The Cloth Diaper Experiment

August marked the one year anniversary of the start of a lifestyle experiment for me... cloth diapering.  I broke one of my cardinal rules, I attended a "class."  It seems that is what they are calling tupperware inspired group shopping parties these days.  I tend to call it peer pressure marketing.  This one was pretty low pressure though, she ran through product pros/cons and answered questions.  We left with a web address for an online store, and I suspect I might have been one of the only buyers... but I opted to try them out for a few reasons:

1. I'm always up for a good bargain.  Some of the best bargains I've ever found are when you trade a recurring expense for a larger one time expense.  Cloth diapers seemed to fit that formula.
2. Even if I hated them, I figured having a stash of diapers was a good, emergency preparedness item.  The cloth diapers would fit from 6lbs to 30lbs, so I didn't have to worry about having the right size.
3. They were kind of fun.  There were a variety of colors and prints so I was intrigued.

The Value:

So, here's the value props:

Most basic:   $2.20/diaper average .25 per disposable = 5 uses covered cost. 
My first investment:  $170  included:  12 prefolds, 6 bum genius pocket diapers, 2 covers, 1 small wet bag, 1 roll 200 flushable liners. 

The Breakeven:
I figured I needed to replace about 680 diapers to recoup my cost.  I estimated I could do that in about 4 months.  I committed to use cloth diapers until Christmas 2011.

The Learning Process:
At first my brain was abuzz.  I resolved first to establish a laundry routine.  The diapers could sit in a diaper pail for up to 72 hours.  That didn't divide very easily into a week; I would make Wednesday and Saturday my "wash" days.  I would use disposables on Saturdays and Sundays. 

Hurdle 1: 
This decision was also influenced with my first unexpected hurdle.  The first week, I smelled pee!  All day I was getting whiffs of the smelly kid in the carpool, only it was in MY house.  This was not acceptable.  I cleaned everything, put a deodorizer in the diaper pail, and then we tried again.  I would clean the bathrooms on Saturday when i did the diaper laundry put them away and have a CLEAN house for Sunday, and I wouldn't ever have to wash on Sunday. 

Hurdle 2: 
A rash!  My daughter never got rashes with disposable, and suddenly with the cloth she was getting rashes!  On top of that, the diapers were smelling April fresh coming out of the washer/dryer, but as soon as she peed in them they had a lovely ammonia smell.  Something wasn't working in my cleaning process.  The research began... reading the cloth diapering discussion boards gave me lots of ideas of things to try.  Hotter water, more detergent/less detergent, stripping, cleaning the washing machine basket; I tried lots of things.  Here's what finally worked for me:  For everything:  one rinse wash cycle on cold, one wash cycle on hot with 1 tbsp additive free detergent.  Then I sort, covers come out to air dry, used wipes and liners are pulled out for the trash, inserts and prefolds go for one more wash with extra rinse, this time with 1 tbsp of bleach. 

Were they a success?

After we overcame the hurdles, things have been pretty smooth sailing... I figured we've now used cloth for at least 800 changings.  I was convinced enough that I purchased some infant sized diapers when I learned I was expecting my son.  That being said, I've gradually decreased the cloth diapers I use... I don't use them at night anymore (daughter is too big now).  I now tend to use all  of my prefolds Tue, Wed, Thurs, then wash, then disposables the rest of the time.  One extra load of laundry a week, and that is sustainable for me.  So, in that I've been able to incorporate them into my lifestyle indefinitely, I would say success.  Its nice to know if I do run out of disposables, I don't have to run to the store.  I also like knowing if I need to cut back expenses I *could* eliminate the disposables.

What helped the success:

The LINERS!  My daughter was almost 18 months when I started, so she was eating plenty of solid foods with plenty of solid waste.  The liners make disposing of those solids much nicer.  (I actually dump all solids in the toilet, whether I'm using disposable or cloth - it just cuts down on the smell in the diaper pail).  They are 5 cents each, but if you don't end up flushing them, then you can wash and reuse. 

I determined I preferred the Rumparooz one size cover.  It works great for my 4 month old and my toddler.  I like the vertical snaps too, instead of the snaps in a horizontal row.  It just seems to give me more size control.  I just wish they had more gender neutral prints.  I asked last September they said it would be a month or too more... its been a year.  Great company, but I think that WAHM might be a little overwhelmed. 

The Snappi.  Nice quick way to hold the cloths together.  Definitely a step above the safety pins my mom had to use.

Not committing 100% to disposable or to cloth!  I think I needed to allow myself the flexibility to use the cloth when appropriate and the disposable when they would be more convenient.

I changed diaper pails early on too... the large trash with the foot pedal I use now seemed to contain odors better than the diaperchamp. 

The Fails: 

I very quickly determined I was not a fan of changing cloth diapers on the go and hauling the refuge around in my diaper bag.  It may not have been completely accidental that the wet bag only made one voyage before it got lost in my trunk.

The infant size diapers were a fail for my baby, too.  My little guy came out too big, and he just soaked through them too fast.  With two in diapers, I already felt like I was changing diapers all day long.  Now that he's in the bigger size things are running much more smoothly.  If anybody wants to rent my 20 infant size diapers... they are barely used. 

