Tired of shelling out hundreds of dollars on disposables and lugging soiled diapers out to the trash?  It’s time to make the switch to cloth!  If you’re like most of us, cloth can seem overwhelming.  Here is a short list of questions and answers that many new parents have about cloth.

What type of cloth diaper should I use?

In our book, the Eco-nomical Baby Guide (now on sale for less than $8 on Amazon!), we give you diagrams and advantages of each type of diaper out there. If you can’t get your hands on the book, be sure to get your hands on some actual cloth diapers.  Go to a local diapering shop or ask around to see if you can find a family that uses cloth. Remember, you don’t have to settle on one type of cloth diaper.  At our house we use a mix of pocket diapers, prefold diapers, and all-in-one diapers. If you can’t actually find any of those locally, check out this YouTube video. (One note–the video says that you need pins for prefold diapers, which is absolutely untrue. We never used pins or snappies with our prefolds. We simply tucked our diaper into a cover and placed it on our babies.)

How do I wash cloth diapers?

Eliminate the bad odors that disposables produce by dumping solid waste into the toilet.  (If you’re baby’s waste isn’t quite solid yet, you may want to buy a diaper sprayer or make one yourself.)  Then store them in a dry diaper pail and wash them in a heavy load.  We both have great success with cold water, but some parents prefer to use hot.  You don’t need bleach but might want to add an enzyme based stain and odor fighter like Bac Out. Then line dry or toss them in the dryer.  Done!

Is it worth switching to cloth diapers now that my child is older?

Yep.  If you buy used cloth diapers or new pre-folds, the cost that you invest will still be less than disposables.  Plus, cloth-diapered children tend to potty train earlier since they have a better sense of what it feels like to be wet. And if you’re going to have more children, remember that you’ll have those cloth diapers when your next child reaches that age.

Why are cloth diapers so expensive?

Some types, like one size all-in-one diapers and one size pocket diapers, cost more but convert to fit baby from birth to potty training, so you won’t need to buy diapers for different sizes. Also remember that you can get any cloth diaper used.  Check out websites like My Used Diapers or Jullian’s Drawers for preowned cloth diapers.  You can also check at your local consignment shop or craigslist. Prefold diapers will be your least expensive option in new diapers, especially if you buy used covers.  If you do decide to invest a few hundred dollars in new cloth diapers, remember that you’ll never need to buy diapers again!  You’ll be all set for future children, or be able to resell them once your baby is done.  (Which just can’t happen with disposables!)

What if I try cloth diapers and I just can’t make the switch?

If everyone in your family gets the flu or your washer stops working, you can always use disposables for a few days.  The point is, once you do make the change, you’ll see that cloth diapering really is simple and fun.  And you’ll save hundreds of dollars and dozens of trips to the grocery store for more diapers.  (Plus you’ll keep one ton of waste out of the landfill for each child that you cloth diaper!)

If you’re anything like Rebecca and me, you may actually come to the point where you become a cloth diaper nerd.  You start up random conversations with people using Fuzzibunz or inquire about the latest Bum Genius innovations.  It’s tough to start hobbies as a new parent, but cloth diapering really does become one for many of us!

Remember today is the last day to enter the Monkey Foot Designs wet bag giveaway!

I often fantasize about Rebecca and me flying to New York as featured guests of a daytime talk show. We’d be given a $300 budget to outfit a baby’s nursery with secondhand goods. With Rebecca’s sense of style and my garage sale savvy, we’d do an incredible job!

Just the other day I went to a school garage sale where I saw the following items:

An oak changing table: $25
A beautiful maple rocking chair: $25
A sturdy wooden high chair: $15
Baby clothes: A giant paper bag’s worth for just $5

It’s just mind-boggling what you can find for a new baby at a fraction of the price of retail.  (Which is why we wrote The Eco-nomical Baby Guide.  It’s such a thrill to reduce, reuse and recycle–while saving thousands and ending up with beautiful stuff!)  While you’re pocketing all that saved money, you’re saving the environmental load of manufacturing, packaging, and shipping new products. And your baby will be just as content in her secondhand nursery. Attention daytime T.V.producers, we’re standing by for your phone call!

I remember sitting in the filing room in the middle school where I teach and frantically eyeing the clock as my ten allocated minutes for pumping ticked away.  The more I worried about letdown, the less I was able to produce.  Eventually I brought photos of my kids and a tiny bouquet of lavender to help that file room feel more comfortable for pumping.  Now pumps like Hygeia’s EnJoye Breastpump (pictured above) actually record your children’s cries or coos so that you can play the sounds while pumping.  Brilliant!  I suppose you could do a quick video on your Ipod of your baby and get the same results. What do you do while you pump to help you relax enough to letdown quickly and maximize your time?  Other moms will greatly appreciate your tricks!

Looking for the perfect teether?  Vulli’s Sophie the Giraffe toy is a classic that parents heartily endorse.  It’s always been BPA and phthalate free and has lots of lovely angles for baby to gnaw on. It’s currently 28% off on Amazon, making it just $17.00.   It’s also much larger than other teething toys which will extend its appeal long after baby’s gums stop aching.

Parent recommendations are paramount when considering a new product, and Sophie the Giraffe was very positively reviewed  by over 1,000 people.  The toy is crafted from 100% natural rubber that comes from the Hevea Tree and decorated with food grade paints that are safe for babies.  Sophie has been around since 1961, but was more popular in Europe than here in the U.S.  Still, it’s always been natural and is again coming into fashion now that parents are worried about toxins in children’s teething toys.

