39 Months of Cloth Diapering

I have spent 39 months as a cloth-diapering mommy.  We're not some weird, tree-hugging family (not saying that tree-huggers are weird).  We're quite normal.  We recycle, we plant trees, we just don't usually hug them.  However, we made the decision to cloth diaper Aric after plenty of research and discussions with other friends who cloth diapered their children.  Our decisions to cloth diaper were based on two reasons: the first being that we lived out in the country with no trash service and, the second, because we really didn't have much money at that time. 

Since we had no trash service in the country we had to sort through our trash, recycle and burn what was leftover.  Disposable diapers aren't recyclable and they don't burn.  We also had no intention to start trash service.  We didn't have the money for the luxury or the desire to drag our trash down a quarter mile driveway for pickup.

In addition, we were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of money that is spent to diaper a baby.  It was better for us to spend more money up front to establish a supply of cloth diapers and covers than to spend a seemingly endless amount of money over time buying disposable diapers. 

We believed in our decisions and were determined to keep at it.  After Aric's umbilical cord fell off we began cloth diapering and never looked back.  I'm not saying that no disposable diaper ever touched his bottom, but the majority of the time he wore a cloth diaper.  I used the Mother-Ease system and LOVED them.  They worked well for us. (Note: I'm not endorsing any product, just saying what we chose.  They may not work for everyone.)

When Kellyn was born I ordered another dozen diapers to help cover an additional bottom and three Sandy's diapers for Aric and his larger bladder to wear overnight.  We cloth diapered two kids while they were at home.  It's not glamorous, but it did save us quite a bit of money over time.  Neither Ryan nor I have regretted our decision to cloth diaper the kids.

Fast forward to 38 months of cloth diapering; Aric is potty-trained and wearing Pull-ups overnight, while Kellyn is now using Aric's Sandy's diapers.  Kellyn began waking up every night in the middle of the night.  She was crying and wandering around the house.  One night I decided that maybe she was drenched and uncomfortable and decided to put her in a disposable diaper overnight rather than a cloth diaper.  It worked and she started sleeping peacefully through the night again.

Fast forward to 39 months of cloth diapering; Aric is still potty-trained and wearing Pull-ups overnight, while Kellyn is using cloth diapers during the day and a disposable overnight.  Ryan and I were becoming increasingly frustrated that anytime we changed Kellyn's cloth diaper it was drenched and we had to change the soggy cover too.  Yes, our diapers were well used, but they should have held more liquid than what they were, especially since I was adding liners to help absorb more liquid.  Then I thought about it and realized that Kellyn likes to have a drink.  All day long she either has a sippy cup of juice, water or milk close at hand.  Which means she has quite a bit of liquid that needs to come back out.  With a toddler size bladder, she can hold more and her diapers were slowly losing the battle. 

Kellyn is getting close to potty training, but not quite there.  When I become more mobile I intend to work with her and try to potty train her.  (Potty training with crutches doesn't seem like a great idea.)  In the meantime, Ryan and I had a discussion and decided that maybe we were done with cloth diapering and would just switch to disposables for our sakes and for Kellyn's.  The other day we stopped and I'm okay with that.  39 months is a nice long run and we both feel we got our money's worth out of those diapers. (I'm just sorry for my mom, because we made that decision near the end of her visit rather than at the beginning of it.)  Don't worry about those diapers.  They will be boxed up and passed along to a newborn who will get some good use out of them.

Would I do it all again?  Most certainly.  It was a good experience, saved us money, and wasn't the hassle that we thought it would be.

Thankful

I've been more reflective, lately.  Probably as a result of my slower-paced life.  Recently I've walked around with a list in my head of more things I'm thankful for.

-My husband.  He loves me and puts up with me.  I've been a bit flakey lately, not quite transitioning smoothly into my new life.  It's hard going from working full time to not working at all, from being a working mother to a stay at home mother.  It's been interesting to say the least.  He's listened to me, comforted me, and been there for me.  Some days he's the only adult interaction I've had.  I know it's probably harder for him, too, but he hasn't complained one bit.  He installed a new kitchen faucet and a shelf for our phone yesterday for me.  I know he would've preferred to enjoy his day off and be lazy, but he took care of both without complaint.

I think they both look nice, if not functional, though I think the faucet almost looks like a bizarre sculpture for our sink.  I'm not complaining, it doesn't leak like the other one.

