lo-wren

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Window Shopping: Creating My Ideal Cloth Diaper Stash

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If I could cloth diaper all over again
If I had the chance to start over and build my cloth diaper stash from scratch, what would I do differently or the same, knowing what I know now (after 14 months of cloth diapering)?  And how would I create my stash if I was given a $200 budget, or $500?  What would I choose with an unlimited budget (more like, what wouldn’t I chose)?  When Tara & Carolyn, from Padded Tush Stats, threw this topic out, I knew that I would have fun with it.  Window shopping, with all of the cloth diapering experience I’ve gained over the past year, has been fun and a challenge.
ClothDiaperBudget
I began putting together my cloth diaper stash when I was two months pregnant, so I had plenty of time to shop.  I read cloth diapering blogs like it was my job!  A couple of the first nuggets of wisdom I encountered were that a.) I would need to try a few different styles of diapers to figure out what worked best for us, and b.) not all styles of diapers work on all babies (it’s like finding the right pair of running shoes).  I knew that I wanted to diaper with prefolds (flats intimidated more than prefolds back then), but also wanted to try pockets, AI2s, etc.  I purchased prefolds new, little by little, and decided to buy pockets used.
I realized early on that pockets were not going to work for us, and gradually sold them to add more prefolds and fitteds.  It’s amazing how diaper preferences change over time…and over the course of your baby’s growth.  I was a staunch prefold advocate for the first year of diapering Declan, but when every diaper change became a wrestling match (aound the time he turned 1), I quickly realized that AIOs and AI2s were my ally on the changing mat, and I have been adding them to my stash here and there.  Every baby is different, but the following ‘dream’ lists are based upon my experience thus far diapering D.
To simplify things, I’ll be creating my stash using just one diaper store (no comparison shopping): Diaper Junction.  It pays to use one cloth diaper store because most of them have points/award systems that give you credit based upon what you spend.
Creating a Diaper Stash for $200
This task proved to be a bit more difficult than I had imagined, but it’s still no problem for me, a prefold lover.  I actually plan to use flats with our next baby, now that I’m no longer intimidated, and they are a perfect solution because they fit babies of all sizes.
12 – Preemie Indian Prefolds  $9.00
2  –  Bummis Newborn Diaper Covers  $13.00
2  –  Thirsties Duo Wrap size 1  $20.82
2  – Thirsties Duo Wrap size 2  $20.82
1  –  Econobum Diaper Kit  $49.95
10 – Charlie Banana 10 Reusable Double Sided Wipes, Blue Emb.  $12.99  (these are my absolute favorite wipes)
1  –  10-gallon step trash can (Target)  $15.00
There’s no wet bag included, but grocery bags work just fine when you’re out and about.  No frills diapering, but this will take you from birth to potty training for $193.97.
Creating a Diaper Stash for $500
Now with $500 I should really be able to create my dream stash, right?  Well, I had a tough time fulfilling my dream stash for $500 (those AIOs & AI2s are expensive!)!  For $500, however, I do get the luxury of having plenty of diapers for the newborn stage.  One thing I wasn’t keen on was doing diapers almost daily the first 2-3 months with Declan.  However, once babies are on solids, their daily diaper usage decreases drastically, and I really didn’t factor in a decrease in diaper usage when purchasing our prefolds (we have a lot…as in over 100 in multiple sizes a lot!).  With D, we have way more prefolds than we can use in our current rotation because his pH changed once he began teething; this meant that I went from doing diaper laundry once per week, to doing them every 3rd day (or have an insane ammonia stink emanating from the pail).  I’d rather have more diapers for those early sleep-deprived days, and this stash reflects that:
1 – 3-Pack Snappi Diaper Fasteners  $3.95

