There are special days & weeks dedicated to pretty much everything now - even 'steak and blow job day' *rolling my eyes*, but one of the most exciting 'awareness' days/weeks for me is Cloth Nappy Week!!! It is run in New Zealand between May 16 & May 22nd, and is basically a special time for celebrating cloth nappies (y'know - diapering), and for raising awareness about the wonderful awesomeness that is the cloth nappy! Many 'nappucnios' are being held throughout New Zealand & I am extremely excited to be attending one of the Christchurch ones, for the first time! Back tracking a little thought - 'nappucnino' is basically a 'coffee group to discuss cloth nappying' - I adore the little play on words! Nappucino.. it just rolls off the tongue!
Many fabulous brands are supporting Cloth Nappy Week 2011, and I wanted to mention some of them here, on the off chance that anyone who is interested in cloth nappying in NZ stumbles upon my blog & want to know where to get their nappies from! There are some of my favourites - www.ittibitti.co.nz, Real Nappies, PeaPods, Tweedle & YoYo Nappies & others I've heard a lot about but haven't tried yet - Fancy Pantz, Boon, Baby First, Mothers Instinct, Cheeky Cherubs, Naked Baby, Nudey Rudey - and no doubt others I've not mentioned.
One of the activities they are doing is creating a mountain of disposable nappies (I think I've mentioned this already!) - to give a visual idea of how many disposables ONE baby will go through in a year, and basically the money that gets thrown away at the same time. I cannot wait to see the result, or to hear about the impact it has on people who use disposables - whether it encourages any of them to convert to cloth, or to at least consider it.
Showing posts with label disposables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disposables. Show all posts
May 11, 2011
Apr 4, 2011
"Eww but cloth diapering is GROSS..."
"EWWW BUT CLOTH DIAPERING IS GROSS!"
... how many times have I heard that since I started using cloth diapers? I don't know - I never kept count, but it is one of the most common replies I receive, when I say the simple phrase "I"m using cloth diapers".
Cloth diapering + gross don't really go in the same sentence for me, unless it is with regard to teething-baby-poop, or stomach-virus-baby-poop. I'm not too sure why people automatically think that cloth diapering is gross, there hasn't been one time when I've thought "oh god I wish I was using disposables - this is so gross", well I have said that on the odd occasion - but never seriously. You try cleaning diarrhoea off a diaper you forgot to line with a liner & tell me if YOU don't wish for just a second you could just wrap it & throw it away!
I guess a lot of people make judgements from their impressions of cloth diapering 'back in the day', when you did have to scrape the poop off diapers and have a bucket of dirty diapers in dirty water, creating a horrible stink in the laundry or wherever they were stored... that said, I remember very clearly my two aunties using cloth diapers (20+ years ago) and I don't remember it being gross. A little labour intensive PERHAPS, but that was about it. I used to be fascinated by my Aunty doing a special fold for my boy cousins - up until then I'd only been around girl babies, and found it very interesting that boys needed a different fold!
I find that cloth diapering now - compared with back then - seems a LOT easier. Simply a case of remove dirty diaper & wipe little bottom, place baby on top of new diaper & snap/velcro/aplix the tabs, remove dirty liner from dirty diaper & dispose of any solid waste in the toilet (often these liners can be flushed along with the poop), then place dirty diaper in 'wet bag' or DRY diaper pale. When ready put the diapers in the washing machine - then hang them out or put them in the drier.
Yes - when cloth diapering you do have to deal with poop, but that's the same when you're using disposables... no matter what diaper you use there will always be a bum to wipe, and as far as I can see that is really the closest that cloth diapers become to being 'gross'. If you use diaper liners most time any poop can be removed from the diaper by simply lifting off the liner... on the odd occasion poop does miss the liner & get on the fabric of the diaper, a quick run under a fast flowing tap - or with a diaper sprayer, and it's gone... That may be the ONLY positive side there is to disposables.
You tell me - what looks 'grosser', more 'offensive', like something you'd hate to have in your house?