Vulli, the company behind Sophie, also has a rubber soft chew toy called Chan Pie Gnon, which comes from the French word champignon, meaning mushroom. It’s had very positive parent reviews and comes with a built in squeaker device.  It’s also crafted in the French Alps with natural rubber and food quality paints.  You can pick it up for $13.00 on Amazon, which is almost 20% off.

Does anyone own either of these little items?   Are they as magical as they seem?  (We also believe in using cold celery sticks for teething, which work wonders as well!)

After a full day of cleaning and chasing children, I dread dinnertime. Just when all of us are the most hungry and exhausted, a meal has to be prepared. Does anyone else feel this way?

My best avoidance tactics of late have been huge meals that provide a few days of leftovers. I used to think crock pot dinners were rather boring, but lately I’ve discovered Crockpot 365, from a woman who made a slow cooker meal every night for a year, and have come up with fantastic new recipes.  My other trick has been to act as my own prep chef and chop up all the veggies or grate the cheese early in the day so that I don’t have to do it all at dinnertime.

Yumm Bowls, (made with Yumm Sauce) are healthy, delicious, and require almost no preparation so we eat them about once a week.  I also throw a few Trader Joe’s pizzas in the oven at times just to give myself a break. Does anyone else have tricks that help get dinner on the table? (Like having your partner cook the whole meal?)

A new mom is struggling horribly through her first few months with her baby. She can’t seem to nap during the day. At night, when the baby awakens, her and her husband spend hours trying to soothe her down. Neither parent is getting needed rest, and everyone is at the breaking point.

I don’t actually know this woman, but a close friend of mine has been sharing her story with me and it pains me. Why? Because I remember that desperate hysteria of exhaustion from my first days as a new mom–and how impossible it was to even think of solutions.

I worried that I’d never emerge from my fatigued haze, but some wise friends were able to help me set up a feeding schedule that made a huge difference. If I could just get four hours of sleep each night, I enjoyed my baby so much more the following day and could problem-solve other challenges of early parenthood. I pumped after each feeding so that there was enough available for my husband to do the 11pm feeding. I went to sleep at 8pm and sometimes even slept for a whopping six hour stretch. It was amazing!

Can’t get enough milk pumping? If you pump just a few minutes after each feeding, your milk supply will increase over time since our bodies automatically respond to higher demand. (You can also take an herbal pill called fenugreek, which will naturally increase your milk supply while making you smell like maple syrup. Pancakes anyone?)

Are you currently in the haze of exhaustion?  Do you have good solutions to offer other tired souls?

Rebecca and I survived years of poopy cloth diapers in our households without the help of a diaper sprayer. Still, if I would have seen this video and learned how to make one for so little, I may have taken the leap! (They’re about $50 on many websites but the do-it-yourself version comes it at less than $20 and takes just 20 minutes to set up!) Do you have a diaper sprayer? Have you yearned for one and felt they were too expensive? Check out this link to the video and you’ll have one for much less in no time at all!
DIY Diaper Sprayer for Less!

Saving the environment takes time and energy that we don’t always have.  The more I write this blog and raise my kids, the more I’m convinced that sustainability has to include more than just the environment.  To be great parents and environmentalists, we have to sustain ourselves.

How?  By enjoying our thrifty green adventures.  By letting go of green guilt.  By embracing progress instead of perfection.

And by being happy!

Think about it, how many truly effective green moms are exhausted and bummed out all the time?  How many guilt-ridden women are motivated to keep tinkering with their lifestyles to make eco-friendly shifts?

So maybe, every once in a while, we need to take a hot bubble bath (regardless of the gallons of water it requires) or go for the nap instead of whipping up a batch of home baked bread from flour we milled ourselves.

As our children grow (and our hours of sleep slowly increase) we will have time to keep working at green shifts.  In the meantime, we need to make sure that this journey is fun.  If not, our sustainability efforts simply won’t be sustainable.

Personally, I want my children to see that this simple, green lifestyle is jam-packed with secondary benefits that will enrich their lives while helping the environment for generations to come.  Hopefully if they see me enjoying it, they’ll jump on the bandwagon later. (After a brief period of parent-directed mockery during their teen years.)

How do you sustain yourself in the midst of trying to make green changes?  Do you suffer from green guilt?

Today I’m on a family trip in Denver but gathered up a few quotes from Natural Life Magazine to provide a bit of Monday inspiration.  Enjoy!

“There is no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world than a transformation of the way we raise our children.” ~ Marianne Williamson

“People will always try to stop you from doing the right thing if it is unconventional.”~ Warren Buffett

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead

A hilarious quiz in Tina Fey’s new book, Bossypants, made me think about the difference between support and pressure when it comes to breastfeeding.  Nursing is hard work, especially in those early days, and new moms need encouragement, meals and commiseration.  (And humor.  They might need a copy of Tina’s book, or just a glance at the photo to the right.)

My best strategy for supporting new breastfeeding moms is to let them know that the really hard part comes right at first in those grueling early weeks.  It does get easier month by month, and more precious as babies start to become toddlers and those moments of snuggling start to disappear.

I also candidly share that I often totally felt exhausted and frustrated by nursing early on. New breastfeeding moms can feel physically chained to an infant and then have secondary feelings of guilt that they aren’t enjoying nursing.  It’s a relief to know that lots of breastfeeding women feel that way at some point.

What happens when we provide all of that support and advice and a few of our friends decide to switch to formula anyway?

Hopefully, we veer far, far away from pitying their child, loading them up with guilt, or reflecting on how great our breastfeeding experience was. Hopefully we let them know that they don’t have to make a hard and fast choice–that it’s possible to part breastfeeding and part formula and alter that ratio in whatever way works for mom and baby. And if they do switch exclusively to formula, we respect their choice.

What do you do to support new moms in their breastfeeding efforts?  What was helpful (or unhelpful) to you in those early days?