our cloth diapering choice

Most people's reaction to my choice to do cloth diapering is - "people still do that?" or "You say that now.."

But really, we're doing it. And here's why.

Health
Disposable diapers contain dioxins, which are potentially carcinogenic and listed as one of the most toxic chemicals according to the EPA. Plus, there are dozens of other chemicals linked to allergies and irritations that I'm not sure I want baby boy being exposed to so early in life. We've already switched to green cleaners - mostly Green Works and Meyer's for chemical reasons.

Earth-friendly
It doesn't make sense to me that we would go about our recycling ways and then throw 60-70 diapers a week into a landfill. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, disposable diapers make up 3.4 million tons of waste or 2.1 percent of landfills (1998). Critics will say that , my cloth diapering ways will use more water in my washing machine and diaper sprayer. True. But, we have Energy Star appliances, which bring the cost and impact of laundering way down. Cloth diapering also means human waste ends up in the sewer system - where it belongs.

Cost
While I'd love to tell you that my dedication to health and environment was so loyal that I'd do what I could no matter the cost, it's just not true. But the shocking amount of money saved per year using cloth sealed the deal. I plan to calculate this all out once baby boy has arrived and offer a more accurate count. Right now, we don't know exactly what works and how many days per week we're willing to launder. But, assuming we only got the bare minimum, here's the cost of our initial diapering:

5 FuzziBunz One Size Pocket Diaper - $100 ($19.95 each)
5 BumGenius 4.0 One Size - $90 ($17.95 each)
2 Sugar Peas Fleece Covers  for nighttime - $40
5 Thirsties Duo-Wrap Covers - $60
12 pre-fold diapers - $24
1 diaper sprayer - $44
2 wet/dry bags - $32

Total: $390

We're starting off with pre-folds and covers along with the four newborn diapers we received from our shower. Then we'll switch over to one-size diapers that will last the rest of his diapering days. We're planning on the fleece covers and wool soakers for nighttime use but I'm trying not to have concrete plans until we see how the little guy does. We'll buy special soap in bulk from Amazon's Subscribe and Save program. Right now I'm undecided on cloth versus disposable wipes. We'll probably use a combination depending on degree of nastiness.

For comparison's sake, disposable diapers cost around $16.80 per week (national average of 24 cents per diaper at 70 diapers per week for a newborn). To see a detailed cost comparison, click here. At that rate, we'll make up the cost in just five months. If you include the fact that the majority of our diaper stash and supplies will come as gifts, we could make up our costs in mere weeks.

These diapers will last us for boy's entire diapering career and snaps/elastic are easily replaced so we expect them to last for kid #2 as well. The savings will be in the thousands per kid. It's hard to doubt the choice we've made.

Stay tuned for what I am sure will be many more posts as we figure out our own system. For more on cloth diapering and natural parenting techniques, these blogs are great!

Cloth Diapering Whisperer
Happybottomus
The Diaper Jungle: Cloth Diapering 101
Kelly's Closet
Cotton Babies

showered with love and diapers

I had my first baby shower this weekend hosted by a wonderful friend from church. The gift part of the shower was nice considering how much stuff babies apparently need. I definitely left feeling a tiny bit more prepared but more importantly feeling special, revived and supported in this next chapter of our lives.

Laura made these adorable invitations - diapers with real Velcro - to go with the cloth diapering theme and teal colors of our nursery.

And the decor and food matched perfectly including a cloth diaper cake!

The guests were encouraged to fill out blank diapers with advice or support that we can read in weak moments of screaming, dirty diapers, no sleep and mountains of laundry.

We went home with a great start on our cloth diapering collection including these teeeeny tiny newborn diapers, which made me super excited to meet the little guy and his tiny little tush. We went home with a stash of one-size diapers, diaper sprayer, baby powder, cute books (including one in Russian), booster seat, hooded towels, nursing pillow and toys. My friend and master knitter Johanna made a special K-State purple sweater, which will fit perfectly for fall football games.

My mom and grandma were both able to attend and went home feeling extra special, too.

I'm lucky to have all these lovely ladies a part of my life knowing that embarking on motherhood won't be a lonely process.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

a first mother's day, runaway dog and paint

Because what's a crazy week without an equally crazy weekend to top it off?

After working til 7 p.m. Friday, I met the hubs downtown for First Friday. Except there was no parking. And my feet hurt. And I was wearing heels. And my stomach feels squished. So instead, we drove all the way home and I went to bed. Friday nights are SUPER fun with a pregnant wife.

Saturday I had to work again. Upon arriving home, my parents arrived for the weekend and Shea reported Mac the dog had been missing for 20 minutes because the the front door was left open. So as three cars went to comb the neighborhoods, my mom and I set off on foot. After another 20 minutes of looking, we heard a dog's shrill bark and eventually came upon Mac, locked up in a neighbor's pen. No one answered the door so we left a nice note and rescued him. They had agility training equipment in their backyard so we can only assume they were trying to kidnap Mac and train him for the circus. 

After an extensive outing at Home Depot, we were ready to begin the real task of the weekend - painting the nursery.

We soon discovered the previous owners had painted their nursery with enamel, which for you non-paintheads out here, enamel = frustration. So another run to the dreaded orange box store, and my dad and the hubs began priming. I have good men in my life.