Cloth diapering has come SO far from 'back in the day' - the cloth that our grandparents & parents used. Back then the only real option when it came to cloth diapers, was using the flats & pins that we probably all naturally associated with cloth diapering when we were younger.... These are the diapers that were most likely used on us, because going back not so long ago a bulk of babies were in cloth diapers - it was more 'kooky' to use disposables than cloth diapers... go into any backyard and chances are you'd find cloth nappies drying on the washing line, getting ready for their next use. When it came time to change diapers, the diaper was folded, slid under the baby & then the magical (well to me it seemed that way!) task of pinning the diapers took place - a fluffy cover (if a cover at all) was placed on top & the child was good to go. Then out to the laundry the used cloth diaper would go - and into a pale of cold, manky, stinky water it would sit until a load of diapers was put into the washing machine & then back out on the line - where the whole process would repeat itself. In most households in your street - in the street next to you & 50 streets away, THIS would have been the process. It was just normal! It was what you did when you had a baby!
Then disposables became more widely available - and cheaper, more parents decided to take the leap & try out the new fandangled diapers to see what the fuss was about... and in the space of a few years suddenly cloth diapers became a thing of the past for most families, and disposables were a regular part of life with a baby. The history of cloth diapering is something I'll get into another time, but long story short - cloth began becoming somewhat popular again, but this time things had changed. Cloth diapers were easier to use, more hygenic - and a lot cuter...
Going along with the 'cloth diapering is gross!' theme, take a look at these pictures & tell me which you think is the 'grosser' of the two - which would you sooner put on your babies booty?
The only thing that is gross about cloth diapering, is the poop aspect, and whether you are using cloth, disposables or eliminiation communication - you are going to have to deal with poop, so if you ask me you might as well make the rest of the diapering experience a darn cute one!
... how many times have I heard that since I started using cloth diapers? I don't know - I never kept count, but it is one of the most common replies I receive, when I say the simple phrase "I"m using cloth diapers".
Cloth diapering + gross don't really go in the same sentence for me, unless it is with regard to teething-baby-poop, or stomach-virus-baby-poop. I'm not too sure why people automatically think that cloth diapering is gross, there hasn't been one time when I've thought "oh god I wish I was using disposables - this is so gross", well I have said that on the odd occasion - but never seriously. You try cleaning diarrhoea off a diaper you forgot to line with a liner & tell me if YOU don't wish for just a second you could just wrap it & throw it away!
I guess a lot of people make judgements from their impressions of cloth diapering 'back in the day', when you did have to scrape the poop off diapers and have a bucket of dirty diapers in dirty water, creating a horrible stink in the laundry or wherever they were stored... that said, I remember very clearly my two aunties using cloth diapers (20+ years ago) and I don't remember it being gross. A little labour intensive PERHAPS, but that was about it. I used to be fascinated by my Aunty doing a special fold for my boy cousins - up until then I'd only been around girl babies, and found it very interesting that boys needed a different fold!
I find that cloth diapering now - compared with back then - seems a LOT easier. Simply a case of remove dirty diaper & wipe little bottom, place baby on top of new diaper & snap/velcro/aplix the tabs, remove dirty liner from dirty diaper & dispose of any solid waste in the toilet (often these liners can be flushed along with the poop), then place dirty diaper in 'wet bag' or DRY diaper pale. When ready put the diapers in the washing machine - then hang them out or put them in the drier.
Yes - when cloth diapering you do have to deal with poop, but that's the same when you're using disposables... no matter what diaper you use there will always be a bum to wipe, and as far as I can see that is really the closest that cloth diapers become to being 'gross'. If you use diaper liners most time any poop can be removed from the diaper by simply lifting off the liner... on the odd occasion poop does miss the liner & get on the fabric of the diaper, a quick run under a fast flowing tap - or with a diaper sprayer, and it's gone... That may be the ONLY positive side there is to disposables.
You tell me - what looks 'grosser', more 'offensive', like something you'd hate to have in your house?
 |
| A pale full of used disposable diapers.... |
 |
| Cloth diapers folded & ready to be used |
 |
| 'old school' cloth diapers - aka 'flats' |
Then disposables became more widely available - and cheaper, more parents decided to take the leap & try out the new fandangled diapers to see what the fuss was about... and in the space of a few years suddenly cloth diapers became a thing of the past for most families, and disposables were a regular part of life with a baby. The history of cloth diapering is something I'll get into another time, but long story short - cloth began becoming somewhat popular again, but this time things had changed. Cloth diapers were easier to use, more hygenic - and a lot cuter...
