Determining Cost savings for Cloth Diapering

This week I am posting about my suggestions for buying diapers with predetermined budget amounts ($200, $400 and $600).  Yesterday we covered the $200 budget and tomorrow and Friday we will cover the $400 budget and $600 budget, but today I wanted to talk about how to determine your savings and thus determine an appropriate budget. 

I am a CPA by trade and therefore I love to analyze data and I LOVE a good excel spreadsheet.  Before switching to cloth I had heard all about the cost savings and frequently heard that disposable diapers will cost $2500 per child.  As I also love coupons and frequently seek out good deals I wanted to see how true this was for me and my family.  I put together a very details excel spreadsheet to analyze the cloth cost savings for my particular situation and so I wanted to share the resources and considerations I used here so that you can apply it to your family.  My information below does not include other "accessories" like a diaper genie, wet bags, etc. so be sure to include that when you do your own calculations.

One of the first things I determined was how much I would spend on disposables from birth through potty training.  I use to use a cheaper brand and buy at a bulk store with coupons so I figure I would spend about $0.12-$0.15 a diaper.  If you go with a more expensive brand (still in bulk) this is probably closer to $0.25 a diaper.  I also figured that I average about 225 diapers a month, this takes into consideration more diapers in the early months and less in the later months.  The average girl will potty train around 30 months and the average boy will potty train around 36 months.  This should give you enough information to calculation your cost in disposables.  For me I conservatively estimated our cost to be between $750 and $1,000 per child.

Next I wanted to estimate my cost to use cloth diapers.  I used the Laundry Cost Calculator to determine how much the additional water and electricity would cost.  I also factored in the cost of additional detergent (tide is about $0.18 a load).  Based on my individual data, I estimate that it costs me about $150 a year to wash my diapers. 

After doing all of my calculations I determined that I definitely save money by switching.  As there is a price associated with the convenience of using disposables, I don't feel that I save enough money to switch if my only reason was cost savings, especially with my cloth diaper buying obsession.  Although I don't save much I have come to really appreciate the non-financial benefits of cloth including less waste (7,000 diapers!!), less diaper rash for my sensitive girls, less chemicals and of course the cute fluff factor!!
 

Diaper Budget Suggestion: $200

I have often wondered to myself, after testing all of the brands of diapers found at my diaper review and after all of the knowledge I have acquired in the past few month, what would I buy if I had a certain budget?  I decided that this week I will go through what I would buy if my budget was $200, $400 and $600.  I think it is important to note that all of my selections will be based on the purchase of new diapers at full price and does not require any sewing skills.  I frequently make my own inserts and have made my own diapers to save money, but these suggestions will be based on new purchases only.  My selections do not include a newborn stash so all diapers should start to fit around 8 pounds and I also did not make selections that are specific to overnight diapering (this is a whole different beast!)  All these are only my suggestions based on my experience.  Different people will have different experience and selections should be made based on your baby's shape and size and your family's lifestyle. 

Today I am going to start with what I would purchase if I had a $200 budget.  Thankfully (because it is Monday!) this is the easiest one for me, I would pretty much purchase an entire stash of Sunbaby diapers.  These diapers fall into the classification of "Chinese cheapies" but I have always had really good luck with them.  When friends are on a tight budget and buying more diapers I always recommend Sunbaby diapers.  I have a preference for the blend inserts (2 layers of bamboo and 2 layers of microfiber) and Sunbaby diapers has recently redone their blend inserts so that they lay flatter and are more absorbent.  Sunbaby diapers are pocket diapers so they are easy for everyone to use and they have a large pocket so they are easy to stuff.  When I did my diaper reviews I had not had my Sunbaby diapers for very long, but since they I can confidently say that both my girls can wear them for at least 2 hours if not average 2.5-3 before they leak.  I also threw in 6 infant prefolds to my suggestion as I think it is always handy to have some on hand to double stuff your diapers for long naps or night time.  I like to buy unbleached Indian cotton prefolds from Cotton Babies.  Also,m all of my recommendations will include wet bags and pail liners from Alvababy.com and a CJs pot of BUTTer.  I think these are good accessories that work well and are priced right.

My daughter in her size 1 Sunbaby:

So here is what I would buy:

24 Sunbaby diapers with blend inserts: $126
6 infant prefolds: $9
2 Alva wet bags: $10
1 Alva pail liner: $6
8oz CJ's tub of BUTTer:$15
TOTAL: $166

As you can see this actually comes in under budget, so that gives you some wiggle room to buy other accessories that you want or a fun diaper down the road.  24 pocket diapers will make it so that you can wash your diapers every 2-3 days depending on your baby's age. 

