Why and How We Cloth Diaper

Every three days or so my laundry room looks a lot like this:

Why, you ask? Because today is diaper day. Before Liam was born we made the decision to cloth diaper. We love the idea that there won't be a huge pile of diapers in a landfill for hundreds of years with Liam's name on them; however, that isn't the reason that we are doing it. We are doing it because we are cheap, or as I prefer to call it, frugal. :)

Here is the math:

I used disposable diapers and wipes on Cadence for three and a half years at a cost of approximately $20.00 per week. That comes out to $3,640.00.

I used pull-ups on Cadence every night for another three years at a cost of approximately $10.00 per week. That comes out to $1,560.00

Gabriel skipped the pull-ups at night but also wore diapers for three and a half years at a cost of approximately $20.00 per week. That comes out to $3,640.00

Grand total of using disposable diapers on two kids from infancy through potty training age = $8,840.00

I did not want to repeat that with Liam. I bought a lot of his stuff on sale and traded some of my pocket diapers for more Best Bottoms, but here's the approximate math that it would take to replicate what I have purchased for him:

12 Best Bottom diapers at $16.95 each comes to $203.40

24 small inserts, 10 medium inserts and 36 large inserts at $276.50

Wet/dry bags, wipes and diaper sprayer cost approximately $86.00

One dozen Chinese prefold diapers is $18.00

An average $8.00 per month increased water bill for three and a half years comes to $336.00

Detergent for three and a half years costs approximately $252.00

Grand total for using cloth diapers = $1,171.90

That is a savings of 77% over the cost of using disposable diapers on Cadence and 53% over the cost of using disposable diapers on Gabriel.

Now you know why we do it so let me show you how we do it.

If you ask ten people how to cloth diaper a baby, you will receive ten different answers. Here is my answer:

This is a diaper. It is a far cry from the cloth diapers that our parents put us in, isn't it? There are no pins or rubber pants. Just a diaper with a whole bunch of snaps. The snaps determine the size of the diaper. This particular brand fits a baby from 7lbs to 35lbs depending on how the snaps are set.

Here is an opened diaper shell. The lining of the diaper is made of PUL (polyurethane laminate) fabric. It is waterproof and can be wiped clean.

The insert is the absorbant part of the diaper and is snapped into the diaper shell. It is now ready to go on the baby.

If the baby pees the insert is removed, the liner is wiped down with a cloth wipe and a new insert is placed in the diaper. If the baby poops and the poop makes its way off of the liner and onto the shell the whole diaper is removed and a new diaper shell and liner is put on the baby.

Cloth wipes are much easier to use than disposable wipes. This is because you just toss the wipe into the laundry paid with the dirty diaper. If you were to use disposable wipes, you'd need a trash can along with your diaper paid. Here are our wipes. We have 27 of them. The are made of flannel and are stitched around the edges to prevent fraying. I fold them so that they pop out of an old Pampers wipe case that I used with Gabriel.

Here is our diaper pail. It is a household trash can. We put a reusable diaper pail liner in the can (not pictured as it was being washed at the time). When it is time to do laundry we lift the bag out and dump its contents into the washing machine. Then we toss the bag in too. There is no need to ever touch the dirty diapers.

The diapers do a cold soak and pre-wash. The detergent is then added and they are washed on hot with a double rinse on cold (this is the cause of the slight increase in our water bill). We only use about a tablespoon of detergent during each wash so the detergent goes a long way. Once a month or so we do a special treatment to take care of any stains and to freshen them up.

Breastfed diapers do not require any spraying prior to tossing them in the wash; however, once Liam starts eating homemade baby food his diapers will get pretty gross. Prior to tossing them in the laundry, the poopy ones can be sprayed down with a diaper sprayer. It hooks into the water line to the toilet and hangs on the side of the toilet ready for use.

That is why and how we cloth diaper in a nutshell. William hasn't worn a disposable diaper since he was a week old (yes, we do cloth when we are out too). He has never had diaper rash and has had no more leaks than my other two did in disposables. We love it!

Sick Kids

Last Sunday William woke up with a cough. It got worse on Monday and on Tuesday I took him to the doctor's office where they said that he had RSV. RSV is the virus that can cause bronchitis and pneumonia and most children get it before the age of three. Infants are especially susceptible to it. He was put on an oral steroid once a day and a steroid via nebulizer every four hours as needed. The steroids really helped him and within 36 hours he was sounding much better. He is still coughing here and there, but nothing like he was before.

On Friday morning Cadence started feeling bad. She had a sore throat and a fever. I took her to the doctor and they said it could be a virus but they gave me an antibiotic prescription just in case it continued throughout the weekend or her fever got higher. They told me not to fill it unless she needed it. Last night her fever hit 103 so I filled the prescription and sent it to her Nanny & Papa's house (where Cadence is spending the weekend). Hopefully the antibiotic will help her feel better very soon!

I'm beginning to wonder if, with three kids in the house, we will ever have times when no one is sick!