 - My kids. Some days they drive me crazy, but I love them dearly.  I'm so proud of them too.  When we picked up Aric from his Sunday School class his teachers complimented us on how well behaved and obedient he was.  It warms my heart to hear that.  Aric is such a good kid and loves his sister.  Kellyn is a delight.  She is so happy.  Since staying home with her I've noticed how much more she laughs and smiles.

-My home warranty.  We lived in this house less than a month and already that thing has more than paid for itself.  I was able to get new dishwasher racks to replace the rusty, broken ones that were in the dishwasher.  (Those things aren't cheap.)  This morning I realized our heater wasn't working correctly and the house was getting colder.  I had no problem calling the warranty company and they sent someone out right away.  He fixed the problem and we're warm again!  That warranty takes away some of the ease and worry that has accompanied home ownership.

-Our dishwasher and central heat.  When working properly they are fabulous to have.  We just moved out of an old house that didn't have a dishwasher or central heat.  The dishwasher saves my hands, which are prone to severely drying out in the winter and saves me lots of time washing numerous sippy cups.  The heater keeps us warm and toasty (most days).  They are fabulous luxuries and I am enjoying them!

-All of you who have given advice and listened to my seemingly endless conversations about potty-training.  Aric is now potty-trained.  It has been a long time coming and he still has accidents, but it's so nice to have one mostly out of diapers.  I now only have to wash diapers every third day instead of every other day.  Of course, now it means more creative planning for bathroom breaks when we have excursions out of the house.  It's exciting, though, and makes me proud.

Feeling Better and Catching Up

I took an unintentional break from my blog.  It wasn't planned but when your husband is gone on a business trip, one kid gets sick, the other one is teething and not gracious about that, then you end up catching whatever the first kid had, well, it doesn't leave much time for anything else.  I ended up feverish by the end of last week and stayed home from work to rest and break the fever.  (Thanks Laura for watching the kids and allowing me to sleep!)  It worked, sort of.  By Sunday I was getting sick again with another illness.  Hopefully I'm on the road to recovery and won't be sick again for a long time!

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan and I took a day to meet with a realtor and look at some houses.  Well, actually we were planning on looking at one house and ended up looking at five.  Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the day.  The one house that we really wanted to see didn't turn out to be as great as the description and pictures made it out to be.  It was broken up, didn't have a great flow, had a basement that had no rhyme or reason and felt very much like a medieval torture chamber, and Ryan counted at least seven exterior doors.  Thanks but no thanks. 

This was the point where I was speechless.

The flash added more light than was actually there.

Who paints the floor shiny red, the walls blue and uses barn wood for closet doors?  I was afraid to open the doors down there.

Enough said.

We'll keep looking for a house.  With a goal to move in early spring we still have some time.  Which is good because I find looking for a house a little overwhelming at times.  There are days I have a large amount of optimism about finding a great place that will suit our wants and needs. and other days I'm just down about finding a place.  It's in God's hands, though, and he'll bring along the right place.

We have slowly increased our potty training with Aric.  Some days he gets the hang of it and others he seems to digress.  It can be frustrating.  Right now we've pulled back a bit and are letting him have a break and hopefully mature a bit more.  In a couple of weeks we'll try again.  He's so close but so far.  We did realize that maybe there's a little too much TV on at our house.  It's an easy nanny when we're sick, busy with chores, need a break, etc.  It's a bad habit, too, and possibly one of the big hindrances in successful potty training.  Aric can get so absorbed in watching Mickey Mouse or Little Einsteins that he forgets that he needs to go until after he's urinated all over the floor.  Thank goodness we don't have much carpet in the house.  We've set some new family rules in regards to the amount of TV and hopefully the rules will help and encourage more imaginative play between the kids and allow potty training to be easier next time.

Kellyn is teething, crawling everywhere, a little camera ham and just a delight.  Last night I fed her stage 3 baby food for the first time.  Aric is still a picky eater and has difficulty with textures.  We weren't so proactive with introducing him to new textures and I believe we caused some of the problems that we still have today.  I guess that's why they call the first child the practice child.  Thankfully we realized our errors and are trying to be proactive with Kellyn.  She ate the chunky mix of rice, peas and carrots with pureed chicken dinner like a pro last night.  It was only one meal, but hopefully we can keep working with her and give her a chance.  It would be nice not to have two picky eaters.

Advice Solicitation

Aric isn't quite ready for potty training, but we thought we should take some steps towards getting him familiar with the potty chair.  Does anyone have any great advice on potty training?

Of course I'm not fooling myself.  I realize that given children's temperaments, genders, and maturity levels Kellyn could be potty trained before Aric.  But I hope not!!