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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

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A Good Investment

When I found out I was pregnant, I began thinking about cloth diapers. I don’t remember why, but I thought I wanted to use them. After briefly considering FuzziBunz, we decided on prefolds because they were cheapest option and we could use them to stuff pockets, should we ever decide to go that route. We bought 24 infant prefolds and 4 X-Small Thirsties diaper covers.

We started cloth diapering when our daughter was 1 month old. We would have used cloth sooner - but we moved when she was only 11 days old; disposables were much simpler for that first month with all the transitions). I loved not having to buy disposables all the time, as we did the first month. We have since moved on to the premium sized prefolds and we’re already in Medium sized Thirsties diaper covers now!

In March 2009, I won the How Green Are You? contest from The Cloth Diaper Whisperer - and won a Limited Edition Fleece bumGenius One Size 3.0 pocket diaper in Ribbit Green, a bumGenius All-in-One One Size diaper with snaps in Grasshopper Green, a Blueberry Deluxe One Size diaper with Aplix in Green Diaper, and a pair of bumGenius Babylegs in Sweet Greens. I like the one size diapers because they always fit. I have had pilling issues with the fleece diapers because I wash them with my prefolds, however, they still hold in the mess!

I continued entering cloth diaper giveaways at The Cloth Diaper Whisperer and was surprised to discover I won again in October 2009; a Baby Beehinds One Size Hemp Diaper, a Baby Beehinds One Size Bamboo Diaper, and Baby Beehinds Wool Cover. I love these for overnight because they are much trimmer than doubling up on prefolds or even a fully stuffed pocket diaper. I’m slowly using fewer inserts to see just how trim I can get it without leaking.

Since receiving my pocket diapers, my husband has told me that he’d help out with changing diapers more if we had more of “those that go on like ‘regular’ (disposable) diapers.” My sister loved using the pocket diapers when we were home for Thanksgiving. In her words, she called them “cheater diapers” and said she might consider cloth diapers when she has kids, now that she’s tried more than just my prefolds!

In total, we’ve spent a little over $450 on cloth and only $175 on disposable in the last 19 months since my daughter was born. Considering we won't have to spend much more on cloth for another baby, I'd say it's well worth the investment, both the time entering giveaways and the money spent!

By Heather R.

10 comments:

Minnie said...

I was opposite. Pre-folds are one of the last diapers added to my stash and they are the ones I'm currently showing the most love & wishing I had more than 12. I got the Bummis Organic toddler sized pre-folds and I'm just AMAZED that my daughter can go nearly 4 hours w/out leaking. Because she is SO tall for her age the rise on her BG Organics has gotten so low that she wont even last an hour in them anymore. I find the pre-folds super easy to use w/ a good cover like Flip or Blueberry one size but, like your hubby, my hubby still grabs for the BG Organics first. LOL

Amanda G.

Megan said...

I hope it eventually pays off for me to enter giveaways....I keep thinking, "Someday it'll be me."

Leslie said...

I couldn't agree more about the value and investment. We moved when I was 38 weeks pregnant, and between the pregnancy and move, I just didn't have time to investigate cloth diapers. I had thought about it, but that was it. My dd was born three days after we moved (yikes!) and after buying disposables for her first month or two, we just couldn't stand the though of our hard-earned money just being pooped on and thrown in a landfill! We went to cloth and haven't turned back! I think we've spent a total of $350 on cd's, and are all set for the next baby, too!

The Smith Family said...

prefolds sounded scary from the get go to me - now that I've tried pockets and aios, i think I'm ready and may supplement our stash with some. :)

Sisrea said...

that is a considerable amount of savings in cloth, and what a way to score free diaper swag!! Love It!

Michele said...

I too have been really blessed with winning a few cloth giveaways - which has really helped to build our stash. we've also purchased one small order as well and plan on adding to it a few diapers at a time.

right now we have 12 prefolds and today was our first day trying out everything that we have on hand. The few AIOs that we have I loved. The prefolds are proving to be a little more challenging for me to get onto our 3 month old - I'm going to have to work on my folding technique.

gnatalie said...

My hubby also prefers the ones that are "like disposables", except he is referring to all-in-ones. I've added a few more to our stash of primarily pockets just for him.

Crystal said...

I waited until my DD was 3 mo old before starting cloth since I wanted to make it past that "poop every diaper" phase. Way to go for starting so early, and not long after a move! I started with some prefolds too, but now I love my Flip collection and still find they offer a great cost savings.
aboverubies15 at yahoo dot com

Jill said...

I have won a couple of giveaways and I agree that the time invested in doing the little entries is worth it to try out a new brand or product!

Jess said...

I started with a few pocket diapers, some made by wahms that i bought off ebay, and some prefolds and fuzzibunz. I never use the 2 wahm diapers, they came with cheap inserts and leaked like crazy. the pockets and fuzzi bunz I LOVE! so simple to use. I find prefolds to be a pain to get on a 1 yr old who hates diaper changes, so it's really hard to do the origami they require plus getting used to a snappi. It's a mission. I prefer to just fold them in thirds and place in my bummis diaper covers. Oh and gussets are the best! My fav's are the Bumgenius, no leaks, trim fit, cute colors, love them. So much cuter then disposables.