Another common suggestion for those on a tight budget is prefolds and covers, but to be honest when I priced them out they were more expensive than getting all Sunbaby diapers and in my opinion I would rather have a pocket diaper than mess with prefolds.  Be sure to check back later this week for my suggestions for a $400 and $600 budget (or just sign up to follow by e-mail and get updates delivered directly to your inbox!).

Today is also the Monday Mommy's Blog Hop, be sure to check out the other Mommy bloggers and enter the give away!!

Side Snapping SoftBums Tutorial

A few weeks ago on the Facebook SoftBums Superfan page a member, Melissa, had posted that she converted some of her Softbums to side snapping diapers.  I love this idea as Softbums are one of my favorite diapers and the only thing that could make them better (or maybe the best diaper ever!) is if they were side snapping!!  It seemed like a lot of other people loved the idea also and were interested in how she did it, so I decided to convert one myself and write up the tutorial below.  I wanted to be sure to give Melissa the appropriate credit and while she does not have a blog of her own she is a diaper party consultant and you can buy your Softbums from her on her Facebook page.

I waited a while to try the conversion myself because I was afraid of messing up one of my pristine Softbums.  After a little searching I was able to find a used Softbums Echo on the Facebook buy/sell/trade page that needed new elastic and new Aplix...perfect!  I ordered new elastic from the Softbums website and waited for my diaper to arrive.

So here is the diaper I received, elastic had zero stretch, Aplix didn't stick at all and the back snap was missing.  The PUL was a little pilly also but this shouldn't affect function.

Using a seam ripper, CAREFULLY remove all of the Aplix on both the front of the diaper and the tabs.  Be diligent not to poke hols in the PUL!  Here is my diaper with all of the Aplix removed.

Next I went about deciding where to place my snaps.  I decided that on each front tab there would be 2 snaps.  The top snap is 1/2 inch from the top seam and 3/4 inch from the edge.  The second snap is a full inch below it.  I used a fabric marker (which by the way did not fade on the PUL) to mark where I was going to place my snaps.

 

Then to make sure that the front tabs had the snaps placed in the same area I folded the front of the diaper so that the tabs lined up with each other.  I then used my awl to piece the hole through both layers.

 

I have KAM snap pliers and I used size 20 KAM snaps.  I really wanted to do hot pink but unfortunately I didn't have enough so I went with plain white.  You want to place the cap on the outside of the diaper (the PUL side) and a stud on the inside of the diaper.  Repeat this process until all 4 studs are set. 

 

I followed the same technique for the back tabs, setting the top snap 1/2 inch from the top and 3/4 inch from the edge and the second snap an inch down from the first.  I also repeated the process of aligning the tabs and using my awl to punch holds in both tabs at the same time.  Make sure that for this side the snap cap is on the inside of the diaper and the socket on the PUL side.  I did 4 rows of snaps (actually I did 3 rows then realized I should replace the elastic and then completed the 4th row).  Four rows of snaps on the wings will get you to the same setting as if they met in the front when secured with the Aplix.  Once I completed the diaper I threw it in the dryer for a bit to seal up any holes.

 

Finally here is my 22 month old 21 pound daughter modeling it.  

Converting this diaper makes it one of the trimmest diapers I have.  I love that the side snapping make the front of the diaper much flatter and smoother and this is a great option for those diaper Houdinis who have figured out how to remove their Aplix.  The only downside is that even after a run through the dryer you can still see the holes from where the Aplix was attached.  Also because I set my snaps 3/4 inch from the edge, the wings stick out a bit, this can be solved by just moving them over a bit, so I might do 1/2 inch in the future.  I probably will not be converting any new Softbums, but I will definitely keep this in mind as my Aplix wears out and needs to be replaced.

Return to Work

So today is my first day back at work after 20 weeks of maternity leave.  I am very sad to be leaving my two little girls, but I do like my job so that helps.  I am very fortunate that I work for a very flexible company that allows me to work part time (3 days a week) and still maintain full benefits.  I work with a great team and have a boss that is very supportive of my career and personal choices, so it doesn't really get much better than that!

One of the aspects of returning to work that I do not enjoy is pumping milk for my baby.  I really enjoy nursing her and we have a great nursing relationship, but pumping is not fun!  I am lucky that I actually have 3 different pumps to choose from (I'll get into this later) and in the next few weeks I am planning on doing a trial of each one and reporting the results here, so stay tuned.  Because I pumped at work for 6 months for my older daughter and now I am back at it again, I figured I would provide some tips and tricks that have worked well for me.

