The Dirty on Diapers

I'm assuming that it is no secret to most of you that I cloth diaper my baby girl. I love to wash them, dry them, fold them, and occasionally throw them on my bed and roll around in their fluffiness. OK... maybe you didn't know the last thing. (Hey! No judgey!! We all have our quirks!) But I don't know if many of you know my cloth diaper story.

When baby #3 was around a year old I stumbled upon a LIVESTRONG article about the chemicals in disposable diapers. And then I somehow found the cloth diapering board on Babycenter. I'm not exactly sure how I found it (it must have been divine intervention) but I was able to start looking around and started to think that I might actually be able to do it. I discovered stuff about disposable diapers that I had never known nor wanted to believe. The site even led me to a cost saving calculator that would show me exactly how much I could save and in how much time! I had a small starter stash and found out I could make them too! Man oh man was I crafty and super cool. I was like some new aged hipster or something.

When I found out I was pregnant with #4 I knew I was going to cloth diaper from the beginning. It was a no brainer. I was going to be able to save money AND save my future child's reproductive system as well as reduce my carbon footprint. I was like flippin' Mother Earth over here! (false, but we are all allowed our own individual delusions)

Eventually I threw the cost saving component out the window. I was no longer in it for the savings because, I'll be completely honest, I went a little crazy with the work-at-home-mom sites and the super cute prints and styles. Here's a shocker though, I STILL SAVED MONEY! My entire newborn stash, enough for 3-4 days, cost me around $300. I sold things on eBay to fund everything I wanted though so it didn't effect our bank account at all. And... hold on to your seats.... I was able to sell almost everything (minus what I want for any future children ::cough::cough::) and made about $200 back.

My NB stash:

 

Now that Eden is out of newborn cloth diapers I have been able to switch to her one-size stash... which is quite extensive. (And somehow I still find more cloth every day that I forget I have... I have to destash big time... any interest??) The greatest thing is that these diapers will be able to last her until she pottytrains! I never have to worry about buying her diapers or running out in the middle of the night because we don't have any more. I have types that I can wash by hand just in case the power goes out in some freak incident or the Zombie Apocalypse were to happen. And I'm pretty sure that my baby has one of the most stylish butts EVER at any given point in time.

 

Some of my OS stash:

 

 



I suppose that one of the best things about cloth is that they are able to be reused with each subsequent child or they can be resold. I've tried selling my pre-used disposable diapers before but it didn't work out too well.....

In the end its has been the best decision for my family and I'm extremely happy that I made the switch. I have about two sets of "loaner stashes" if anyone is interested in trying their hand at it. It's not for everyone but hey... there is no harm in trying right?