Here are some interesting links from the week (no politics, I promise, although it's terribly tempting):
--This handsome bicycle lunchbag. Some day I WILL have a job that I can bike commute to.
--These gorgeous dishtowels (are you out there, Chrissy, my dishtowel-collecting sister-in-law?)
--A Hue Test for you to challenge your eyes and color sense
--The Simple Dollar--I can't even begin to comprehend 700 billion dollars, but I can understand personal frugality so this blog works for me.
--And from the Simple Dollar was this comparative analysis of cloth vs. disposable diapers, not taking into account environmental impact. I can't believe I'm spending time researching diapers, but I guess I'm succumbing to the idea that they are going to take up an inordinate amount of our time in the next 2 years (blech). Any of you experienced moms out there care to comment on what options you ended up liking best?
7 comments:
Hubs is going to love that hue test! His whole life is "color."
I have no answers to the diaper question. I use the White Cloud brand from Wal-Mart and they've served me faithfully for three kids. (Though the first child had Pampers for a while...) It goes against my conscience to buy at Stuff Mart AND to use disposables but honestly? Sometimes it just comes down to $$. I've spent time researching cloth diapers but it's hard to justify the cost at this point. Oh, it's fun fun fun!
I've used a few different types of cloth diapers. There are many pros and cons to all systems.
The thing that worked the best for me was:
chinese cotton prefolds (about 18)
A snappi to hold them closed (2)
Pro Wraps diaper covers (about 6)
I bought some very expensive Fuzzy Bunz type diapers from my cousin with my second baby and it turned out that I wished I had just stuck with my original system. The first system I mention is the most affordable by far. I would upgrade the covers to some organic cotton multi-sized covers if I had it to do over.
Check out: http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/
index.htm
and http://www.diaperswapers.com/
The options are endless. If you are working full time cloth is tougher than if you are not. I used cloth much more often on baby number 1 than I did with baby number 2.
Good luck!!
sorry! The link above for diaper swappers is wrong. Follow this one instead: http://www.diaperswappers.com/
Big difference!
Fun stuff for a Saturday morning! I scored 16 on the hue test, and now my eyes are swimming.
We've always used disposables too--Member's mark at Sam's Club are the cheapest by far, less than 20 cents per diaper. I've also found a diaper pail is a waste of money. (Some only take expensive refills.) We always crammed our Safety 1st one as full as we could, not wanting to be the one to empty it, and it would reek. And another hate factor--it was a piece of junk and broke within the first year. Now we just use a regular wastebasket, and it gets emptied every several days. (We get rid of really nasty diapers right away.)
Ah..cloth diapering is my favorite subject. I have my second newborn - we haven't spent a dime on diapering and he is 4 months. We have decided to not use any disposables and have used his sister's cloth diapers. So if your family will include more than one child, the price becomes even more inexpensive.
Also, there is a value in the diapers for resale, especially in the covers (you will be able to get some return value, especially in Portland). We even bought most of our family's diapers secondhand through local consignment stores and craigslist or as "seconds" through the internet....so even more savings.
The last thought is we don't use the dryer during the summer months (maybe we can hang one last load on Monday). The sun has so much value beyond money savings for cloth diapering. It's an instant bleach and negates any build up of smell.
So I guess my long winded comment is to say I was surprised how expensive the analysis made diapering seem. It's definitely more inexpensive than her post makes it appear...plus money is only one important aspect....the environment is a bigger consideration.
One last suggestion..bum genius all in ones or pocket diapers for one size fits all. These will fit the wee one from birth to potty learning. They really do.
I scored an 8, my eyes hurt.
Love the dishtowels Deb! I may be in trouble if I induldge myself :)
Miss ya~
Chrissy
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