24 – Diaper Rite Flannel Wipes  $11.98
1 – 10-Pack Charlie Banana Wipes  $12.99

1 – Bummis Newborn Pack  $42.00
     12 prefolds
     2 covers
12 – Preemie Indian Prefolds  $9.00
12 – Diaper Rite Flats  $17.50
12 – Infant Indian Prefolds  $18.00
2 – Thirsties Duo Wrap size 1  $20.80
1 – Blueberry Cover  $16.95
1 – Applecheeks Cover  $19.00
12 – bumGenius Freetime AIOs  $239.40
1 – Step Trash Can  $15.00
2 – Planet Wise Pail Liners  $33.00
1 – Planet Wise Hanging Wet Bag  $29.99
1 – Planet Wise Wet Bag Medium  $16.50
All of this for a grand total of $493.07 – whew!  What’s interesting to note is that we’ve spent around $500-600 on our current stash, but have way more options.  Part of this is because we had a few of our cloth diapering items given to us as shower gifts, and cute covers for Christmas gifts.  The other reason why we have so much more is because I had the luxury of plenty time to shop around; I purchased used diapers, shopped B1G1 diaper sales, and lucked into meeting a woman that was liquidating her online diaper store inventory (I was able to purchase a lot of items at cost, including our pail liners and wet bags).
My Ideal Diaper Stash (no budget)
 
No budget?  Since money is no object, and the budget is out-the-door, the (cloth diapering) world is my oyster!  The interesting thing is that I didn’t go nuts.  At-the-end-of-the-day, diapers, for me, are pee and poop catchers that serve a practical purpose.  I don’t like clutter, so I hate to over buy.
One area where I minimized, compared to what I currently have, is with my diaper covers.  I have WAY more than I need now, so I would definitely scale back if I had it all to do over again.  Other changes?  One more set of my absolute favorite wipes (Charlie Banana double-sided), more (fun) wet bag options, more newborn prefolds and wool…lots and lots of wool (I.love.wool.).  I scaled back on the number of larger sized prefolds I would get because I would plan to switch over to AIOs around the one year mark.  This is my ideal cloth diaper stash (*drum roll*):
1 – 3-Pack Snappi Diaper Fasteners  $3.95
3 – 10-Packs Charlie Banana Double-Sided Wipes  $38.97
Wipes Warmer  $29.99
4 – 5-Packs of Bummis Fleece Liners  $20.00
Step Trash Can  $15.00
2 – Bummis Newborn Diaper Packs  $84.00
12 – Diaper Rite Birdseye Flats  $17.50
1 – Blueberry Cover  $16.95
1 – Applecheeks Cover  $19.00
1 – Thirsties Duo Wrap Cover  $10.20
1 – EcoPosh Wool Cover  $34.95
1 – Kissaluvs Wool Cover  $39.00
18 bumGenius Freetime AIOs  $359.82

A grand total of $1,033.21.  Disposable diapering can cost anywhere from $1,500-$2,000, so I’m still saving money while having my dream diaper stash.  The crazy thing?  These diapers will diaper all of my kids and I’ll still be able to resell many of these items when done and recoup some money (cloth diapering just makes cents).  I feel I should have a disclaimer — I’ve not tried Blueberry or Applecheeks covers, I’ve just heard so many great things about them that I had to include them.  Also missing?  The diaper I am absolutely dying to try right now is a Smart Bottoms Smart One 3.0. I just can’t justify any more diaper purchases when we have so many diapers that go unused each rotation (even though I really, really, really want to add just 5 more AIOs/AI2s to my stash!).

Window shopping has been fun, but it makes me want so many more diapers (and another squishy baby to put fluff on)!  I was surprised that I had difficulty with the $200 budget even with exclusive flat and prefold diapering.  While I was pretty much a prefold-only gal (with a few fitteds thrown in for good measure), I did have a lot of comforts along with those diapers, in the form of multiple wet bags, pail liners, premium cloth wipes, wipe warmer, and way more cute covers than we have ever needed (who knew?).  The biggest comfort I factored into my $500 and unlimited budgets was having the luxury of more diapers and cutting down on the frequency of laundering.  What I didn’t factor in was a laundry service, but that may just be a topic for a future post…

My First D.I.Y. Wool Soaker!

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I’m relatively new to using wool, and new to knitting (I just started in February).  However, I love using wool so much that I decided to attempt to knit my own soaker.  I searched the internet for patterns, and came across a couple of free soaker patterns that I decided to try (I’m currently working on another pattern).  The first pattern I decided to try is a by a Finnish woman and can be found on the Ottobre Design website.  This particular soaker is knitted with straight needles, and is then stitched together at the very end.
Without photos of the finished product, I really was on my own.  I won’t tell you how many times I had to restart this project due to mistakes at the very beginning (remember, I’m a beginner).  Before this project, I had only worked with a knit stitch, so I had to learn purling to do the waistband ribbing.  Counting stitches proved to be my biggest hurdle:

While this is a beautiful moss stitch, it’s not what I needed.  This is a photo of one of the many times I had to undo my knitting and start over.  But, I finally got the hang of it (and learned a lot in the process):

Since becoming pregnant and having a baby, I’ve noticed that I have a difficult time paying attention to television shows or movies.  I’ve found that knitting helps me to focus more and it relaxes me.  It is definitely teaching me patience as well!

