After receiving more car seat bases than diapers at my baby shower, I had a very funny/frustrating conversation with my husband, Thomas, that went something like this…

T: so how many diapers will we need?

Me:  a lot

T:  how many is a lot

Me: I don’t know! Babies use a lot of diapers

T: what do you think the average is?

Me: I don’t know! all babies grow at different rates they all potty train at different times…there’s no way to know how many diapers we’ll need

T: what if we buy too many then?

Me:  I don’t know we’ll just buy as we go.

T: but I want to know how many to stock up on a head of time

Me: well we’re not going to know a head of time

***pause***

T: I don’t like not knowing… I’m going to keep track

Me: ok you do that

T: no really! That way for the next baby we’ll know how many to buy

Me: but each baby is different

T: well it will give us a starting point!

Fast forward 14 months and Olivia has gone through 1840 diapers and counting!

When we hit the 700 mark for size 4 I knew something had to change. We had considered cloth diapering before but had never bought any. Our main concerns were poopy diapers, hassle of laundry, and initial cost.

After hosting and attending a Cloth Diaper Class by Joyful Baby Planning and Parenting I finally took the plunge! We have now been doing a mix of disposable and cloth diapering for 2 weeks and have had quite an adventure already. In a new routine post I plan to call Cloth Confessions, I will share my experience and tips when it come to making the switch. Hope you enjoy!

Cloth Confession #1

“Dump the Chunk” is not that bad!

When one of my previous bosses began cloth diapering I was initially grossed out when she told me her diaper service would pick up weekly and only asked that they “dump the chunk” before boxing up the used diapers. The thought of having to go to the toilet and hose off or dunk the diaper after every change sounded like a waste time and a sanitary hazard. Low and behold it’s a breeze. I now change Olivia in our master bedroom instead of her room so I can quickly get up, chunk, and flush. I think one advantage to converting so late is that her bowel movements are mostly solid so I really haven’t needed to do much work. The phrase “it’s different when it’s your own” is so true! I don’t think I would be comfortable cloth diapering another persons kid (or diapering at all for that matter), but with my own don’t mind one bit!