We don’t have a changing table—not for this fourth baby. She doesn’t need one. We had one, when she was born; and there it sat in the room that she shares with her big sister, unused, taking up space that was really needed for other things, because it was easier to just change her in the living room floor, on the couch, on our bed—wherever we happened to be when we needed to change her. We ditched the changing table and moved her diapers into the living room, where she was changed the most often. They sit in two neat little baskets, easy to access.
And the baskets are overflowing again.
Sure, I have enough diapers to loan out a few if anyone in my circle needs to borrow a starter stash for a few days to check it out; and that sounds great. Really, it does. But the truth is, there’s no one in my immediate circle who is close enough to me to borrow cloth diapers for their baby. Most of my friends don’t have little ones; and the ones who do are fairly set in their disposable preference. Barring financial catastrophe or allergy, they aren’t going to be making that jump.
And sure, I have several different styles and types (again), because different types of diapers work best at different times in your cloth diapering journey, right? I was making it work with a stash made up of all one brand of diapers (bumGenius, for anyone who is interested). We had a selection of their styles—the 4.0 pocket diapers, the Freetime all in ones, the Flip cover/prefold or insert system—but those were the diapers that fit my tiny girl the best, so our stash was completely made up of them. Her brother had a much more varied stash, but he also had a body style that nearly any diaper worked just fine for, so it didn’t matter what we used. He also had a changing table where they could all be corralled.
Then Black Friday happened, and, well, there were some sales that were too good to pass up…and now her stash has a few more styles in it. They’re good diapers. I’m pleased with the ones that we’ve tried. It’s just that she doesn’t need them. The baskets are overflowing. Plus, bumGenius has been releasing all of their Special Limited Edition Prints That Will Never Be Seen Again, and anyone who’s ever been in the Cotton Babies Flash Mob knows that you have to buy them as soon as they’re released if you even think you might like them, because they disappear so fast.
I gave up and added a third basket, but that just makes the diaper pile look messy and cluttered; and then my three-year-old decided to dance on top of one of the baskets, so we’re back to two. I like the way “two” looks much better. Neat and tidy and easy to transport.
But there’s that problem with the overflowing diapers.
The funny thing is, there are diapers in my stash that I don’t care for. She’s reached that stage where she can undo aplix diapers by herself, and we have some that are over a year old that need to either have the tabs replaced or be snap converted. I’m probably capable of doing it, but I neither need nor want to. I could sell them, donate them, move them on out…but knowing that and doing it are two very different things.
So here they sit. Taking up space. Gathering dust, metaphorically speaking.
What started this addiction, anyway? It was just a choice like any other: cloth diapers for my babies instead of disposables. I love my cloth diapers—love not having to drag all four kids out just for diapers, ever; love not having to spend money on diapers unless I want to; love the cute prints and the decision about what she’ll be wearing at each diaper change—but that doesn’t mean that I have to buy all the diapers…right?
Nope. No more diaper buying for us. I’ll just keep the stash that we’ve got. It’s a good stash, filled with plenty of choices. I might even weed it down a little bit, and…
Oh, wait, is that a new print?
By Emily
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