My mom and I headed to the shoe store and Babies R Us. She ended up with two pairs of shoes and treated me to a few new maternity clothes to celebrate my first mother's day.  

And to make sure the hubs gets credit, he woke me up Sunday with a super cute kid's apron and little tiny feet and hands cookie cutters. I'm thinking little treats for the hospital.

We returned from shopping to a completed nursery exactly the color I imagined.

We need to refinish that white dresser and find a place for our overflow dresser. My mom will make yellow and white curtains and crib dust ruffle.

But hey, we've got a nursery. Or at least some pretty walls.

help me with a teeny, tiny nursery

I am spatially handicapped. And currently decision handicapped - I think it's the disappearing brain cells. Bad combination when you're trying to figure out how to make a nursery in a tiny space.

The good thing is I have this blog with all of you clever people. So here's the challenge: We have a 8 x 10 nursery room. And we have no space for guests but will likely be having a lot of guests in the next year.

Option #1

Pros:  Matches our crib style. Drawer storage.
Cons: Trundle is nice but uh, you can't really pull it out in this room.

Option #2

Pros:  Matches our crib style. Drawer storage. Cute pillows make it a nice seating area.

Cons: Not so great for tall people. From Ikea so have to wait for a Minnesota trip.

Option #3a

Pros:  No headboard/sides that takes away breathing room. Cheapest option.

Cons: Tight fit.

Option #3b (same bed, different arrangement)

Option #4
Go with a traditional nursery. No guest bed and buy a rollaway to move in when we have visitors, and store in basement when they aren't around.

Pros: Toy box, hamper and rocking chair can now fit in nursery instead of regulating them to sun room or living room. Cuter and more roomy, if you can have a roomy 8x10 room (you can not.)

Cons: Really annoying for guests and whoever has to lug that thing up from the basement (hubs). Lose ability to sleep in nursery when baby boy is sick and crying and I don't want to have to keep going back and forth. Because I am lazy.

There you go. Please help!

i'm putting my kid in a bubble

So as to overwhelm me even more, the American Academy of Pediatrics and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are now recommending stricter guidelines for children car seats. These are the news stories I used to ignore.

The new guidelines include:
- Rear-facing seat until the age of 2.
- Forward-facing with harness until child maxes out height/weight restrictions for seat
- Booster seat with seatbelt until child is 4'9" tall, possibly to age 12.

Under these guidelines, I am only three inches shy of needing my own booster seat.

I love reading the comments on these stories. The parents who would rather sacrifice the safety of their child so they aren't being called a "baby" by their peers. Or the reluctance to go rear-facing because it takes two minutes longer to get them out of the car.

On the other hand, between BPA-free bottles, drop-side cribs, booster seats and bumpers it's going to be hard to keep up. Especially when I'm still trying to figure out why a three-month-old wears six-month-old clothing.

registering for the fetus

In the next installment of "Sarah is going to be a mom (to a boy, no less!) and has no idea what she is doing," we registered this weekend. And brought my mom.

Except we're kind of weird and different. And though Target is great, they have three aisles of disposable diapers and wipes. And we're not doing disposable anything. Side rant: do you know they have disposable changing pads? What's wrong with the cloth one and a plastic bag? Why is everything so disposable?!


Plus we're kind of snobby and don't like baby stuff that looks like baby stuff. There are no swings with nice little stripes, checks or dots. Or plain colors. It all has to be big orange squirrels, a goofy-grinning cow or of course, jungle, jungle, jungle! The normal looking ones are online one, which if I am registering at an actual store, I want the stuff to be in the actual store.

I found plenty at Target we need like a car seat, crib sheets and a Moby Wrap. And then a bunch of stuff I don't need but want like a Bumbo seat in K-State purple and the hooded duck towel.

On Amazon, we registered for the stuff I really actually DO need. Like a dual flush system for the toilet, a diaper sprayer, prefold newborn diapers, breast pump, wet bags and the Bob Revolution jogging stroller (my most coveted item). It's free shipping so it works.

And then we're registered at Happybottomus, a local (but online, too!) natural parenting store. We have FuzziBunz and bumGenius cloth diapers (more on this soon). Lots of 'em. It's super boring but it's my favorite registry.

We registered at three stores for the same amount (if not less) that people register for at one store. But we want to be as environmentally and cost friendly as possible. Plus we will have a small house, small nursery and don't want to end up taking a huge load to Salvation Army in six months. Because we do that a lot. We're hoping to get lucky at a local consignment sale, too, so instead of $60 for a swing we'll use a few months, we can buy a used one for less.

In a year from now, I promise to blog again if my aversion toward pacifiers, crib bumpers, disposable changing and nursing pads, pack n plays (at least brand new ones), bouncy seats, infant car seats and monstrous swings turns out to be misguided.

Because as previously mentioned, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just pretending.

Curious? Judgmental? Generous? Here are our registries:
Happybottomus (password: shea)
Amazon
Target

we have a crib!

First baby item purchased - the Carters Sleep Haven Crib. Originally priced at $419, total we paid, $184. Read it and weep.

I wasn't planning on buying anything big until after our showers. And after we go to consignment sales. Because we're cheap. But one of the few things we cared that was new was a crib. And this is a STEAL.

Yippee!