1.  One of the most important things to maintain your supply while pumping (because the pump is less efficient than your baby) is to pump frequently.  I am gone from my baby for 10 hours, so I pump 3 times in that period.  Ideally you would pump every 2.5-3 hours.
2.  The law currently requires most employers to provide a desginated room to pump in that is not a bathroom.  Locate this room before you return to work to ensure that you have access and know where it is.  Also make sure that this room has an outlet and check on any other amenities it may have (a sink is the best!)
3.  I really like having a Pumping Bra so that I can do other things while I pump (these never seem to be work related things, but rather playing on Facebook, etc.)
4.  One of my favorite breastfeeding related aps is the Medela iBreastfeed ap.  I use it for when I actually nurse my baby and I also use the pumping function to time how long I have been puming and record how much I pumped.
5. One of the first mistakes I made while pumping at work was that I didn't bring anything with me to wipe up with and I ended up with milk everywhere.  I started brining papertowels in my pump bag so that I had a clean place to lay my pump parts and wipe everything down.  I also like to bring the cloth wipes I use for my daughter for this purpose.
6. Once I am done pumping, I store my milk and pump parts in the fridge until my next session.  One of the most confusing parts for me initially was what to do with all of the pump parts.  Do I wash them?  Where do I store them? The questions went on an on.  What I finally decided to do was get a dark colored bag (the one I use was a waterproof bag that came with a forumla sample) and store my pump parts there.  I wipe them, as mentioned above, first and then put the bag in the refigerator (very discrete).  Sometimes I also rinse them, but it can be uncomfortable to stand at the comunal sink and rinse this stuff.  I figure as any residual milk is refigerated that it is safe to reuse.  At the end of the day I take all of these items home and wash with hot soapy water. 

Good luck and happy pumping :)

Mommy Mondays Blog Hop

This is my first week joining my friend's Mommy Monday blog hop. Link up yourself and visit the other mommy blogs that are part of the hop.

Reusable nursing pads

Earlier this week a friend mentioned to me that I should try making some reusable nursing pads for the Naturally Crafty blog.  I will be honest, at the time I put this suggestion way at the bottom of my list.  It wasn't that I didn't want to make them, it was just that I had no use for them personally at the time and I have a very long list :).  My youngest is now 4 months old and my milk supply has regulated enough that I figure I wouldn't need any for a long, long time.  Well, the blog gods intervened because the very next day another friend was talking about ordering some reusable nursing pads!!!  Ding, ding, ding, a perfect opportunity to make some and actually have someone give me feedback on how well they worked, and now I can share it here.

Materials:
PUL
Soft Flannel or cotton material

Each nursing pad is one layer of PUL and three layers of flannel.  I washed all materials beforehand so that they would not shrink after being sewn.  I created a circle template out of paper that was approximately 4.5-5 inches in diameter (I went a little larger since my serger would cut off some of the outside).  I cut all of the  layers and then serged around the edges to sew them together.  If you do not have a serger you can also just zig zag or do an over lock stitch on your sewing machine.  Its as easy as that, they are ready to wear!
They took me approximately 15 minutes to make the two sets shown and I used scrap materials that I had on hand.  If you are buying material, you should be able to get 8-10 sets of nursing pads out of 1/4 yard of PUL and 3/4 yard of flannel.  All in all, this is a super easy project.

After a few days of wear I checked back in with my friend/guinea pig and got her assessment.  Some of the things she liked the best is that they are very comfortable and that they do no show through clothing.  Her husband was surprised that he didn't notice them when she was just wearing a sports bra!  She also said that they wash and dry nice and that they are plenty absorbent.

Washing and wearing instructions:
1. Pads should be warn with the flannel touching your skin and the PUL facing outwards.
2. Be sure to change pads as soon as they feel wet.
3. Once pads have been used, let air dry before placing in the hamper to prevent mildew.
4. Wash on delicate cycle with warm or cold water, dry on medium
5. Be sure to use detergent that does not contain fabric softeners so that absorbency is not compromised.

New Look, Same Great Crafts!

A big thank you to my friend Rachel of You Just Can't Google Everything for customizing my blog design.  She did an amazing job with the design of my blog and I am very excited about the new look.

Rachel and I are friends from our sorority days at the University of Florida, go Gators!

(Just in time for Throwback Thursday)

 

I love to craft but technology is not my strong area, I even sew on a 40 year old sewing machine...

(Don't get me wrong, this baby will sew through anything and will last forever.  I love my machine and I would not trade it for anything), so thank you Rachel for making me look good :)