we? So . . . a long time ago (in an age where I used to work at a place that gave me too little work to do and free reign of the internet) I began researching cloth diapering. Actually, a friend of mine was pregnant at the time and I used to dole out my time-wasting abilities for free, so she asked me to do some research for her. What I found was intriguing.

Turns out . . . there are A LOT of people who cloth diaper nowadays. And, the ways of cloth diapering have drastically changed from the old prefold, pin and cover days. What I learned is that an up front investment of about $250 will save you about $2000 in the long run. Amazing! All it seems to require is a little courage, an initial investment and a willingness to do more laundry. So, I've (we've) committed, and we'll see how it turns out . . . poor Jesse.

I recently purchased 15 new diapers from Bum Genius (a brand that is highly recommended among many websites). And, I've made 20 cloth wipes out of an old jersey knit sheet to go with them.


Now, all I need is some laundry detergent advice (thankfully I'll be sitting down with a cloth diapering friend this week to discuss that) and a little bum to wrap in diapers (7 weeks and counting).

I'll let you know in a few months how it's all going. I'm hoping for the best.

5 comments:

  1. Cloth diapers are so cute!
    I thought about cloth diapering, and even bought a few of those same diapers to try it out. In the end, I had to admit that I can hardly keep up with the laundry I have now. But it does save thousands of dollars! Especially if you have more children.

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  2. I can't speak from personal experience with diapers, but we use an all natural detergent. Literally. laundrytree.com It's a fruit/seed from a tree that has natural soap in it. Check out the website for how to use it. It's really great, even for Adam's amazingly dirty work clothes. So it should be good for diapers. Since it's natural you won't have to worry about dyes and chemicals.

    Good luck! I plan to use cloth diapers if/when we ever get a little one.

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  3. You amaze me dear Erin. I am so overjoyed for you and know you are going to be such a wonderful mommy. I love you!!

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  4. OH! I love you, my little hippie! :) Let me know how this goes. YEARS (and i do mean years) from now it will be helpful! :)

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  5. Erin,
    I was delighted to discover your blog listed as one of Kristin's "Things we like" on her blog! I've effectively spent the last 2 or so hours (at work-whoops) catching up on your postings!
    For some reason, I felt lead to comment on this post because I have a friend who does cloth diapers and has me completely convinced that it's the way to go! She sews like you, and has even made her own clothe wipes! She swears by them! Not that I am a mom or even soon to be one, but someday, when I am, I will be using cloth diapers! I'm wondering if you've kept up with the cloth diapers now that little Jude is here? :)

    -Britany (Mock) from Linfield Coffee Girls

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