The pocket diapers started out a win.  They were a little easier for the already hesitant husband.  They also seemed to work for all night absorbency.  Sadly, they were also the cause of most of the headaches in laundering.  The inserts just didn't seem to clean as easily and the added cost meant I was more concerned about maintaining their warranty.  So they were good at the beginning, but now my go to are the prefolds.  They just seem to come with a lot of maintnance to keep them performing right. 

The Myths:

"You child will prefer the cloth diapers"... my child doesn't seem to care if she is in cloth or disposable.  But then again, my child doesn't seem to care if she is wet or dry.  She is just pretty passive about the whole diaper thing.  My son seems to be much more opinionated about his diaper situation so we'll see if he ever is able to verbalize a preference.

"Your child will potty train faster"  I think this was one of my big incentives for trying cloth diapers.  Well, so far no go... at least not in the porcelain throne I would like her to go in.

My Love Hate Relationship with Facebook

It took me a long time to join the ranks of Facebook users.  It just seemed like another "thing" to pull me away from the many tasks I am still trying to get around to doing.  It wasn't until a client suggested that I was missing many valuable opportunities to share my expertise in health insurance that I finally succumbed.   He was right, I have had many opportunities to share my knowledge and hopefully help people who are confused or frustrated about health insurance understand and choose just a little more wisely.  I love Facebook for that reason.  I love it for the window it has given me to the personality of some members of my husband's family who all live far away.  I recognize it as unparalleled tool for reaching out to my network and finding answers to questions, recommendations, referrals, etc.  It has also given me exposure to some interesting thoughts and ideas.  So, for these reasons, I am admittedly, a Facebook regular. 

My attendance, however, is not without reservation.  Here are the things I hate about Facebook:

-  Thinking to myself, "Did they really just post that?"  This is what crosses my mind when someone shares the dates they'll  be out of town, when they announce that they've just bounced multiple checks, or when they complain about their job.  This stuff is broadcast to lots of people with lots of backgrounds and values.  If you wouldn't stand up in front of a congregation at church and say something, I wouldn't suspect you'ld really want to share it on Facebook.

- Everything I say is broadcast to so many people.  I have to be careful what I say.  I can have a smart mouth, and there have been a couple of times where I've really wanted to razz somebody for something they've posted.  I've had to keep my wit in check though, because, with every post I have to remember I'm representing myself in a professional light.  Is this something I'm okay having all my current and future clients know I said? 

- It causes heartache.  I have seen friends renounce my religion, watched acquaintances battle cancer, and family members go through the crisis of losing a loved one.  These are painful things for me, and sometimes fewer details are easier to manage.  The problem isn't that I don't care, rather that I do, then I find myself caring all day long.  This kind of stuff keeps me up at night. 

- Can you say, overshare?  I don't care what song someone just listened to or what game they just played.  I don't need to know how many times my little brother tells his girlfriend he loves her.  I figured out by necessity how to limit what posts I saw from some people. 

- It is very difficult to control what others will reveal about you.  One of the biggest hurdles I had to overcome with my brother's girlfriend was a bikini photo of her at the lake that one of her friends had posted.  In "normal" life I would have never known the photo existed and both of us would have likely preferred it that way, but thanks to her friend tagging her in the photo it shows up on my feed.  I try and keep my children's names off the internet, and I do find that occasionally I have to police when others might have accidentally disclosed them.

-  "I'm just part of the Facebook crowd."  This is how a good friend of mine recently described her hurt about not being notified personally of a tragedy going on in a family member's life.  In her mind it was diminutive, it wasn't enough for a real relationship.  These miscommunications are so frequent and public; comments are misunderstood.  As our relationships take on this digital component, how people establish rank in relationships will be interesting... can we have a "best" Facebook friend?

One other surprise, I would classify as the rise of the Facebook "popular."  These are the frequent posters who actually share quite a bit of their life on Facebook.  I am surprised to have realized I have come to feel a stronger bond with some merely through their activity on Facebook.    I'll call them Facebook popular.  The irony is, because, I'm largely silent, these people likely feel no increased kinship toward me, but I feel like I know them, their joys, their challenges, and in new ways their sense of humor... in many cases better than I ever knew them as face to face acquaintances.   So to my new "popular" friends, congratulations on successfully diving into social media.  You have gained notoriety through it.   I am one of your silent observers.  Thanks for giving me your trust, especially, when Facebook provides so many vulnerabilities.  I will try to be respectful of that trust and not use the information you post to hurt or demean you.  I hope all others will be equally respectful. 

Why I'm Writing

Hmm, I'm starting another blog. Perhaps it will go the way of my family blog, sadly neglected. But for now, I want a venue to write my thoughts and opinions that won't in any way be incriminating my family as sharing my thoughts and opinions.

There is so much happening in the world today and it requires some deep thinking to truly decide what you believe and how you feel. Writing is a tool that allows you to reach higher levels of critical thinking, so that will be the primary function of this blog. With that said, I reserve the right to change my opinions, to not know all the facts, and to expose my biases. Those are the risks I take when I open my opinions up to the world. The risk is taken, though, with the hope, that perhaps, some of those opinions and thoughts may help teach and inspire others who may be facing similar questions and challenges.

What will I write about? Probably a little bit about relationships, a bit about politics, I'll probably write a lot about health insurance as I am a health insurance broker. I'm a mother too, so I may write about lessons learned, pending problems and blessings given. I probably won't write about family vacations, day to day events or post pictures of all the fun activities we do. That's for the family blog. This one is mine, for my mind and my thoughts.