Cadence's First Report Card

Cadence received her first report card on Monday. Her teacher held conferences in lieu of giving report cards during the first nine weeks. She was "graded" in 32 areas covering the main subjects of Reading, Language Arts, Science, Personal and Social Growth, Mathematics and Social Studies. She received a grade "consistently demonstrates" in 31 of the 32 areas and received a grade of "sometimes demonstrates" in the topic "solves problems in a positive manner" under Personal and Social Growth. She knows that we are going to work on that during the next nine weeks; however, overall we are very proud of her.

Chris and I wanted to do something special for her as a reward for her good report card. Chris was off today so when I got off of work he brought Cadence up to the mall to meet me. We took her to Club Tabby and she received a "Rainbow Rocker Makeover." They painted her nails, did her make-up, gave her rainbow eyelashes and did her hair. She was grinning from ear to ear the entire time. It was great!

After the makeover, we let Cadence pick where she wanted to go for dinner. So, of course, we had dinner at On the Border! :) We had a very fun evening and are VERY proud of her!

Consignment Sales - Friend or Enemy?

Nothing feels quite as awesome as getting a great deal. 80% of all of my children's clothing is used. The remaining 20% was given to us or purchased on sale. I don't think I've ever purchased anything clothing for my kids at retail price. Used clothing is great on the wallet and on the environment.

With the beginning of the new year, we are coming up on the Spring/Summer consignment sales. Specifically, in Greenville there are three major sales approaching: An Angel's Attic - Feb 3-5 (www.smmcc.org), Switch a Roos - Feb 11-13 (www.switcharoosconsignment.com) and Trunk Treasures - March 4-8 and 10-13 (www.trunktreasures.com). If you know of any others, please let me know!

I have a few rules for purchasing items at consignment sales. If followed, consignment sales can be your best friend:

1. Make a list - Consignment sales can be very large and overwhelming. Know what you are looking for. Also, be prepared to spend at least an hour or two there.

2. Purchase items only on that list - It can be very easy to buy something "just because it costs $3." Do that 5 or 6 times and you are quickly going over budget. Don't buy something just because you are "saving" a lot on it. Remember, it isn't about how much you save. It is about how much you spend.

3. Only purchase items on the last day during the 1/2 off sale - It may seem that by waiting the good stuff may be gone, but that isn't true. I have come out of consignment sales with many cute, name-brand outfits on 1/2 off day. Just be prepared to spend a lot of time picking through the racks.

4. Bring cash and do not spend more than the cash that you bring - This will help you stay on budget. Keep a mental tally of how much you are spending in your head and stop when you are within $10 of your budget.

I have purchased entire seasonal wardrobes for all of my children for under $100.00. Cadence wears everything from Target brand to Limited Too. Gabriel has Tommy Hilfiger jeans and Gap tops. William wears mostly Carter. All of their clothing has been purchased for 70-90% less than retail.

Consignment shops are another great resource; however, I usually buy clothing there in the off-season to get the items on sale. I sell my children's clothing at a local consignment shop and use the money I make for in-store credit.

Zoo

It is hard to believe that three weeks ago it was snowing here. It was around 60 degrees this afternoon with plentiful sunshine. Cadence's friend Katie came over to play for the afternoon and we decided to pack all four kids up in the van for a trip to the Greenville Zoo.

First, we stopped at Moe's for lunch. We chowed down on tacos, burritos, chips and cheese dip before heading downtown. When we arrived at the Cleveland Park area I realized that everyone else in Greenville County had the same idea that we did. The place was packed!

We finally found a parking spot and headed towards to the zoo. The line to get in was about 50 yards long. We decided to let the kids play on the playground instead. If you haven't checked out Cleveland Park's new playground, definitely visit it. It and Kid's Planet in Greer are my favorite playgrounds.

After an hour or so the line going into the zoo died down so we went in. The kids had a great time checking out all of the animals and doing silly poses for pictures along the way. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home, so you are forced to check out my cell phone pictures.

Since I promised to talk about our budget-friendly activities, here is the break-down on today's activity. Thanks to coupons for lunch (from the Attractions book) and a membership to the Greenville Zoo, our lunch and afternoon out with 2 adults, 3 kids and a baby cost under $30.

Blog Facelift - Welcome to the Kind-of-Crunchy Hall~Smith Family!

I went several weeks without making an entry, and now I've made three in the last few days! Anyway, my last entry on Must-Have Baby Items made me think. I have tons of baby and parenting related tricks floating around in my head - most of which involve budget parenting. So going forward, I will still continue to blog about events going in in our family; however, I'm going to add in the little tricks that I have learned along my journey of becoming a budget-conscious, "crunchy" mom.

What is "crunchy" parenting, you ask? "Crunchy" refers to granola - something natural. The more "crunchy" the parent, the more natural they are. For example, an extremely "crunchy" parent may not vaccinate their children, may home school and probably buys only organic products. We are moderately "crunchy." We make baby food, breast feed, baby wear and vaccinate on a modified schedule. We buy organic when we can, but do everything on a budget.

