Natural Parenting

Last year was a great year!  My son was born, and I got to learn so many new things about myself.  It’s amazing how motherhood has transformed me into a completely different person.  A better person.

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One thing that I think really strengthened me was standing firm in my parental decisions, despite opposition from others.  No one thought I could have a drug-free childbirth.  No one thought we could use cloth diapers.  No one thought we could practice Elimination Communication.  Yet,  we’ve done all those things.  Did we do them perfectly?  Of course not.  But, the important thing is that we gave it our best shot, and continue to do so.  That’s as good as we can do.

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As for the cloth diapers, and EC, things have gone rather splendedly, if I do say so myself.  I’m really baffled that more parents aren’t doing these things.  It does require a little more energy, but it’s so worth it, especially if Axel ends up being potty trained before age two, which I think he will.  (That would be a great perk, but even if that doesn’t end up being the case, we will still be glad we made the decision that we did.) 

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Cloth diapers have been such a life saver for us.  We would honestly be flat broke without them.  I drew up a couple of charts to show how much money we will have saved by the time our son reaches his second birthday.

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*Includes:

•  2 dozen infant prefolds; 3 dozen medium; 3 dozen large
• 4 Super Bummis Whisper Wraps small; 1 Thirsties cover medium
• Washing/Drying every two days, with old machines (not high-efficiency)
• Purex Free and Clear
• 15 Snappis
• 2 Planet Wise diaper pail liners; 2 medium Planet Wise wetbags

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*Includes:

• 2 dozen infant prefolds; 3 dozen medium; 3 dozen large
• 4 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps small; 1 Thirsties cover medium
• Washing/Drying an average of every 10 days  (Wash half loads every 5 days with other clothing)
• Purex Free and Clear
• 15 Snappis

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*Includes:

• Basic Pampers diapers, average usage of 8 per day
• Basic Pampers wipes, average usage of 12 per day
• Most basic diaper pail from Walmart
• Regular 13 gallon trash bags, average usage of 12 per month
• 2 (1 pound) containers of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste

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*Includes:

• Nature Babycare eco-friendly diapers, average usage of 8 per day
• Nature Babycare eco-friendly wipes, avergae usage of 12 per day
• Most basic diaper pail from Walmart
• Regular 13 gallon trashbags, average usage of 12 per month
• 2 (1 pound) containers of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste

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Totals for all the different diaper options below

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Totals for multiple children below

*Another great thing about cloth is that they are re-usable (duh)!  You can easily use the same diapers, covers, and wetbags for 3 kids, thereby increasing your savings tremendously, as you can see in the chart above.

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Wow, after looking at all these graphs, I realize that Patrick and I have really saved ourselves quite a bit of money.  The money we’ve spent is represented by the EC chart, which means that by the time we’ve had 3 children, provided they are all toilet trained by age 2, we will have only spent $610 for everything.  Now, compare that to the expense of Pampers at a whopping $6464!  Come on, people, get with the program.  This is money in your pockets! I hope that we can convince others this coming year to try cloth diapers, and maybe even elimination communication.  It’s such a relief for the landfills, and our wallets.  That’s what I call “eco-mom-ical.”

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*Other extra thrifty diaper ideas:

1. Buy less prefolds (You really don’t need 3 dozen of any one size, 2 dozen is plenty!)
2. Line dry your diapers
3. Use a high efficiency washer and dryer
4. Re-use your prefolds for 1, or even 2 more children. 

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P.S. - Elimination Communication isn’t as hard as it looks.  It can be time consuming, especially when you’re first starting out, but it’s benefits far outweigh the trouble.  We want our son to be trusting towards us, and that means we need to respond to his immediate needs, including elimination.  Give it a try!  I promise you’ll either love it, or hate it. 

Related posts:

1. Natural Parenting And Elimination Communication
2. Seven Reasons To Use Cloth Diapers
3. Axel Needs More Underwear!