Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Cotton Babies is having a seconds sale! This is where some of their cloth diapers are sold for much less than normal and I tell you, I can't find anything wrong with the diapers once they arrive. I ordered 5 more Bum Genus in white and think that those 5 will be the last ones I need to purchase. I have been using the Bum Genus exclusively for a while now, after giving Econobums, Flips, and Gro-Baby's all a try. While all the ones I tried are great, I like the Bum Genus the best - of course, they are the most expensive too so the seconds sales really help! 

I wash diapers on Tuesdays and Saturdays and I generally am really rushing to get them finished before I need to change the baby, so having a few more will really help ease the pressure to get them all washed before a poo happens!

When I was first considering using cloth, it was mostly a money issue and I suppose still is for the most part. I knew that I was going to be working part time and that money would be tight. I set out to find the most cost effective way to have a baby and found it in cloth diapers, cloth wipes, breastfeeding and hand-me-down clothing and equipment.

1) Cloth diapers: I did the research and even with the increased cost of water, energy used by the washing machine and the cost of soap. The average person will save close to $3,000 during the diaper-wearing years and that cost increases with multiple children, since the same cloth diapers can be used for additional kids. We are saving about $70 a month by not purchasing disposable diapers and our water bill has only increased $6.00 a month and the electric bill by about $4.00. Not to mention the environmental impact of all those diapers! The Bum Genus are just as easy to use as disposables, Smug-Baby has never had a blow out in them and they are so absorbent that she can stay in one all night and not need to be changed!

2) Cloth wipes are nice, I wash them with the diapers twice a week and put the clean ones in a solution of baby was, olive oil and water, with a little orange oil for a nice scent, roll them up and stick them in a wipe warmer. Every diaper change involves a nice warm soft (chemical free) wipe. Smug-Baby likes the warm feeling and will often smile at me while getting her diaper changed. The cost savings is huge. We got the warmer as a baby gift and it included some wipes and I purchased more for $18. Disposable wipes run about $20 a box and you have to keep buying them over and over. Not to mention (again) the chemicals on your little baby's perfect butt, or the environmental impact!!

3) Breastfeeding: This is natures perfect baby food (as I have gone into detail on before) and it is totally free. I haven't even looked at what formula costs, or the price of increased doctor visits or the lifelong health benefits of breastfeeding, I just know that if God provided me a free way to feed my child, it would be downright silly to refuse!

4) My family is large and there are several of us cousins who are having children all around the same time frame. Smug-Cuz's daughter is about 3 now and she saved all her baby clothes and equipment for me. It took two large cars packed to bursting to bring it all home!! I had rockers and swings and blankets and clothes and toys and everything you could imagine! Besides that and shower gifts, I have only purchased two new outfits for my daughter. Everything else was given to me!! Smug-Sister is now getting everything, as her baby is the newest addition to the family. Once she is finished with it, Smug-Cuz's second baby will be about due and Smug-Sister can pass everything back to her!

I know that there are lots of costs to having a baby, both monetary and other ways, but those costs can be minimized by being smart, doing the research and keeping in mind that motto "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" The baby is better off, your wallet is better off and the planet is better off!!!

3 comments:

  1. whoo hoo! I love cloth wipes! I'm still looking for a cloth diaper that will hold Toren's pee's overnight...so far, not so much. And I typically use NO solution on his bottom - I take a wipe, run warm water on it, and wipe him down. Sometimes I just stick his tootie under the faucet too. :)

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  2. Hey lady, I'm glad I found you- I'm also from Roanoke!!! Your blog is stinkin' cute!

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