Be prepared for more blogging on topics relating to how we keep save money everyday by being the Kind-of-Crunchy Hall-Smith Family!

My "Must-Have" Baby Items

When Cadence and Gabriel were little there was only one baby item that I absolutely could not live without:

The Original Nojo Babysling by Dr. Sears

All three of my children have ridden around in the same gray ring sling until they were a year or so old. With Cadence and Gabriel though, my must-have list ended there.

With William however, I have discovered four other must-haves that I didn't discover with Cadence and Gabriel - a few of which could even contend with the Nojo sling for my number one favorite baby item. They are as follows:

Cloth Diapers and accessories

If you would have told me three or four years ago that I would fall in love with cloth diapers, I would have laughed at you and then made some disgusted face at the thought of washing some of the diapers that I had seen my older daughter and son produce. However, when I was pregnant with William I decided to research the whole cloth diapering thing. I got passed the "ick factor" and began thinking about how much money I had spent on diapers for Cadence and Gabriel and how much space those disposable diapers were now occupying in a landfill (and will continue to occupy for hundreds of years).

I bought six Katydid and one Kawaii pocket diapers on Craigslist. My stash had officially begun. I also purchased four bumGenius 4.0 diapers using Target gift cards we had been given when Liam was born. I then began comparing different brands and styles of diapers to decide which would be best for us. We fell in love with the concept of Best Bottom diapers. They have an outer shell with snap in liners. If your baby pees, you just change out the liner. If the baby poops, you change the whole thing. This means that they take up less space in your washing machine than traditional cloth diapers and, since you can use them more than once, they are very cost effective.

We currently have six Best Bottom diapers and about 20 liners. We wash diapers every 3 days or so, hang dry them, and use our pocket diapers on laundry day and to supplement our stash as needed.

In addition to the cloth diapers, we have cloth wipes that we bought from Handmade Burps on Etsy that we adore and a diaper sprayer by bumGenius. That will come in handy when William begins to eat homemade baby food in a few months. We also make our diaper wipe solution and keep it stored in a spray bottle.

With our self-sustaining diaper stash, I can't help but smile every time I pass a mom at Walmart with a box of diapers and a huge pack of wipes. I'm so glad that I don't have to do that anymore.

Infant Carrier Cover

Made by Barlow Baby, an at home business created by a friend of mine from my pregnancy board, Williams carrier cover has quickly become a must-have item. It remains strapped to our carrier. We flip it behind him when we are driving and cover him up when we are taking the carrier from the car to our destination. It protects him from the rain, wind or bright sun. We love it!

Nursing accessories

For some reason breastfeeding never worked out with Cadence and Gabriel. I had a terrible experience in the hospital with Cadence and with Gabriel I really think that the stress factor created by the sudden end to my marriage impacted my supply. With William though, it is going great! It was hard in the beginning. He was a month old before he latched. That meant that until then I went though the vicious cycle of trying to get him to latch; feeding him from a bottle, finger feeder or cup; and, pumping every 2-3 hours around the clock. I barely did anything else. Chris was so supportive. He wasn't going to let me give up and he is the reason that I am still nursing.

In the first few weeks, the best accessories for me were my Medela Symphony pump from the hospital and my Medela contact shield.

Now my favorite items are my nursing cover, which is an Udder Cover but I bought for $2 at a consignment shop and my Lansinoh storage bags. I've tried the Medela bags too, but I'm not a fan. Accessories aside, I am just happy that nursing worked for me this time. Passing the formula section at Walmart is much like passing the diaper section - I smile to myself and am so glad that I don't have to stop.

BabyLegs

Last, but not least, I love William's BabyLegs! They are not leg warmers (boys don't wear leg warmers). They are waist-less, crotch-less pants! Ok, they are leg warmers... But they are adorable and oh so practical! William can wear a onesie without the need for pants over top. This makes diaper changes a breeze!

At $12.00 a pair, they may seem expensive. However, their website usually has some available on clearance and often runs ridiculously awesome sales on clearance items. Recently, they had all of their winter items 75% off, which meant $75 worth of BabyLegs for $18.75. Don't mind if I do! Also, Natural Baby in downtown Greenville also carries BabyLegs. I found some Christmas patterns there on clearance the other day for $3.25 a pair.

There is another great place for on sale BabyLegs: Clothdiaperclearance.com. I bought William a pair of "Ode to Canada" BabyLegs from that site a few weeks ago.

Here is William modeling one of our favorite pairs of Babylegs. The soccer prints that Charlie and Elizabeth gave him for Christmas:

So, for now, those are my most favorite baby items.... for now. :) I am currently waiting for some really cute crocheted items that I traded for some disposable diapers, a baby wrap and some formula that I no longer need thanks to the above-mentioned items. I will probably do a separate entry on them. I'm also beginning to make and deep-freeze William's baby food so cheap ice cube trays are quickly working their way up on my must-have list. Again, that will probably be a separate entry though.