Great Idea! Part 1

I'm starting a series that will show up intermittently on this blog. I shall call it: 

Great Idea!

It has a certain ring to it, don't you think? :O) The purpose is to share some great ideas (hence the name) that I discover to hopefully benefit others as well. Sometimes they'll be my ideas, sometimes they'll be someone else's. I'll give credit to whomever I got the idea from, of course, so if you have one to share, send it my way! Here we go!

Great Idea! Part 1

Back when I was cloth diapering my girls (Yes, I quit. No, I don't want to hear your opinion on that.), I came up with a way to help with all the #2 without having to use multiple cloth wipes to do so (or disposables for that matter). Now that I'm back to disposable diapers for my last child, I still find this extremely useful and so I will share it with you!

Behold!

Isn't that beautiful?!? Well, maybe that's a stretch but it has proven very useful when the doodoo arrives. With cloth diapers it's obviously helpful as the toilet paper is flush-able so, when possible, you can shake the solids along with the tp right into the toilet and flush. Voila! With disposables it is the same concept, however, I've found that a lot of people who use disposables just wrap up the waste in the diaper and toss it into the pail. No! Whenever possible shake the solids into the toilet before wrapping up that poop sack and dropping it in the Champ. It's better for the environment (Yes, so are cloth diapers, but I have my reasons!!) and it helps keep some of the stink at bay. It's also cheaper than using just baby wipes or flush-able wipes as I find I don't use as  many with this method.

Another benefit is that I always have a "tissue" handy when the kids have a runny nose on the changing table or in the middle of the night. This way I don't have to go into the bathroom or keep a separate tissue box on their dresser and when I'm done with it, into the diaper pail it goes! Huzzah!

That's it! That's my first Great Idea. At least I think it's great. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought this up, but I had not seen it done before so I have no one else to credit but myself. Well done, Self.

Do you use this at home? Have you found it to be helpful? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Taking the Plunge!

Well, it's been a long time coming, but I've finally ordered my first cloth diapers. :O)

I have asked and re-asked my friends countless questions regarding their cloth diapering experiences. Numerous websites have been subject to my near obsessive comparison shopping. I've budgeted and budgeted and BUDGETED and, at last, have come up with the money to get a decent size starter stash. Hippies and Earth, rejoice! ;-)

I went with bum genius 3.0 one size diapers in a 12 pack bundle and also purchased a wet bag for when we're out and about. With 2 kids still in diapers, the one size was the way to go. Being that I tend to reproduce children that stay around or under the 50th percentile, I may very well be able to use one size dipes up until they are potty trained. Plus, the BG dipes came with 2 inserts each as opposed to the other contender, Fuzzi Bunz, which only came with one. I opted not to get the diaper pail liner as, after much conversation with another cloth diaperer, I realized that I don't really want the diapers to dry out before I wash them. Instead, I am going to fill a plastic garbage can 3/4 full of a water and borax mixture to put the dirty dipes in until I wash them.

There are so many things to consider when starting out with cloth diapers that it's easy to get overwhelmed. Aside from the diapers themselves, there are tons of accessories to consider and new habits to form, i.e. possibly changing your laundry detergent, sanitizing the washing machine after washing the diapers, and considering clothesline diaper drying just to name a few. If it wasn't for my longsuffering cloth diapering friends, I would probably still be trying to make a decision! A big "Thank you!" is going out to those special ladies right about now. You know who you are. :-)

So now, I wait. I feel like I'm turning some kind of corner in my life as an environmentally responsible human being. Let's just hope I'm up to the task!