This pattern forced me to learn a lot of different knitting techniques: increases, decreasing rows, and the mattress stitch to name a few.  Thank goodness for the internet and YouTube — I can’t tell you how many tutorials I watched throughout the process of making this!

While it took me a few weeks to get this done, realistically, this project could get done in a week (knitting in the evenings, as I do).  I sat on the project for a few weeks at the end, before attempting to stitch it together.  I am not great at sewing, so the thought of having to learn a special stitch (mattress stitch) and sew the whole thing together was overwhelming.
I finally did complete the soaker, and have an amazing sense of satisfaction in having completed this!  I love it, imperfections and all.

The unfortunate part?  I used the 10-24 month pattern, to get the most use out of the soaker, but my son is only 9 months…and on the small side:

He likely won’t start wearing this until the fall 🙂

I really want him to wear wool this summer, so I’ve started a new pattern using circular needles – wish me luck!

A Return to Cloth at Night w/ the Help of Little Fawn Organics

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 I have no shame in exposing my dirty little secret.  When Declan was about 5 months old, we started using disposables at night.  I simply got tired of middle-of-the-night wakeups, stripping the crib linens and changing bulked-up cloth diapers in my semi-conscious state.  On top of it all, D was becoming more mobile in the crib and his overstuffed pocket diapers were hindering his movement.  I waved my white flag.
Fast forward three months later, three months of solid foods and one bulked-up little baby.  I got curious about cloth at night again.  Maybe pocket diapers would work at night, now that D’s thighs were more like a turkey drumstick than a chicken leg.  I was also intrigued by wool, but a little timid with both the price and, what I perceived as complicated care.  Nevertheless, I was mulling around my nighttime cloth diapering options.  Around this time, I happened to be browsing Indiegogo and came across an organic cloth diaper company with a funding campaign, Little Fawn Organics.  The more I read, the more I liked what I saw. 
What a wonderful company with a strong sense of community, a commitment to the environment, and a solid philosophy.  All of this, and their diapers are absolutely beautiful!
Front of organic wool soaker
I contacted Jessica, the founder, and started a dialogue that ended with me ordering an organic merino wool soaker for Declan.  Jessica was extremely helpful in answering my questions and advising me in what size to order for D.  I will be completely honest and say that I took full advantage of the option to have the soaker lanolized for me, and to have an extra soaker sewn in at an additional cost (this took away a large part of my wool anxiety).  I could not wait for my fluffy mail to arrive!
Back of organic wool soaker
When my fluffy mail came, I couldn’t believe how soft and beautiful (yes, I find this diaper beautiful) the wool soaker was.  The craftmanship was impeccable, and the best part?  I knew that this diaper had been crafted for Declan by someone passionate about putting only the safest and natural materials close to a baby’s skin.
We waited until the last possible moment to give nighttime cloth a try – we ran out of disposables within two days of receiving our Little Fawn Organics soaker – and the timing couldn’t have been any more perfect.  I’ve only got one fitted diaper, which D just outgrew, so I devised a laying system with a prefold (Declan’s between sizes right now, so the next size up is really big), a full size insert, newborn insert, and a flannel liner.  While D wasn’t as trim as in his disposable, I was surprised by how trim he looked with the soaker over top.  I put him to bed and said a little prayer that there would be no middle-of-the-night change…
Ready to give nighttime cloth a try!
…and there wasn’t!  Not a single spot.  I should back up and say that we had been having issues with D’s disposable diapers leaking for at least a month.  With our LFO soaker, we had absolutely NO leaks!  I’m here to report that one week into cloth at night and D is still waking up without any leaks.  I can’t wait to convince my husband to allow me to order some LFO fitteds!
If you’re thinking about wool, or interested in completely organic cloth diapering, I would encourage you to take a look at the Little Fawn Organics shop on Etsy.  If your diaper stash is full, but you’re looking for a great cause, heck, even if you don’t diaper, please consider making a donation to Little Fawn Organics Indiegogo campaign.  Help support small business, creating employment opportunities, and giving back to communities.