Going along with the 'cloth diapering is gross!' theme, take a look at these pictures & tell me which you think is the 'grosser' of the two - which would you sooner put on your babies booty?
 |
| A 'MCD' - Modern Cloth Diaper |
 |
| A disposable diaper |
Mar 30, 2011
Cloth diapers are more expensive than disposables, right?
I came across an article online - High Cost of Diapers Forces Some Parents Into Risky Practices - the basic premise being that a lot of low income parents are unable to meet the costs of buying disposables for their children, so are doing certain things to 'extend' the life of the disposable - including washing the diaper out & reusing it.
It's a very sad truth - the statistics in the article say that 1/3 parents are doing this, and I would believe it. Here in New Zealand for a regular sized packet of disposable diapers you are looking at paying $5.10NZD/3.86USD for the cheapest packet, and for the more expensive brands you're paying around $16NZD/$12USD - and that is for a pack of 15-20. If I was to buy disposables for a week, I would need basically 2 packs for a week - so at the most approximately $64.00 a month - that doesn't sound like a lot really, but when you are barely making enough money to make ends meet each week, that is a lot.
On my worst weeks by the time I have got groceries, gas & paid all the bills - I might have $40.00 left over, to buy things for myself & the girls & cover any unexpected costs that come up. If I was buying disposable diapers, that would mean I'd have around $100 to live on each month, by the time the diapers had been purchased. THEN you can take into consideration the fact there are women out there who DON'T breastfeed for whatever reason - and they have to purchase formula too - it all adds up VERY quickly.
It's fairly obvious that for me my main motivation to use cloth diapers was for financial reasons. My initial stash was 20 OSFA pockets which cost $11.00 each - so $220.00, I also purchased extra inserts which came to $30.00 - so all up I spent $250.00 on my initial stash... which I paid for by layby - paying $10.00 a week over 25 weeks. Yes, it was a long way to go about it, but I paid for the diapers at a rate that I could comfortably afford, and it wasn't as if I needed them straight away - they were paid off in May & Emersyn was born in mid June.
When I look at the actual numbers, my total cost of $250.00 is the equivalent of
15 packs of 20 diapers - or 300 disposable diapers all up,
which I would have gone through in basically 7 weeks, if I was using an average of 7 diapers a day.
7 weeks & the cloth diapers had paid for themselves.
Lets pretend I go through an average of about 25 diapers a week across the 3-ish years that Emersyn is in diapers, that'd be a total of 3900 diapers, and if those were disposables purchased at $16 for a pack of 20, that would be a total cost of $3120 for diapers alone (if my math is right!)... not taking into consideration the fact she could be in diapers for longer than 3 years - the total cost could easily be more like $4000.00.
Now lets pretend I didn't buy any extra cloth diapers & stuck with my original $250.00 worth - that would mean I would be saving $2870.00!
Obviously my cloth diapering addiction kicked in at some point & I've now spent a LOT more money on cloth diapers than I had originally, BUT each of those cloth diapers - which can be used hundreds (probably thousands) of times cost less (in most cases) than the price of one packet of disposables, and then when I am done with the cloth diapers I can sell them & make a little money back. That isn't to mention that if I had another child I could reuse those same cloth diapers - potentially saving myself close to $6000 by the time that child was potty trained. The average number of diapers is just an estimate - but I think that whether or not it's accurate it is easy to see that cloth diapering is by far the more financially viable option.
What's the whole point of this blog post? I'm basically saying that there needs to be more of an awareness of cloth diapering, of the costs associated - and the comparison with the cost of disposables. It's very true that you can spend upward of $40.00 PER diaper for some brands, however it is also true that you can be very thrifty with your diaper buying - and like me if you purchase pre-loved diapers you can pay well under half the normal retail price. Here are a few examples of the bargains I've had...
3x barely used Snazzipants fitted diapers.. RRP - $84.00 / I paid: $17.00
3x used, but in great condition Bummis Super Brites - RRP - $72.00 / I paid: $17.00
5x used, but in great condition Bitti D'Lish - RRP $135.60 / I paid: $76.00
8x used, still in good condition FuzziBunz pockets - RRP $263.60 / I paid: $40.00
3x used, still in good condition Ecobubs woolen pockets - RRP $119.85 / I paid: $30.00
GRAND RRP TOTAL: $675.05 (average of $30.68 per diaper)
I PAID: $180 (average of $8.20 per diaper)
I COULD of course sum this whole long winded post by saying:
NO, cloth diapers are NOT more expensive than disposables!
