I also started thinking about parents who are super busy, older kids, full time jobs (out of the house/in the house jobs), younger kids, stress, daycare, nanny's and anything in between that have thrown out the idea of cloth because of their hectic life. I can sympathize with you. When that one more load of laundry is going to make you scream or put you over the top and make you overwhelmed...I get it...
I'll just say, if you are considering cloth at all and fear yourself in the previous "boat" lets take a few steps together. Even cloth part time helps in several ways, financially, environmentally, and cute fluffy butt-ily. It will be okay. I plan to start putting Mari back in her SoftBums tomorrow (after I wash the stash tonight), probably not full time but in the mornings and after nap. Part time. I know it will help her rash on her caboose, and it will cut the disposables we use in half-saving me half the money. It will also mean I have laundry to do half as often--which is one less thing on my plate every few days.
You don't need a lot to start cloth part time. Give it a shot-half the money half the laundry...lets try!
Who out there uses cloth part time? Any tips?
I use cloth when I'm at home and disposables when out of the house, when I'm at work, and definitely when traveling long distances. Cloth at home stretches my disposable diaper budget. I have found it absolutely necessary to buy essential oils to mask the smell of cloth diapers that inevitably pile up during my working day stretch.
ReplyDeleteWe have two girls, a baby in diapers full time, and a toddler who is potty training but still wears a diaper for naps and bedtime. We are about 50/50 in our cloth and disposible use. We use cloth at home and disposibles when we go out, especially for a long day away from home. We also use disposibles at night time. It was hard to zip up the PJ's with a giant diaper booty in there! Sometimes when there is just too much laundry piled up, or if the day is extra stressful it is nice to have the disposible option and not worry about washing one more thing!
ReplyDeleteI have always believed in helping out the environment when I can, have been convinced of the cloth diaper (CD) benefits, and feel better about putting a cloth diaper on my baby. I am a full-time working mom, and just recently started CDing part time. I think reading up CDing helps, but even better is to try it yourself! Many of the major cloth diaper sites have try-or-return or rental programs to see if you like it. If you love the ease of disposables, then try all-in-one/twos or pocket diapers. Make sure you get the right size for your little one, or else you'll have a lot of leaks! Which is why I like SoftBums, by the way; you don't have adjust the rise with snaps--just "slide to size" (SoftBums elastic). Anyhow, I am CDing part time because my parents watch my baby at their home, and disposables work out for them. I recently got them to use cloth diapers when they watch her at my home. Since my home is multi-level, and to eliminate the need for them to walk upstairs to where the diaper pail is, I just bring a few shells and pods AND a wetbag downstairs to the changing table to make it easy for them. At the end of the day, I just empty the wetbag upstairs. Easy! And, I was surprised that I didn't really mind doing the laundry. You have to run the dipes through a few cycles, but I just dump it in the washer, set the settings, and walk away. Then come back after the cycle is done, set it to go again, and walk away. It seriously doesn't add any stress to my day, even though I have less time in the evenings after coming home from work. In fact, I feel like an accomplished mama because I could be cooking, cleaning, or playing with my baby while the laundry does its thing. It's amazing that the poop washes right out! I try not to beat myself up about using a disposable every now and then. Sometimes, on long trips, or places where you KNOW there will not be an opportunity or a clean area to change baby, we just use a disposable. For me, I am doing what I can with CDing. I know it will break even soon! I haven't had to buy disposables for a few months now! I have a good stash going where I just wash 2-3 times a week. Plus I know my baby is making a lesser footprint then the next baby. No bum rashes anywhere. Whew, the longest blog comment I've ever made! Happy CDing! Thanks, Softbums, for being a go-to diaper for this mom!
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