It's a very sad truth - the statistics in the article say that 1/3 parents are doing this, and I would believe it. Here in New Zealand for a regular sized packet of disposable diapers you are looking at paying $5.10NZD/3.86USD for the cheapest packet, and for the more expensive brands you're paying around $16NZD/$12USD - and that is for a pack of 15-20. If I was to buy disposables for a week, I would need basically 2 packs for a week - so at the most approximately $64.00 a month - that doesn't sound like a lot really, but when you are barely making enough money to make ends meet each week, that is a lot.
On my worst weeks by the time I have got groceries, gas & paid all the bills - I might have $40.00 left over, to buy things for myself & the girls & cover any unexpected costs that come up. If I was buying disposable diapers, that would mean I'd have around $100 to live on each month, by the time the diapers had been purchased. THEN you can take into consideration the fact there are women out there who DON'T breastfeed for whatever reason - and they have to purchase formula too - it all adds up VERY quickly.
It's fairly obvious that for me my main motivation to use cloth diapers was for financial reasons. My initial stash was 20 OSFA pockets which cost $11.00 each - so $220.00, I also purchased extra inserts which came to $30.00 - so all up I spent $250.00 on my initial stash... which I paid for by layby - paying $10.00 a week over 25 weeks. Yes, it was a long way to go about it, but I paid for the diapers at a rate that I could comfortably afford, and it wasn't as if I needed them straight away - they were paid off in May & Emersyn was born in mid June.
When I look at the actual numbers, my total cost of $250.00 is the equivalent of
15 packs of 20 diapers - or 300 disposable diapers all up,
which I would have gone through in basically 7 weeks, if I was using an average of 7 diapers a day.
7 weeks & the cloth diapers had paid for themselves.
Lets pretend I go through an average of about 25 diapers a week across the 3-ish years that Emersyn is in diapers, that'd be a total of 3900 diapers, and if those were disposables purchased at $16 for a pack of 20, that would be a total cost of $3120 for diapers alone (if my math is right!)... not taking into consideration the fact she could be in diapers for longer than 3 years - the total cost could easily be more like $4000.00.
Now lets pretend I didn't buy any extra cloth diapers & stuck with my original $250.00 worth - that would mean I would be saving $2870.00!
Obviously my cloth diapering addiction kicked in at some point & I've now spent a LOT more money on cloth diapers than I had originally, BUT each of those cloth diapers - which can be used hundreds (probably thousands) of times cost less (in most cases) than the price of one packet of disposables, and then when I am done with the cloth diapers I can sell them & make a little money back. That isn't to mention that if I had another child I could reuse those same cloth diapers - potentially saving myself close to $6000 by the time that child was potty trained. The average number of diapers is just an estimate - but I think that whether or not it's accurate it is easy to see that cloth diapering is by far the more financially viable option.
What's the whole point of this blog post? I'm basically saying that there needs to be more of an awareness of cloth diapering, of the costs associated - and the comparison with the cost of disposables. It's very true that you can spend upward of $40.00 PER diaper for some brands, however it is also true that you can be very thrifty with your diaper buying - and like me if you purchase pre-loved diapers you can pay well under half the normal retail price. Here are a few examples of the bargains I've had...
3x barely used Snazzipants fitted diapers.. RRP - $84.00 / I paid: $17.00
3x used, but in great condition Bummis Super Brites - RRP - $72.00 / I paid: $17.00
5x used, but in great condition Bitti D'Lish - RRP $135.60 / I paid: $76.00
8x used, still in good condition FuzziBunz pockets - RRP $263.60 / I paid: $40.00
3x used, still in good condition Ecobubs woolen pockets - RRP $119.85 / I paid: $30.00
GRAND RRP TOTAL: $675.05 (average of $30.68 per diaper)
I PAID: $180 (average of $8.20 per diaper)
I COULD of course sum this whole long winded post by saying:
NO, cloth diapers are NOT more expensive than disposables!
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